Marathon Health Blog

From PR Newswire

WINOOSKI, Vt., Aug. 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Marathon Health, LLC, a provider of onsite health centers that enable employers to optimize the health of their workforce and business, today announced the addition of behavioral health counseling to its suite of services. The offering will provide mental health and wellness care to individuals, couples, and families at its worksite health centers across the country.

It’s a simple fact that most employers face increasing healthcare costs. One way to address the impact of rising costs is to encourage the workforce to become healthier through personal wellness plans. When employees take an active role in their health and wellness, the chances decrease that they will have complicated conditions that require costly treatments. Beyond the economic motivation for companies to encourage wellness plans, healthy employees are happier and more productive, too.

Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present without drifting into concerns about the past or future or getting caught up in making judgments about what’s happening. Doing absolutely nothing – not even thinking – for 10 minutes a day, simply by being mindful and experiencing the present moment, has transformative power.

1. Identify a need for mental health services and address those needs. A crucial first step companies can take to assess the health of their workforce is to identify the population in need of assistance—learning who they are, how many there are, and what their pain points are. Sheetz, a privately held convenience store chain, saw the need for integrating mental health services into their healthcare plan after costs for mental healthcare continued to increase. Bill Young, director of total rewards, talent acquisition and risk management at Sheetz, noted that, “three of our top 25 prescriptions relate to behavioral health. It was clear that this needed our attention and that our traditional telephonic EAP solution was underutilized.” Coupling this with the fact that behavioral health was identified as the second leading condition for intervention behind musculoskeletal issues, Sheetz added mental health services as part of their comprehensive onsite health management program in 2014.
2. Offer a convenient, uplifting way for employees and their families to receive help that eliminates stigma. Nothing is more important than meeting your employees where they are, especially when the issues they are facing are sensitive in nature. After identifying the need for mental health services, Sheetz launched a pilot program to address rising behavioral health concerns and improve overall participation in EAP programs. Confidential, free, onsite counseling was offered on a part-time basis for employees and dependents but quickly turned into a full-time service and later expanded to their distribution facility in North Carolina. By offering convenient and confidential counseling that builds trustworthiness, employees and their families are more receptive to receiving mental healthcare and therefore more likely to be treated than to continue to suffer in silence.
3. Motivate employees to take stock of their mental health from the top down. Full integration of mental health services via onsite health centers does not come overnight and relies heavily on senior leadership carrying the conversation. As we found with Ben Congleton’s words of encouragement, a personal reminder to take care of your health goes a long way. At Sheetz, employees are also made aware of the mental health program by way of newsletter stories, departmental meetings, lunch-and-learns, and executive support. Leaders like Bill Young will note that, “it is the right thing to do,” but beyond being the right thing to do—these services produce results. Seventy percent of employees require no further referrals after completing prescribed sessions, and the program has contributed to patient satisfaction rates averaging 98 percent overall. Of those needing a referral for more specific treatment, the counselors are able to assist them in providing the appropriate local resources.

An important conversation has started that we cannot afford to let die out and must act upon. By identifying those who need assistance, meeting them at the point of care, and motivating all to see the importance in their mental health starts with those who are willing to lead the conversation for actionable change.

There is a growing trend in workplace health and wellness to focus more on mindfulness. Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present without drifting into concerns about the past or future or getting caught up in making judgments about what’s happening. It has proven stress relief benefits.

The summer season is a busy time for many. Between finding care for kids home from school, making the most of the nice weather, and covering for vacationing colleagues, it can quickly become the most unproductive time of the year at work. Employers may notice a decline in performance as a result of increased stress and fatigue among their employees. Finances, altered sleep patterns, overbooked schedules, and body image issues are common influencers. According to the National Alliance on Mental illness, increased sunlight or high temperatures can contribute to summer seasonal affective disorder. Individuals suffering from summertime stressors may be prone to short tempers or difficulty concentrating in the workplace resulting in low morale and strain on professional relationships.

Retaining top talent is one of the highest priorities, and greatest challenges for leadership and Human Resources departments of companies across America. Not only does employee retention affect customer satisfaction, sales, employee satisfaction rates and succession planning, it also has a direct impact on the bottom line: it is estimated that losing a middle manager costs an organization upwards of 100% of his/her salary, while the cost of losing a senior executive can be more than double their salary.