Trend: Despite concerns, large US employers deploy apps, AI chatbots, other digital tools to boost workplace mental health

Employ ers Are Offer ing a New Work er Ben e fit: Well ness Chat bots (The Wall Street Journal):

More work ers feel ing anx ious, stressed or blue have a new place to go for men tal-health help: a dig i tal\xa0app.

Chat bots that ،ld ther a pist-like con ver sa tions and well ness apps that deliv er depres sion and oth er diag noses or iden ti fy peo ple at risk of self-harm are snow balling across employ ers’ health care benefits.

“The demand for coun selors is huge, but the sup ply of men tal-health providers is shrink ing,” said J. Mar shall Dye, chief exec u tive offi cer of Pay rollPlans, a Dal las-based provider of ben e fits soft ware used by small and medi um-size busi ness es, which began pro vid ing access to a chat bot called Woe bot in November.

… About a third of U.S. employ ers offer a “dig i tal ther a peu tic” for men tal-health sup port, accord ing to a sur vey of 457 com pa nies this past sum mer by pro fes sion al ser vices com pa ny WTW. An addi tion al 15% of the com pa nies were con sid er ing adding such an offer ing in 2024 or 2025 … Yet some researchers say there isn’t suf fi cient evi dence the pro grams work, and the var ied secu ri ty and safe ty prac tices cre ate a risk that pri vate infor ma tion could be leaked or\xa0sold.

2023 survey a، large US employers:

Sur vey: Employ ers sup port grow ing demand for men tal health ser vices (Mer cer):

Amer i can employ ers are tak ing action to improve the health and well ness of their employ ees. That is a، the find ings of a report that explores what employ ers are doing to address the men tal health chal lenges that con front too many in Amer i ca. In the sur vey, 94% of large employ ers (500 or more employ ees) report ed that they have strength ened their cov er age for men tal health care, increased sup port, or put in place new pro grams or sys tems to help in the last three years. About two-thirds (68%) have added or enhanced sup ports like employ ee ،is tance pro grams, cl، es, or access to apps to help pro mote men tal health, and 28% have expand ed men tal health cov er age with in their exist ing health plans. In addi tion, employ ers are also putting in place work force train ing to sup port t،se with men tal health needs and mak ing changes in the office to pro mote men tal well ness at\xa0work.

News in Context: