It is safe to say that discussing alcoholism with any professional in the treatment field, EAP field, or other helping industry will generate some argument and controversy. Just wait. If you are new to the field, you'll soon be indoctrinated with one of these cocktail conversations.
It's one of the "elephants in the living room" of the helping profession. One out of four people has an addict in their family, and myth and mythology over thousands of years keeps intervention, treatment, and recovery confusing and controversial.
From non-M.D. psychologists who are selected to be the U.S. Supreme Court consultants, who then push the idea that alcoholism is not a disease, to best selling authors telling us how alcoholics can drink safely, there is simply no shortage of information and "new thought" about alcoholism that continues to undermine the legitimacy of this disease and how it should be managed.
Of course, if you have worked directly with alcoholics in treatment, you are prized material for being hired as an EAP staffer. It means you have been in the trenches, faced the defense mechanisms, and hopefully have been mentored by recovering persons (if you are not recovering yourself) who adhere to abstinence principles and 12-step programming as the most effective way to manage this chronic disease.
(It is truly amazing that when I blog on this topic, I get rabid members of Rational Recovery threatening to turn off my free speech rights with their conspiracy theories about AA.)
If you are new to the EAP field, and have not been in the trenches of alcoholism, there are few things you need to know.
First, don't think that understanding alcoholism or writing about it as new EAP professional will be an easy scrabble. The economics and politics of alcoholism diagnosis, causation, treatment, and ongoing recovery are profound , convoluted, and continue unabated.
Before you get into a discussion about alcoholism, do a few things that are really critical to your edification and orientation.
1. Go to a dozen or so open AA meetings and get oriented to "recovery think". Know what recovering people read, and have your own library of this material. (Also purchase alternative and controversial materials that argue against AA so you can see their rationalization and desperation to avoid what AA is about.) Memorize the twelve steps. You don't want to be caught unable to converse about the 5th step, the 4th step, or the conflict in treatment programs that push patients to go to the 4th step instead sticking with only the first three. (See what I mean?)
Not having this information will also cause issues with your clients who will expect for you to know more than they do about recovery initially.
2. Visit the Web site of the American Society on Addiction Medicine at http://asam.org. There is a ton of stuff on this site. Read their position papers. This association represents about four thousand medical doctors who are the leading authorities on addictive disease, alcoholism, and its treatment. They don't get a lot of press. Probably because they get a lot of folks upset who would otherwise report on their opinions. There is a simple explanation: Science and research simply don't mix well with the popular culture, which has a 5000 year head start ahead of them.
It is popular culture that drives belief systems about the disease. You need to separate the wheat from the shaft if you are going to work in this field effectively.
There a lot of people making money off of alcoholics. Whether it's trying to do psychotherapy with them while they are still drinking or drugging, selling them gimmicks, pushing alternative group therapies and "not-necessarily-abstinence" groups, pop-psych ideas about how to drink normally, etc., there is no end to the influx of confusion and interference that keeps alcoholism from being accepted by everyone (like cancer) that it is an authentic, chronic disease that requires abstinence to arrest its progression.
3. Read "Under the Influence" by James Milam and Katherine Ketchum. Still about $5.95 a paperback copy, it is a fascinating book that explains alcoholism as a chronic, genetically based illness so well, it is hard to put it down. Not sure if the author's original, self-published book, 'The Emergent Comprehensive Concept of Alcoholism" is still around, but if you find it, it will blow your mind about the economics and the forces in our larger society that have a vested interest in your not believing that this is a true disease.
Okay that's enough to blog about today, don't you think!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Friday, January 29, 2010
Link Fixed
A link was broken on my last post. It's fixed, or you can click here.
Preventing Workplace Violence
Preventing Workplace Violence
Workplace Violence Video
I finished Video #3 in the Workplace Media Library 2010 series. This module is entitled Preventing Workplace Violence. It runs 12 minutes and I think it covers all of the bases.
While writing this program for EAP web sites and other workplace services, I took advantage of my experience as a victim of bullying when I was working for the CIA in 1978. (I eventually took a position in the CIA's occupational alcoholism program, but just prior, had a job in the Office of Logistics in Langley, VA doing various types of unclassified building work.)
I was able to stop the bullying permanently in a very satisfying manner. I zapped the perpetrator one day when he was arrested by a Federal police office for throwing lighted matches over the top of his head in an effort to hit me with them while I was walking down a hallway following behind. All for no reason. No reason at all. Just "fun". I was the chosen one--this guy's toy.
Luckily, it was all spotted by a Federal Police Officer guarding the hallway. She approached me and asked if I wanted to file a report. "Absolutely", I said. After numerous other events, it was the perfect opportunity.
The rest is a history of no more stress from this jerk, but the point of this story is that horseplay is illegal in Federal office buildings, and no matter where it is, it often turns violent. It frequently has victims, causes property damage, the clear example should encourage you to mentioned it in your training.
