Christine Husbands, managing director for RedArc says: “A political manifesto without reference to mental health would have been badly judged in this day and age, so we’re pleased to see that all the major parties are treating this issue with the attention that it deserves and promoting equality for mental and physical health.
“We believe that employers now need to follow suit in the way they treat employees who suffer with mental health conditions, such as anxiety, chronic depression, stress, PTSD & trauma, psychosis & schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In fact, a major part of some parties’ approach to the treatment of mental health will be via employers – so organisations would be wise to get their ducks in a row sooner rather than later.”
Employees who do not have access to mental health support via their employers’ insurances, have to navigate the NHS system. Even with the proposed investments from each political party, this will take some time – often meaning a potentially longer spell of absence from work – which can stretch finances, and add to pressures for the individual.
Early intervention is key in supporting employees with mental health conditions. In fact research from RedArc based on two widely-used mental health screening tools (PHQ9 and GAD7*), demonstrates how patients can recover to normal mood levels if their symptoms are nipped in the bud and not allowed to become progressively worse in the wait for treatment:
- With early-intervention programmes (usually via EAP, health insurance or group risk products):
- eight out of ten patients saw a reduction in both their PHQ9 and GAD7 scores, equating to their condition improving
- the average reduction in the score for both tests was over 50 per cent
- 70 per cent of patients recovered to normal mood levels within three to four months
Husbands concluded: “Many employers simply don’t offer any support for staff with these conditions but they need to wake up and smell the coffee: employers really need to have a duty of care towards the people that work for them day-in day-out – it needs to become socially unacceptable for organisations to not care about the welfare and wellbeing of its staff. And if having a social conscience isn’t enough of a catalyst, then they should take action, if only to protect themselves against prolonged periods of staff absence.
“Some employers may have schemes in place but, with other priorities in the business, they may not be successfully promoting the schemes, and a lack of communication usually equates to a lack of take-up.
“A little less conversation and a little more action is now required on the part of employers to make a significant difference to the mental health of staff – and a good first step would be in creating a business manifesto or pledge about what that looks like.”