Transcript Underutilization of Employee Assistance Programs: An untapped resource Workplace Health Promotion Aimee Grigsby, MEd, CHES Department of Health Promotion & Behavior, College of Public Health, University of Georgia EAP Methods Background Objective Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) offer a tremendous service to the workforce when.

Underutilization of Employee Assistance Programs:
An untapped resource
Workplace
Health
Promotion
Aimee Grigsby, MEd, CHES
Department
of
Health
Promotion
&
Behavior,
College
of
Public
Health,
University
of
Georgia
EAP
Methods
Background
Objective
Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) offer a
tremendous service to the workforce when utilized;
however, employees do not seek out the resources
provided by EAP. As seen in Figure 1, EAP programs are
not at a minimum, yet the rate of usage is at a steady
decline.
The objective of this study was to examine the rates of
EAP utilization and ascertain the reasons for usage and
the lack of usage.
Annual data are reported on employed individuals regarding the
use of EAP. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted for the fiscal
year 2007/2008 report (N=88).
Anonymous data were analyzed on individuals seeking out EAP
resources via telephone, face-to-face, or intranet mediums. The
reasons for seeking out EAP resources were recorded as well.
Results
From 2007 to 2010 the rate of depression in the
workforce has increased from 7% to 9.4%.1
EAP is able to identify and treat behavioral and related
health problems that may affect this increase in
depression.
Stress was the number one source of concern for 24% of
users.
Figure 1: Employers offering an employee assistance
plan in 2009, by employer size.2
Metal health was the second leading source of concern for
21% of users.
100
93%
Figure 2: EAP Sources of Concern
The leading source of referral was a family member.
EAP Programs (%)
60
Legal/Financial 5%
The age group that most utilized EAP was 26-35 years of
age with 33%.
67%
70
Parent/Child 4%
Grief/Loss 3%
51%
50
Mental Health
Problems 21%
Family Life Issues
18%
Marital Issues 15%
Parent/child 5%
90
80
Stress 24%
36%
40
Conclusion
30
20
10%
10
Figure 3: EAP Models
0
10 to 49
50 to 199
200 to 499
500 to
19,999
≥ 20,000
Size (Number of employees)
References
1Bender,
A., & Farvolden, P. (2010). Depression and the workplace: A progress report.
Current Psychiatry Reports, 10, 73-79.
2Teich
JM, Buck JF: Evaluating employee assistance programs. Eval Prog Planning 5:255267, 2009.
3Roman
PM, Blum TC: Formal intervention in employee health: comparisons of the nature
and structure of employee assistance programs and health promotion campaigns. Soc Sci
Med 26(5):503-514, 1988.
There is a critical need for mental health services that can be
found within EAP.
88 of 2,000 employees took advantage of EAP in 2007.
The rate of underutilization is staggering when mental health
issues are EAP top reported concerns and the rate of depression in
the workplace is climbing.
Concentrated efforts to bridge workplace health promotion with
EAP should be implemented, and a closer look at the existing
models of EAP should be conducted to determine if the widely
used approaches are the most suitable. (Figure 3)3
External EAP; Independent
40%
Internal; Staff-provided
services 29%
Internal EAP; Vendorcontracted 24%
External EAP; Managed care
services 7%