According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five (about 46.6 million) adults in the U.S. live with a mental illness. Based on that statistic, mental health issues are likely to touch you or someone you know.
As an employer who cares about your employees’ mental health and wellbeing, you may want to provide benefits that can help your team members who are dealing with these issues. One great way to do that is to offer access to an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
An EAP can help small businesses and their employees with a variety of issues in and out of the workplace, including mental health services and employee assistance with personal, family, and work issues. An EAP provides your employees with access to the support they need. This post will explain more about how EAPs work, and how they can provide mental health benefits for your team.
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Mental Health at Work
Mental health matters. Although it is a personal issue, the effects of an individual’s mental health and wellbeing can be far-reaching and even impact their work life. Research from the Center for Prevention and Health Services estimates that the workplace costs of mental illness and substance abuse disorders range from $79 to $105 billion each year.
Beyond the potential financial costs, there’s a real cost to your people, too. You work hard to hire the best people for your team, and you have the opportunity as an employer to help them care for their whole selves, beyond the office walls. Access to a rich set of mental health services helps business owners provide resources to take care of their teams, whatever their needs may be. It’s important for employers to be aware of stress and mental health at work, and how they might assist or support their employees.
What is an EAP?
An Employee Assistance Program, or EAP, connects member employees to confidential, professional assistance to help with personal, family, and work issues. Often these services come at no charge to the employee.
Although their offerings can be quite broad, many EAP services either directly or indirectly address mental health. Professional counselors and other specialists accessible through an EAP can help employees tackle issues such as stress, depression, substance abuse, financial concerns, and family issues.
To ensure your employees will have access to the right mental health benefits and support, look for some of these key offerings in an EAP.
Short-term Counseling
Finding a therapist or accessing counseling might feel out of reach for those suffering from stress or mental health issues. But finding someone to talk to is simple with an EAP.
With a quality EAP, employee counseling is just a phone call away for members. EAPs generally provide access to counseling over the phone, or even in-person sessions with a local counselor. There’s really no need to wait for help or to second guess yourself when you can talk to a helpful professional for free.
Employee counseling can help with:
- Anxiety at work
- Stress at home or in personal relationships
- Depression
- Addiction issues
This professional counseling service is free, and a quality program will offer these services to members, and often their spouse or domestic partner, their parents, and their children as well. Privacy is also a cornerstone of these services, as employers having access to their employees’ mental health information is delicate issue. Generally speaking, if the EAP provides access to licensed professionals (as opposed to just referrals), it is subject to HIPAA privacy, security and breach notification rules. People are also more likely to seek help when they feel they can trust the source and have confidentiality.
Work-Life Balance
Many people feel overwhelmed when trying to manage their work and home life all at once. Of course, this can have a real effect on their physical and mental health.
Work-life services from an EAP aim to ease some of that burden. Their experts can provide assistance with a range of services, such as finding childcare or elder care, connecting with a lawyer, or even receiving nutrition advice. Just think of how much better your employees might feel if they had help taking some of that stress out of their day-to-day lives.
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How Mindbase Can Help
Each encounter with trauma wears down a person’s psychological reserve. Considering the degree to which officers are exposed to critical incidents, is important to understand the prevalence of depression, alcohol abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among officers.
Mindbase is the first Integrated Wellness Platform designed to identify situational challenges affecting personnel by gathering data on calls-for-service. Our powerful app and dashboard gives peer support and leadership the insight they need to identify at-risk personnel and provide meaningful support when they need it most. #SAVETHEPOLICE #SUPPORTNOTSTIGMA