Healthy Minds at Work

Originally published in the Globe and Mail, September 27, 2010

New research showing that mental illness is costing the Canadian economy $51 billion a year in lost productivity leaves little doubt that employers simply cannot afford to neglect the psychological well-being of their employees.

In a report published earlier this month in the Journal of Environmental Medicine, researchers at the Toronto-based Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) found that, on average, the
actual cost of mental health leave is double the cost of a leave for a physical illness.

Dr. Carolyn Dewa, head of CAMH’s Work and Well-being Research and Evaluation Program and lead investigator on the study, says in an average year, a firm with 1,000 employees might expect about
145 disability cases. Although only a fraction of the cases are
due to mental illness, they cost employers the most – nearly
double the cost due to physical illness.

Kathy Jurgens, national program manager of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Works program, says while CAMH’s findings on the cost of mental illness to the economy is “staggering,” it’s not just lost work time due to mental illness that negatively impacts organizations.

“There’s also the issue of retention; often an employee with a mental illness or who feels that the working environment is damaging their mental health will simply leave an organization if the issues are not being adequately addressed,” says Ms. Jurgens.

Joti Samra, a research scientist and adjunct professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, says a psychologically healthy workplace is the core of a well-functioning and sustainable organization.

Although there is currently no national benchmark against which organizations can measure their efforts to create a mentally healthy workplace, the Mental Health Commission of Canada is taking a lead
in spearheading the development of national standards in the area of psychological safety and health, says Dr. Samra.

In the meantime, programs such as Guarding Minds @ Work (GM@W), a free, evidence-based strategy that helps employers protect and promote psychological safety and health in their workplace, are considered to be at the leading edge of promoting mental healthy workplaces.

Dr. Samra, who played a leading role in developing GM@W, says employers need to focus on more than just supporting individuals who have mental health issues. They also need to ensure the work environment promotes and ensures psychological health.

“Guarding Minds @ Work provides a comprehensive set of resources employers can use to effectively address the impact of 12 psychosocial risk factors known to have a powerful impact on organizational health, the health of individual employees, and the financial bottom line,” says Dr. Samra.

Mary Ann Baynton, a business consultant and specialist in workplace mental health, says risks to mental health in the workplace need to be removed in the same way that risks to physical health and safety are removed.

“Most employers are understandably focused on staying viable in this economy. A psychologically healthy workplace is rarely on the agenda until problems arise such as a human rights violation or a rise in grievances, turnover or absences,” says Ms. Baynton. “The irony is that a psychologically healthy workplace has been shown by Watson Wyatt and the American Psychological Association to also be among the most profitable, so it should be a focus during times
of economic downturn.”

Ms. Baynton says while GM@W has brought together many valid and practical applications that have been available for years and put them into a comprehensive set of tools that looks at psychological safety in the workplace, the program is not meant for measuring the mental health of individuals, but other assessments are available to do just that through organizations such as Mood Disorders Association of Ontario.

“It is important to know whether the assessment is a valid tool or if it is simply a fun quiz,” says Ms. Baynton. “Organizations must investigate this carefully before recommending screening to their
employees.”