 and welcome to Quality of Life, the show where we look at the different attributes that can affect one's quality of life. Today we're going to talk about an EAP program or Employee Assistance program and today joining us to help us with that is Pamela Krieger from Aurora Healthcare. Welcome Pamela. Thank you. To get off started with what's your education and background in the EAP arena? My education is I have a master's degree in social work and I have five years of experience working with employee assistance programming. Okay. What is an employee assistance program? Let's just get the basic definition. An employee assistance program is an employee or an employer sponsored benefit that allows any employee to access services. Those services are a huge host, a range of different services to really maximize an individual's quality of life. Okay. Why would one need to attend an employee assistance program? Well there's a couple different components to an employee assistance program. One is the direct counseling services. Through Aurora EAP, individuals can call in 24 hours a day, seven days a week and talk to a master's prepared counselor. The employer themselves can access and use services by having any type of if they have a crisis. They can access those services 24 hours a day as well. So employee and employer benefits. There are two separate areas. Okay. The counseling services, again, we have in-person and telephonic consultations. When we look at other services we're looking at those things that we call work life services. Those are things like as an employee, if you have a child or you have school-aged children and you need daycare, EAP can help navigate that. You call the 1-800 number and indicate the times and the location for which you need the childcare. And we do a comprehensive search and help them identify those services because if an employee doesn't have daycare they can't come to work. Or if they don't have quality daycare then they're going to be not focusing on work when they're at work because they're going to be worried about their child. Another feature and component is elder care services. So you have aging parents and you need some guidance or assistance on home making skills if a parent has increased or need for medical service. Anything like that legal home making, a whole host in a range of services that we can aid and assist an employee access locally and throughout the United States. So elder care and childcare consultations is one piece of our work life service. We also have the benefit of adoption services. So if somebody wants to adopt a child from where and how much to support services afterwards as well. We also have a legal consultation component to our work life service so that if any employee or their family member has a legal question anything outside of employment law that's the only type of law we can't consult on because again it's an employer-sponsored benefit and we won't help the employee take action against the agency that's providing that service. But anything from traffic accident to a consumer issue, a will, anything like that they can call and access those services as well. And in a nutshell how would it work? I think there's a couple different components of it let's say in general how does it work where an employee is referred to or seeks a service. Employee assistance programming works through a 1-800 number again that's answered 24 hours a day seven days a week to schedule an appointment or to access those direct services you would want to call between eight and five central time. But we have intake specialists that will direct any individual whether they need to talk to an assessment counselor immediately or talk to somebody legally. So it's really accessing the service by calling, calling our 1-800 number. In the situation of the workplace can the employer refer the employee to employee assistance program? Absolutely one of the pieces of my job that I get to do is I work with about a hundred organizations in the Sheboygan County area and so one of the things that I get to do is go and educate not only the employer so the staff the supervisors and the employees about what benefits EAP offers. A lot of times supervisors will encourage employees to seek the service if they can tell there's a work performance problem or issue. And one of the benefits to the employer is that we have what's called a supervisory referral component so that when an employee has maybe received verbal reprimand you know along the progressive discipline lines maybe a suspension somewhere along the lines they're going to maybe make it mandatory to come to EAP so that is a benefit. So the supervisor would meet with the employee and indicate it's a requirement that you attend EAP to kind of address the issue. So EAP could be mandatory or voluntary? Absolutely seven percent of our business is the supervisor referral component and a lot of organizations use that really because they care deeply about their employees but also understand that they don't want to violate sort of that personal piece and understand the dynamics of what's going on. That's a great a great segue to saying that employee assistance programming is completely confidential so just as anyone would call and contact their physician we operate under the same laws so that basically the only thing as a supervisor referral that the organization knows about the employee signs a consent form which allows us to tell the employer yes they came and hopefully in the end what they're what the employer is going to see is that whatever the problem was that was impacting the employee's work performance would be addressed. So like with the confidentiality laws like with HIP and seeing the physician that's bound by that as well so that