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EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS: WHAT ARE THE DISADVANTAGES?

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Considering an EAP? Learn more about the disadvantages of EAPs and how Modern
Health could be a powerful alternative.

Modern Health



Your employees are your organization's biggest asset. Yet, they may not perform
to the best of their abilities when facing difficult work conditions that can
lead to increased burnout and stress. By providing employees with mental health
benefits, employers can ensure they are adequately supporting their employees,
mitigating stress and burnout, and helping them to perform their best.

A common way to provide employees with mental health support is through employee
assistance programs (EAPs) which have been the dominant model of employee mental
health benefits since the 1970s. Defined as a work-based program designed to
identify and assist employees in resolving personal problems that may adversely
affect their performance at work, EAPs typically provide short-term counseling
services for specific issues. While EAPs may have been useful in the past, they
are no longer an effective model of care.

With low utilization, long wait times to see a provider, and inconsistent
provider quality, employee assistance programs can create barriers to care
access even when utilized. Since the value of mental health benefits for the
modern workforce cannot be overstated, it's important for employers to
understand where EAPs fall short and learn how they can enhance or replace their
current benefit offerings.


WHAT ARE THE DISADVANTAGES OF EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS?

To bolster employee retention strategies, many companies are beginning to
recognize the value of mental health benefits. While EAPs are advertised as
mental health benefits for employees, they have many limitations that lead to
poor adoption rates among employees and a poor ROI for employers. These are some
of the biggest disadvantages of employee assistance programs.

‍


PERCEPTION AS CRISIS-ORIENTED

Employees typically view EAPs as a resource to use once they’re already at risk.
While most EAPs can provide employees with crisis support, they may not be
effective in preventing or managing burnout or other mental health concerns.
Although it's vital to ensure that employees have access to crisis interventions
such as 24-hour hotlines and crisis treatment for life-threatening emergencies,
employees need support for a range of mental health needs to address concerns
before they become a crisis. This is why providing multiple modalities of care
is crucial as it can help reduce the amount of time that employees wait before
seeking care.

Finally, when it comes to crisis support, EAPs may be less effective in getting
members to connect with longer term care options (through their own counseling),
since members do not receive personalized matches to providers.


UNAVAILABLE PROVIDERS


The limited amount of providers available through EAPs can be a challenge for
employers. According to the National Council of Mental Wellbeing, "the average
wait time to access  mental health support is about six weeks. If you're looking
for a specialist in a certain area or with specific attributes, wait times can
stretch into months."

These long wait times expose employees to additional risks that can negatively
impact their personal and professional lives. When evaluating a mental health
benefits vendor or solution, employers should inquire about the average wait
time to see a certified provider to ensure their employees will be able to
receive care whenever they need it. As a benchmark, members receives
personalized provider match options within minutes of signing up and have a <1
day average time to first-available session.
‍


INCONSISTENT PROVIDER QUALITY & EFFECTIVENESS

Another challenge with EAPs is the inconsistent quality of care that employees
experience. This is due to the lack of vetting and the lack of training that
providers receive on evidence-based interventions. This poor quality treatment
can result in poor clinical outcomes which can leave employees feeling
vulnerable and frustrated. Additionally not every EAP provider may be trained to
work with a variety of populations which can place the burden on an employee to
find the right care for their needs.

Lastly, beliefs and values influence how we think, speak, behave, and interact.
We experience different cultures based on our identities at the individual,
team, organization, and societal levels. These shape how we interpret and
experience others. Thus the integration of culture into mental health care
delivery is vital for effective mental health support and is guided by 4 key
concepts (Zayas et al., 1996): 

1) Awareness of culture 

2) Knowledge of cultural aspects of an individual, group, couple, family,
community, or organizational experience

3) Understanding of the difference between culture and markers of distress

4) Ability to integrate these concepts into service delivery


EAPs might not employ diverse providers or those trained in culturally centered
diagnoses and interventions which can impact the outcomes that employees are
able to achieve.



LIMITED CARE OPTIONS



A typical EAP benefit provides eight or fewer counseling sessions per mental
health “issue.” Depending on the program, these may be delivered by phone or
in-person. Recently, EAPs introduced video counseling, but their success with
this model hasn’t been fully evaluated. Yet here is no one-size-fits all
solution for mental health and well-being. Individuals engage in their mental
health differently -- whether that means listening to meditations, texting with
a coach, meeting with a therapist in-person, or consuming digital content that
helps rewire the brain. While one individual may benefit from working with a
specialized coach, another may want to do self-guided care from their phone. We
are the first solution to cover the full spectrum of mental well-being needs
through a single platform that meets everyone where they are in their mental
health journey, which is not the experience that EAPs offer.

‍


LIMITED DATA AND REPORTING

Since EAPs have disjointed systems, there is a lack of reporting for employers
on adoption, engagement, and if the services are beneficial to employees. This
makes it challenging for employers to find a way to get accurate data to reflect
a true ROI. 

Such cloudy data can make it impossible for an organization to understand how
well the investment pays off clearly. Without insights that allow employers to
effectively manage access to care and extend timely targeted support to the
workforce, organizations have a limited view of the ROI of their benefits.

When choosing employer-provided benefits that support your employees' mental
health and well-being, it's important to consider if the services provided are
robust enough to meet the needs of a diverse workforce. Mental health benefits
beyond traditional therapy can break down barriers to care, help create an
inclusive workplace, and provide employees with various services that support
mental well-being to prevent mental health concerns in the future. 

Mental health benefits are only effective to the degree they are used. Employers
rarely see a sizeable return on investment when they provide benefits that
suffer from low adoption rates. 

Although employers frequently provide EAPs as a form of mental health benefits,
there are more comprehensive mental health benefits available for employees.
Finding the right employer-sponsored mental health benefits for your employees
can help you improve performance and increase retention. If you don't think an
EAP meets these challenges, it might be time to look for a modern solution to
employee mental health benefits. 

Finding high-quality benefits that support employee mental health and provide a
measurable ROI isn't easy. We're here to help. Contact the professionals at
Modern Health to learn more about mental health benefits that meet various
needs.

‍

MODERN HEALTH

Modern Health is the comprehensive mental wellness platform that combines the
WHO well-being assessment, self-service wellness kits, an international network
of certified coaches, and licensed therapists available in 35 languages all in a
single app. Modern Health empowers employers to lead the charge in acknowledging
that mental health is just as important as physical health, de-stigmatizing the
conversation, and increasing accessibility of mental health services for all.




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650 California St Floor 7, San Francisco, CA 94108 Office 07-128

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