Posts Tagged ‘mental health’

The next frontier in prevention: Mental Health

Wednesday, May 6th, 2015

May is Mental Health Month and while the focus of workers comp prevention generally revolves around issues of physical safety, perhaps employers should expend more energy in promoting the mental/emotional well being of workers, as well. We just had a dramatic example of the effects of mental illness in the workplace in the horrific case of the suicidal Germanwings pilot who crashed the commercial jet he was flying, resulting in 150 casualties. While this might seem an outlier, an extreme case, the workplace has all too many examples of violence resulting in injuries and death. Depression and mental health issues are a workplace reality and, on the whole, they aren’t being addressed all that effectively. This should be no surprise – society at large isn’t doing such a great job when it comes to mental health issues.

Mental Health America has designated this year’s Mental Health Month theme as a prevention/early intervention one: B4Stage4. They note that we need to change the way we think about mental health:

“When we think about cancer, heart disease, or diabetes, we don’t wait years to treat them. We start before Stage 4–we begin with prevention. When people are in the first stage of those diseases and are beginning to show signs or symptoms like a persistent cough, high blood pressure, or high blood sugar, we try immediately to reverse these symptoms. We don’t ignore them. In fact, we develop a plan of action to reverse and sometimes stop the progression of the disease. So why don’t we do the same for individuals who are dealing with potentially serious mental illness?”

Among the many steps to rectify this, MHA suggests Getting informed;
Getting screened and Getting help. The site has a plethora of communication resources, graphics and fact sheets that would help in an employer communication program.

Employers should Treat the individual, not the stigma.” That’s the advice from Terri L. Rhodes, Executive Director of the Disability Management Employer Coalition (DMEC) in a recent issue of Risk and Insurance. She cites the prevalence of depression in the general population at about 9 percent, according to the centers for Disease Control. This makes it likely that about 1 in every 10 workers is grappling with depression at some point in their work life.

Rhodes says:

Employers in particular need to become educated about recognizing signs and symptoms of depression and anxiety. This alone sends a powerful message that mental illness, like all illness, respects no title or position. Utilize the services of EAPs.”

She notes that while EAPs are an almost ubiquitous benefit, “they are woefully underutilized.” Managers should be trained in when and how to best use and refer to EAPs.

Mental health as a preventive issue is important, but it also an important consideration in post-injury recovery and return to work. An article in LexisNexis talks about post-injury depression as it relates to dealing with disabilities, the process of pursuing workers’ compensation benefits, and anxiety related to the ability to return to work.

The article cites the costs from a recent study on post-injury depression conducted by Abay Asfaw, Ph.D., and Kerry Souza, Ph.D., of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study further quotes the determination of the Bureau of Labor Statistics that “after-injury depression costs workers, group health insurance plans and/or taxpayers at least an extra $8.2 million … within a 3-month study period in 2005 dollars. Such costs of treating depression as a sequel to injury are typically not included in estimates of the economic burden of occupational injury.” These numbers do not include related costs, such as inpatient care and prescription drugs.

Employers can play a significant role in fostering workplace mental health, both in the general work population and specifically with workers who are in post-injury recovery. Here are some resources for learning more.

Partnership for Workplace Mental Health – a program of the American Psychiatric Foundation in conjunction with various employers. It offers employer case examples, publications and services.

ACOEM’s Work Disability Prevention Guideline: “Preventing Needless Work Disability by Helping People Stay Employed

The Disability Management Coalition

Health Wonk Review, Valentine’s week edition, and other news of note

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

When is healthcare like a box of chocolates? Find out over at Colorado Long Term Care Insider, where Louise & Jay Norris host an excellent Valentine’s Week Edition of Health Wonk Review.
Other news of note:
Tasers & cop claims – Roberto Ceniceros of Comp Time has an interesting post on how taser use by police is reducing injury rates and comp claims because it provides a low-impact way to subdue suspects. But tasers are also used on cops-in-training, sometimes resulting in serious injuries.
The straight dope – Joe Paduda has a do-not-miss post on narcotic opioids in workers comp and Cephalon’s role, in which he discusses how drugs like Fentora & Actiq, which are FDA approved only for cancer patients, are being promoted to workers comp patients. (One court ruling stated, “data suggested that more than 80% of patients using Actiq did not have cancer,” and “oncologists accounted for only 1% of Actiq prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies in the U.S.”) Cost is a huge issue, but Joe points out that it is not all about the money: Actiq has been linked to dozens of deaths from overdose.
Medical marijuana – Last week, Michigan court rulings dealt a double blow to medical marijuana. One of the Michigan rulings upheld the firing of a Walmart employee who had been proscribed the drug to control symptoms of his brain cancer, a case we posted about last year: Walmart: Shopping for Souls in Aisle Three. (Also see our recent post: Medical Marijuana in the Workplace: Dude, Lock Me Out!.)
Insurer market share – Cyril Tuohy of Risk & Insurance offers a short journey through the latest insurance industry statistics, including some great stats about market share: This Just in: Known and Lesser Known Facts About the Industry
Not something you see every dayCompNewsNetwork informs us that the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has recently snagged a record $830,000 in restitution from a prior fraud conviction. The case was truly egregious – an anesthesiologist who bilked the system for $60 million in fraudulent claims – while contributing to at least two deaths in the process. Dr. Jorge Martinez was sentenced to life in prison for “the first known conviction involving a criminal charge of health care fraud resulting in death after the overdose of two patients seeking treatment for work related injuries.”
Illegal immigrant update – Peter Rousmaniere’s Working Immigrants blog is your in-the-know source for tracking the latest issues and stats on the topic. Via the Pew Hispanic Center, he informs us that the 2010 illegal population in 2010 remains about the same as in 2009: about 11.2 million, of which 8 million are in the workforce, and 58% of which are Mexicans. See more detail: Estimate of illegal immigrant population in 2010.
Good WC bookmark – We are adding WorkCompWire as a bookmark in our sidebar and you should keep it handy too. It’s a good source of news and opinion – check it out!
Savings on complex care – Yvonne Guilbert points out that overlooking simple facts can add significant costs to a claim very quickly. She asks carriers what they are missing on complex claims that might be costing them money.
Market pulse – At PropertyCasualty360, Caroline McDonald talks about why buyers shouldn’t get too comfortable with low workers comp rates. One of the primary sources for the article is our friend Mark Walls of Safety National – who is also well know as the founder of LinkedIn’s Work Comp Analysis Group.
Diversity – Jared wade posts that 18 insurance firms are among the best companies for LGBT employees to work for – “scoring a perfect 100% as a Best Place to Work for their ‘support equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees,’ according to HRC.”
Distracted driving in NY – A sign of things to come? In New York, drivers will get two points for talking on hand-held cell phones. A two-point penalty has already been in place for texting while driving. At that rate, auto insurance sure could get expensive quickly for compulsive phone-o-philes.
Mental health – CCOHS, the Canadian counterpart of OSHA, makes the case for why employers should care about mental health at work.