Canada Life is offering a new mental wellbeing app to all workplace protection policyholders.
The app – known as myStrength – will be available to all employees, and family members, of companies who have a group income protection or group critical illness plan. Employees do not have to covered on the policy to access the app, and this service is available at no additional cost, for either the employer or employee.
Canada Life says this app, which will be available to almost 3m employees, offers a ‘bespoke and intuitive’ service to users. The service is powered by Teladoc Health and is designed to support individuals, based on specific needs. Employees can communicate directly with a qualified wellbeing guide on a one-to-one basis, who are on hand to provide personalised practical tips and advice.
Employees also have the option to learn from hundreds of evidence-based activities at their own pace — from guided meditation to improving sleep — helping them make small changes to improve their mental wellbeing and emotional resilience.
Canada Life sales director Dan Crook says: “With a growing demand for mental health support in the UK, it’s important that employers have the tools in place to support employees – not just when medical intervention is needed, but throughout employees’ careers to help them maintain their mental wellbeing.
“With medical accreditation, and approved by CQC, myStrength offers a comprehensive package of support and is a welcome addition to our existing support services.”
Canada Life has also compiled a series of tips, designed to help companies promote this new service and increase staff engagement on a range of employee benefits. These include:
Message from the top: When introducing a new benefit or trying to increase engagement, a message from a senior leader in your organisation can help drive awareness. The email should explain the service and provide details of how to register.
Inductions: When bringing new people on board, mention apps such as myStrength as a benefit, and provide full details on the service including how to register.
Line manager training: Make sure line managers are aware of the service and can confidently articulate it to team members. Line managers will often be the first to hear about health issues and are well-placed to recommend services such as myStrength.
Update remuneration and benefits information: Make sure you update remuneration and benefits guidance to include additional employee benefits. This could be in PDF format or hosted on a company intranet. Sometimes, employees may not want to ask a manager for this information. Having the information available elsewhere means the employee can access the service without barriers.
Link to national health awareness days: Link internal activity and relevant services with national health awareness days. These awareness days provide a great platform on which to promote health and wellbeing, as well as promoting benefits that can help.