I have never seen horseplay mentioned in violence prevention materials, but this one does include it in one strong slide.
You will see other original content in this violence in the workplace prevention Power Point video. I also encourage employees to attend CISD debriefings offered by the organization after a violent incident, tips on avoiding assault, what the organization's EAP can do, how employees should be "change-agents" in promoting respect and avoid provoking a violent response from an employee who may not react rationally from picked on and bullied.
You can see the Preventing Violence at Work video here. Also, you may be interested in the Workplace Video Web Content Subscription as well. The program is designed to drive the cost down for these new products.
While writing this program for EAP web sites and other workplace services, I took advantage of my experience as a victim of bullying when I was working for the CIA in 1978. (I eventually took a position in the CIA's occupational alcoholism program, but just prior, had a job in the Office of Logistics in Langley, VA doing various types of unclassified building work.)
I was able to stop the bullying permanently in a very satisfying manner. I zapped the perpetrator one day when he was arrested by a Federal police office for throwing lighted matches over the top of his head in an effort to hit me with them while I was walking down a hallway following behind. All for no reason. No reason at all. Just "fun". I was the chosen one--this guy's toy.
Luckily, it was all spotted by a Federal Police Officer guarding the hallway. She approached me and asked if I wanted to file a report. "Absolutely", I said. After numerous other events, it was the perfect opportunity.
The rest is a history of no more stress from this jerk, but the point of this story is that horseplay is illegal in Federal office buildings, and no matter where it is, it often turns violent. It frequently has victims, causes property damage, the clear example should encourage you to mentioned it in your training.
I have never seen horseplay mentioned in violence prevention materials, but this one does include it in one strong slide.
You will see other original content in this violence in the workplace prevention Power Point video. I also encourage employees to attend CISD debriefings offered by the organization after a violent incident, tips on avoiding assault, what the organization's EAP can do, how employees should be "change-agents" in promoting respect and avoid provoking a violent response from an employee who may not react rationally from picked on and bullied.
You can see the Preventing Violence at Work video here. Also, you may be interested in the Workplace Video Web Content Subscription as well. The program is designed to drive the cost down for these new products.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
EAPs Can Do Managed Care and Increase Their Value
1. If you work for an internal EAP with a company that is self-insured, consider approaching your human resources and benefits management team to discuss the possibility of getting the mental health component of your EAP "carved out" so you can provide limited managed care services. If you are a very well trusted tenured pro, they just might consider it. Listen up. I am not recommending to you anything that I have not done myself, including this task.
2. If you can achieve this goal, it will increase utilization rates dramatically. Here is the selling angle: 1) The EAP can pre-screen and refer employees to appropriate mental health professionals based upon their clinical evaluations and guidance. This will save money by getting employees to the right provider the first time.
As an incentive, permit 80% coverage for mental health benefits versus 50% for those that don't go through the EAP. Self-insured companies can do this sort of thing. This will also allow the EAP to identify behavioral/medical problems that may underlie existing disorders contributing to the symptoms brought to the EAP session by the client.
3. Even a phone interview with an employee to discuss a referral -- in the event the employee does not perceive the need for a face-to-face interview, or refuses -- can go along way toward identifying primary health problems that can be more effectively treated by the referral source the EAP might suggest.
4. If you succeed in getting a carve-out, the primary services you will provide include: 1) approving therapists; 2) notifying the insurance company who they should approve payment for; 3) re-certifying regularly; 4) selecting providers when a specialist on the managed care panel doesn't exist; and, 5) deciding to pay higher fees than the managed care company is willing to do themselves. This is a good deal for employees and can increase confidentiality. Yes, it will save money for the company, too. That's right, many managed care companies will not require "outpatient treatment reports" and they will accept the EAP's approval of out-of-panel therapists. You decide. You have to be diligent, but remember, "its your money not managed care's money."
5. All of this can limit the amount of clinical information, other than a CPT code, that will go to the massive computer memory at the managed care company. This improves actual and perceived confidentiality. Survey other internal programs nationwide to identify strategies capable of adding this dimension to your EAP services.
If you are interested in seeing the new “Preventing Violence in the Workplace” program (five formats available), reply back here and I will make sure you are on my early release list to view it, and get the limited time discount. This is a reward for being nice enough to sign up for this blog. More to come in the future! The discount won't be as low as the Flash Video Subscription Service (you know about this product, right?) subscripton service, but it will be signficant. The program is in sound in Flash Video for your web site, DVD, PowerPoint, and a self-playing Flash CD.
2. If you can achieve this goal, it will increase utilization rates dramatically. Here is the selling angle: 1) The EAP can pre-screen and refer employees to appropriate mental health professionals based upon their clinical evaluations and guidance. This will save money by getting employees to the right provider the first time.
