By Luis Orozco, LCSW – The United States is in the midst of a mental health crisis. A 2019 study by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reports that 46.7 million American adults struggle with mental health conditions; as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause fear and uncertainty, this number is bound to rise. For example, the Kaiser Family Foundation—which is currently tracking the societal impact of the Coronavirus—reports that more than half of U.S. adults acknowledge that COVID-19 has strained their mental health, reporting issues with sleeping, eating, isolation, depression, stress, and substance abuse. With such staggering statistics, finding ways to combat this social ill is crucial.
In a broken health system where a lack of mental health services is a constant issue, we must find a new path to address this growing need. Solving this social ill requires looking beyond America’s existing healthcare system and engaging alternate health and wellness solutions. In this spirit, making Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)—which are typically only available to large corporations—more readily available to small businesses is a feasible solution to help close the mental health gap.
EAPs were first introduced during World War II when the need for a stable workforce became evident. Many corporations noticed increases in substance abuse and emotional distress among their employees. These societal problems, coupled with worker shortages and the increased need for labor, made companies re-examine methods of attracting potential workers and reducing employee turnover. Attridge (2009) relates that these factors led to the creation of EAPs, an employee-focused model that aimed to provide companies’ employees with behavioral health support, usually through screenings, referrals, and brief psychological assistance.
This model met with great success, and today about 85% of large corporations with over 500 employees offer EAPs to their workers. Unfortunately, this number goes down significantly for small businesses. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, only about 37% of small businesses with fewer than 100 employees have access to an EAP—yet 99% of all U.S. companies are considered small businesses.
Regrettably, small businesses often lack the financial resources or infrastructure to support employees’ mental health and work-life balance. This vulnerability, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, has had a profound and negative impact, leading to substantial layoffs and financial fragility. A 2020 study by Bartik et al. found that about 43% of companies were temporarily closed and that employment had dropped by 40%.
These conditions compound the fears and uncertainties that workers and business-owners face in these trying times. Therefore, equipping small businesses with EAPs can effectively help small businesses manage these challenging times while simultaneously addressing the mental health crisis.
Of course, the biggest challenge small businesses face in attaining this type of program is the cost. Many companies are in survival mode, and do not have extra resources to devote to mental health programming. For this reason, government funding, philanthropies, or crowdfunding are worth exploring to sponsor this resource as a public good.
Investment in employee support services for struggling small businesses will bring dividends at various levels. Through a screening and referral process, the EAP can serve as a bridge between employees in need of support and mental health professionals who can address high-risk situations that often lead to mental illness or other social ills when left unchecked. Supporting small businesses in this manner can be fruitful, as mental health is a state of mind that helps individuals cope with stress, work productively, and contribute to society. When mental health services are made readily available, businesses profit, and the whole community stands to benefit.
