by Mike Critelli
At the MakeUsWell Network, we have focused on the need to increase public health attention to stress, anxiety and burnout. These are the triggers and precursors to serious mental health crises. Employers must always focus on what their leaders do to increase or decrease stress, anxiety and burnout for individual employees.
Recently, we reflected on the death of Dee Edington, a trailblazer for all of us who wanted to get out ahead of population health issues, as opposed to addressing them in the healthcare system. The progress from crisis-driven mental health treatment, such as responses to attempted suicides, domestic violence, extended homelessness, substance dependence, or acts of public violence, to an effective preventive strategy that addresses population-level mental health issues preventively is at its earliest stages.
Historically, the first challenge for employers and other health plan providers was parity in health plan coverage for mental health treatments of all kinds. We are making good progress, but are far from the finish line, if for no other reason than the range of therapies available does not match the needs of our populations.