As an incentive, permit 80% coverage for mental health benefits versus 50% for those that don't go through the EAP. Self-insured companies can do this sort of thing. This will also allow the EAP to identify behavioral/medical problems that may underlie existing disorders contributing to the symptoms brought to the EAP session by the client.
3. Even a phone interview with an employee to discuss a referral -- in the event the employee does not perceive the need for a face-to-face interview, or refuses -- can go along way toward identifying primary health problems that can be more effectively treated by the referral source the EAP might suggest.
4. If you succeed in getting a carve-out, the primary services you will provide include: 1) approving therapists; 2) notifying the insurance company who they should approve payment for; 3) re-certifying regularly; 4) selecting providers when a specialist on the managed care panel doesn't exist; and, 5) deciding to pay higher fees than the managed care company is willing to do themselves. This is a good deal for employees and can increase confidentiality. Yes, it will save money for the company, too. That's right, many managed care companies will not require "outpatient treatment reports" and they will accept the EAP's approval of out-of-panel therapists. You decide. You have to be diligent, but remember, "its your money not managed care's money."
5. All of this can limit the amount of clinical information, other than a CPT code, that will go to the massive computer memory at the managed care company. This improves actual and perceived confidentiality. Survey other internal programs nationwide to identify strategies capable of adding this dimension to your EAP services.
If you are interested in seeing the new “Preventing Violence in the Workplace” program (five formats available), reply back here and I will make sure you are on my early release list to view it, and get the limited time discount. This is a reward for being nice enough to sign up for this blog. More to come in the future! The discount won't be as low as the Flash Video Subscription Service (you know about this product, right?) subscripton service, but it will be signficant. The program is in sound in Flash Video for your web site, DVD, PowerPoint, and a self-playing Flash CD.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Is Your Quarterly EAP Newsletter Placing Your Program in Danger of Being Cut?
What a weird question? Well, it's one of the many elephants in the EAP living room, so let's discuss it.
Can an EAP newsletter that you distribute too infrequently make your program less visible and more likely to be cut? After communicating with hundreds of EAPs and watching what happens internally with EAPs that I have managed, I have slowly gravitated to an answer on this question. It’s “yes”.
It’s convenient not dealing with the distribution of a newsletter more often, but still appearing as though you are “doing something” to promote your EAP. Is this your mindset?
This vintage approach to communicating wellness information in a technological era has become almost an apologetic frequency as your newsletter sheepishly slips into employee in-boxes every three months.
I would like to make the argument that this is too infrequent and makes a statement about the importance of this material and your program, in particular.
Do you disagree? Consider why you do this. Is it because there is a history of EAPs always doing it this way because that is all that was initially available from vendor sources? So, by default, did it become the standard for EAPs, and you copied others? I think this is precisely what happened.
Since I joined ALMACA (EAPA’s early name) in 1978 – 32 years ago I have witnessed the evolution of this service. And, I have watched it grow more important.
With all the stress that employees face, and with the degree of importance that you place on your EAP as a life-saving and cost-saving mechanism, isn’t it a bit ironic that you only distribute a quarterly newsletter to employees when you could do it bimonthly or monthly for less, and with less hassle?
You may have a quick comeback — employees have too much to read! Don’t fool yourself. This is your codependency talking. You're giving in to a HR manager’s phone call telling you to slow it down about other material you may have sent. Or it's simply your imagination, because you haven't received such a phone call at all. You're just making this statement to avoid the work and it sounds damn good. I have caught many EAPs in this argument. It's not reality. This, too-much-to-read line is bogus.
If you are hearing this line, it is all about muscling you around and telling the EAP how to do its job. Why is that the most important thing employees read regarding their well-being and perhaps the one thing that they really look forward to most receiving, is the one thing that should be cut back?
What you’re hearing from HR, if indeed at all, is one HR manager’s opinion, or at best a manager’s opinion relayed via HR.
You need to understand something: HR managers don’t argue with top managers. They are their primary customers. Instead HR managers ask how high to jump. Corporations are on a big outsource-the-HR-departmet kick these days, and HR managers -- like EAPs are a threatened species.
I assure you that you are not getting the results of a survey that is supported by employee opinions.
Here’s the problem. Employee newsletters have historically been four pages. The problem begins and ends there.
Quarterly newsletters are always print or sub-links to the vendors own web site destroying your seamless look. They are expensive, with 500-600 word articles, and they are a vintage solution manufactured for EAPs in the early 1980’s when anything more frequent would be over-kill. Employees had more leisure time then to read these "books".
But the problem today is that they sacrifice your EAP or program visibility. You become less competitive with other things in the organization. You don’t want that. It will jeopardize your program.
You are sacrificing visibility and communicating the message that quarterly life-saving health and wellness information is quite enough. Trust me, you do not want to send this message.
An EAP newsletter is a resource, and visibility mechanism, and item of extreme interest to employees. And it is a way to compete against other things in the environment that are targeting the employee’s attention. You must not give in to the “stop distributing this material because our employees don’t have time to read it” mantra.