way if I voluntarily go there it's confidential information? Yes absolutely or if you mandatory you know through a supervisor referral go the only feedback that is given to the organization is that you were cooperative and compliant and if there are further recommendations beyond the scope of EAP then then then they know that but they don't know about the specific situations that you're bringing forth because we want it to be a very trusting open helpful environment. How long if an employee is either referenced or voluntarily wants to look at one of the services how long does the program usually last or the session last? Great question so employers have the opportunity to contract with Aurora and so they Aurora EAP and so they can have a three session model or a six session model so voluntary individuals that come through EAP have three or six sessions per situation so if in January they call because they're stressed about a situation they can come in potentially and meet with an assessment counselor three to six times and then later in the year something else happens they can come in and meet with our assessment counselor three to six times again as well. On a supervisory referral we require that the individual comes in two times so that our assessment counselors can fully gauge and understand the dynamics of what that employee is experiencing. Okay what's the format of the sessions or the program is it just you know a physician patient or counselor you know patient conversation or is there a formal testing or I guess how does that all work? So in EAP we do not do any diagnosing of individuals if individuals feel more comfortable doing strictly telephonic consultations within with you know the assessment counselor they can do that as well or it can be face-to-face Aurora EAP has a location in Plymouth and one in Sheboygan where they meet face-to-face with those assessment counselors so it's really the comfort level of the individual. However again if it is a required a supervisory referral then we do require face to two face-to-face sessions and that really is one component of EAP. The other component of EAP is that when organizations maybe are struggling with a particular issue high levels of stress some things going on within a team or a department that's one of the things that I get to do is go in and provide training so I will provide any type of supervisory or employee training ranging from anything from stress to strength we talk about wellness overall wellness looking at the seven components of wellness and give employees and supervisors very tangible materials to take back and use with their employees okay we touched upon before you know someone can get referred to or voluntarily you know go how are employees or people in general educated on that that this is what's all available you know so they can go some place so the the organization can do a variety of different things we provide monthly focus of the month highlighted topics which we have on our website so that communication is distributed to employees however the organization feels it's most appropriate we also have three times a year we send out a newsletter directly to supervisors so as a generalized reminder to the supervisor who is in touch with those employees on a day-to-day basis and then three times a year we have employee newsletters where we focus on a particular topic or issue highlight that on our website and then provide additional information accordingly we do corresponding posters so that people are aware of the of the topic of the month okay who can refer me to an employee assistance program and who is usually all involved when this does happen so in general we certainly hope that all organizations offer employee assistance programming to their employees it is a great benefit that allows individuals to focus on work when they're at work and focus on home when they're at home and so that's why we highlight the issues that we do so that we know that happy people produce quality results and can stay focused at work when they're at work and have a good life when they're at home as well so that it's balanced so it depends on the organization that you work with so you need to check it as an employee I would check with your human resource department about what employee assistance program service you have that you're eligible for did that answer yeah yes definitely thank you is it required by law it is not required by law for for organization to have them offer employee assistance program it is not but it is a service that allows an employee to access services without any payment so it's an employer sponsored so the employer pays per month fee for the employee to access that service counseling services again those work life services we connected on earlier whether it be financial consultation childcare eldercare legal consultation that kind of thing okay is the method usually an employee excuse me an employer wants to you know start up an employee assistance program how to I mean do they go out and just research and you know talk to agencies like yourselves or is it the other way where agencies like yourselves talk to employers and approach employers how does that relationship work it can happen either way again we hope that all organizations offer employee assistance programming to their to their employees it's a win-win for the employer and the employee we oftentimes find that having employee assistance program will reduce healthcare costs particularly the mental health component or piece of that so through insurance brokers or um you know contacting any um agency that would provide the service absolutely so that's one nice benefit for an employee is they can go go to the service take advantage and help themselves as well as then helping the employer you know ultimately in the workforce and it's a benefit provided by the employer yeah it's a win-win for everybody so it's a win-win for everybody yeah so it helps the whole man the workplace absolutely it helps the community yes and the because the individuals that work in the community live in the community and when they are happy healthy productive individuals we all win absolutely the concept of EAP how long has it been in existence is this a fairly new thing or has it been around for a while it's not a fairly new thing but it's a it's a great question Aurora EAP has been actively involved in the community since 1983 and they were originally started years and years ago unfortunately I can't give you a specific year but they were originated when individuals were struggling with severe significant alcohol and drug abuse issues and they were brought into the workforce they really evolved over time to be a very voluntary program that offers way way above and beyond service above and beyond the alcohol and drug abuse although it is a primary issue that we educate and highlight particularly in our community in here in Sheboygan what types of organizations provide a EAP program like yourselves is it a usually a health care provider a group a hospital or I guess what are the agencies that provide these services so as I indicated earlier I work with about a hundred organizations and they range anything from any you know employees of 10 to over 1800 employees and they are can be manufacturing environments they can be school districts they can be banking industry it can be pretty much any organization that really cares about the quality of life that an individual who's working an employee works for them if they want to if they want to provide that that benefit and service so as an individual if I would be looking for counseling I have to be an employee of an organization that has an EAP program I couldn't just like say you know I want to come to your facility because I need help on something so I couldn't come on my own absolutely you're correct and so that's why I would encourage employees to ask their human resource department do we have an EAP and understand those very comprehensive or not comprehensive benefits because all EAPs are not the same and so what they offer are very different and so I would absolutely direct an employee to connect with their their human resource department you just follow right into my next question how do employee assistant programs differ from one another well the type of service they offer ranges some employee assistance programs only offer telephonic Aurora EAP is local and we have you know that face-to-face we have we have locally we have three assessment counselors that see the bulk of the employees within this community that use Aurora EAP I work with organization organizations that consist of about 20,000 employees so the face-to-face component is different can be different and then the type of service so maybe not all EAPs offer those work life services the free 30-minute consultation with an attorney the financial assistance the education assistance that kind of thing so it depends and that's why really your human resource or your benefits specialist within your organization will understand that and know know the benefits that are that the employee is eligible for okay to touch briefly I know you mentioned Aurora has a EAP program that sponsors one has one offers one for employers what types of agencies you know other than Aurora can can or do provide that type of a program for employers to go to is it like basically any health care provider you know is it a hospital type thing or you know what how does that come about so sometimes other organizations such as insurance organizations will or a short-term disability sometimes there are add-ons to a company that accesses insurance benefits for their employees they may offer an EAP program so that I mean it just depends again the quality of what you receive and the type of benefit you offer your employee depends on you know the organization that you're getting the service from sure like it says not everybody's the same as what we talked about before it depends on you know the EAP provider who actually provides the counseling service what's their menu of you know services that they want to provide absolutely as far as that goes yeah across the country or let's say within you know what to say Aurora you know it's nationwide or whichever does your EAP cover the whole country you know where the services are pretty much the same throughout or do you have to specifically gear it towards region you know the country so we offer Aurora EAP we work with a variety over 300 organizations some of the organizations have affiliate or sister parent companies in other parts of the state of the United States and we do offer and extend those services to those organizations as well and so we do work with some affiliate sites that understand our practice and our business how we do things and we enter into agreements with them to provide our service okay what's your visitation you know volumes usually on a yearly basis around well when looking at overall utilization we have national average for an individual coming in to using EAP is anywhere from four to six percent of the population our average within EAP our Aurora EAP is is approximately five percent so right in the middle and that's our total book of business and so when we say book of business we are looking at Green Bay across the Oshkosh down to the Illinois border I will say specific to Sheboygan County I tend to see with organizations I work with a higher percentage of utilization I sense that I work with a lot of organizations that know their employees