This is an exclusive BHB+ story
Mental health support is one of the top benefits Millennials and Gen Z seek from their employers. 20% You are hired by a company that provides this.
Even where mental health benefits are provided, how and what they provide are changing. Traditional employee assistance programs (EAPs), the mainstay of mental health benefit offerings, are also changing, industry experts told Behavioral Health Business.
Traditional EAPs were set up to help employees navigate substance abuse disorders (SUDs) and crisis situations, but low usage and stigma have prevented more proactive and preventive approaches, Becky Minton, Unmind’s director of treatment, told BHB.
“The future of EAP, or how modern EAP is evolving, is an organization-wide approach that is more focused on prevention,” Minton said. “This is for the entire workforce – not just the 1% who may be in crisis, but the 24% who need mental health support, treatment and coaching, and the 75% who could really benefit from prevention tools to help with their mental health in the workplace.”
Unmind is a London-based digital mental health company offering EAP, therapy, coaching, crisis hotline and mood tracker.
A new benefits trend is gaining momentum at large corporations. Since COVID-19 sparked renewed interest in mental health benefits, some well-funded companies have implemented on-site therapy and mental health care for employees as an add-on component to the EAPs they already offer.
Telecommunications giant AT&T began offering therapy through on-site psychologists in 2020 at the company’s health and wellness center in Dallas. We currently average nine treatment visits per day and serve more than 400 behavioral health patients.
“The advantage is that because these employees work full-time on our campus, they are available during all working hours,” Matt Phillips, AT&T’s vice president of benefits, told BHB. “For our Dallas headquarters employees, they can make an appointment to see someone fairly quickly and receive the same level of professional service as they would if they went to an off-campus doctor’s office. That’s a huge advantage, considering that some therapists have to wait much longer to see new patients.”
In addition to EAP, Delta Air Lines has similar services for its employees. A spokesperson told BHB that as a company with 24/7 global operations, it is important to provide a strong EAP and flexible services.
“Delta has carefully invested in high-quality mental health resources designed to be accessible and meet employees where they are. Taking care of your mental health is just as important as your physical health,” said Natalie Duggan, Global Communications, HR and Wellness Manager, Delta Air Lines. “Delta’s EAP provides access to care that is flexible and adaptable to an employee’s schedule, work environment, and technology capabilities.”
The Future of Mental Health Benefits
increase in demand almost immediately Access to mental health support, in-house mental health care and more flexible EAP options aim to meet the needs of a changing workforce.
However, both models still have limitations.
EAPs typically only involve a small number of visits, which may not be enough to address an individual’s mental health needs. Meanwhile, in-house models may be stigmatized against on-site use due to privacy or retaliation concerns.
The most important thing about any future mental health benefits model will be how it is positioned and promoted within the organization, Minton explained.
Minton says, “If you think about it as an organization-wide approach, there are a lot of positive stories out there and we encourage everyone in the organization to get involved, join the platform, check out all the tools available to them, and promote them as these kinds of prevention tools. We’ve seen higher engagement uptake with this approach. We’ve also done some work with leaders in their organizations to encourage them to talk about their mental health and encourage employees to think about it and use the platform.”
Minton predicts that there will always be a place for EAP models and that these options will become increasingly digital and accessible through apps and other technologies to complement overall care.
AT&T said it sees the on-site model as “a complement to our EAP program to provide additional care flexibility,” but the company also offers virtual and off-site care through its partnership with Lyra Health. He explained that the on-site therapists are there to add “a personal touch and flexible solutions to meet employees where they are.”
“With our on-site medical center, we have taken additional anonymity measures to ensure that all employees use the same waiting room,” Phillips said. “So whether an employee is getting an annual check-up or receiving treatment from a therapist, there is no way for us to know who is seeking what services at our center unless they choose to disclose. We also aim to tackle the stigma of mental health head-on, and offering on-site treatment is one way we can visually show our employees that they can work with their sanity even if they are struggling emotionally.”
Since launching point-of-care and health care services, AT&T has also conducted a blinded cohort financial analysis to determine whether point-of-care management creates value from a health insurance perspective. until now? They believe this “adds meaningful value to the financial efficiency of the plan,” Phillips said.
Demand for on-site behavioral health services is also increasing, he said. There have been 1,634 visits to AT&T’s on-site behavioral health service line so far this year, compared to 1,511 visits for all of 2024.
“Through our data, we see that 88% of visits are in person, so the need for on-site flexibility is clearly growing and we are looking at ways to expand this service to more employees,” Phillips said.
The growing demand for mental health benefits is also being felt in EAPs, which led virtual health provider Teladoc (NYSE: TDOC) to launch its own EAP, Wellbound, just a few months ago.
Matthew Sopcich, senior vice president of mental health solutions at Teladoc Health, told BHB that EAPs have served as a “checkbox” for many employers. But now, “it’s not enough to just check the box,” he said.
“Employers expect EAPs to show that people are using EAPs, to show that people using EAPs are getting better as a result, and to show what impact it has on the productivity of their workforce,” Sopcich said. “So I think the expectations are very different.”
Dr. Russell DuBois, vice president of clinical quality, operations and innovation at BetterHelp, the virtual care division of Teladoc Health, added that EAPs that truly meet the needs of both employers and employees today must be digital-first, have a variety of services and supports, and increasingly demonstrate measurable outcomes.
“As behavioral health care costs increase on the employer side, there is an increasing emphasis on making sure we can demonstrate the impact we have on our employees,” DuBois told BHB. “So we need to measure outcomes and be much more proactive and not just focus on the top of the access path, but along that path and make sure that our programs are actually having a measurable impact on the lives of our employees.”
Even as many large companies follow AT&T’s path and build their own on-site support, EAP will continue to be mainstream and “a viable option from an economic standpoint,” Sopcich said.
However, for companies that can afford to invest in on-site care, Phillips recommends it.
“It’s scalable, but it depends on the size and resources of the company,” Phillips said. “Large businesses may find it easier to implement with the investment and space required, but even smaller organizations can explore hybrid models that can combine on-site, near-site and/or virtual care that meet the necessary guidelines. There is the potential and hope that this trend will grow as more people commute to the office more frequently.”
