APA Educates Employers on Value Of Mentally Healthy Workforce

Why is it important to provide mental health resources for employees? How will it really affect our company's bottom line? These are just some of the questions that the National Partnership for Workplace Mental Health routinely addresses with employers around the country.

The National Partnership for Workplace Mental Health is a public education program of the American Psychiatric Foundation in collaboration with APA and America's employers. The workplace partnership, founded in 2001, develops and supports educational efforts for employers to generate a better understanding of the benefits of a mentally healthy workforce, early recognition of mental disorders, effective treatment, and appropriate access to quality mental health care. The workplace partnership also serves as a forum for partners to share innovative strategies for addressing mental health issues.

Among its founding partners are large companies such as AT&T, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, and Dow Chemical; business organizations including the Society for Human Resource Management and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; and government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The workplace partnership was created because businesses purchase 50 percent of all health care in the United States and also influence federal, state, and local government purchasing. Thus, employers have the ability to leverage their buying power to improve the mental health of employees and their families.

Research shows that when companies invest in their employees' mental health, the bottom line improves through decreased physical health care costs, reduced short- and long-term disability costs, and lower absenteeism rates. The return on investment is even more dramatic when productivity gains are factored in. Healthy employees mean increased productivity and effectiveness for businesses. An economic analysis comparing depression treatment costs with lost productivity costs found that 45 percent to 98 percent of treatment costs were offset by increased productivity, according to R.C. Kessler and colleagues in “Depression in the Workplace: Effects on Short-Term Disability,” published in Health Affairs in 1999. There is indeed a “business case for providing quality mental health care.”

Since the program's inception, the workplace partnership has successfully created print and Web-based educational material and resources for employers and employees including a brochure related to disasters that has been distributed to nearly a million employees. The workplace partnership has also co-developed a highly successful quarterly newsletter, Mental HealthWorks, which reaches 26,000 business leaders and psychiatrists.

The workplace partnership is working with the National Business Coalition on Health to survey business coalitions across the country regarding their attitudes toward, interest in, and activities related to mental health issues. The survey results will directly inform program activities and the development of educational materials.

In addition, the workplace partnership recently joined with APA to introduce an exciting new tool to raise awareness of depression in the workplace. The Depression Calculator is an online tool at<www.depressioncalculator.com> (see page 30) that enables employers to estimate the costs and productivity savings they could reap if employees suffering from depression receive effective treatment. The workplace partnership, along with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Institute of Health and Productivity Management, the Mid-America Coalition on Healthcare, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, is publicizing the availability of this tool to employers.

The workplace partnership is part of a growing stable of programs and activities in the American Psychiatric Foundation. As a charitable and educational subsidiary of APA, the foundation's mission is to advance public understanding that mental illnesses are real and can be effectively treated. The foundation is entirely supported by private contributions, which fund initiatives that are making unique and important contributions to psychiatry, such as the workplace partnership.

To receive a free subscription to Mental HealthWorks, send an e-mail to [email protected] with “free subscription” in the subject line. In the body of the e-mail, include your mailing address, phone number, and specify whether you would like to receive the publication by mail or e-mail.

To learn more about the National Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, please visit<www.workplacementalhealth.org> or contact its director, Clare Miller, by phone at (703)-907-8673 or by e-mail at [email protected]. Information about the foundation, including details for donating, are posted at<www.psychfoundation.org>.

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