rather well and care deeply about their their employees and so I tend to see anywhere from eight to nine percent utilization and that's we we keep track of that on a one time or an initial use so so yeah we're very I mean people are really taking advantage of employees are taking advantage of that service that's good and then of those eight or nine percent that you see what's your success rate where a positive impact has been made that's a great question and so individuals that come to EAP we are able to aid in a system 84 percent of those individuals do not require or need a further referral so EAP is really designed to aid and assist individuals with you know somebody that's experiencing an issue or a problem that may not be you know a long-standing issue and so if again we don't diagnose individuals so if we feel or assess that a situation or a person might need more than what EAP can provide we will provide that outpatient referral and that happens anywhere you know 14 percent of the time a small percentage sure and that's a great question or a great answer which comes into my next question is if somebody goes through EAP and the council realizes we may need more help here for this individual we can provide you can do referrals to other agencies such as you know mental health or you know physical you know cardiac and such we do we provide any type of referral that an individual needs as it relates to whatever problem they're experiencing and so we are aware of the organizations that we work with their insurance so it doesn't have to be Aurora insurance so if somebody has a different carrier we are aware of who those preferred providers are and guide those employees appropriately okay because we want them to live the best life that they can and have the least out-of-pocket expense possible absolutely with that so the whole EAP program have you seen shifts or volumes increased during let's say the latest economic downturn that we had or you know natural disasters or you know events like that that happened you know in our either in our community or in our world as far as that goes you see the trends follow that for the usage of utilization of you know EAPs yeah I would say the use of EAP has been pretty consistent perhaps the issues for which the individuals come through you know might fluctuate somewhat 33% of the individuals we see in EAP have a relationship issue of some type whether it be child and family or a marital relationship 21% stress anxiety and depression 25% do those work life services so the child care elder care financial legal consultation a slight increase in occupational over time particular and specific to the Sheboyin County we do see a higher incidence of substance use alcohol and or drug abuse need for those services and we do track sort of you know the primary issue that individuals struggle with and and why do we do that because we care about what this community is struggling with and we want to make sure that the resources are there and available for the individuals okay as far as the benefit of an EAP program have you done any studies to you know try and measure the cost savings or impact on a business by using these programs you know so they don't lose productivity and while as we keep a healthy workforce you know work related you know injury incidents such as that do you have any statistics compiled on that that's that's a great question I did bring some information that is through our national organization actually employee assistance professional association through EPA companies with employee assistance programs report 68 percent increase in morale 62 percent higher productivity 59 percent lower absenteeism rate 35 percent reduced reduced turnovers and 21 percent fewer accidents so when we look at a return on investment the organizations that I work with um on an annual basis we do a dollar for dollar um and anywhere they see one dollar invested in aurora you know or EAP program right we'll see anywhere from a seven dollar to a 25 dollar return nice along along with that you know one has to look at it's not only the benefit of where the employer is you know benefiting increasing profits and such it's also the home life of the people themselves I mean that's where we really need to focus is you know as our show quality of life it's the whole the whole circle of quality of life not just one aspect of how it all fits together absolutely you know as far as that goes um our time is just about up do you have any closing remarks or any other comments or charts you'd like to show our audience I certainly just thank you for highlighting employee assistance programming I think it is a great benefit um that oftentimes is underutilized within organizations and just really your emphasis on quality of life because the reality is is that work employment situations um employers impact employees who in general um make our community what it is and so um I thank you for for that opportunity and certainly any partnerships moving forward um we welcome no I thank you for joining our show and one thing you know that I think people should remember to realize is if they're not alone if they need help there's a place to go you know benefits they're asked for don't be afraid not to say well I can do this on my own because there's many times especially in this day and age things are so fast the stress level is so high you're being pulled in how many different directions asks for help because it's there absolutely couldn't have said it better thank you on behalf of quality of life we covered employee assistance program Pamela I'd like to thank you for being on the show and if you have any questions or comments please visit our website at www.wscsheboygan.com thank you for watching I'm Dave Augustine