Benefit Delivery System Models
Is Integration of Services an Effective
Model in Today’s Marketplace
EAPA Chesepeake Chapter, MD
September 1. 2011
Patricia A. Herlihy Ph.D, R.N
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Paradoxes
“Life will never be easy or perfectible
or completely predictable.
It will be best understood backward,
but we have to live it forward.
To make it livable at all levels we have to learn to use
the paradoxes to balance contradictions
and inconsistencies as an invitation to find a better way”
Charles Handy, 1994
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Related Research
 National Survey of EAP and W/L programs (1993)
 National Survey of EAP & W/L Professionals (2000)
 International Survey of EAP, W/L and Wellness Vendors (2002)
 Longitudinal Study of EAP, W/L and Wellness Programs (1990- 2008)
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Definitions
EAPs - set of professional services specifically designed to improve
and/or maintain the productivity and healthy functioning of the
workplace and to address a work organization particular business
needs (EAPA 2011)
Work Life - A business strategy based on the knowledge that active
support for employee success at work AND at home yields bottom line
benefits for all stakeholders (AWLP 2011)
Wellness - A state of well-being in which every individual realizes his
or her potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work
productively, and is able is make a contribution to his or her family and
community" (World Health Organization, 2007)
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Variations in Delivery Models
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Concept of Integration
Quality of the state of
collaboration
that exists among
departments required to
achieve unity of effort by
the demands of the
environment
(Lawrence & Lorsch, 1967)
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
National Survey of EAP & Work Life Programs
(1993)
 10% of respondents reported being integrated
 75% of the respondents viewed EAP and Work
Family Programs as separate programs
Corporate culture
A key indicator for collaboration of efforts in
designing benefit delivery services
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Changes in Integration over Time
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Comparison of Findings
S
E
R
V
I
C
E
S
1993 & 2008
 Integration defined differently
and more broadly
 EAP & Work/Life collaborate
more often
 Wellness push by Unions
 Internal EAPs (18%) reported
the least integration
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Wellness - New Piece of Puzzle
EAP
Wellness
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Work/Life
End Users/
Employees
Unions Role in Delivery Models
 46% of Sample in 2008 Study had unions
 (National Average : 7% in private -38% Gov)
 Majority of companies report unions are
supportive of all three services
 Several companies roll out new products to Union first
for approval - then to general employee population
 Some respondents reported tension between what Union
versus non-union employees receive
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Summary Findings - 2008
43% of Companies interviewed (08) still on
Working Mother’s Best 100 Companies
47% of Companies with either 2 or 3
services integrated - use one vendor
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Variations of Models
Internal EAPs*
18%
EAP & W/L
EAP & Wellness
W/L & Wellness
62%
23%
15%
* Internal EAPs in this sample did not facilitate an integrative model of service delivery
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Emerging Models
 Major Umbrella overseeing 6 employee
benefit services (ie Diversity, Disease
Management, and Disability)
 Higher level Strategic Team overseeing
all employee benefit services
 Health & Productivity- measure their
demographic, participation & outcome
metrics - using to measure integration of
all the employee services
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Michigan Study -Research Observations
 Impressive resiliency of these programs
 Increasing move to design Targeted Programs for specific
populations (ie: Parents of Disabled children)
 Move to outsource services as method of decreasing costs
including Human Relations Services
 Creative models of collaboration at administrative &
functional levels
Questions about the future: Will these three programs
continue or morph into a new service?
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Factors Supporting Integration
 Natural Disasters: 9/11, Katrina, Ike, blizzards,
flooding etc
 Campus Wide Crises: school shootings,
meningitis outbreaks, alcohol related deaths,
terrorism threats, etc.
 Union support for better quality services
 Simplification of Administration operations
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Barriers to Integration Model
 Multiple Vendors and wanting tighter control
 Corporate Culture of Decentralization ingrained over time
 Concern about decrease in Quality of Services if integrated
 Confidentiality Concerns - Major Stumbling Block
 Legal Issues in terms of working with spouse and/or dependent
 New Administration not focused on Employee Services due to
other more pressing business concerns
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Low Touch vs High Touch
Low Touch:
High Touch:
Websites
 Posters
 Brochures




EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Phone calls
Conferences
Meetings
Research Interest from Respondents
 Cost Benefit Analysis
 Models for providing these services globally
 How have other companies sustained interest in these
programs in difficult financial market
 Demonstrate Effectiveness of Integrated Model
 How to measure impact of programs on productivity
 Demographics - prepare for the Aging Workforce while
still providing services for younger workers
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Current Trends
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness
Major Lesson Learned
One Size Does Not Fit All!!!
EAP, Work/Life & Wellness