Positive workplace environments and employee assistance programs (EAPs) can make a world of difference to employees faced with mild mental-health challenges. But what if these supports are not enough? Can employers do more to help employees whose mental health continues to deteriorate, and in so doing prevent short- and long-term disability leaves?
The answer is a resounding ‘Yes,’ says David Frank, Benefits Consultant, Group Benefits at Bell Financial in Aurora, Ontario, and a member firm of Benefits Alliance. In his observations working with clients, there’s often a noticeable gap in offerings that meet the needs of employees with moderate mental-health challenges.
“These are the employees who require more than the five or six counselling sessions available through an EAP,” says Frank. “The EAP is the right vehicle for certain situations, but it was never designed to be something for people who have issues that are more chronic.”
He adds that people with moderate mental-health challenges “have reached the stage where they are having trouble adjusting at home, they may have developed substance abuse dependence, and they’re not really able to function normally at work.”
Employees who fall into the moderate category often don’t know what to do, says Frank. “They’re frustrated, anxious, or depressed, or they just need to talk to somebody to work it through.”
If untreated, many leave work and don’t come back, even if their condition isn’t that severe, adds Cris Tello, Business Development Director at EHN Canada, the largest network of publicly funded and private mental-health treatment centres across Canada, and one of Benefits Alliances’ preferred providers. “They will go on to disability, and that creates a whole other problem for the employers where they’re needing to backfill those roles,” he says.
In this article, Take 5 for Wellness briefly describes how plan sponsors can cost-effectively better support employees with mental health issues of moderate severity. You can also learn more from Benefits Alliance’s recent podcast.
Better options emerging
What additional tools can employers provide for those with moderate mental-health challenges?
First, more self-guided programs may not be the answer, notes Tello. “People who are struggling with either addiction or depression or anxiety are not necessarily willing or able to be self-guided,” he says. “They’re already struggling so much mentally.”
Counselling is the cornerstone of treatment, but Tello advises against simply topping up paramedical funds. Even an additional $500 will cover only two or three more sessions, which are still likely not enough for people with moderate mental-health challenges.
Instead, providers have found that a more intensive, coordinated approach—such as EHN’s Mental Health Connect program—is most effective for people with moderate-severity mental-health conditions. “It’s not like individual counseling, where you do one session and then wait another week or another month for the next one,” explains Tello.
Instead, patients receive therapy for nine hours a week for eight weeks. Eight hours are spent in a group setting and one hour is for individual therapy. Many patients find the group setting empowering because they realize they’re not alone and benefit from sharing their experiences, notes Tello.
These are outpatient programs, which means employees can continue to work and sessions are scheduled to avoid work and time-zone conflicts. The program also includes a referral pathway to a psychotherapist for pharmacotherapy, if needed.
It’s also important that employers can promote the program to all employees at any time. In the case of Mental Health Connect, for example, a simple online screening tool helps employees realize if they have a mild, moderate or severe mental-health condition, and provides recommended next steps—which always includes the option to speak immediately with an expert.
“Employees can quickly move from the confidential screener to having a direct one-on-one conversation with somebody who can analyze their replies and say, ‘Hey, according to what we’re seeing, you might be a good fit for this program, and you can enroll confidentially,” says Tello.
Programs that target employees with mental-health conditions of moderate severity are not only more effective for employees, but they are also more cost-effective for employers. Group sessions cost less than individual counselling and the eight-week duration is enough for most participants, removing the need for additional therapies, including pharmacotherapy, that could persist for many more months. That in turn reduces presenteeism, frequent absences and, ultimately, disability leaves. “The employee is able to stay at work and feel better,” says Tello. “They’re going to have more of a desire to do a good job.”