Instead, stop sending 4-page newsletters. Send two-page newsletters bimonthly or monthly.
Employees do not generally finish or complete four-page newsletters in my experience and in my view. This is another reason that you are locked into a 4-page solution distributed quarterly. It’s nuts to send it more often! And its expensive. So, change the model to the 2010 solution. Get out of the 1980's.
In this era, go for less content, shorter more action-oriented tight copy, and more frequency with the ability to edit the content yourself on the fly. This way your EAP will stay visible, be perceived as being more valuable and relevant, and be more effectively mainstreamed. Anything less and you’re in danger of being seen as expendable during next budget cycle.
Distribute EAP-wellness-productivity newsletters via PDF. Post them on your web site and send a link to employees when they are added to the site.
Distribute print to employees without computers, or send copies to appropriate locations. Your utilization will increase, your visibility will be enhanced, you will spend less, and employees will read more, more frequently. Your EAP will be talked about more often, and this is what you want.
A two-page monthly newsletter is 50% more content than a quarterly four-page newsletter! (Read that again.) And, the two-pager is more likely to be completely read. Are you with me?
You’ll will also reduce waste, motivate more self-referrals, and reduce more risk to the organization with a two—pager, monthly newsletter. Oh, and it will cost less than print. Everything I am writing here is pure logic and it holds up in real life.
Still need paper, make copies from your clean PDF supplied by the vendor. Can’t get permission from the vendor? Dump the newsletter vendor!
FrontLine Employee and WorkLife Excel are your modern day solutions to effective employee and EAP newsletters.
You can get brochures here:
FRONTLINE EMPLOYEE EAP WORKPLACE NEWSLETTER
WORK-LIFE-EXCEL WORKPLACE NEWSLETTER
Can an EAP newsletter that you distribute too infrequently make your program less visible and more likely to be cut? After communicating with hundreds of EAPs and watching what happens internally with EAPs that I have managed, I have slowly gravitated to an answer on this question. It’s “yes”.
It’s convenient not dealing with the distribution of a newsletter more often, but still appearing as though you are “doing something” to promote your EAP. Is this your mindset?
This vintage approach to communicating wellness information in a technological era has become almost an apologetic frequency as your newsletter sheepishly slips into employee in-boxes every three months.
I would like to make the argument that this is too infrequent and makes a statement about the importance of this material and your program, in particular.
Do you disagree? Consider why you do this. Is it because there is a history of EAPs always doing it this way because that is all that was initially available from vendor sources? So, by default, did it become the standard for EAPs, and you copied others? I think this is precisely what happened.
Since I joined ALMACA (EAPA’s early name) in 1978 – 32 years ago I have witnessed the evolution of this service. And, I have watched it grow more important.
With all the stress that employees face, and with the degree of importance that you place on your EAP as a life-saving and cost-saving mechanism, isn’t it a bit ironic that you only distribute a quarterly newsletter to employees when you could do it bimonthly or monthly for less, and with less hassle?
You may have a quick comeback — employees have too much to read! Don’t fool yourself. This is your codependency talking. You're giving in to a HR manager’s phone call telling you to slow it down about other material you may have sent. Or it's simply your imagination, because you haven't received such a phone call at all. You're just making this statement to avoid the work and it sounds damn good. I have caught many EAPs in this argument. It's not reality. This, too-much-to-read line is bogus.
If you are hearing this line, it is all about muscling you around and telling the EAP how to do its job. Why is that the most important thing employees read regarding their well-being and perhaps the one thing that they really look forward to most receiving, is the one thing that should be cut back?
What you’re hearing from HR, if indeed at all, is one HR manager’s opinion, or at best a manager’s opinion relayed via HR.
You need to understand something: HR managers don’t argue with top managers. They are their primary customers. Instead HR managers ask how high to jump. Corporations are on a big outsource-the-HR-departmet kick these days, and HR managers -- like EAPs are a threatened species.
I assure you that you are not getting the results of a survey that is supported by employee opinions.
Here’s the problem. Employee newsletters have historically been four pages. The problem begins and ends there.
Quarterly newsletters are always print or sub-links to the vendors own web site destroying your seamless look. They are expensive, with 500-600 word articles, and they are a vintage solution manufactured for EAPs in the early 1980’s when anything more frequent would be over-kill. Employees had more leisure time then to read these "books".
But the problem today is that they sacrifice your EAP or program visibility. You become less competitive with other things in the organization. You don’t want that. It will jeopardize your program.
You are sacrificing visibility and communicating the message that quarterly life-saving health and wellness information is quite enough. Trust me, you do not want to send this message.
An EAP newsletter is a resource, and visibility mechanism, and item of extreme interest to employees. And it is a way to compete against other things in the environment that are targeting the employee’s attention. You must not give in to the “stop distributing this material because our employees don’t have time to read it” mantra.
