More beyond providing important tips to implement in their organisations, we want to share information to keep in mind for the post-pandemic.

In the midst of the Great Reorganization, the candidates can choose where they work, and one of the things that you are looking for are companies that offer great benefits for the mental health.

This is not a surprise after the last year and a half. When it came to COVID-19, accelerated and exhibited mental health problems among people in all over the world. Anxiety and depression have increased dramatically. The levels of exhaustion reached record levels. "And reflections from a long time ago about racial and social injustice," says Joe Grasso, PhD, clinical psychologist and senior director of mental health at Lyra Health, a provider of mental health benefits, "helped us to understand the scale on which individuals are dealing with the stress and trauma of racial."

Approximately one-third of employees say they are considering to change your company for the sake of your mental health, according to a study from 2021 posted by Forrester Research and Modern Health, another provider of mental health benefits. Executives are concerned that employees will leave if their companies don't offer enough support mental health during the pandemic. And 86% of the employees, between the ages of 18 and 29 years, they say that it is more likely to stay in a company that offers mental health resources of high quality.

"Suddenly, the conversations about mental health have become the center of attention of companies," said Gyre Renwick, director of operations of Modern Health. But, what are you asking for both employees and companies? And what type of services you should offer your company if you want to attract talent?

We speak with Joe and Gyre to find out what kind of benefits for mental health companies are looking for now. Here are their thoughts.

1. The pandemic accelerated mental health problems existing as the exhaustion

The pandemic fueled the isolation, anxiety and depression in all over the world. But the truth is that the people already struggling with this. “That is why I think you see that many people are talking about now,” says Joe, “and saying: ‘Yes, I am not just dealing with this now, I have actually been dealing with this for years’. narrative really common these days."

According to the report Modern Health, 87% of employees want their employer cares about their mental health. And one of the most important problems with which they are dealing with is: surprise! – depletion, which was a problem even before the pandemic. 

Gyre says that Modern Health is launching a product called Courses, designed to address specific challenges in the life of a person and teach you new skills you'll need to navigate your account. The courses include a combination of digital programs, meditations, audio programs style podcast and personalized attention, such as training and therapy. The company also offers Circles, which is a program of sessions with community alive directed by suppliers on such topics as "the Healing of black communities" and "COVID-19 Resilience & Moving Forward". But, he says Gyre, "Burnout has been the application number one."

Even so, you don't have a lot of sense for businesses to offer support to exhaustion if not also examines how they are contributing to the problem. That is why Modern Health and Lyra offer more and more training for managers to drive cultural change. “Our philosophy is to ‘fix the work, not the workers’ when it comes to things like exhaustion,” says Joe. Lyra and Modern Health train the managers to detect signs of distress in employees and to intervene appropriately. They also encourage managers to model the well-being themselves.

As he wrote a hr manager.HH. in the study of Modern Health: "The managers must provide a good example of how to take care of your own mental health by taking breaks during the day and turning off after hours".

2. Employees want more mental health benefits for their families

Lyra and Modern Health have seen a greater demand for mental health services to the families of the employees. That is because when a family member is struggling, it also affects the employee. "The collaborators," says Joe, "they are saying, 'Hey, when my son is dealing with depression or anxiety, I can't be fully present in the work."

Modern Health declined recently, the age at which it provides care for children up to 6 years old can receive services. "We are also hiring providers and therapists may serve populations of different demographic groups and different ages," says Gyre, "so that we can support the children in different spectra". This includes providers of different races, nationalities, languages spoken, sexual orientation and gender identity. There is a greater demand for services for more serious problems, such as substance use disorders and suicide.

3. There is a greater demand for services for more serious problems, such as substance use disorders and suicide."The companies," says Joe, "you are realizing," Oh, we don't just have employees who are dealing with mild problems of mental health. We have employees who are dealing with problems that really are serious and complex, and does not include access to care through the health plan ‘”. In particular, companies are looking for help for people with disorder by consumption of alcohol (AUD) and for those who are contemplating suicide. As of 2019, the National Institute of Mental Health estimated that nearly 15 million people in the united States suffering from AUD, and during the pandemic, the consumption of alcohol has only increased. Among its own members, Lyra has found that 30% have a moderate risk of problem drinking and the 6% would qualify for a diagnosis of AUD. "Employers," says Joe, "are beginning to recognize that the problems of substance use are the last frontier of the taboos of mental health."To address this, Lyra will launch a new product in January called Lyra Renew, a total treatment program to help the people to reduce the consumption of alcohol or achieve sobriety through therapy, virtual, group sessions, ongoing evaluations of symptoms, recovery specialists of pairs and medicines to fight the cravings.

The companies also ask for help with suicide. In the USA, for example, suicide is the second leading cause of death among people 10 to 34 years, and the fourth among persons aged 35 to 44, according to the Centers for Control and Prevention of Diseases. When someone is suffering so much that you're thinking about suicide, it is unlikely to work well in the job.To help employees severely distressed, Lyra is also launching the Therapy dialectical behavior for the suicide. The therapy, dialectical behavioral (DBT) is considered the gold standard treatment for people who are considering suicide, and Lyra DBT combines therapy sessions virtual individual lessons of development of skills prescribed by a therapist, as well as access to support in crisis 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

4. The benefits for mental health offer a high return on investment A comprehensive package of mental health benefits may cost more than a traditional program of assistance to the employee, but the return on investment can be significant. An article in 2018 in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that nearly 86% of employees reported improved job performance, and lower rates of absenteeism after receiving treatment for depression. When there is a comprehensive package, employees can generally access the services for a low cost or a minimum copayment, which also helps to promote the commitment. Consider the case of Okta, an enterprise software identity management. When Modern Health helped the company with the mental health problems related to the pandemic, their employees, a huge 40% of its employees gave to their benefits, and 60% experienced the recovery of the symptoms of depression after four or more visits with a therapist of Modern Health. Good benefits for mental health increase the performance of the company. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression and anxiety cost the global economy $ 1 billion a year in lost productivity. But for every dollar spent on treatment of common problems of mental health, you get $ 4 in improved health and productivity, according to the WHO.

In a study that Lyra was commissioned, Aon's Research found that when employees and their families have access to mental health benefits effective and comprehensive, reduce claims costs of health care in approximately $ 2,300 per year because it is less likely to need general medical care, prescription medications, and visits to the emergency room. The company also discovered that there was a 25% less turnover among users of Lyra that among non-users. There is also a reward intangible assets: when a large number of people feel comfortable accessing the benefits of mental health, the stigma around these problems decreases. “What I think is exciting,” says Gyre, is “the discussion of the era of the pandemic on the mental health has removed much of the stigma that existed before. It is not that the mental health was not an issue previously, it's just that now you see all the employers, all of the companies that we talk about, without deciding if you want a solution for mental health or not, but what of the solutions of mental health they want. to bring to the market ".

Final thoughts: encourage your company to continue to provide these benefits Unfortunately, sometimes there is a division between those who want the employees and the employers are willing to provide, while the world continues to navigating the pandemic. While employees now enjoy the benefits of mental health, comprehensive and of high quality, many employers plan to reduce them once they finish the pandemic. According to the study Modern Health, 67% of C-level executives and 54% of human resources leaders have said that, "returned our mental health strategy to what it was before the pandemic in the coming year."This is short-sighted and ignores the evidence that a pandemic of mental health was already in place before the arrival of COVID. The companies that continue to provide benefits for mental health care of first level can enjoy greater productivity, less turnover, and an advantage while competing to attract and retain talent.

Source: https://www.comunidad-rh.com/