Investing in workplace mental health a rising need

Sarah Rauzin, associate director at Health Action Alliance, speaks at HIMSS24 in Orlando Monday.

Photo: Jeff Lagasse/Healthcare Finance News

ORLANDO – When it comes to investing in employee well-being, a number of tools are starting to emerge. Creating a positive, psychologically healthy workplace, addressing equity in workplace mental health and improving access to treatment options are some of the things that are now possible in healthcare.

In a healthy culture, thriving employees are able to be productive employees – which is especially critical in today's workplace, including the healthcare setting.

Sarah Rauzin, associate director at Health Action Alliance, said Monday during her session, "The Workplace Mental Health Playbook 2.0: A Guide for Investing in Mental Health in the Workplace" at HIMSS24 in Orlando, that workplace culture is foundational.

"You have to start with engaging leaders, to dispel stigma," said Rauzin. "It's part of that top-down culture of mental health support."

Employers can find strategic opportunities in part by engaging managers and other organizational leaders, and importantly, by making it measurable – establishing it as a part of their annual performance review, and setting clear benchmarks for how they can contribute to a healthy workplace culture.

That's step one of the Health Action Alliance's Tactical Mental Health Playbook 2.0, which was recently released on the heels of data showing just how much influence employers have over employee mental health. People receive benefits from their employers, are able to access the healthcare system through employer-provided insurance and spend most of their waking hours in workplace settings. 

HAA got its start during the COVID-19 pandemic, which went a long way toward bringing mental health to the forefront of the national conversation. The risk for depression tripled during that time, substance misuse rose considerably, and burnout and stress rose to record heights – especially for physicians and other healthcare workers.

"Work affects both physical and mental wellbeing, in ways both good and bad," said Rauzin. 

What the Playbook seeks to do is help cultivate a top-down culture of psychological safety, and to stay up-to-date on the current best trends and practices. Importantly, this investment matters; according to HAA's internal data, workplace mental health investments see an average ROI of $4 per person, translating to thousands of savings annually for many organizations.

One important step in the playbook is to support and train managers, who play a critical role in fostering sound mental health – even more so than spouses and family members, by some metrics. 

"A manager can contribute to a toxic workplace environment, but if they're well-trained they can help to facilitate a healthy workplace culture," said Rauzin, who added that organizations would be well-served to make it an annual performance metric for managers and leaders.

One means of determining the extent to which a workplace needs to address its culture is to gather employee input from anonymous surveys, which can then be reported back to leadership, with the findings used to collaborate with workers on improvement strategies.

And cultivating belonging in the workplace is critical, said Rauzin, especially in light of the U.S. Surgeon General's warning about the dangers of isolation and social loneliness.

"Employers can play a really significant role … in creating community in their workplace," she said. "The workplace is one of the few places left where people with diverse viewpoints come together over a unified goal. There's a role to play for leaders to rally everyone around the same values."
 

Jeff Lagasse is editor of Healthcare Finance News.
Email: jlagasse@himss.org
Healthcare Finance News is a HIMSS Media publication.