Instead, stop sending 4-page newsletters. Send two-page newsletters bimonthly or monthly.
Employees do not generally finish or complete four-page newsletters in my experience and in my view. This is another reason that you are locked into a 4-page solution distributed quarterly. It’s nuts to send it more often! And its expensive. So, change the model to the 2010 solution. Get out of the 1980's.
In this era, go for less content, shorter more action-oriented tight copy, and more frequency with the ability to edit the content yourself on the fly. This way your EAP will stay visible, be perceived as being more valuable and relevant, and be more effectively mainstreamed. Anything less and you’re in danger of being seen as expendable during next budget cycle.
Distribute EAP-wellness-productivity newsletters via PDF. Post them on your web site and send a link to employees when they are added to the site.
Distribute print to employees without computers, or send copies to appropriate locations. Your utilization will increase, your visibility will be enhanced, you will spend less, and employees will read more, more frequently. Your EAP will be talked about more often, and this is what you want.
A two-page monthly newsletter is 50% more content than a quarterly four-page newsletter! (Read that again.) And, the two-pager is more likely to be completely read. Are you with me?
You’ll will also reduce waste, motivate more self-referrals, and reduce more risk to the organization with a two—pager, monthly newsletter. Oh, and it will cost less than print. Everything I am writing here is pure logic and it holds up in real life.
Still need paper, make copies from your clean PDF supplied by the vendor. Can’t get permission from the vendor? Dump the newsletter vendor!
FrontLine Employee and WorkLife Excel are your modern day solutions to effective employee and EAP newsletters.
You can get brochures here:
FRONTLINE EMPLOYEE EAP WORKPLACE NEWSLETTER
WORK-LIFE-EXCEL WORKPLACE NEWSLETTER
Friday, December 11, 2009
Will Alcoholism Get Lost in the Shuffle to Prevent Suicide Among Military Personnel?
Over the past couple of months the Army has been ramping up a new effort to address concerns about suicide prevention among personnel. They are going the "building resilience" route to help soldiers. Other military groups are also paying attention to this thrust.
Keep your ear to the ground and pay attention to this effort because it will lead to a movement that will flow to police, civil service, and employees in mainstream workplaces.
This is how new movements begin, and you if you are an HR manager or employee assistance professional, you want to be thinking about the efficacy of this approach to helping employees in this “new economy”, whether or not they are being shot at in battle.
"Employee engagement" is a critical concern for top management. Understand what this phrase means to productivity, and how resiliency training may complement it, and you will make your department or EAP program more valuable.
So, this could be an exciting move. Don’t be on the outside looking in.
Now, just a couple thoughts more and I am done. It’s Friday after all.
A key thrust for this effort appears to be coming from a joint military group in conjunction with University of Pennsylvania psychologists.
Resiliency has been a hot topic for just only a couple years. It first made its way into the mental health literature by the route of managed behavioral health as way to help people cope with life struggles and prevent relapse. (That is where I first really picked upon it full bore.) Magellan Behavioral Health has a strong focus on this topic, by the way.
The concept is a good one to save treatment dollars, but it is not a substitution for what we know empirically and pragmatically that works to sustain ongoing recovery program that includes abstinence.
That said, these new directional shifts in mental health often overlook other aspects of the target problem that are as old as the hills. (Perhaps boredom contributes to these attempts to wheel out something new and sexy.)
Here’s the thought: Will primary alcoholism as a contributing factor be overlooked as the underlying problem and a common denominator in many, many military suicide cases? I am not reading much about this, yet. So, I am nervous. I hope they aren't going to start seeing alcoholism as just a "symptom" of PTSD, Depression, and other stuff.
About 15% of alcoholics commit suicide and about 33 percent of suicides in the 35-something range have a primary diagnosis of alcohol or other substance misuse; over fifty percent of all suicides are related to alcohol or drug dependence. (Miller, NS; Mahler, JC; Gold, MS (1991). "Suicide risk associated with drug and alcohol dependence.". Journal of addictive diseases 10 (3): 49–61.)
After 30 years, it has been my observation that psychologists, as a group, DO NOT whole-heartily march down main street to convince the general public that alcoholism is an acute, chronic disease, with primary biogenic underpinnings. However, they are guiding this military effort! (Hey listen, correct me I am wrong about any of this folks.)
Research says alcoholism suicide risk exists for those with this primary, health care problem, and smoking as a diagnostic indicator is a great signal to spot a potential risk. Can you say "wow"!
If the alcoholism factor is ignored, attempts to reduce violence, suicide, and enhanced resiliency among military personnel (which is a good thing mind you) may have limited long-term impact. Am I off base with this argument?
Missing so far from the discussion are issues associated with alcoholism, smoking as a diagnostic red flag within occupational groups, the known high risk of suicide among these employees who do smoke, (an extremely high percentage of alcoholics smoke, research clearly shows), and similar research particularly with doctors and nurses showing that those who smoke have higher rates of suicide, too.
