Spring Health Study Published in JAMA Open First to Show Both Clinical and Financial Improvements from a Workplace Mental Health Program
Spring Health, the most comprehensive global mental health solution for employers and health plans,unveiled data from the first-ever peer-reviewed study on the efficacy and value of a workplace mental health program. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, demonstrates that participation in Spring Health’s program contributed to a significant reduction in symptoms of depression and anxiety while also increasing workplace productivity for individuals at companies of all sizes.
The study evaluated Spring Health’s workplace mental health program and included participation from 1,132 employees at 66 employers — including small, medium, and large employers — across 40 states from January 2018 to January 2021. It is the first study to prove that a well-designed and executed employee mental health program can increase productivity, reduce absenteeism, and drive a positive financial return on investment (ROI) for employers.
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Key findings include:
- Nearly 70 percent of participants reliably improved their mental health
- Average time to remission was 5.9 weeks
- 25 percent fewer missed work days
- 24 percent increase in productivity
- Significantly higher job retention as employees were 60% less likely to leave their job
- Average workplace savings of more than $7,000 per participant within the first six months
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“Our workplace mental health programs are a win-win for both employees who receive support and their employers who offer this benefit,” said Adam Chekroud, co-founder and president of Spring Health. “We are enormously proud of these results, which reinforce our strong belief in the value of investing in employee mental health support.”
“The demand for mental health services has increased significantly since the beginning of the pandemic, and while a number of digital therapeutic services have emerged, they fail to address a huge underlying problem our employees face: timely access to high-quality mental health professionals,” said Christopher Brunson, VP of Total Rewards at General Mills. “Spring Health helped us eliminate barriers to mental healthcare with clinically proven technology and access to providers who can be seen, on average, in one to two days.”
Mental illness is one of the leading causes of disability. In fact, according to data from the American Psychiatric Association, employees with unresolved depression experience a 35 percent reduction in productivity, contributing to economic losses totaling $210.5 billion per year in absenteeism, reduced productivity, and medical costs. There has been significant recent investment in workplace wellness programs in an effort to improve employee mental health, but few of those programs to date have actually reported clinical improvement or financial ROI, and none have reported both together.
Spring Health’s workplace mental health program encompasses several proven methods of precision mental healthcare for the whole family (ages 6+) — including comprehensive mental health screening, personal support from a licensed care navigator, on-demand digital self-help tools, and fast access to coaching, outpatient psychotherapy, and medication management. Globally, members have access to care in an average of two days or less.
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