While most workplaces offer mental health support on paper, the real challenge — and opportunity — lies in delivering the right help, at the right time, to those who need it most.
Recent research shows that between 79% and 88% of UK employers provide access to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), and 40% offer Private Medical Insurance (PMI). Yet absenteeism and presenteeism persist — and in many cases, the six sessions of counselling typically provided through EAPs are simply not enough.
Recently, Shamira Graham, Chief Commercial Officer, Onebright, sponsored a webinar. Here she elaborates on some of the far-ranging questions that were raised by the highly engaged webinar audience.
If you’re finding that the support available through your EAP or PMI falls short of meeting employees’ needs, you can access the recording of the webinar to understand how to address this ‘gap’ and find responses to some of these questions that were given by the other panels during the webinar here.
Q: Would Private Medical Insurance (PMIs) not cover mental health requirements?
If you are lucky enough to have PMI, then the answer would be yes. We know that only 12% of the population in the UK have got access to private medical insurers. That means a significant section of even large corporate workforces, don’t have this access. We also know SMEs typically don’t have as much provision as potentially large corporate organisations. So, when we’re talking about this notion of the gap, it’s about individuals who have got unmet mental health needs.
So, on the surface. Yes, if you’ve got PMI, this could be the solution. But equally we know here at Onebright, that is not reaching all the people that it needs to in terms of corporate mental health.
Q: Do you have any suggestions on subject specific support for staff?
We can offer several support pathways – gender health, menopause, andropause (male menopause) as an example, rumination, worry, mental health, awareness – across the whole mental health continuum. Our services can normalise when people are experiencing huge amounts of change, making sure that they are very clear about what pathways are available to them, how to access and reinforce that messaging.
It is important that as an organisation you broadcast your provision. Engagement rates are probably not where they need to be, so I say to businesses, be creative, and think about how you can support your staff through these periods of change now, whatever sector you might be in.
Q: How do you deal with language barriers?
From a Onebright perspective we have a large network of 3500 clinicians plus 150 clinicians employed, offering support in 49 languages. So, if there are any specific requests, then we can facilitate and we have managed to meet all language needs, and any additional accessibility needs.
Q: What is the panel’s opinion on mental health first aiders in an organisation?
I think mental health first aiders have their part to play. I think they can be a very effective way of stating an intention for an organisation that mental health is being taken seriously within the organisation. I personally train mental health first aiders. We know that from an evidence-based perspective the value comes in ongoing maintenance – training and creating peer support sessions on a very regular basis. So, if an individual has got a space with which to share with a mental health first aider, then they have a role to play.
But the danger is when people only invest in mental health first aiders and then when they exceed their remit, or their scope. They need to be clear about where they need to signpost and access more clinically professional support.
Q: You talk about the whole person services, and not everyone might get to a point to require psychotherapy, etc. or you want to intervene before they reach clinical severity from a prevention perspective. Are you offering health and wellbeing, coaching.to support the individuals at home as well as at work?
We all know that what happens before and after work can have an impact on a person’s productivity at work. There is obviously a place for wellness in terms of diet, sleep and exercise. At Onebright we don’t offer coaching. That isn’t what Onebright does. It’s a clinical organisation. What we offer is evidence-based training and early intervention and prevention solutions.
We would direct people to explore these via self-directed resources and high-quality psychoeducation. When we’re thinking about the ‘gap’ that’s about people that have got compromised mental ill health or ill health which are struggling to access the services that they need to at the time that they need to.
Q: At what point should an organisation bring in Onebright or a clinical solution? Is it when someone has the needs, or should it be part of a well-being strategy?
I would say both. We recently launched a Onebright rapid access service which gives an employer the option to refer one employee or multiple referrals. We sit behind all the private medical insurers, group income protection, EAP, etc. And so, we receive, for example, some of those providers send us 150 patients a day. But what we realised is there is this ‘gap’. So, we’ve now created a service where you can send us one patient or equally hundreds.
Q: Some PMIs only help through their EAP, but then the EAP side fails to support, and individuals must go privately for their needs to be met. Should PMIs offer support where the individual has a choice of where to go?
Some people can go to the end of their provision and then choose to self-fund or go to the end of their provision, and then we can help facilitate a referral into statutory services. So, I would say, just come and have a chat with us, and we can see if we can help on that specific point as well to make a better joined up pathway.
We work directly with PMIs and corporates, as well as cash plans. So, we are happy to have a discussion around that and try and unpick that for you. Please reach out to commercial@onebright.com and we arrange a call.
