An exploratory study of Canadian EAP affiliates from Saskatchewan and Ontario was undertaken employing one focus group of four persons, and the completion of 12 open ended questionnaires. Participants on average had 23 years of clinical experience with a mean of 14.6 years of EAP specific practice. Participants became external EAP counsellors through two primary means, being invited, typically via an unsolicited telephone call or letter, or by actively seeking out to become an affiliate to supplement their existing private practices. Study participants in general enjoyed their work with this population, particularly the diversity of issues with which clients presented, and felt that providing counselling to this group was critical. However, they also highlighted several substantive issues they faced in fulfilling their responsibilities as EAP affiliates. The primary clinical and ethical concern was the inability to provide sufficient counselling hours to clients in need due to continuous pressure to spend less time with clients from their employers, along with a constant need to ask permission from less seasoned clinical directors for extra counselling sessions. There were inconsistencies between what participants’ perceived organizations were told their employees would receive regarding clinical services and what affiliates believed they were permitted to provide. EAP vendors did not acknowledge experience in terms of hourly compensation and during the economic downturn several participating affiliates had been asked to reduce their hourly rate. Several of those in the study who had not accepted were no longer receiving referrals. In general there was no training or support provided affiliates other than how to complete administrative forms and little if any input was sought from the affiliates regarding the organizations for which they were working.

This slide presentation shares the results of a survey study conducted in 2018. It asked about three issues: 1) How the employee assistance program industry has changed over the past 30 years? - 2) What is important to purchasers of EAP today for buying services in general - and 3) Why employers decide to purchase one EAP over other EAPs? Data is from 155 senior level professionals with average of 23 years experience in EAP field.

Inspired by Employee Assistance Programming, this article reviews the evolution of a parallel process for a different constituency, members of faith communities, a Congregational Assistance Plan. The relationship between spirituality and counselling in Canada is discussed leading to a review of the process through which two Christian-based counselling agencies developed a network to serve the personal and mental health needs of church parishioners. The goals of the Congregational Assistance Plan are presented along with its structuring, implementation and utilization data for the churches that piloted the initiative.

Changes over the past decade have produced many promising trends in workplace mental health, although certain problems remain. That is the consensus of a recent research project that examined the evolution of workplace mental health policies and strategies in Canada between 2007 and 2017. The study focused on the five areas of legal advances, shifts in business priorities, changes in education and training, media trends, and research priorities.

This talk reviews a recent research project that examined the evolution of workplace mental health policies and strategies in Canada.

A study of 142 Employee Assistance Programs from across Canada found a vibrant range of programming. The focus of programming remained upon the individual provided by professionals but there were a significant minority of EAPs that had branched out and were offering services to enhance organizational wellness. All programs offered voluntary assistance with one third having a formal referral route and one third including mandated counseling for performance issues. The majority of organizations were using third party counseling services external to the workplace though one third of the programs still employed internal counselors while a minority still had active peer components. The study clearly indicated the lack of utility for capping counseling services and found that the average use of uncapped services was less than the artificial ceilings the majority of organizations had placed upon the counseling that was allowed to be provided to employees. There was a lack of uniformity in terms of how utilization rates were calculated underscored by the finding that there were over 20 different definitions in use for what a case was. This is a clear example of the need for the EAP field to come together to develop agreement upon key empirical fundamentals for the profession. The study also discovered a drift away from essential program underpinnings including fewer joint labor-management committees to administer programs, less development of formal EAP policies to govern programs and fewer organizations engaging in new employee orientation and ongoing promotion and staff training.

Drawing upon the principles of employee assistance programs, a congregational assistance program was piloted in two churches: one urban and one rural in Ontario, Canada. The developmental processes of a faith-inclusive, external counseling service with no direct-cost user fees is discussed highlighting the distinct issues addressed by each congregation. Despite uncertainties, the use of the program for a range of personal issues exceeded utilization expectations with the program’s ease of access, confidentiality and lack of fees cited as significant factors.

This Canadian Public Service Employee Assistance Program (EAP) was initiated in 1990, and over the course of the past two decades since its implementation great changes have occurred in the public service and in EAP. In response a comprehensive process evaluation was conducted to determine if the current mandate, objectives, services, and processes were still meeting the needs of employees and if the EAP had the capacity to meet the future needs of the employees and organization. A mixed methods data collection approach was used in the evaluation including a comparative best practice literature review, a review of program utilization data, an online survey of employees and managers across the entire public service system, and a series of qualitative interviews with program stakeholders, members of the EAP Advisory Committee, EAP counselors, and employees who had used the program. As well a review of the current governance model and organization structure was undertaken. The evaluation data indicated that the existing EAP program was well integrated into the organization, well utilized, and generated high ratings of user satisfaction and helpfulness. Its governance structure included involvement and input from all key public sector stakeholders including the various public service unions. However, several areas for enhancement were also discovered specifically in terms of revising the EAP policy, providing 24-hour service and the need to further increase the program profile and visibility across the broad public sector.As well, it was assessed that additional resources would have to be allocated if the EAP staff were to fully address worksite education, early intervention, prevention, and wellness promotion to the extent desired by the stakeholders.

This Canadian Public Service Employee Assistance Program was initiated in 1990 and over the course of the past two decades since its implementation great changes have occurred in both the public service and in EAP. In response a comprehensive process evaluation was conducted to determine if the current mandate, objectives, services and processes were still meeting the needs of employees and if the EAP had the capacity to meet the future needs of the employees and organization.

A follow-up to Csiernik and Darnell’s (2010) exploratory study of Canadian EAP affiliates involved a convenience sample of 145 members of the Ontario Association of Social Workers who had on average 23.5 years of clinical experience and 11.5 years of EAP experience. Similar themes discovered issues found in the initial study were reported including: a lack of training or support when first hired and afterwards, not being allowed to inform clients that there was a ceiling on sessions allowed, having to request permission to allow seefor a case to proper case closure, not being able to continue to work with clients even if the client requested ongoing service and inadequate remuneration. However, there were also positive themes that arose including regular supervision for some affiliates, a range of interesting cases, freedom of hours, ability to build or supplement other parts of their private practice and working with a population that otherwise would not have accessed counselling services. What is evident is that several substantive dichotomies exist in the EAP field and that not only do future affiliates need to be educated on the strengths and limits of this practice domain but so do those responsible for procuring services for their workforces.