There is no doubt that employee mental health is critically top of mind. The pandemic has accelerated conversations and brought staggering stats to the forefront. However, what is now being uncovered are the profiles and situations that are driving this increase.
What many have not yet recognized is that the surge and demand for mental health support that occurred during the pandemic was especially fueled by caregivers. At the height of the pandemic, working family caregivers spent an average of
While coping emotionally with the fact that a loved one is not in good health, the logistical and practical demands caregivers face can be overwhelming and lead to mental health challenges like anxiety, depression, and burnout. In fact, caregivers are
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This is not a new or uncommon experience, but it has reached a new high, affecting more employees than before. One in five employees is caring for a loved one at any given time, and 72% of these caregivers report symptoms of clinical depression. With data proving the caregiving juggle is so prevalent in the workforce and leads to serious mental health conditions, why is there such a lack of support available?
This is an especially important time for employers to consider caregiver support. As employees spent time with close and extended family members throughout the holiday season, many were confronted with new needs and challenges as they observed early signs of decline and health challenges. A lack of support for these newfound care situations will leave employees feeling isolated.
The stats are clear and it's time to put action behind what we know. It can start with three initiatives that could make an impact today.
Break the Stigma
A key driver of mental stress as a caregiver is feeling completely isolated and alone. There is a debilitating fear of being perceived as distracted, unproductive, or less capable to do their job due to circumstances outside of the office. These stigmas permeate our workplaces and create barriers as employees quietly struggle and feel hindered in seeking the support they truly need to be healthy and successful.
Now is the moment to break these stigmas. Employers need to show that their organizations understand the realities employees face– and it starts at the top.
- Leaders who can openly share their own caregiving and mental health stories give permission to others facing similar situations. This transforms the culture to allow employees to more freely express that they need support.
- Encourage participation in employee resource groups (ERGs). Creating a safe place for employees to communicate with peers experiencing similar challenges empowers them to share their voices in their own way.
- Offering and promoting a tangible benefit that addresses family caregiving and mental health clearly proves to employees that they are seen, welcomed, and invited to get the support they need.
These actions show your organization is ready and willing to offer the right resources for support at the right time, especially as a new year begins.
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Equip Leaders
Employees leave managers, not companies. When facing difficult situations, employees check in with their managers before HR, and how that manager handles the situation either leaves the employee supported or completely discouraged. Managers are the first responders in employees' lives. They are often the first to notice symptoms of mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, and other outside stressors, as these often result in productivity loss, absenteeism, and ultimately attrition.
Employees who are juggling the care of a loved one are more likely to leave their job altogether as they split focus to frantically secure and manage the care needed at home. If a manager is well equipped to recognize and intervene with proper support, this turnover can be avoided.
Ensure leaders are equipped and qualified to respond to employee needs:
- Educate leaders on existing policies and benefits that can support employees who find themselves facing mental health diagnoses and stress from caregiving roles.
- Leaders should be ready to listen and adapt. In more intensive situations, employees may need extra support or a temporary change in responsibilities in order to cope with external challenges. The reality is the leaders are facing these situations already, so learning how to handle these complex situations is a critical "new skill" as a manager today.
Create Systems of Support
Accessing benefits and resources should alleviate stress, not add to it. Despite today's incredible technology, most programs, benefits and resources remain unconnected and aren't built to communicate with one another. This adds to the burden employee caregivers are facing as they navigate care situations they did not choose.
The information and resources they need mostly live in highly fragmented systems, making it difficult to navigate complex insurance systems and diagnoses while also juggling daily care tasks alongside professional and personal responsibilities.
One of the best ways for employers to address the mental health of their employee caregivers is by reducing points of friction in the journey to access the support they need. Employers can do this by:
- Creating more opportunities to communicate and educate on the support available to employees through existing benefits and policies. Using topical and educational webinars, or regular newsletters that highlight your benefits programs, employees can more easily find the right types of support the moment they need it most.
- Ensuring that your benefits solutions are built to serve employees in a more inclusive way. For example, caregiving solutions offering both a traditional concierge model and a robust tech platform that allows users to self-serve are sure to engage a larger group of the eligible employee population.
- Lastly, organize and serve benefits in a clear, personalized way. Employees are unlikely to wade through lists and portals in order to piece together a list of relevant benefits they qualify for. These should be easily accessible and curated based on their health plan, and presented with proper, consumable context and clear next steps in order to utilize.
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This approach to addressing employee mental health and supporting working caregivers is clinically proven to drive results. In a recent study conducted by Healthcore and published in JMIR (Journal of Medical Internet Research), employees who had access to the Ianacare platform as part of their employee benefits package reported a 30% decrease in feelings of stress and burden after using the solution to assist with their caregiving needs.
When it comes to supporting the mental health of employees, it can feel like a never-ending discussion. This is because discussions around mental health in the workplace have been taking place for years with little tangible impact or change. It's clear that the answer isn't just in offering mental health-specific solutions like access to therapy and meditation.
If we hope to be successful in truly supporting employees, we must realize the solution will only come when we dig into the true stressors employees face outside of the office and create systems of support that address them directly.
Organizations cannot address mental health without addressing the needs of caregivers, and similarly cannot fully serve caregivers without addressing their mental health. Ultimately it is not a question of if, but when your employees will be thrust into a caregiving situation, they will need this type of support.
