Workplace Assessment of Psycho-behavioural Barriers to Help-seeking
Deployed by organizations wanting to increase mental health help-seeking in the workplace, address inequalities in use of resources, and to achieve a healthier and more productive organization.
A significant return on investment can be achieved by building a mentally healthy and less psychologically stressed workplace. The opportunity to improve mental health and productivity at work exists at the employee level through the provision of EAPs and other workplace mental benefits/programs.
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It is however an unfortunate reality that many workers will not seek help in a time of need due to a number of psycho-behavioural barriers, such as perceptions of stigma towards mental health and seeking-help.
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For decision-makers at an organization it becomes a matter of identifying the most important barriers to help-seeking in the workplace such that they can be addressed.
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This is where StigmAssessment comes in.
StigmAssessment is an innovative workplace assessment of psycho-behavioural barriers to help-seeking with the following features:
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Identifies and prioritizes psycho-behavioural barriers in the workplace that are hindering mental health help-seeking, negatively impacting employee mental health and reducing productivity and work functioning.
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For any industry, sector, or jobs and organizations of different sizes.
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Provides useful information based on advanced statistical modelling for the prioritization of barriers that need to be addressed, and in which segment of the working population, in order to increase mental health help seeking.
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Provides findings that prompt organizational development and actions to reduce barriers and increase mental health help-seeking and employee self-determination.
Addressing inequalities in use of workplace mental health resources
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Inequalities in use of workplace mental health resources are common.
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Inequality in use of workplace mental health resources impedes the improvement of psychological health in the workforce and raises difficult issues, both practically and ethically.
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For example, male workers consistently underuse resources such as employee assistance programs (EAPs) despite reporting similar levels of mild/common mental health issues.
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Findings from StigmAssessment contribute to an employer's long-term goal of minimizing inequality in use of workplace mental health resources.
How it works
An online survey is deployed to all employees working at an organization or at a specific worksite. The invitations can be conducted by Workreach or by the organization.
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A questionnaire is deployed that assesses a number of factors that help better understand barriers to mental health help-seeking in the workplace, including:
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Mental heath treatment stigma (e.g., perceptions of stigma about seeking psychological help)
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EAP treatment stigma (e.g., perceptions of stigma about employee assistance programs; using our BETSS-4 measure)
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Other measures of mental health stigma and help-seeking (there are many!)
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Other psycho-behavioural measures (e.g., biases, assumptions, motivations, beliefs, and values)
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Other factors (e.g., free time, work-life balance, resources, social support)
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Comprehensive demographic and socioeconomic assessment
The mental health, job stress levels, as well as work functioning (presenteeism, engagement, productivity) of workers is also assessed, as well as tendencies towards turnover and disability using innovative tools. Information on previous and likely use of workplace mental health resources is also collected. All responses are kept anonymous and no personality identifiable information is collected by Workreach Lab.
Identification of Important Barriers to Help-seeking: Analyses & Reporting
Our approach uses advanced statistical analyses and modelling to identify and prioritize psycho-behavioural barriers to help-seeking in ways that, if addressed, will increase use of workplace mental programs/benefits (or other private/public resources) in a time of need, as well as help to address existing inequalities in use. We also determine which segments of workers at your organization are facing the most barriers to help-seeking.
Options
Workreach Lab offers different types of workplace assessment services that can accommodate a wide range of clients. Each service ranks and prioritizes the barriers to help-seeking that should be addressed by an organization, but differ in the comprehensiveness of analyses and prioritization approaches. For more information and for pricing inquiries:
