Wellness that works: Best practices to aid employees in their mental health journeys

There’s no shortage of research that shows mental health struggles took rise in the COVID-19 pandemic. One standout study from Lancet of 204 countries revealed an additional 53 million cases of major depressive disorder and 76 million cases of anxiety disorders in 2020 were due to the pandemic. With such alarming numbers being reported, the world took notice and addressing mental health was placed near the top of the international agenda. The World Health Organization (WHO) released a historic report that noted “for a large proportion of the global population, mental health and work are integrally intertwined” and that mental health can impact productivity, performance, employee retention and work safety.

Now, the stigma around workplace mental health seems to be abating due to increasing openness around the topic. Although awareness is a great first step, it must be backed with action in order to create lasting change in the workplace. Employers are steadily filling the gaps in their benefits programs to address mental health. However, a 2022 Gallup report shows 50% of U.S. employees still suffer from work-related stress and only 33% of U.S. employees feel engaged in their work and workplace.

Employees now expect employers to support their mental well-being at work and through employee benefits programs. In response, mental health benefits are now prominently in employer benefits packages. Despite the new reality, many employers are still working towards identifying the best practices on how to best aid employees in their mental health journeys.

Driving employee engagement

Nearly 159 million people were covered by employer-sponsored benefits in 2022. As mental wellness becomes more integral to employee experience and satisfaction, employers must stitch together their patchwork of benefits into a more holistic wellness program and deliver those at the right time to each employee. Access to core health, behavior health, voluntary and even financial services all play a part in addressing mental wellness. Benefits programs must also consider the inevitable barriers to access, specifically where social determinants of health may play a more pronounced role.

Some employers are operating on legacy human resource systems that silo data, resulting in fragmented systems that may make it challenging for employees to access their benefits.  Employees expect a system that allows interaction with all of their benefits on one interface. Weaving the connected benefits thread is paramount to unlocking the value of the benefits for both the employer and the employee. Conduent’s Life@Work Connect is one example of an employee experience technology platform that integrates HR data and employee health, wealth and wellness information. For instance, Conduent’s system offers a comprehensive view of benefits so that an employee who is searching for mental health providers covered in their health plan, can also view options for other mental health resources like a crisis line or EAP. The individualized action plans and messaging for employees are delivered across devices and in multiple languages. Such seamless navigation and personalized user-experience is key to linking employees to needed resources for mental health or other benefits.

Make it personal

Today, employees (much like patients) want a wellness experience that is personalized and on-demand. People want to interact with their benefits in a way that is relevant to their lives. Employees expect to be able to choose from multiple communication options like email, text, newsletters and the ability to set custom alerts. They also want to be able to obtain information, get questions answered, or make transactions online in real-time via a self-serve portal and mobile app. Benefit provider data is expected to be connected and seamless through single sign-on experiences.

Related: 21% of workers at ‘high mental health risk’ and unaware of available counseling

Employers can deliver on these wishes by utilizing easy-to-navigate platforms that allow employees to indicate the channels they want to use for different types of communications. AI algorithms within the platform should leverage profile data to offer a personalized and relevant experience. The system can then send messages or notifications in the employee’s preferred mode of communication to drive healthy behaviors throughout the year. During annual enrollment, the system can help employees select a benefits package based on their health experience and future needs. Ultimately, the integration of information is meant to reinforce smart decisions an employee makes in how and when they use their benefits to drive a greater sense of mental well-being and satisfaction with their employer.

Tapping into community resources

Access to mental health care became more restricted during the pandemic as most of the health care ecosystem constricted and pivoted while some shut down. Even prior to the pandemic, receipt of mental health treatment was low and varied across demographics. Some reasons for not receiving care included costs and a lack of providers. With workforces remaining dispersed, employers must consider the community or socioeconomic barriers that may prevent employees from accessing the full gamut of benefits available. The pandemic clearly illustrated, community health impacts individual health. Understanding the health of a community can help employers understand what may be impacting their employees that is not discussed in a workplace environment.

Employers can look to community organizations to deliver a host of interventions to curb an acute and growing mental health crisis. Resources, such as Conduent’s Mental Health Index from its Healthy Communities Institute SocioNeeds Index®, provides validated analytics, ranked according to socioeconomic and wellness factors. Access to health care, transportation and healthy foods can be easily translated into interactive maps of neighborhoods to give employers insight to act. By enlisting benefits administrators to design programs that integrate localized data and emphasize community partners, employers can find the best pathways to care for employees who suffer from mental health concerns.

Addressing the mental health crisis involves broad-based coalitions. Importantly, employers can leverage data to expand their perspective into how mental health issues may be adversely impacting the workforce. Consider how pairing employee demographic and geographic data with community health data can provide employees with a more holistic benefit program that includes access to untapped resources within their communities. Lowering the barrier to access mental health also reduced the need for more costly interventions down the road.

Leverage the whole of the benefits teams

As HR teams look to bring a cohesive package of benefits to employees, they should challenge the current structure in benefits teams. Mental wellness benefits may be viewed as a part of workforce satisfaction, but they also relate to medical benefits, financial benefits, leadership development and culture. Human resource leaders should foster collaboration across the entire team so the barrier to benefit use is lowered.

HR leaders recognize the importance of integrating benefits. A health care benefits program impacts the opportunities that exist in a wellness program. Ultimately, a company must provide the necessary tools for employees to connect to their benefits. The collaboration across teams also drives integration of benefits. The goal is for employees to understand the portion of the benefits ecosystem that is relevant to them at this specific time.

Effective HR teams can also help employees access their benefits by providing a curated network of providers and community-based organizations to extend the reach of wellness and mental health programs. Partners like Conduent can connect employees with employer benefits and enrich the experience with community health data to make it easier for the employer to connect employees to local resources. A holistic approach such as this demonstrates employers’ investment in building a culture of wellness for their employees and increases the likelihood of retaining your best employees.

Jane Chai, MPH is the Community Health Content Expert with Conduent Healthy Communities Institute (HCI). John Larson is a Vice President at Conduent supporting clients with their Health & Welfare, Retirement and HSA/HRA administration.