In the midst of a crisis, organisations have done a valiant job in addressing the mental health issues of their workforces.
Across every industry employee wellbeing has risen up the agenda, and it’s something that more and more businesses are choosing to focus on.
There are multiple reasons for this, ranging from the duty of care employers have, to the uplift that taking care of employee wellbeing has on business performance.
For instance, in 2021 more than 17.9 million workdays were lost in the UK to work-related stress, anxiety and depression, and this negatively affects the bottom line.
Our own research found that 40 per cent of staff turnover is due to stress. On the positive side, content, happy and enthusiastic workers are great for your profit margins; teams with high wellbeing are 21 per cent more profitable.
The unfortunate truth, however, is that just 15 per cent of teams around the world report being fully engaged with their employers, with a sizeable majority discontent or unhappy.
While it’s great to see employers prioritise mental health and a people-first attitude, it’s clear many companies still lack systems and tools to enable them to adequately support their teams.
Why mindfulness tools are often not the answer
Many employers are turning to digital solutions to help improve employee mental health.
However, with more than 325,000 health apps on the market, selecting the right one for your team is a challenge. And while user reviews can help somewhat, they don’t always link to security compliance, user engagement, or effectiveness.
For example, the Apple Store and Google Play have a number of mindfulness apps which all rank highly. While these are undoubtedly popular tools, mindfulness alone is not a mental health solution.
Apps that are solely focussed on practices such as mindfulness and meditation have a role for many people, but they are only one tool, and no single tool can support the diverse needs of diverse individuals across a diverse range of mental health conditions.
The reality is that mental health is a spectrum. Throughout our lifetimes many of us will experience mental health issues ranging from temporary periods of overwhelming stress to longer and more serious chronic conditions.
While mindfulness solutions can support some of those at the lower end of the spectrum, they will be insufficient to aid those who require more support, or are on the verge of crisis. Employers should consider tools that cover the diverse needs of their employees.
Making mental healthcare comprehensive
In order to make mental healthcare truly comprehensive and accessible to more employees, access, quality and cost-effectiveness must be addressed.
Deliverable at scale, digital therapeutics provide the best options for employers to address these three dimensions.
These have few barriers to access, no waiting lists, offer a strong alternative to face-to-face care and, crucially, offer more than just mindfulness. Further, these tools are both cost and time effective, as well as bespoke to the individual’s needs.
It’s imperative that these solutions are evidence based. This means that they must be supported by clinical scientific rationale, have an evidence base from clinical trials, and handle sensitive data securely.
At present, only around 3 per cent of solutions on the market have any evidence base to back them up.
Equally, 85 per cent of apps fall short on ORCHA’s criteria for data privacy, clinical assurance and user experience (ORCHA is a provider of independent and impartial reviews of health and care apps).
Employers should use expertise like ORCHA’s to help select the tools they deploy for employees.
Finally, beyond increasing access, the more we can move mental healthcare toward personalisation, the better chance we have of improving people’s behaviours and health over the long-term.
When employees can use their smartphones to access care discreetly via an app, they are more likely to access support and build healthier, long term habits.
When we put more control in the hands of the individual, and provided with the right tools, employees become empowered, self-directed and can be a part of delivering their own care and take positive steps to improve their own health.
HR leaders have taken real strides in addressing the mental health crisis which faces our nation.
With employees increasingly seeking companies that prioritise their mental wellbeing, now is the time to invest in comprehensive, bespoke digital health solutions that deliver care right across the mental health continuum.
Doing so will unlock full human potential and drive business performance.
