Evaluating Benefit Equity in Outcomes Among Users of an Employee Assistance Program

Abstract

In the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) field “benefit equity” refers to the equitable distribution of benefits among the different types of employees covered by an assistance program. Despite variations in client characteristics that could modify counseling outcomes and produce benefit inequity, outcomes studies in the EAP field generally evaluate the overall effectiveness of services with the implicit assumption of having similar effects across all users. This article discusses the importance and relevance of evaluating benefit equity in outcomes among users of an EAP in addition to overall effectiveness, and reports on findings from an analysis based on data collected from workers (n = 249) who used counseling services of an employee assistance program provided by a Canadian vendor. The findings were supportive of the existence of benefit equity in problem resolution among users of the counseling services, which provided up to 12 sessions per year. None of the demographic attributes of the EAP clients modified the extent of problem resolution (i.e., benefit) reported after file closure. Benefit equity analyses can be adapted for use with other service offerings, evaluation methodologies, and intervention outcomes/measures. Benefit equity in outcomes could also serve as an additional factor for purchasers to take into account when selecting an EAP.