Case Study | General Mills

How General Mills is Embracing Mental Health

Learn how General Mills is using Spring Health to change lives and transform their culture.

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Spring Health

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    The Challenge

    General Mills was looking for a solution that would enable them to change the culture around how employees approached mental health. They chose Spring Health because the combination of precision mental healthcare and personalized care delivery from quality providers was proven to drive clinical outcomes for enrolled employees.

    Driving Clinical Outcomes

    “There’s pain in every room,” says Jacqueline Williams-Roll, Chief Human Resources Officer at General Mills. “For employees to be their best, they’ve got to be well—physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally. Mental health is such an important part of that.”

    Driving clinical outcomes and helping their employees create positive change was most important.

    They identified four things leading solutions are doing:

    1. Developing a strategy for improving mental health
    2. Running an anti-stigma campaign
    3. Lowering barriers to clinical care
    4. Providing a low cost, clinically proven behavioral health solution

    Why Spring Health

    General Mills was looking for a solution that would enable them to change the culture around how employees approached mental health. They chose Spring Health because the combination of precision mental healthcare and personalized care delivery from quality providers was proven to drive clinical outcomes for enrolled employees.

    We have destigmatized mental health

    Jacqueline says, “The important thing that’s happened for us over the course of the last year is we have destigmatized mental health. Spring Health actually gave us the platform to start the conversation. You’ve got to get started, and Spring Health was a wonderful way for us to make that initial jump.”

    General Mills wanted a partner that could ensure their employees and their loved ones would never have to go it alone when it came to their mental wellbeing, and since their launch in January of 2021, this is exactly what they’re experiencing.

    “Spring Health has integrated within our communications, they’ve joined function meetings—they’ve been there every step of the way to support the ups and downs,” says Jacqueline. “It’s just amazing.”

    The Approach

    General Mills is changing the mental health culture at work with Spring Health’s world-class technology and compassionate human support.

    Precision Mental Healthcare 

    When General Mills employees and their dependents enroll in Spring Health, they become a member. Spring Health uses data to better understand our members and guide them to the right care at the right time. This starts with our clinically validated digital assessment that screens for over 10 conditions.

    The assessment leverages the power of data and machine learning technology to provide each member with a results summary and personalized care plan, designed to educate and empower members with an understanding of how they’re feeling and how Spring Health can support them.

    Members can also measure their progress over time with unlimited assessment check-ins, and their care recommendations will update in real time. Their Spring Health care team has access to a member’s results and care plan, ensuring providers stay informed throughout the member’s entire journey.

    Dedicated Human Guidance 

    Each member is assigned a Spring Health Care Navigator: a clinically licensed mental health professional who provides one-on-one emotional support, answers questions, and makes recommendations and referrals within the General Mills ecosystem.

    The Care Navigator is an essential part of the member’s collaborative Spring Health care team, which may also include a therapist, coach, or other providers, based on the individual’s unique needs.

    Members have the same Care Navigator from start to finish. This means that Care Navigators get to know the whole person, including their family dynamics and the life situation that brings them to our solution. Trust keeps members engaged in care.

    Fast Access to Quality Care

    Spring Health recommends providers based on the member’s assessment results, goals, and preferences. In just a few clicks, General Mills employees can also schedule and manage therapy for themselves, or on behalf of their kids and teens, right from their own Spring Health account.

    Members can select providers based on their specialities, the conditions they treat, and whether they offer in-person or virtual care. Spring Health’s provider network is built to support the diverse needs of employees and their families.

    On-Demand Digital Resources

    Members have access to digital cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) exercises for immediate relief, in our Moments library. These can help across a spectrum of conditions and common stressors, including burnout, sleep, anxiety, and parenting.

    Specific content recommendations are made based on the member’s goals and assessment results, and Providers and Care Navigators may also recommend Moments as a supplement to other care.

    The Results

    Immediate access to personalized, quality care eliminates barriers to mental healthcare and drives positive clinical outcomes. General Mills has seen impact across three key areas.

    Access

    Within fourteen months of their Spring Health launch, 28% of their employees were enrolled and 88% of those enrolled members completed their mental wellness assessment.

    Currently, 26% of their employees are accessing their Spring Health benefit—compared to the 1% utilization they experienced with their former, traditional EAP.

    The national average wait time for a new therapy appointment is 25 days. With Spring Health, employees at General Mills can schedule an appointment and see a provider in less than two days.

    Clinical Improvements: 

    World-class clinical trials typically result in 47% of participants improving their symptoms, in an average of 12 appointments.

    At General Mills, 58% of their members have improved their depression symptoms in an average of 2.46 therapy sessions, 49% have improved their anxiety in an average of 1.4 therapy sessions, and 67% are showing improvement overall.

    Additionally, 82 members who had suicide ideation and intent have been supported.

    Availability

    The national average wait time for a new therapy appointment is 25 days. With Spring Health, employees at General Mills can schedule an appointment and see a provider in less than two days.

    About the Author
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    Spring Health

    Spring Health is a comprehensive mental health solution for employers and health plans. Unlike any other solution, we use clinically validated technology called Precision Mental Healthcare to pinpoint and deliver exactly what will work for each person—whether that’s meditation, coaching, therapy, medication, and beyond. Today, Spring Health supports over 4,500 organizations, from startups to multinational Fortune 500 corporations, and is a preferred mental health provider to companies like General Mills, Bain, and DocuSign.

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