In fact, nearly 300,000 U.S. Army personnel in the recent past were surveyed and these conclusions were also consistently drawn.
This research has been done in the USA and also in Europe with the same conclusions. The alcoholism, smoking, suicide risk, depression links are all well-established. I believe a lack of resiliency (naturally a part of the human condition) is missing in many folks because of the erosion forced upon its emergence by active addiction.
And, can you believe it, part of the resiliency program even covers spirituality and mastering skills to develop one's spiritual self!
The question: Is a lack of resiliency or the poor manifestation of it, a symptom rather than the problem?
I am hoping that alcohol, drug, and tobacco use do not take a backseat in this effort.
This article discusses research with 300,000 military personnel where smoking and suicide demonstrate a high risk. I believe the alcoholism link is key variable although it was "poo-poo'd" in this study despite all of the personnel committing suicide were heavy drinkers.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10873129?ordinalpos=1&itool=PPMCLayout.PPMCAppController.PPMCArticlePage.PPMCPubmedRA&linkpos=1
To support this discussion, the following links take you to fascinating articles on the high risk of suicide among medical personnel who smoke. This one is from England (where by the way research last month shows 25% of the workforce drinks alcohol at lunch.)
As a side note, did you know that alcohol on the breath in England cannot legally be used as sole indicator of being under the influence at work used to justify a drug test? (That means if you have a high tolerance, you're in like flint!)
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/doctors-and-nurses-most-likely-to-commit-suicide-698612.html
This study documents the same problem among hospital nurses.
Smokers are more likely to be alcoholics. In fact, 80 to 90 percent of alcoholics smoke -- a rate three times that of the general population. Moreover, the prevalence of alcoholism in smokers is 10 times higher than among nonsmokers.
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/reprint/83/2/249.pdf
And here is a research supported information about how nicotine boosts alcohol’s effects. Wicked, man!
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/nicotine/a/bldu040322.htm
16% of nurses smoke, the highest of all professions, and the suicide rate is highest for nurses who smoke in England.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/19164.php
If you are workplace professional, keep your eye on these developments so you can spot appropriate roles for your contributions to making these efforts successful.
Keep your ear to the ground and pay attention to this effort because it will lead to a movement that will flow to police, civil service, and employees in mainstream workplaces.
This is how new movements begin, and you if you are an HR manager or employee assistance professional, you want to be thinking about the efficacy of this approach to helping employees in this “new economy”, whether or not they are being shot at in battle.
"Employee engagement" is a critical concern for top management. Understand what this phrase means to productivity, and how resiliency training may complement it, and you will make your department or EAP program more valuable.
So, this could be an exciting move. Don’t be on the outside looking in.
Now, just a couple thoughts more and I am done. It’s Friday after all.
A key thrust for this effort appears to be coming from a joint military group in conjunction with University of Pennsylvania psychologists.
Resiliency has been a hot topic for just only a couple years. It first made its way into the mental health literature by the route of managed behavioral health as way to help people cope with life struggles and prevent relapse. (That is where I first really picked upon it full bore.) Magellan Behavioral Health has a strong focus on this topic, by the way.
The concept is a good one to save treatment dollars, but it is not a substitution for what we know empirically and pragmatically that works to sustain ongoing recovery program that includes abstinence.
That said, these new directional shifts in mental health often overlook other aspects of the target problem that are as old as the hills. (Perhaps boredom contributes to these attempts to wheel out something new and sexy.)
Here’s the thought: Will primary alcoholism as a contributing factor be overlooked as the underlying problem and a common denominator in many, many military suicide cases? I am not reading much about this, yet. So, I am nervous. I hope they aren't going to start seeing alcoholism as just a "symptom" of PTSD, Depression, and other stuff.
About 15% of alcoholics commit suicide and about 33 percent of suicides in the 35-something range have a primary diagnosis of alcohol or other substance misuse; over fifty percent of all suicides are related to alcohol or drug dependence. (Miller, NS; Mahler, JC; Gold, MS (1991). "Suicide risk associated with drug and alcohol dependence.". Journal of addictive diseases 10 (3): 49–61.)
After 30 years, it has been my observation that psychologists, as a group, DO NOT whole-heartily march down main street to convince the general public that alcoholism is an acute, chronic disease, with primary biogenic underpinnings. However, they are guiding this military effort! (Hey listen, correct me I am wrong about any of this folks.)
Research says alcoholism suicide risk exists for those with this primary, health care problem, and smoking as a diagnostic indicator is a great signal to spot a potential risk. Can you say "wow"!
If the alcoholism factor is ignored, attempts to reduce violence, suicide, and enhanced resiliency among military personnel (which is a good thing mind you) may have limited long-term impact. Am I off base with this argument?
