When an employee lacks transportation, can’t access healthy food, or doesn’t feel safe in their neighborhood, it influences their everyday well-being, productivity at work, and eventually can lead to less favorable health outcomes.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes social determinants of health (SDOH) as environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, or worship. To actively support whole-person health and offset negative SDOH impacts, organizations can offer benefits that meet the broader daily living needs of both employees and their families.
Offer Employee Benefits That Show You Care
Attracting and retaining top talent means understanding employees face challenges outside of work and need support to be their best. It’s important to recognize that employees may experience discrimination based on characteristics such as race, gender, gender identity, sexuality, disability, and age — all of which affect access to care. According to the CDC, interpersonal and structural discrimination can negatively affect mental and physical health, preventing individuals from attaining their highest level of health and productivity.
Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout every aspect of your business can help you better understand and respond to your employees’ needs, expectations, and challenges. While many people are familiar with the concept of discrimination as a barrier to care, social determinants of health extend further into economic stability, access to education, community and social structures, transportation, and availability of care providers. The good news is that programs do exist to provide the right support, and employee benefits can be a powerful opportunity to deliver this care.
Provide Whole-Person Care To Support Health Equity
So how do you offer a solution that meets a wide range of employee needs, addresses SDOH and DEI concerns, but also remains cost-effective? One approach is through an enhanced Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which connects employees to personalized resources and confidential care.
An enhanced EAP includes one-on-one counseling, consultations with work-life specialists, digital cognitive therapy, specialized evaluations including fitness-for-duty exams, and levels of support ranging from clinical-first to dedicated member engagement. Self-paced digital options offer even more helpful resources, allowing people to access care where and when they need it.
Employers also benefit from increased support with an enhanced EAP. This includes training resources, expanded critical incident response support, consultation opportunities regarding care referrals, and dedicated client support. An enhanced EAP empowers organizations to equip their managers and HR staff to effectively manage culture challenges, while employees benefit from seamless access to personalized care.
Ultimately, the power of an EAP lies in directly connecting people to the appropriate resources for their circumstances, and addressing and offsetting the impacts SDOH or DEI may have on health and well-being. Services like legal and financial counseling, child and elder care, or work-life balance planning help connect people with what they need to break through personal and professional barriers. Confidential 24/7 help is available from customer care specialists and licensed clinicians in the format that works best for your employees, whether that be live chat, asynchronous text, or in-person consultations. The right care can be delivered anywhere at the right time — when they need it most.
Left unaddressed, social determinants of health can undermine an organization’s benefits and have an impact on workplace culture. By leveraging an EAP that takes a whole-health view, employers can foster positive DEI momentum, support improvement around SDOH, and empower people to thrive. Relying on a trusted health partner like Anthem for your whole-health strategy can help you advance the care and support you offer your employees, making it simpler, more effective, and more affordable.