Your Benefits Enrollment Choices Can Strengthen Your Holistic Well-Being

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact millions of employees across the United States, nearly half of workers say open enrollment is more important this year. In fact, 75 percent of employees indicate there are benefits they are more interested in this year than last year, according to MetLife’s 2020 open enrollment survey.   There…

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Is a Tsunami of Disability Claims Approaching?

A Canadian-based employee assistance plan provider, Morneau Shepell, conducted a study in 2017 in partnership with The Globe and Mail to better understand the one in five residents who experience a mental health problem or illness within a given year. The results indicated that 72 percent of surveyed employees who reported mental health challenges to…

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Bipolar Disorder and SSDI

Bipolar disorder – sometimes known as “manic depression” – is a disorder of the brain. People with this disorder will often experience extreme shifts in levels of activity, mood and energy. Such extremes are referred to as manic and depressive episodes. Out of all bipolar disorder cases, 83% are classified as severe. Most cases of…

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Three Lessons I Learned Through Postpartum Depression

By Diane Russell, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Strategy, Lincoln Financial Group If you have children, you know there’s no shortage of advice from family, friends and sometimes even strangers. Yet, mothers dealing with postpartum depression often feel like they have no one to talk to about what they’re going through. At least, that’s…

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Successful Return-to-Work Program Design for Behavioral Health Conditions (Part II)

Dan Jolivet described the importance of return-to-work programs for employees with behavioral health and substance abuse disorders in his first post along with two key elements associated with program success: a holistic approach and the services of a return-to-work consultant. In Jolivet’s second post, we consider the importance of stay-at-work services and program metrics.  …

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Successful Return-to-Work Program Design for Behavioral Health Conditions (Part I)

Prior to the pandemic, the United States saw a decades-long epidemic of “diseases of despair” with increasing rates of depression, suicide, addiction and overdose deaths. Mental health and substance use issues—and the economic and human costs of those conditions—were a focus for employers. Then came the pandemic. Rates of anxiety and depression tripled and remain…

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Setting Up a Home Workstation that Promotes Comfort and Productivity

By Cammie McAda, Vocational Rehab Employer Services Leader, Guardian   With the quick onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses transformed the way they work almost overnight. With so many offices shifting their working arrangements unexpectedly, the majority of employees were not set up with a traditional home workspace. While working with an ad hoc setup…

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Building a Resilient Workforce During Periods of Adversity

By Tracey Ferstler, PhD, Head of Return to Health, Global Claims, MetLife   COVID turned the world as we know it upside down, and people who work in and around absence management and disability insurance are looking for answers on what’s next.  Will we return to normal or is this our new normal?  What is unique…

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Tips for Managing Fall Allergies

When the summer heat begins to give way to lower temperatures and the days get shorter and shorter, the onset of fall tends to make itself known seemingly overnight. It can be an exciting time of year; finishing summer vacations, getting back to school, preparing for winter. But for many people, it also signals the…

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Open Enrollment: What Your Employees Should Know About HSAs

For most people, October means pumpkin spice lattes and candy. But for HR people, it means “open enrollment” season. As you put together your educational information to introduce your team to their different options, one you might pay particular attention to is the use of high-deductible health plans (HDHP), specifically the ability to pair them with…

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The Flu and The Common Cold Demystified: What You Need to Know This Fall

When we say “Hello, autumn,” we often are also saying “Hello, germs.” Whether it’s the change in the weather or the many (many!) germs your kids bring home if you have school-aged children, this is when we tend to get the first cold or flu bug of the season. The problem is that most of…

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The Benefits of Mobility Cars

You’ve seen them. The most recognizable are minivans that have been converted for wheelchair users. But there’s more to mobility cars than easy access. A mobility car is designed to help people with a wide range of disabilities drive around to where they want to go, like the office, the doctor, shopping mall, friends’ houses,…

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