Talking about Mental Health at Work

Tools and Partnerships to help your organization raise awareness, reduce stigma surrounding mental illness, and facilitate help-seeking behavior.

If you or a co-worker are in immediate crisis, reach out to a crisis hotline at 800-273-8255 or text 741741. Trained professionals are available to provide confidential support.
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MENTAL HEALTH @ WORK

Treatment can help people feel better and perform better. By sharing information and solutions, we can help reduce the stress on employees and company resources.

Tools and Partnerships to help your organization raise awareness, reduce stigma surrounding mental illness, and facilitate help-seeking behavior.

Talking about Mental Health at Work

Putting tasks off, missing deadlines or feeling indecisive. If you notice these signs in a co-worker and it just doesn’t seem right, be courageous and act.

Depression can be lonely and scary but starting a conversation can help a person feel supported. Here are some ways to start the conversation …

How to start the conversation.

Talking about feelings and emotions may be uncomfortable for some people. So start by finding a private place to talk and asking, “are you okay?” or “what’s going on, you don’t seem like yourself?” Describe what you’re seeing and how it seems out of character for that person.

Ask twice.

A person may deflect the conversation if the topic feels uncomfortable. Talking about an issue that makes a person feel vulnerable is often not easy. For many, hearing someone ask “how are you doing,” it makes them think the person asking really does not want to hear anything negative. We often say that we’re fine when we may not be feeling that way at all.

To get past this natural response, consider asking twice:

“How are you?”
“Fine.”
“Hey… is everything okay?”

Try extra hard to show sincerity and compassion (through changes in vocal tone and body language) when you ask the second time. This can really demonstrate your genuine concern for the other person’s wellbeing.

Listen.

Take a minute to pause and just listen. When people share their feelings, they are vulnerable. Try to listen non-judgmentally and resist jumping in with a proposed solution. The person will benefit just from talking and having a good listener. If the person is defensive, it may be their feelings and emotions responding, so be patient. Try responding with “I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay and to let you know that I’m here if you ever want to talk.”

Ask for more context, don’t answer.

Instead of a quick response or offering solutions, ask follow-up questions. You might ask why the person thinks that he or she feels this way or what is needed to feel better. Ask if the way the person is feeling is impacting his or her daily life. You may also ask whether the person has considered talking with someone who can help. It is easier for someone to seek help if they find the answer themselves, rather than being told how to fix it.

Provide support.

It is common to sometimes feel stressed, lonely, overwhelmed, frustrated, sad, and depressed. Let your co-worker know that it is okay to feel that way and it is a natural part of the human experience. It’s when it interferes with daily life that it’s time to consider getting help. Express your willingness to help with supportive statements like:

“I want to support you. Let’s talk about how I can help.”

“What can I do to help?” or “How can I help?”

Follow up.

Be sure to check back in whether the person accepted your offer of support or not. This sends the clear message that you care and are there for support. Also, keep conversations and information shared with you confidential unless you’re worried a person may pose a danger to him or herself or others. In those cases, talk to HR, a manager or someone you trust immediately. Self-harm or potential harm to others require immediate attention.

Remember, a person may not be ready to talk or seek help. Remind him or her that you’re here to help when it is needed.

Crisis Hotline: 800-273-8255 or text 741741

If you or a co-worker are in immediate crisis, reach out to a crisis hotline at 800-273-8255 or text 741741. Trained professionals are available to provide confidential support.

Right Direction is an initiative from the American Psychiatric Association Foundation’s Center for Workplace Mental Health and Employers Health, a professional benefits organization. Right Direction is supported by Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. (TPUSA) and Lundbeck U.S. The information on this website is not intended to replace medical advice from your doctor. ©2013 – 2021 Right Direction.

Carenodes Behavioral Health Case Management

ETHOS AND PROGRAM DESIGN

The central premise of the Carenodes Behavioral Health Case Management (BHCM) Program is to promote collaboration between all treating providers, ensuring coordination between medical care and behavioral health care. Once members are identified, Behavioral Health Care Managers outreach / consult with our community partners in medical and behavioral health practice settings. Our program supports the treatment planning needs of providers with respect to behavioral health services and often provides consultation/ suggestions for modifications in current care. This coordination is performed through various avenues including

Notification letters to physicians informing them that their patients are engaged with the program,
Telephonic outreach calls,
Opportunity/option for physician peer-to-peer consultation when needed.

The essence of behavioral health management is ensuring that we direct our members to the right services at the right time.

Our triage and tracking processes include specialized support during service level transitions, such as a discharge from inpatient to outpatient follow-up treatment to ensure that members are attending follow up appointments with community providers within 7 days of hospital discharge. In addition, we utilize a readmission risk algorithm, which identifies members most at risk for readmission to inpatient hospital care. Specialty services are also offered to members diagnosed with eating disorders, maternal mental health issues, families of children and adolescents with a recent inpatient psychiatric stay, and members referred from community providers affiliated with Enhanced Personal Health Care. Also, consenting members engaged in medical care management programs with a positive PHQ2 depression screen or any other BH condition impeding the member’s ability to manage their medical condition are routed to BH for intervention.

Clinical Team/Patient/Family Engagement

Our clinicians work with the member and their family to:

Understand the options available for behavioral health treatment, utilize insurance benefits for the lowest possible out of pocket cost, and decrease unnecessary health care expenditures
Advocate for the coordination of all care, both medical and behavioral health
Educate on symptoms and condition management to prevent future inpatient hospitalization stays
Discuss and identify barriers to treatment compliance and offer resources and support to overcome them
Improve overall health outcomes for improved quality of life

Employer Performance Standards for Behavioral Health: A Guide & Sample Standards to Implement

Sample Employer Performance Standards for Behavioral Health Developed by Catalyst for Payment Reform

In 2018, based on input from eight purchasers and a subject matter expert, Catalyst for Payment Reform developed a tool for purchasers to assess how well partners are meeting their needs when it comes to access, quality, and integration in mental healthcare. The tool includes evaluation questions and clear specifications for what a purchaser should expect to see moving forward in these key areas.

Sample of standards developed includes:

80% of providers in a network should accept new patients at any given time.
Patients should be offered an urgent mental health appointment within 48 hours.
Health plan updates provider directory on a daily basis.
Member satisfaction with care provided should be 85% or higher.
Quality must be a requirement for receiving a high-performance provider designation.
Health plans should conduct site visits or audits of 25% of providers every year.