October 11, 2001
UW assistance program ramping up
By Steve Hill
University Week
The UW is working to help faculty and staff maintain a degree of serenity in an increasingly stressed-out world.
Human Resources officials recently announced a newly enhanced employee assistance program (EAP) that they say offers more services and more convenience than its predecessor. UW CareLink, as the new program is called, was unveiled during the summer and is expected to start serving significant numbers of faculty and staff now that the fall session has begun. The core of the assistance program will be the “three-step model” – three free visits to a certified mental health practitioner.
“We are confident people will use it,” said Karen Kavanagh, vice president of Human Resources. “I think once supervisors and employees realize the kind of assistance it can provide them in dealing with work issues and personal issues, they’ll use it.”
APS Healthcare, an independent company that has contracted with the University to provide services, has eight mental health professionals on its staff and available via a crisis hotline 24 hours a day. The company also contracts with hundreds of mental health professionals in Washington and throughout the nation who can usually see patients within 24 to 48 hours. They are trained to help with issues of general stress, parenting, abuse, aging, drugs and alcohol, grief, marriage, work, depression, relationships, and eating disorders.
But the new EAP also offers some surprising extras the previous program did not – a free 30-minute session with a local attorney, for example. Those sessions can cover issues ranging from civil and consumer conflicts, to personal and family services, as well as financial matters, real estate, criminal matters, IRS issues, consumer credit services and estate planning.
Likewise, free consultation is available with a CPA or Certified Financial Planner regarding college funding, charitable giving, debt and credit card issues, life insurance, retirement planning, and deferred compensation.
In the case of mental and emotional health, if the three free visits aren’t sufficient, APS will help UW employees find a specialist outside the program for more extensive counseling. All of the services are provided confidentially. And while the program benefits individual employees, officials are also touting it for maintaining harmony, preventing workplace violence and increasing productivity in the workplace.
“Personal and family issues generally get played out somehow in the workplace,” said Jeannine Senechal, the associate director of Human Resources. “It’s to the benefit of everyone if employees have support in resolving these kinds of things.”
To broaden the support, there’s a training component to the program. An eight-class series on managing stress and life issues will begin this fall. APS worked with the UW’s Training and Development staff to develop that program, which is available to all employees.
Information about the EAP will also be incorporated into the UW’s current supervisor training. That, more than anything, will familiarize new supervisors with how to identify warning signs, how to talk to employees and then encourage them to point employees to UW CareLink when it’s necessary.
“It lets the supervisor say, ‘I can offer you a place that can help you resolve some of these issues that are interfering.’ The supervisor can’t solve them, but now they have a resource to refer people to for help,” Senechal said.
Finally, APS will offer specialized training for individual departments on their request. Three sessions – one with libraries and two with medical center staff – were conducted between the summer and fall sessions.
Senechal said EAPs first started to surface in the late 1960s and early ’70s. What began mostly as a service to provide support for drug and alcohol addiction has grown into something with more of a broad appeal. That’s particularly useful in today’s climate, according to Kavanagh.
“The workplace is getting to be a very, very stressful place now and this is a way that we can help to reduce the stress,” she said. And, she added, it’s a benefit that will help retain good UW employees.
“In a time when funding is problematic for the University – especially through state sources – and we can’t give the type of pay increases that our employees deserve, we have to think of other ways to make their life at work easier.”
