HRE soundbite: Mental health barriers ‘won’t go away’ after pandemic

Peter Hames

With mental health issues on the rise due to the coronavirus pandemic, more employers are stepping up to help with new resources and a growing amount of support. But what’s important to note, says Peter Hames, CEO of Big Health, a digital health app company, is that problems that have prohibited employees from getting help won’t go away after the pandemic. He hopes that any changes in mental health support that are made due to COVID-19 will be permanent.

“There’s no doubt that this is a time of great challenge to the mental health of many,” he says. “But when the pandemic subsides, the core barriers to accessing mental healthcare won’t go away, from stigma to poor access. I hope that this experience inspires a step change in provision of effective support for mental health long into the future.”

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Related: Coronavirus resource spotlight: Big Health’s mental health tools

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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.