Missing so far from the discussion are issues associated with alcoholism, smoking as a diagnostic red flag within occupational groups, the known high risk of suicide among these employees who do smoke, (an extremely high percentage of alcoholics smoke, research clearly shows), and similar research particularly with doctors and nurses showing that those who smoke have higher rates of suicide, too.
In fact, nearly 300,000 U.S. Army personnel in the recent past were surveyed and these conclusions were also consistently drawn.
This research has been done in the USA and also in Europe with the same conclusions. The alcoholism, smoking, suicide risk, depression links are all well-established. I believe a lack of resiliency (naturally a part of the human condition) is missing in many folks because of the erosion forced upon its emergence by active addiction.
And, can you believe it, part of the resiliency program even covers spirituality and mastering skills to develop one's spiritual self!
The question: Is a lack of resiliency or the poor manifestation of it, a symptom rather than the problem?
I am hoping that alcohol, drug, and tobacco use do not take a backseat in this effort.
This article discusses research with 300,000 military personnel where smoking and suicide demonstrate a high risk. I believe the alcoholism link is key variable although it was "poo-poo'd" in this study despite all of the personnel committing suicide were heavy drinkers.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10873129?ordinalpos=1&itool=PPMCLayout.PPMCAppController.PPMCArticlePage.PPMCPubmedRA&linkpos=1
To support this discussion, the following links take you to fascinating articles on the high risk of suicide among medical personnel who smoke. This one is from England (where by the way research last month shows 25% of the workforce drinks alcohol at lunch.)
As a side note, did you know that alcohol on the breath in England cannot legally be used as sole indicator of being under the influence at work used to justify a drug test? (That means if you have a high tolerance, you're in like flint!)
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/doctors-and-nurses-most-likely-to-commit-suicide-698612.html
This study documents the same problem among hospital nurses.
Smokers are more likely to be alcoholics. In fact, 80 to 90 percent of alcoholics smoke -- a rate three times that of the general population. Moreover, the prevalence of alcoholism in smokers is 10 times higher than among nonsmokers.
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/reprint/83/2/249.pdf
And here is a research supported information about how nicotine boosts alcohol’s effects. Wicked, man!
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/nicotine/a/bldu040322.htm
16% of nurses smoke, the highest of all professions, and the suicide rate is highest for nurses who smoke in England.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/19164.php
If you are workplace professional, keep your eye on these developments so you can spot appropriate roles for your contributions to making these efforts successful.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Can Real EAPs Intervene and Help Prevent Financial Disasters by Helping Disgruntled Employees Stay Away from the Social Media Web Sites?
EAPs frequently deal with disgruntled employees. It's a significant part of the job, but the benefit of this activity to the financial world doesn't get a lot of play in the EAP literature. For many of us, well, it simply sounds too self-serving. This is a big problem for many people in the EAP field — viewpoint.
Disgruntled employees are often seen as helpless malcontents, troubled, and expendable. Typically, stories in the EAP literature focus too much on how to help these employees be happy, healthy, and productive, while they omit the real story behind the story.
That story is how this helpful activity keeps employers' financial butts out of the sling. EAPs don't get the credit because we aren’t talking about it, and it is my argument that we should care a lot more about this side of the equation. Why?
There is a new twist in the 21st century that is leveling the playing field and giving an upper hand to disgruntled employees. It is making the importance of having an effective, proactive, well-in-cultured EAP critical and worth every cent it costs.
That new twist is the social media, especially Web 2.0 sites like YouTube.com. These are free, monstrous, broadcast media outlets that take no prisoners.
An EAP that is visible, known, trusted, and has a real face with it can attract employees who may turn to it with the goal of processing their frustrations, complaints about ethics, anger with supervisors, or tales of abuse and harassment.
Effective EAPs work with two hats in these situations empathizing with the employee, and protecting the company financially by helping the employee get their needs met in effective and appropriate ways.
Absent this level of easily accessible and visibly marketed support for employees, companies place themselves at financial risk. This is especially true if they try to get an EAP on the cheap. For most, this is a direct result of naivety or advice from misguided benefits consulting firms.
Employees who are angry and disgruntled have strong impulses to share their story and vent their frustrations. Starting with an empathic listening ear at the EAP is a better channel than YouTube. It would be better to have an employee's story end up in the New York Times than on YouTube. YouTube is forever. A classic and recent example follows:
As I write this column, Bank of America has 300,000,000 shares of stock trading (Dec. 8th). But a YouTube.com video posted by a disgruntled employee only a week ago has received over 146,000 views and counting (Woops! Update - now over 220,000 on 1-10-10. See what I'm saying?).
This growth is the result of word-of-mouth advertising about this video. This is called "viral marketing". It is a powerful force. To wit, mainstream media, without any qualification or fact-checking, has picked up on the video and is using it for its own economic purposes. I have provided the links below.
Not surprisingly, Bank of America's stock price has nose-dived in the same week. It has lost millions.
