Behavioral health risk management represents an opportunity for EAPs to better manage the behavioral health risks of employees and of the work organization. There are many tools and case studies to learn from in this quest. Applied research findings and resources are discussed.

This session will provide attendees with key points determined from the presenter’s review of the scholarly and applied grey literature on the financial and business value that full-service employee assistance programs (EAPs) can provide to their purchaser organizations. A conceptual model describes the unique dual value of EAPs in supporting both the worker and the overall workplace through activities that function to improve behavioral health risk management efforts of the company. Examples of ROI and VOI are provided from industry data and applied research.

As the demand has soared for workplace mental health support since the COVID-19 pandemic, billions of dollars of venture capital have flowed into many companies that are relatively new to this global market. These providers sell a mix of digital Apps and internet platforms. This presentation critically reviews the marketing trends that mischaracterize much of what EAPs do, how they are used, and how effective they are. It’s time to fact-check this propaganda against the decades of professionalism and research in our field. The evidence shows the true business value of employee assistance when properly delivered. Results of a 2023 survey of EAP providers in South Africa is featured.

That’s one of the more challenging situations Kelly Bunting has seen managers try to navigate when political discourse in the workplace—whether about an upcoming election, a Supreme Court ruling or a social protest—has gotten out of hand. Such situations can occur at a physical or remote office, a company function, or a social outing with colleagues after work hours. Bunting, a shareholder with Greenberg Traurig LLP in Philadelphia, says she’s never seen anything like the number or volatility of political debates in workplaces in recent years. “Employees feel much more comfortable voicing their opinions on everything, including politics, even at work,” Bunting says. “I think norms regarding respect for different opinions have also weakened, and employees will [now] say something out loud [when] before they may have just walked away. It seems it’s growing harder for managers to prevent these conflicts.” In SHRM's 2022 Politics at Work Study, 20 percent of HR professionals agreed there was greater political volatility at work than there was three years earlier. SHRM found that nearly a quarter of U.S. workers (24 percent) have personally experienced political affiliation bias, including preferential treatment or undue negative treatment based on their political positions or opinions, compared to 12 percent of U.S. workers in 2019. “It doesn’t have to be clearly over the line for a lot of people to say, ‘I’m fed up with this person, and I won't deal with them anymore,’ ” says Stephen Paskoff, a former litigator with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and author of multiple books on political discussions at work. “I started as a congressional intern in college, worked in D.C., and this is as intense as I recall it ever being. And I grew up in the ’60s. It’s not just, ‘Are you Republican or Democrat?’ It’s ‘What do you think about abortion, affirmative action, DE&I, gun control, gender identification?’ There are so many issues wound up in our politics, and none of them is just casual.”

The sudden explosion of COVID-19 in early 2020 turned life upside down almost overnight. Lockdowns induced forced isolation, and employees transformed into either remote workers or essential, front-line workers at high risk of exposure to the coronavirus. As offices have reopened, remote work has been heralded as one positive outcome of the pandemic and as a solution to some of the ailments of Americans’ fast-paced lifestyles. While technologies such as videoconferencing and instant messaging have supported productivity, the reduction in unscheduled social interactions has the potential to harm employee well-being and engagement. While remote work can improve job satisfaction, it can also contribute to feelings of isolation, which in turn can lead to more serious conditions. Employees who are chronically lonely in the workplace receive poorer supervisor ratings of their job performance and have weaker feelings of emotional commitment to their employer. Ironically, although these employees crave social interaction, they also tend to distance themselves from co- workers, potentially undercutting workgroup collaboration. In addition, they miss an average of 15 more days of work per year than their nonlonely co-workers. Given these potential implications for the workplace, SHRM Research sought to explore the prevalence of employee loneliness and the importance of social interactions from the perspectives of both HR professionals and U.S. workers. There is a common perception of a permanent restructuring of the workplace in the wake of the pandemic. Findings from SHRM’s current study bear out these reports. Both HR professionals and U.S. workers reported similar degrees of change between December 2019 and December 2022. Whereas around 9 in 10 workplaces were almost entirely in-person before the pandemic, some 7 in 10 are now. Paralleling this decline are increases in the percentage of employers whose workers are permanently hybrid or remote. These shifts have potential implications for the nature of interactions among co-workers. A recent Morning Consult report suggested other implications as well. While 63% of workers in that study currently work in person, only 46% agreed this is their preferred work location, suggesting a sizable percentage of onsite workers want more work flexibility than their employers provide. Employees’ biggest reasons for preferring onsite work were being more productive in the office and maintaining greater separation between their work and personal lives.

You’ll see physician suicide statistics published online, or perhaps you’ll even hear them in conversations around you, but statistics don’t have the same impact as hearing a personal story. In late 2019, Dr. Matthew Gall was one of those physicians who tragically died by suicide, leaving his family and friends reeling to understand what happened. By all accounts Dr. Gall was a lover of life and happy guy. His suicide was an unexpected, heartbreaking and traumatizing event for his family and friends, that they continue to cope with today. This interview with Betsy Gall, Matthew’s wife, shares their story, the impact his death has had on their lives, and what they hope to accomplish by sharing it.

On March 1, 2022, President Biden announced his administration’s strategy to address our nation’s mental health crisis as outlined in the 2022 Presidential Unity Agenda. This national mental health strategy seeks to strengthen system capacity, connect more Americans to care, and create a continuum of support –transforming our health and social services infrastructure to address mental health holistically and equitably. A primary goal outlined within this strategy is accelerating the universal adoption, recognition, and integration of the peer mental health workforce across all elements of the healthcare system. This included the development and implementation of a national certification program for mental health peer specialists1. To meet this goal, SAMHSA collaborated with federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local partners including peer specialists to develop the National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification, inclusive of substance use, mental health, and family peer certifications. These National Model Standards closely align with the needs of the behavioral health (peer) workforce, and subsequently, the over-arching goal of the national mental health strategy. SAMHSA acknowledges the nuances across the peer workforce and the communities being served, as states often reflect needs that are unique to their community within a certification. Further, SAMHSA’s National Model Standards for Peer Support Certification are not intended as a substitute for any state certifications but instead have been developed as guidance for states, territories, tribes, and others, to promote quality and encourage alignment and reciprocity across often disparate state peer support certifications. Since the 2015 release of the SAMHSA’s Core Competencies for Peer Workers in Behavioral Health Services2, the peer workforce has flourished, resulting in the implementation of state-endorsed or state-run peer certification programs across 49 out of 50 states3. The National Model Standards are designed to accelerate universal adoption, recognition, and integration of the peer workforce, and strengthen the foundation set by the peer workforce, reinforced by the Core Competencies, and implemented by our state, local, and tribal partners.

In 2020, Congress designated the new 988 dialing code to operate through the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the lead federal agency, in partnership with the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Veterans Affairs, working to make the promise of 988 a reality for America. Moving to a 3-digit dialing code is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to strengthen and expand the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (the Lifeline). Of course, 988 is more than just an easy-to-remember number—it is a direct connection to compassionate, accessible care and support for anyone experiencing mental health related distress – whether that is thoughts of suicide, mental health or substance use crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress. Preparing for full 988 implementation requires a bold vision for a crisis care system that provides direct, life-saving services to all in need. In pursuit of this bold yet achievable vision, SAMHSA is first focused on strengthening and expanding the existing Lifeline network, providing life-saving service to all who call, text or chat via 988. Longer term, SAMHSA recognizes that linking those in crisis to community-based providers—who can deliver a full range of crisis care services— is essential to meeting crisis needs across the nation.