The importance of workforce mental health maintenance

In recent years, we’ve made significant progress in promoting mental health and reducing stigma. More people recognize the signs and symptoms in themselves and others, feel comfortable discussing them, and are willing to seek support. They also overwhelmingly prefer workplaces that prioritize mental health and wellbeing.

At the same time, misunderstandings persist, and symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression continue to impact individuals’ mental health and wellbeing. And, despite providers’ and plan sponsors’ best efforts, many people still don’t know what care they need, how to access it or what their insurance covers. 

Employers play a key role in addressing these challenges. More employees are using mental health benefits for everyday support and clinical care. When they do, they’re more likely to maintain their overall health and wellness, which also enhances workplace culture, productivity and engagement.

An important yet often overlooked solution lies in prevention. By investing in a culture that supports mental health, providing resources for early interventions and guiding employees to appropriate care, employers can help employees and their dependents manage symptoms before crises arise. This mental health maintenance approach safeguards wellbeing and helps control costs. Let’s look at what this means and how it can be implemented effectively.

First, it’s important to cultivate a supportive workplace culture. By integrating mental health and wellbeing into the foundation of the work environment, organizations empower their employees to care for themselves and one another.

Tips for supporting mental health

• Encourage leadership to promote mental health and wellbeing, such as through town halls, emails and intranet articles. When leaders prioritize mental health and share their own experiences, it gives employees the confidence to do the same.
• Set expectations for work-life balance, such as by encouraging employees to check out when their workday ends, use vacation time and stay home when sick or in need of a break. 
• Promote stress management by encouraging employees to take breaks. Also encourage mindful practices, like being present, spending time with nature and having meeting-free time to focus. 
• Create safe spaces for employees to connect and support one another, such as through employee resource groups. Voluntary, employee-led groups that focus on diversity and shared experiences help foster a sense of community, belonging and understanding. 
• Regularly share mental health resources to raise awareness. For example, send monthly updates when new engagement toolkits with articles, trainings and tips become available on optumwellbeing.com. 
• Ask for feedback, such as through surveys and other methods, to learn what support employees find most helpful. This will help you prioritize resources. 
• Highlight observances like Mental Health Awareness Month, Recovery Month and World Mental Health Day to show support. For example, distribute flyers in common areas and post content on internal platforms and social media as appropriate.

Next, it’s important to offer a full suite of behavioral health and wellbeing offerings that meet the continuum of mental health needs. Population data shows that most people who use mental health benefits have low-severity symptoms, covering a wide range of mental health concerns. Overall, they function well in their daily lives and seek help navigating life’s ups and downs. For example, they may look for resources to manage mild stress and anxiety, practice self-care or cope with a challenging event. 

With increasing mental health awareness, more employees are seeking support earlier and opting for therapy, likely because it is the most familiar option. While clinical care is essential for diagnosing and treating mental illness, most individuals with mild symptoms do not require this clinical intervention. 

A different approach would be more effective and cost-efficient. In these cases, individuals may benefit from a variety of evidence-based resources, tools and services that help them prevent, reduce and manage stress and other mild symptoms, while coping with everyday life.

At Optum, we embed a wide range of tools and offerings in our portfolio of mental health solutions to help ensure our clients can offer their employees the support they need, when they need it. 

These include: 

• A premium subscription to the Calm app for all eligible employees and members, at no added cost to the employee. Calm is the top-rated wellness app for managing stress, improving sleep and living mindfully.³
  
  
• Digital and telephonic real-time assistance with navigating available benefits, tailored to individual needs, as well as in-the-moment emotional and crisis support from specialists.
  
  
• Behavioral health coaching services for adults, youth and families, with personalized support in managing mental health concerns and coping with life’s challenges.

At Optum, we are committed to making it easier for employers to connect employees to the right level of care across a full range of behavioral health solutions. Our approach is built on a foundation of:

• Creating access to care
• Guiding and supporting members every step of the way
• Improving the value of the care offered

We also deliberately infuse health literacy into everything we do, so people better understand the language of mental health, the benefits available to them, what to expect when they engage in benefits such as coaching or therapy, and how to get the help they need.