How Manufacturers Are Reducing the Mental Health Stigma

The Challenge

Manufacturers face a unique combination of pressures, including challenges related to workforce shortages, shift work, physically demanding work, and supply-and-demand difficulties. These stressors are contributing to increased levels of anxiety, strain, reduced productivity, and absenteeism in the workplace. Industry-wide, mental health conditions are leading to consistently high turnover rates and medical claim spend. According to the Manufacturers Alliance:

• 41% of manufacturing employers say that mental health challenges have negatively impacted employee retention efforts.
• 58% of manufacturing employees stated that work stress often impacted their personal relationships.
• 54% of manufacturing workers know a co-worker impacted by a substance use disorder or addiction.

Unfortunately, there are many barriers in place that are preventing employees from receiving the mental health care they need. These include stigma, cost, and lack of access to quality care, which all lead to low EAP utilization. Top manufacturing leaders are recognizing the need to enhance their benefits and reduce turnover and absenteeism through improved access to mental healthcare.

The Solution

Fast, simplified access to personalized care. Employees use Spring Health to find the right provider for their needs, view availability in real-time, and book appointments within two days. 

A diverse provider network is critically important to our manufacturing customers. Not only do 47% of Spring Health providers identify as BIPOC (3x the national average), but our network focuses on a wide variety of clinical specialty areas, including anxiety, depression, PTSD, relationships, and parenting.

Normalizing therapy for male frontline workers. Due to the high stigma in a male-dominated industry, we’ve found that messaging featuring sleep- and stress-related support is most effective. We have tailored our communications framework for this population to:

• Medicalize: talk about the physical systems of stress and the risk of leaving them untreated.
• Externalize: focus on the external pressures that contribute to stress and mental health issues.
• Normalize: emphasize that you are not alone, and everyone could use a little extra help these days.

Substance use support

‍To combat the high rate of substance use among our manufacturing members, Spring Health offers the only solution that combines precision mental healthcare with longitudinal support for alcohol and drug use—solving for late detection, lack of precision, and little personalization. By getting members into care quickly and proactively, recovery happens faster through:

• Early screening and proactive outreach by specially trained clinicians. Providers are trained according to the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) criteria, working to match each member’s unique needs to the right level of care.
• Coordinated clinical care navigation. Members are guided through a personalized care plan by a dedicated clinician, who they can lean on for additional support throughout their treatment and aftercare as needed.
• Whole person approach. Treatment for those struggling with alcohol or drug use is an integral part of our comprehensive mental health care plan.

High engagement

Spring Health develops customized communications planning with each new client to ensure a successful launch and ongoing member engagement. Some specific tactics used for our manufacturing clients include home flyers, testimonial videos from their peers, personalized messages from local plant and office leadership, and a customized Spring Health podcast for managers to increase understanding and effective communication of the benefit.

Care Navigators

These licensed, master’s level clinicians offer guidance and personalized support to help employees feel better, faster.

The Results

Spring Health’s platform is equipping manufacturing companies around the globe to bolster engagement and overall employee wellbeing, leading to a drastic improvement in mental health conditions and reduction of medical claims. Manufacturing customers are experiencing these results from their employees.

• 88% show improvement in depression symptoms*
• $6K In savings per employee per year
• 50% less likely to leave their job
• 25% reduction in absenteeism
• 28% of employees enrolled within 14 months of launch*
• 82 enrolled employees at a large manufacturing company who had suicide ideation or intent were supported

_{*Based on averages across our manufacturing BoB}