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Dr Tarun Gupta, Chief Medical Officer, UK Protection, Legal & General Retail, says further discussion is needed around how we can help employers balance supporting an individual with reimagining work
In recent years, the intersection of technology and mental health has become a topic of paramount importance. COVER readers will be familiar with the statistic that nearly one in four adults in the UK experiences a mental health problem, such as depression or anxiety, every year.
Traditionally, mental health care has been delivered through face-to-face interactions with mental health professionals. While this approach has been effective for many, it has also posed significant challenges, including delays in accessing therapies and stigma that may preclude some individuals from seeking help.
Technology has been a catalyst for transformation in mental healthcare. A wide array of digital tools, platforms and apps have emerged in recent years, offering innovative solutions. One of the most noticeable shifts has been the rise of telephone, video and online based psychological therapies. These platforms have improved access and can provide greater convenience. The proliferation of mental health apps has been remarkable. These apps offer a range of features, from mood tracking and meditation guidance to self-help resources and crisis helplines.
More recently, AI has come to the fore in this arena. Machine learning algorithms are being used to predict potential mental health issues based on data analysis, allowing for early intervention. Chatbots and virtual assistants can be deployed to provide support and information rapidly. Wearable technology continues to advance, such as smartwatches, which can measure vital signs and sleep patterns, providing valuable insight into an individual’s psychological state.
What’s next for employers – integrating technology for mental health support
Employers should consider integrating technology into their workplace strategies to support mental health, in my view. This involves leveraging digital tools and platforms to promote wellbeing among employees, which is both low cost and flexible.
The UK government is effectively endorsing the role and value of technology with its commitment in the Spring Budget 2023 to modernising and digitising mental health services. This includes the overloaded NHS’ Talking Therapies programme. The average waiting time for a first treatment was 21 days, according to latest government data, with the average waiting time between first and second treatment being 50 days.
The government is also exploring how it can harness technology to deliver better health outcomes for SMEs, as part of its current push to widen access to occupational health services.
Why is technology increasingly important for mental health support
Technology is a game-changer in mental health support, enabling early intervention and allowing customisation of services to suit the individual’s needs. There is an increasing focus on the use of data analytics to gain insights into employee mental health trends and make informed decisions. HR can design targeted interventions using this data, using appropriate metrics for their business.
Regularly evaluating and, where needed, protecting against ‘disruptive’ technology solutions is required.
How to implement technology for mental health support
The initial focus should be a clear strategy that focuses on mental health and psychological safety in the workplace. This should be integrated with the organisation’s wider ESG policy, wherever possible. In this arena, the focus is both ‘top-down’ around overall culture and ‘bottom-up’ around role modelling and line manager training.
From an income protection perspective, a nuanced understanding of the bio-psycho-social factors at play and a holistic approach to the individual is required. By this stage, the individual is absent from work and the focus is on understanding the reported issues driving the absence and how collaboration between relevant stakeholders, including employer, occupational health, treating clinicians and insurer can promote vocational rehabilitation. Technology can be supportive in this arena, such that HR may be able to share data-driven trends in that particular workplace, for instance, and the individual may be able to share symptoms and ongoing response to therapy with relevant parties using an app, supporting diagnosis and ongoing clinical management more effectively.
At Legal & General, we’ve integrated technology into our group income protection proposition’s ‘Be Well, Get Better, Be supported’ wellbeing framework.
Some recent examples of this include:
- The Evolution of our Virtual Clinic: alongside our existing virtual GP and specialist Mental Health services, including child consultations, we’ve added online physiotherapy, providing access to a wide range of preventative wellbeing services at employee’s fingertips. On top of this we’ve added general health and wellbeing tools to further help to support employees manage long-term conditions.
- A partnership with Spectrum.Life, bringing a digital, integrated wellbeing solution to all – including enhanced EAP, plus live, on demand fitness classes, nutritional wellbeing pathways, mental health eLearning, plus money saving tips, guidance, rewards, online shopping discounts and more.
- Embedding Fruitful Insights into our proposition which is a digital, analytical tool that quantifies wellbeing’s impact on productivity; helping intermediaries shape, monitor and measure their clients’ wellbeing strategies. It’s designed to help HR to put better wellbeing strategies in place, based on the insights of their people.
Next steps
Technology has a role to play at the organisational level and the individual level, providing employers the chance to use data to refine policies and promote organisational change that supports mental health, as well as providing employees with preventive tools and resources, plus customised and tailored first-line interventions when required.
Generative AI will likely play a larger part across the pathway in time to come, in my view, for instance the ability for employers to send customised, empathic messages to an employee in difficulty. There are likely to be further issues around data privacy and ethics, in my view, with the pace of change likely to accelerate in the coming years.
Ongoing research is essential to ensure the efficacy of different technological interventions and identifying best practices for implementation.
Book Recommendations:
1. “A Cure for the Common Company” by Richard Safeer
2. “Building a Culture of Health: A New Imperative for Business” by John A. Quelch & Emily C. Boudreau
3. “Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams” by Jim Clifton & Jim Harter
4. “Beyond the Summit: Setting and Surpassing Extraordinary Business Goals” by Todd Skinner
5. “Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business” by Charles Hampden-Turner & Fons Trompenaars