Employers act on mental health
The need persists for education around mental health in the workplace and the increasing absence and productivity losses associated with it.
Depression, stress and anxiety are life occurrences — and workplace realities. These medical conditions cause individual and family suffering, reduce workplace performance, and often result in absence and disability. Mental illnesses directly affect an employee’s ability to perform effectively at work and are associated with absenteeism and lost productivity. In fact, 80% of people with depression report some level of functional impairment.
High costs are associated with mental health conditions as they frequently occur with other medical illnesses such as asthma, diabetes and heart disease. Individuals with depression consume two to four times the healthcare resources. Mental illnesses including depression all too often result in disability, in part because people do not receive early intervention and quality care. Mental illness is typically the number one cause of disability in the United States behind pregnancy (depending on the industry).
That’s the bad news
The good news is that mental health conditions are finally being recognized for what they are — health conditions. Like other health conditions, mental health can be treated and even cured.
Even better news is that employers are making efforts to communicate with employees and encourage use of available medical treatments.
That was the message at the Disability Management Employer Coalition’s 2019 Annual Conference held in August in Washington D.C. Due to the overwhelming need for education around mental health in the workplace and the increasing absence and productivity losses associated with mental illness, DMEC offered for a second year, an entire day of education around mental health challenges and best practices.
There were a number of takeaways from employers who are taking steps to help employees address mental health issues, increase performance, and lower costs. Here are four strategies that work.
Actively eliminate stigma
The first step is to dispel myths about mental illness. It cannot be overcome by simply “toughing it out”. Employers can help address long-standing mental health misconceptions through education and can actively work to discourage stigmatizing language. The next step is to offer and regularly communicate about employee assistance programs (EAPs) and health insurance benefits. Finally, executives should use clear and direct language to support addressing mental health issues. Positive communication from leadership can have an enormous impact on workplace culture, attitudes around mental health, and what is acceptable and supported in an organization.
Strategically target triggers
There is no single solution for addressing all mental health conditions in the workplace, including the most common, stress. But there are key triggers for all employees that employers can target. For example, worries about money — financial wellness — are a major factor impacting employee performance and stress. Financial wellness programs can meet this challenge head on. Another trigger is not enough time off to help care for family members. Paid family leave programs can address this, and employers are increasingly getting ahead of the mandated paid leave curve by offering even more time than the laws require.
Make better use of EAPs
Numerous surveys indicate that only about 3-5% of employees use employee assistance programs (EAPs), and employers are recognizing that EAPs are a significantly under-utilized resource for providing employees with mental health-related assistance. Encouraging expanded use of these programs is an important component to addressing and supporting mentally healthy workforces.
Support return to work
The overwhelming majority of people with a mental health issues do recover. Communicating openly regarding the return-to-work process and ensuring employees know they have a supportive pathway back to the workplace is crucial when they’re ready to take that step.
Fostering a workplace that recognizes mental health expectations, needs and experiences is becoming more important as employers battle to attract and retain talent. While there is still much to be done, employers are taking important steps that will help employees and enhance organizational performance.
Terri L. Rhodes (trhodes@dmec.org) is CEO of the Disability Management Employer Coalition. Terri was an Absence and Disability Management Consultant for Mercer, and also served as Director of Absence and Disability for Health Net and Corporate IDM Program Manager for Abbott Laboratories.
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