Soon after Dr. Jodi Jacobson Frey, Associate Professor, accepted her new position as Chair of the Employee Assistance Program Sub-specialization at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Social Work (UMBSSW), she began receiving requests from soon-to-be retiring leaders in the field of employee assistance (EA) asking if they could mail boxes of EA-related articles, books and other materials to her office for preservation and future use with EAP students. As she glanced around her very small University office, she knew immediately that she personally lacked capacity to house these historical artifacts.

Demonstrating outcomes and highlighting the value of employee assistance (EA) services are critical, especially in today’s difficult economic climate. This study reports findings from an exploratory study of Employee Assistance Program (EAP) outcomes using existing EAP case files from 20 different U.S. employers. Research questions examined the effects of EAP services as measured by three commonly used indices: the Level of Functioning Scales at Home and at Work, and the Global Assessment of Functioning. Significant changes in scores on all three measures were found at posttest, suggesting an overall positive affect from employee participation in EAP services. Recommendations for EAPs with little to no resources for research and limited experience with research are discussed.

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are expected to provide efficient and effective services to their customers. Practice standards, including evidence-based interventions and standardized outcomes, have not been established. This article reports findings from an online survey focused on EAP outcomes from 23 EAP owners, who cover 1,500 work organizations and more than 900,000 employees. Results suggest work-related stress and cost of health care are of paramount concern to EAPs and their customers, and standardized outcomes and reporting formulas would be welcomed. Implications for future research to advance the EAP field and better demonstrate value are discussed.

Objective: This research paper describes an innovative method for evaluating outcome measurements of an Employee Assistance and Work-Life program. Method: This research is unique due to the fact that ‘true’ service outcomes, as defined by the employees who utilized services, were collected within a brief time period (3 to 6 months) after services were provided. The data for the study was collected through the telephonic interviews with employees covered by a major provider of EAP and Work-Life services. Results: Findings indicate that after services, stress levels decreased, attendance improved, work performance improved, and relationships with supervisors and co-workers improved. Additionally, significant correlations were found between various reported work- and personal-related problems. Conclusion: This research represents the first empirical study of its kind in the Employee Assistance and Work-Life fields and provides a better understanding of how effective services are in helping employees resolve both personal and work-related problems.

Employee Assistance Program (EAP) professionals provide a majority of the mental health services to adults within the workplace. With increased traumatic events at work, including workplace violence and natural disasters, employers are relying more on their EAPs to provide crisis intervention and short-term counseling; however, trauma work contributes to compassion fatigue and burnout among professionals. This study assessed the risk of compassion fatigue and burnout, and the potential for compassion satisfaction among a national sample of EAP professionals. Results suggest EAP professionals are at moderate risk for compassion fatigue, low risk for burnout, and have high potential for compassion satisfaction. Relationships between personal characteristics, including coping behaviors are discussed with implications for clinical practice, professional education, and future research.

Over the past several decades the mental health field has become increasingly concerned about potential negative effects in professionals of providing crisis intervention and traumatic stress services to individuals and groups. The employee assistance (EA) field has not received adequate attention with regard to the study of these negative effects, such as compassion fatigue. This paper highlights results from a national research study of members of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association (EAPA) who were assessed for risk for compassion fatigue and burnout, as well as potential for compassion satisfaction. Additionally, coping methods for dealing with work-related stress resulting from the provision of workplace crisis intervention services were measured. Findings indicate that EA professionals who provide clinical services and/or crisis intervention services in the workplace are at low risk for burnout, moderate risk for compassion fatigue, and have high potential for compassion satisfaction. Implications for the EA field, in terms of training and practice, are discussed.