TELUS Health explains how it can enhance total wellbeing of employees and their families
This article was provided by TELUS Health.
How would you rate your mental health today on a scale of 1 to 10? One being in crisis and 10 being incredible.
It’s likely that very few of us would rate ourselves at the top end.
“I’m seeing higher levels of burnout and unhealthy coping strategies,” says Dr. Matthew Chow, Psychiatrist and Chief Mental Health Officer at TELUS Health. “In the workplace,” he adds, “this can mean higher levels of absenteeism, and ‘presenteeism’, which means that people come to work, but can’t operate efficiently.”
Today’s workforce juggles so many competing priorities in the office and at home (often the same place, these days), and it’s common that stresses from one seep into the other.
This is partly why most employers are putting more focus on – and resources into – employee mental health and its link to productivity and profit.
Around 1 in 3 Canadians are at a high risk for a mental health issue such as depression, anxiety or addiction, and more than 50% of employees are experiencing burnout according to a recent TELUS Health mental health index.
These statistics have obvious negative implications for the people behind the numbers. But without proper management, employers and our society at large, too, stand to suffer.
With 500,000 Canadians missing work due to stress or mental illness every week, not only is supporting employee health the right thing to do, but it’s essential for the success of your business.
An organisation answers the call
The good news is that employers are well positioned to play a leading role in supporting employee health. The 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer found that employees want employers to model healthy work-life boundaries, and expect them to support and protect their wellbeing. In fact, a third of Canadian workers said that wellbeing support was a key factor when applying for a new job.
Even better news? Employers can tap into valuable and personalised resources to better enable them to prioritise the health and wellbeing of their people.
As a recognized global health and wellbeing leader, TELUS Health is a trusted partner in the workplace health space, working with organisations around the world to help enhance the total wellbeing of employees and their families, and providing services that support physical, financial and mental health.
TELUS Health entered the health care space nearly 15 years ago to transform the way people access and interact with health care services. In 2022 they acquired a leading employee assistance program (EAP) and pension and benefits provider LifeWorks in order to better serve employers with an enhanced portfolio of services designed to support total employee wellbeing.
Challenges for employers
When it comes to supporting mental health, choosing effective employee wellbeing tools can be a challenge for employers. The right solutions provide employees with custom support and ease of access.
Personalisation is key because where someone sits on the mental health continuum varies from one employee to the next – and often from one day to the next. “A continuum of care means that every person at every point has access to the right type and level of care for them,” says Paula Allen, Global Leader, Research & Client Insights, TELUS Health.
Allen also stresses the need for a single front door into a system of care, emphasising the challenges employers and employees face managing a multitude of services.
“Both employees and employers have made it clear that the fragmentation of counselling, behavioural health services, and medical reimbursement creates problems of confusion, frustration and undue gaps in support,” she says. “When we address fragmentation, we improve service, adoption and health outcomes.”
Holistic mental health support for today’s employees
TELUS Health offers a one-stop shop for employers looking to support total wellbeing across the continuum of care.
Total Mental Health – their innovative solution for workforce mental health – provides employees with immediate and unlimited counselling that is available 24/7 and 365 days a year.
“Unlimited access to personalised support that can be designed and accessed at any time in many different ways is the innovative approach we need to help employers support employees who are struggling” says Dr. Chow. Critically, the counselling can be accessed in an individual’s preferred format: in-person, virtually, over the phone, or through chat.
Personalization is further enhanced by “care navigators” who are available to employees – at their fingertips – day or night. The job of a care navigator is to ensure that every employee has a care plan that allows them to get the individual support they need, when and where they need it most. These experts are also there to help users gain access to other clinicians, services and to make benefits-use easier to understand.
Global expertise
The company is trusted by HR leaders like AnneMarie Mercer, Chief People Officer at Walmart Canada, who emphasises the ease of access the solution provides:
”We’re making the experience of accessing health and wellbeing support easier and personalised; helping to ensure our associates' needs are met at the time they need it most, without having to remember ten different phone numbers, or 10 different points of access.”
Powered by employees and an extensive network of thousands of diverse healthcare professionals, TELUS Health combines the strength of its team and technology to deliver results to its clients – currently covering 67 million lives around the globe in more than 160 countries.