Coronavirus resource spotlight: guide to digital mental health solutions

A look at a guide that provides HR and benefits leaders information to assess and select digital mental health solutions.

What it is: Northeast Business Group on Health’s and One Mind PsyberGuide’s Digital Tools and Solutions for Mental Health Guide

It’s a comprehensive employer guide that provides HR and benefits leaders with information to assess and select digital mental health solutions for their employees. The guide includes two dozen mental health digital solutions and their key features, including what conditions each tool targets (stress, depression and anxiety, for example) and the types of interventions it offers (like coaching, mindfulness meditation or clinical therapy). It also features case studies of four major employers that have been experimenting with digital mental health solutions to help employees address issues ranging from stress and sleep to overall wellbeing.

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Why it’s helpful: Digital technologies have the potential to revolutionize treatment for mental health conditions, says Dr. Mark Cunningham-Hill, medical director at NEBGH. But with so many solutions and tools in the marketplace, it’s hard for employers to know which technology is best for them and their employees. “We developed this resource guide to arm employers with the information they need to make the right decision for their organization and employees,” he says. “With the country now in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic, the value of these tools that provide virtual solutions has increased exponentially.”

Related: Is COVID-19 a turning point for workplace mental health?

Other insights: The global burden of mental health conditions is catastrophic and growing rapidly, more so amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health conditions affect over one-third of the world’s population, with two–depression and anxiety–alone resulting in an estimated $1 trillion in lost economic productivity, the Northeast Business Group on Health says. For employers, the impact of mental health conditions on their organizations is “substantial and ripples beyond the cost of care to include lost productivity, absenteeism and presenteeism,” the group says.

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For more free benefits resources, check out this list from HRE.

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Kathryn Mayer
Kathryn Mayer is HRE’s former benefits editor and chair of the Health & Benefits Leadership Conference. She has covered benefits for the better part of a decade, and her stories have won multiple awards, including a Jesse H. Neal Award and honors from the American Society of Business Publication Editors and the National Federation of Press Women. She holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Denver.