HOLDING IT TOGETHER: UK MENTAL WELLBEING AND THE ROLE OF EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMMES

Abstract

This is the stage we’ve reached, where figures relating to the mental health of the UK workforce are shocking but also unsurprising. The two factors that lead to the greatest stress among people are uncertainty and lack of control. And that’s what we have plenty of. Energy prices and the cost-of-living crisis. What’s happening with the war in Ukraine. Political instability. Worries about recession and jobs. The growth in the use of EAPs highlighted in this report comes with at least one element of good news to it. It means many more employers have been taking employee health and well-being more seriously; and, that more employees have been willing to make use of an EAP, that there’s trust in service providers. Most worrying about the EAPA UK figures is the number of employees with severe depression, in crisis situations, turning to their EAP. It’s critical that the Government, the NHS and other healthcare stakeholders, understand the role the EAP industry has been playing in supporting mental health, providing immediate access to counselling and professional assessment for millions of people every year. So not a matter of an employee benefit affecting the few, but a significant role in dealing with an urgent and long- term issue for society. Given the limitations to NHS resources and both the scale and complexity of dealing with people’s mental wellbeing, more thought and discussion is needed around the place of EAPs — including how else they can help. Maybe there’s a need for extensions to EAP services, to ensure there’s provision for longer-term counselling programmes through to recovery. The EAP sector has coped this far with the giant swell of demand and more serious cases, through training and recruitment initiatives, more online services and apps. But neither employers nor the UK as a whole can afford to see EAPs become overwhelmed.