By Anthony Vecchione
A rise in workplace stress and an increase in substance abuse, among other issues, have some occupational health professionals pondering the question: will employee assistance programs (EAP) become integrated into the broader scope of occupational health services? There is no simple answer to that question. One thing to consider is the changing nature of EAPs since their inception decades ago.
According to the Employee Assistance Society of North America (EASNA), today’s EAPs are complex models that often combine work-life and other behavioral health services designed to address mental health, substance abuse, and workplace performance problems among employees and
their family members. EAPs can reach employees through a combination of different channels, including face-to-face visits with counselors, 24/7 telephone calls, Internet resources, and on-site workplace events.
Selecting the right EAP provider for your program and implementing the services effectively can prove challenging.
However, there is ample evidence that EAPs have value. According to the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), employers find that proactive efforts to help employees identify and resolve personal issues before they have serious medical, family, or workplace consequences make financial and business sense.
According to the March 2013 National Compensation Survey, more than half of American workers have access to an EAP; the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that more than three-quarters of surveyed work organizations offered an EAP to their employees.
https://www.easna.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/PBRNwhitepaper-9-15.pdf Andy Seebold, senior director of business services at York, PA-based WellSpan Health said that EAPs play a critical role in any comprehensive worksite wellness program that seeks to address the emotional and psychological needs of a workforce. “EAPs range and vary in design and scope. There are still some EAPs that are strictly focused on certain disease states, but most focus on a broad range of issues or concerns such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, grief, loss, and marital relationship issues,” Mr. Seebold said.
“Our program offers confidential counseling services where an employer pre-pays for their employees to seek confidential counseling by a licensed provider, a licensed social worker or psychologist,” said Mr. Seebold.” Well, Span is a regional provider of EAP services in South Central Pennsylvania covering over 156,000 lives in nearly 300 employer groups. Well, Span provides consultation and case management services to employers when they have an employee with performance-related issues where an individual can be formerly referred to an EAP program for counseling services.
“We case manage those referrals to optimize improvement in their performance and behavior,” said Mr. Seebold, adding that human resource (HR) professionals are key partners with EAP. What’s behind the changes in EAP programs?
“We have much more of a transient population. The support systems are not there today as they were years ago and the demands on the worker are different than ever before,” said Mr.Seebold.
Mr. Seebold pointed to the National Institute of Health (NIH) data that indicates increases in illicit drug use and other studies showing an increase in divorce rates.
Are EAPs being integrated with occupational health services? According to Mr. Seebold, EAPs come in many shapes and sizes. “If you’re an EAP that is part of a larger integrated health system, you are seeing an integration of EAP as part of an overall occupational health strategy.”
“We are a large health system with 15,000 employees. Historically we’ve operated the EAP as separate and distinct from our occupational medicine program, separate and distinct from our health plan and our family medical leave program,” Mr. Seebold said.
Over the last several years, Well Span has integrated various services to streamline operations and make them more user-friendly for the consumer. (In the case of Well Span, the consumer is the employer community.)
“You’re seeing larger integrated health systems focus on consumerism and part of that consumerism strategy is integrating those services as a one-stop shop for the employer. That also maximizes opportunities for coordinated care on behalf of the employees,”
Mr. Seebold said. Nevertheless, he doesn’t necessarily see a global trend in EAP integration with occupational health programs. “I’m a huge proponent of occupy national health programs partnering with EAPs. Not that they have to get into the behavioral health business, but they really need to make sure that they are adequately referring people who are identified as having issues.” At RWJ Barnabas Health in West Orange, NJ, EAP services can be added to an employer’s Corporate Care (occupational medicine) program. (For more on this, go to http://www.barnabashealth.org/Specialty-Services/Occupational-Medicine/Comprehensive-Occupational-Medicine-Services/Employee-Assistance-Programs.aspx)
Corporate Care clients have 24/7 access to the resources of Barnabas Health EAP services that provide human resources staff and managers with appropriate consultation on a variety of concerns. Corporate Care EAP services are delivered under the direction of board-certified specialists in occupational medicine. The programs are intended to provide assessment, referral, and brief counseling to employees and their family members on a wide variety of issues including marital or family problems, substance abuse, stress, anxiety, and depression.
Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) Exchange reveals that EAP services can produce positive returns in direct cost savings from reduced medical, disability, and workers’ compensation claims and even more savings from reducing indirect business losses related to poor performance.
Results of a Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health study on increased productivity resulting from the use of EAP services states: “A return on investment (ROI) calculated using these data in a typical EAP indicated that for every dollar spent on the program, there is an expected return of between $5.17 and $6.47.
