Checking in on employee mental health

Best of the week: Time for a workforce mental health checkup

February 19, 2021 10:00 AM

Employees are still struggling with mental health during the pandemic, and employers are getting creative with new benefits and boosted EAP programs.

Employees reported a 48% increase for risk of depression between November and December, according to the Mental Health Index by Total Brain and the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. December marked the lowest levels of employee well-being since the start of COVID-19, the index found.

Employers like Prudential and Hewlett Packard are offering new benefits to address employee well-being. Overall, 88% of employers plan to continue to expand their virtual telehealth benefits even after the pandemic.

Read about how employers are addressing mental health solutions from our top stories of the week:

Prudential teams with NeuroFlow on mental health app

Prudential Group Insurance is expanding their mental health benefits for employees on disability leave through a partnership with NeuroFlow, a behavioral health platform.

NeuroFlow identifies at-risk employees using data analytics and artificial intelligence. Employees will have access to care coordination services and crisis intervention, as well as self-service tools for psychoeducation, relaxation and coping skills training.

Prudential expanded their care offerings after realizing they needed a better way to encourage employees to manage the anxiety that comes with disability leave. Employees out on disability may have thoughts and anxieties about how much things have changed since they have been out on leave and be concerned that they won’t be able to keep up with the pace of the workplace once they are back.

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Prudential teams with NeuroFlow on mental health app

Employers will keep expanding virtual benefits beyond the pandemic

Employers anticipate they’ll stick with many of the workplace changes brought on by COVID-19, from increased safety measures to virtual health and wellness benefits, once the pandemic has finally subsided.

Employers plan to continue expanding their virtual benefits, relying on the ease and accessibility of telehealth, even when the pandemic comes to an end, according to a survey by benefits provider Wellable. Eighty-eight percent of employers plan to add more mental health resources and 87% say they are upping their resources for telemedicine services.

Employers have consistently adjusted their benefits throughout the pandemic to help employees with mental health, caregiving, financial and well-being challenges. More than a quarter of employers have ramped up their benefits in response to the challenges of COVID-19, according to Fidelity Investments.

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Employers will keep expanding virtual benefits beyond the pandemic

Hewlett Packard’s latest benefit is a virtual vegetable garden

A newly-adopted benefit aims to teach employees how to sustainably grow their own produce, while improving their mental health.

Hewlett Packard partnered with StartOrganic, a virtual garden platform, to offer a new wellness program to their workforce. The app teaches employees how to plant and maintain an organic garden through webinars, posts and Q&A sessions on Microsoft Teams. Hewlett Packard executives hope the program will encourage healthy eating and foster wellness in their global workforce.

While gardening helps introduce whole fruits and vegetables into our diets, it also helps foster positive mental health. According to Psychology Today, gardening can help people “develop a growth mindset,” and connect with others.

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Hewlett Packard’s latest benefit is a virtual vegetable garden

EAPs have never been more important to employees

EAPs have never been more relevant than they are today because employees and their families need mental health and work-life assistance. Most EAPs report that the volume of calls from employees requesting help has increased and that the nature of the calls is more severe. If your EAP is not being promoted enough to be highly visible, employees with complicated COVID-related issues could remain underserved.

One thing we know for sure is that full service EAPs have proven their value. The 2020 Annual Report for the Workplace Outcome Suite (WOS) measured the effectiveness of EAP counseling. The report found significant improvements in all five measures of work presenteeism, work engagement, workplace distress, work absenteeism and overall life satisfaction.

Presenteeism for employees who used the EAP improved significantly. More than half of all cases (56%) reported that their issue was making it "difficult to concentrate on work." After EAP counseling, the incidence of work presenteeism was cut in half.

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EAPs have never been more important to employees