APA Foundation Partnership Launches Workplace Mental Health Platform

The American Psychiatric Association Foundation (APAF) Center for Workplace Mental Health has partnered with fellow mental health advocacy organizations Mental Health America and One Mind at Work to release a platform designed for employers interested in workplace mental health. The platform, posted at www.workplacementalhealthassess ment.com, begins with a 20-question survey that asks employers about the mental health education, training, benefits, and resources their organizations offer to employees. The employers’ responses are fed into an algorithm, which suggests tools and resources for each employer’s organization.

The assessment highlights four organizational areas: leadership, improving access to mental health services and support, building a mentally healthy organization and culture, and raising awareness of mental health conditions and options for training.

Using the platform will help employers build stronger organizations, said Darcy Gruttadaro, J.D., director of the APAF Center for Workplace Mental Health.

“The assessment allows employers to determine what issues their organizations should focus on and then connects them with resources pertaining to those issues,” Gruttadaro said.

“People spend most of their waking hours at work, and many employees are interested in working for organizations that recognize the importance of mental health. Creating a mentally healthy workplace can help employers find and keep the best-qualified and high-performing employees,” Gruttadaro added.

The platform is the result of nearly eight months of collaboration between the three organizations. “Multiple discussions related to the growing needs in workplace mental health brought us together, … and [creating] an assessment was high on all three of our lists based on requests we have received from many employers,” Gruttadaro explained.

In addition to the partnership with Mental Health America and One Mind at Work, the APAF Center for Workplace Mental Health has additional resources on its own website at www.workplacementalhealth.org, which includes 70 case studies of organizations that have served as innovators in workplace mental health.

“This provides a rich array of ideas on ways employers can better address the mental health needs of their employees and their families,” Gruttadaro said. “We all have a role to play in ending the stigma associated with mental health and substance use conditions. Employers have a tremendous opportunity to make a difference by raising the visibility of mental health conditions, educating and informing employees, and showing leadership support for employee mental health and well-being.”  ■