This week Fred and I discuss the huge challenge of extended mental health issues that are sweeping through our world post-pandemic and the importance of making this a priority for your business.
We talk through some of the current statuses of legislation on vaccine requirements and the variation by states that in some cases has seen legislation to prohibit any type of mandate for people to get the COVID19 vaccination
Join Dr Luis Saldana, Fred and myself for our COVID Insights to Action Discussion webinar taking place every Wednesday at 4pm ET. Our training modules are available to help businesses, education facilities and employers get their employees, staff, customers and students back to work and school safely in the context of COVID19
Raw Transcript
Nick van Terheyden
Hi, this is Dr. Nick, I’m the incrementalist here with incremental insights for better business better health.
Fred Goldstein
And I’m Fred Goldstein with accountable health here helping employers look at their overall employee health improvement programs and their benefits packages. So Nick, this week, again, one of the major issues that employers will be facing in the coming months, and we obviously discussed a little bit last week, about our first episode bring this up with this idea of mental health issues, particularly the the impact of that on both adult and their kids, right hearing and seeing about that now.
Nick van Terheyden
Well, I just think that the tail of this is going to be so so wide and long. You know, you raise what I think is, I don’t know that it’s a forgotten point. But the idea that this is just confined to the individual at my workplace is of course not true. And, you know, the reality is that, in many instances, workplaces, haven’t always, I mean, I know some people do a good job of this, there’s certainly places that you know, elicit is great to work. But you know, the focus tends to be on the individual and Okay, did they get the vaccine? Are they able to come? are they safe, all of those things, but imagine what’s going on in people’s heads as they try and deal with the challenge of their own family, their spouses, their children, their extended relatives? And, you know, gosh, if if you haven’t been connected to somebody that has lost somebody, to this disease, or during this pandemic, I’d be surprised. I think I’ve certainly seen it not not single, you know, not a single time, but multiple times. And that obviously brings its own impact. So my sort of overriding thing here is that this needs to be, you know, we talk about priorities. And for a workplace. I think workplaces have to have this in their top three priorities for their employees. Now, what do you do you need, obviously, supporting infrastructure, I think providing an outlet for discussion that is, you know, not monitored, you know, there’s no consequences for sharing, you know, a true support group for those individuals, and indeed, the support services to go with it, because you better not open that door, and then say, oh, what, what you found something? Oh, well, off you go, you’ve got to have sort of pathways to deal with it. What do you think? I mean, you’ve got lots of experience in this kind of area.
Fred Goldstein
Yeah, I think it’s something as you pointed out, that really needs to be a focus of employers going forward. And an interesting article I read last week on this actually discussed, a chemist at the University of Southern California, who actually I think, is in the physics department, but works around chemistry. And he recognized the stressors for the individuals actually coming in and working in the lab, and what they were dealing with. And he decided to look at this as a health care issue, and actually found a therapist and brought the therapist in to meet with the team. And a great idea. And after two months, I asked the team, what are your thoughts about this? Was it beneficial, etc? And they said, Absolutely, please keep it. And so that’s a great solution, potentially, for the worksite. But then, as you raise, you have this issue of a lot of people now working from home, not coming into the workplace, less social interactions, it’s really about how do you get that service out to those individuals as well. Obviously, we know about the Mental Health Parity Act, which says you have to provide the same benefits on the mental health side as you do for your medical and can’t restrict them any more than the other. So that’s helpful. But the question is, how do you do that telehealth has been a big area in mental health, it’s actually was one of the high ones before the pandemic, and continues to be an option that is functional and good. And also there are programs for children that can access the telehealth systems as well and get counseling, etc. Via that. So I think the question really is, like you said, put it on the top of your list. This is a major one, how do we do it and then go in and take a look or ask some people to come in and take a look at your benefits package? Take a look at your network? Is it a high quality network? Does it have providers who can solve the issues that you need? Are they using evidence based practice, etc? And then do you have a benefits package that makes it easy for your individuals to access and use those services?
Nick van Terheyden
Yeah, I think you know, and If I had to hammer home a point, I would say, you know, it’s interesting, we all have these task lists, but pretty much, you know, once it gets below two or three, it’s just doesn’t get done. So, you know, putting it out there, I would say even number one, because I think this is really going to drain, everybody. So, you know, and obviously, if you need help, that’s one of the areas that we can and, you know, continue to provide guidance to clients, and partners in this on how to do that, how you might design it when you think about your benefits. Now, Fred, I know you’ve been looking at mandate mandates.
Fred Goldstein
Yeah, there’s this whole issue of should employers be mandating the vaccine. And the EEOC has said, you can do it. But there’s been one lawsuit that we know of now out, and I believe New Mexico against an employer saying you can’t mandate this. And there are now a large number of states in which state legislatures are looking at implementing laws that will not that will cause you to not be able to mandate the vaccine. Now, as we’ve discussed with clients, and on our show, it’s really about how do you incent individuals to do the vaccine? What are the positive things you can put in place to get individuals to say, I believe the science, the vaccines are good, I need it for both myself and for others, and that creates a better and safer workplace. So while mandates are out there, I don’t necessarily agree with the fact that we should put in laws to keep employers from mandating it. But I do think there are other ways to do this, that will be effective, that we really need to look at versus just saying, you need to be mandated to take it although I can understand in certain workplaces, you think of nursing homes, healthcare facilities, etc. Many of them have flu vaccine requirements. But that also raises another legal issue, which is there’s an E ua for these vaccines, but they’re not fully FDA approved as the others are. So until they get that that may be a legal loophole that some of these groups can use.
Nick van Terheyden
Yeah, I don’t know, I gotta say, I’m torn over it. I agree with you. And, you know, I’m, I’ve come to this country for, you know, some of the ideals and the positives that, you know, the United States has created, and it’s created it through some of those freedoms. I think that’s one of the reasons that the country works the way it does. Is it perfect, absolutely not coming in and saying, Well, we’ve got to do it this way, and must, you know, I struggle with it, but at the same time, for the greater good. Sometimes there’s, you know, some need or some requirement. So I really struggle with it internally. I just, I don’t have a good answer. I wish I did. But I think you’re exactly right. This is about finding the incentives and the carrots to allow people to make that decision and walk down that pathway themselves, so that they don’t feel like they’re forced into it, they actually want to do it. And, you know, that’s really always the best way. But I think we’re gonna have to watch this. And obviously, employers are gonna have to watch this. And we’re gonna need help understanding what the regulations mean, and how to navigate that. And does it impact them, even if there’s regulation saying you can’t mandate it? What do you do? And how do you sort of approach that, again, area of expertise that I think we can bring, you know, some insights into how you motivate people. So it’s gonna be a challenge, but I think extremely important to, to put maybe number two on the list of priorities.
Fred Goldstein
Absolutely. It’s it’s an interesting time for employers as they look at this and their broader employee health improvement programs. So with that, another fantastic week in the books, Nick, thank you so much. This is Fred Goldstein with accountable health and if you’d like more information or help with mental health, and looking at those benefits or thinking about your strategy around vaccines, give us a call or reach out to us.
Nick van Terheyden
And this is Dr. Nick, I’m the incrementalist here with incremental insights for better business, better health.