Is Bank of America's stock price drop the direct result of this video? No one can say for sure. But it is safe to say that it is not helping. And it is more likely that people are looking at this video than press releases about BAC's financial future.
Do you see an argument for having an effective, humanly visible, and appropriately funded employee assistance program that can act as a stop-gap to helping an organization by dealing with and sincerely helping troubled or disgruntled employees?
Can you see the value in making an EAP a benefit to employees and a loss-prevention, management tool for business organizations?
The latter is under-appreciated and it is continually ignored. This is a direct result of a "reformulated" model of EAPs that has been promoted in the health benefits and managed care literature, and has been accelerated by being unchallenged in an organized way.
Whether it is supervisor referral of an employee who may soon lose their job over poor job performance or an EAP being a program of attraction where employees head for coaching, wisdom, and direction, EAPs have unsung potential to be more vital to corporate America's financial security than we are hear about or see.
If EAPs don't toot their own horn to more viable customers, they risk being kicked out of the symphony.
It is my belief that once the property casualty insurance industry (the real stakeholders) make this connection, that is seeing vibrant EAPs as loss prevention mechanisms, the EAP field will experience explosive growth in a new direction that will result in less violence in the workplace, few disasters like the one below, and of course, more helped employees.
To see the video, go to YouTube.com and Search “Why Bank America Fired Me”.
Why Bank of America Fired Me
Media Promotion of This Video
Disgruntled employees are often seen as helpless malcontents, troubled, and expendable. Typically, stories in the EAP literature focus too much on how to help these employees be happy, healthy, and productive, while they omit the real story behind the story.
That story is how this helpful activity keeps employers' financial butts out of the sling. EAPs don't get the credit because we aren’t talking about it, and it is my argument that we should care a lot more about this side of the equation. Why?
There is a new twist in the 21st century that is leveling the playing field and giving an upper hand to disgruntled employees. It is making the importance of having an effective, proactive, well-in-cultured EAP critical and worth every cent it costs.
That new twist is the social media, especially Web 2.0 sites like YouTube.com. These are free, monstrous, broadcast media outlets that take no prisoners.
An EAP that is visible, known, trusted, and has a real face with it can attract employees who may turn to it with the goal of processing their frustrations, complaints about ethics, anger with supervisors, or tales of abuse and harassment.
Effective EAPs work with two hats in these situations empathizing with the employee, and protecting the company financially by helping the employee get their needs met in effective and appropriate ways.
Absent this level of easily accessible and visibly marketed support for employees, companies place themselves at financial risk. This is especially true if they try to get an EAP on the cheap. For most, this is a direct result of naivety or advice from misguided benefits consulting firms.
Employees who are angry and disgruntled have strong impulses to share their story and vent their frustrations. Starting with an empathic listening ear at the EAP is a better channel than YouTube. It would be better to have an employee's story end up in the New York Times than on YouTube. YouTube is forever. A classic and recent example follows:
As I write this column, Bank of America has 300,000,000 shares of stock trading (Dec. 8th). But a YouTube.com video posted by a disgruntled employee only a week ago has received over 146,000 views and counting (Woops! Update - now over 220,000 on 1-10-10. See what I'm saying?).
This growth is the result of word-of-mouth advertising about this video. This is called "viral marketing". It is a powerful force. To wit, mainstream media, without any qualification or fact-checking, has picked up on the video and is using it for its own economic purposes. I have provided the links below.
Not surprisingly, Bank of America's stock price has nose-dived in the same week. It has lost millions.
Is Bank of America's stock price drop the direct result of this video? No one can say for sure. But it is safe to say that it is not helping. And it is more likely that people are looking at this video than press releases about BAC's financial future.
Do you see an argument for having an effective, humanly visible, and appropriately funded employee assistance program that can act as a stop-gap to helping an organization by dealing with and sincerely helping troubled or disgruntled employees?
Can you see the value in making an EAP a benefit to employees and a loss-prevention, management tool for business organizations?
The latter is under-appreciated and it is continually ignored. This is a direct result of a "reformulated" model of EAPs that has been promoted in the health benefits and managed care literature, and has been accelerated by being unchallenged in an organized way.
Whether it is supervisor referral of an employee who may soon lose their job over poor job performance or an EAP being a program of attraction where employees head for coaching, wisdom, and direction, EAPs have unsung potential to be more vital to corporate America's financial security than we are hear about or see.
If EAPs don't toot their own horn to more viable customers, they risk being kicked out of the symphony.
It is my belief that once the property casualty insurance industry (the real stakeholders) make this connection, that is seeing vibrant EAPs as loss prevention mechanisms, the EAP field will experience explosive growth in a new direction that will result in less violence in the workplace, few disasters like the one below, and of course, more helped employees.
To see the video, go to YouTube.com and Search “Why Bank America Fired Me”.
Why Bank of America Fired Me
Media Promotion of This Video
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)