Not your father's EAP

BY BRENT MCCRAW, DEE RAINEY AND ANDREA CHESHIRE

Stress, anxiety and depression are keeping employees away from their jobs in record numbers. Eighty million workdays are reported to be lost annually to these three mental health issues. As more and more employees struggle to manage the everyday demands of family and work, companies are offering updated employee assistance programs (EAPs) designed to help workers meet the challenges of modern life.

EAPs are work-based programs offering confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals and follow-up services for employees and their family members who are experiencing personal and/or work-related problems that affect work performance. In recent years, there has been an increased use of EAPs by people suffering from behavioral health disabilities and co-occurring health and substance use issues. Sixty to 70 percent of those who seek the help of EAPs today do so for stress related issues.

Employee assistance programs themselves are not new — they grew out of the industrial alcoholism programs developed in the 1940s. Although they are typically free, they often go unused. According to the American Psychiatric Association, fewer than 5 percent of people with access to EAPs utilize them. Forty percent of employees don’t even realize that their employer provides an EAP or what services are offered. There is also stigma attached to EAPs. While 70 to 80 percent of employee assistance inquiries are self-referrals, employees still worry about privacy and confidentiality. The 20 to 30 percent of workers who are referred to an EAP by supervisors often view the EAP as “punishment.” continued on page 2

Today’s EAP

Businesses are trying to recast EAPs in a new light by focusing on health and wellness because employees are demanding a better work/life balance. The goal of EAPs is to help employees return to work more quickly while lowering costs of care, improving treatment outcomes and increasing employee satisfaction.

As EAPs evolve, they also are adapting to current technologies. In an effort to improve accessibility, today’s EAPs may include interactive assessments for depression, stress and substance abuse, webinars and other online information, cell phone applications for video counseling, supervisor training on wellness programs, stress management, resilience and mindfulness, and email and text messaging to facilitate communication and support.

Services

A single phone call to a company’s EAP program can put an employee in touch with the necessary resources to help with personal and/or work-related problems such as:

• Personal struggles/life events

• Health, wellness and prevention such as smoking cessation, weight loss, nutrition, exercise

• Emotional issues, including stress, anxiety, depression

• Financial difficulties

• Work/family balance

• Counseling for crisis situations

• Substance abuse

• Legal concerns

Today’s progressive EAPs also offer convenience or “concierge” services, such as help with parenting, childcare and elder care management. They integrate well-being solutions to promote healthy lifestyle choices, help employees manage fatigue and provide resilience training to improve employees’ coping skills. Modern EAPs also offer proactive screening and outreach services, especially for employees on workers comp or who are living with disabilities or chronic illness. Special needs assessments, referrals and return-to-work planning services are also part of newer employee assistance programs.

Today’s EAPs provide significant benefits for both employees and employers by promoting a better work/life balance and increasing employee engagement and productivity.

Brent McCraw is director of Centra Addiction & Recovery Services. Dee Rainey is director of Centra Bridges Treatment Center. Andrea Cheshire is director of HealthWorks.

Centra offers new EAP

Centra began offering a new employee assistance program (EAP) on July 1 to help employees improve their health and work/life balance. The EAP is offered through HealthWorks, a subsidiary of Centra, which provides occupational medicine and work recovery services in Central Virginia.

HealthWorks Employee Assistance is a free and confidential information, support and referral service for employees and their families. A single phone call to HealthWorks puts employees in touch with a wide variety of helpful resources.

To contact HealthWorks Employee Assistance, call 434.200.6000. For more information about HealthWorks, visit hw4me.com.