Tackling Asia’s ‘high risk’ mental health problem

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New data shows employees in Asia are under massive strain, and many find it difficult to speak up. TELUS Health’s senior VP, APAC, explains how employers can chart the path towards better wellbeing

THE WORKING population in Asia is under significant strain, according to the 2023 Asia Mental Health Index – the latest study from TELUS Health and Aon. The report reveals that 82% of employees in Asia have a moderate to high mental health risk profile, and over half (51%) are feeling more sensitive to stress compared to last year. Stigma around mental health is also persisting, with 54% of respondents saying they would be concerned about limited career options if their employer knew they had a mental health issue. To create the Asia Mental Health Index, a response-scoring system was applied to turn individual responses into point

“The figures show that we’re not in good shape, despite lockdowns and vaccinations having ended a while ago. There are a lot of ongoing issues that employees are grappling with”

Jamie MacLennan, TELUS Health

TELUS Health senior vice-president and managing director, Asia Pacific, Jamie MacLennan says these figures should be a stark wake-up call for employers, and clearly illustrate the consequences of neglecting your wellbeing strategy and not having appropriate support in place. “Mental health and wellbeing is the genesis for an engaged and productive workforce,” MacLennan tells HRD. “The figures show that we’re not in good shape, despite lockdowns and vaccinations having ended a while ago. There are a lot of ongoing issues that employees are grappling with.”

MacLennan notes that while the physical risks of COVID-19 have largely receded, the mental health risks are very much lingering. And having gone through the massive turmoil of the pandemic, our ability to absorb additional stressors has now greatly diminished. “When you start having things like cost of living pressures, interest rates going up and geopolitical tensions, our capacity to deal with these additional stressors is reduced,” he explains. “That means heightened levels of anxiety and stress. We need to understand that it’s not a case of ‘everyone’s been vaccinated, great, we can move on’. People really are struggling to move on.”

When it comes to work productivity, anxiety, depression and financial risk, the figures show that Asian employees are struggling. Asia scored significantly lower than the global average in each index category, and the lowest subscore was for work productivity, where respondents were identified as ‘distressed’. MacLennan says this presents a considerable financial risk to organisations, as presenteeism and absenteeism are estimated to cost an estimated 12 million working days a year globally. “Presenteeism means you are physically at work, but your level of concentration is so low that you’re not being productive,” he says. “Research shows that the cost of presenteeism is actually multiple times bigger for organisations than absenteeism. If you have people struggling and not being productive, you’ll have high levels of churn and burnout. Wellbeing support isn’t optional – it’s a financial imperative.”

Training your managers in these resources is also a vital step. While you don’t want to be turning your managers into psychologists or counsellors, they do need to know how to have that initial conversation and how to point people in the right direction for support. One of the unique aspects of TELUS Health’s EAP is its mix of digital and in-person delivery – something MacLennan says has been key to its tailored approach. Employees can see in-person counsellors if they choose, or they can engage digitally, or do a mix of both. “We’re the only EAP provider to offer a truly holistic health and

TELUS Health also tracks and measures its delivery against accredited international clinical measures, so it can give its clients hard empirical metrics. It also provides consultancy services that can assess the effectiveness of an organisation’s current wellbeing strategy, and most recently introduced a tool to assess psychosocial risk. “We’ve long since passed the time where an EAP is a ‘nice to have’,” MacLennan concludes. “It’s a commercial imperative for every organisation. There is a need to address mental health in the workplace, and having an EAP service as part of a wellbeing strategy is critical to delivering that.” To find out more about TELUS Health and its EAP service, click here.

The pandemic may be over, but stress is at an all-time high

Published 27 Nov 2023

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“We’ve long since passed the time where an EAP is a ‘nice to have’. It’s a commercial imperative for every organisation”

Jamie MacLennan, TELUS Health

values. The responses are scored on a scale of 0 to 100, in which higher point values mean better mental health and less mental health risk. The distribution of scores is defined according to the following: Distressed 0–49; Strained 50–79; Optimal 80–100.

If you want to tackle poor mental health, MacLennan says the first thing to do is to actually have a wellbeing strategy. That doesn’t mean asking HR to roll out Pilates classes or free fruit bowls – it means putting resources and processes in place and training managers on how to talk to employees who are struggling. One of the most vital elements of a wellbeing strategy is an employee assistance program (EAP), which can sit at the heart of everything you do. An EAP provides psychological counselling and assistance with various aspects of wellbeing and is intended as a preventative, short-term measure for issues like stress, anxiety and burnout.

Nailing your strategy – EAPs are no longer a ‘nice to have’

MacLennan says that while a company should never rely exclusively on an EAP for its wellbeing strategy, it’s a “commercial imperative” and an absolute baseline to have in place. “It’s essential to have that service available to your people at a time when they’re seeking support,” he says. “It’s really positioned to deal with those daily stressors before they deteriorate into something much bigger, and to offer tools and techniques to help people get back on track. If you don’t deal with them, they won’t improve. You’ll reach the point where someone needs to be off for a very long period of time and doesn’t have the ability to perform at work.”

wellbeing solution,” MacLennan says. “That means we tailor our solution to an individual’s unique circumstances and deliver the right service at the right time through the right medium. You can’t treat everyone the same; everyone’s wellbeing is individual to them.”

82%

have a moderate to high mental health risk

51%

feel more sensitive to stress compared to last year

54%

believe their career options would be limited if their employer knew they had a mental health issue

Mental health of employees in Asia

Source: AON and TELUS Health Asia Mental Health Index 2023

43%

say cost

32%

don’t know what type of care is best

25%

don’t know where to get support

25%

are concerned others will think of them differently

What prevents employees in Asia from getting mental health support?

Source: AON and TELUS Health Asia Mental Health Index 2023

TELUS Health is a global healthcare leader serving people in more than 160 countries, delivering both digital innovation and clinical services to improve total physical, mental and financial health and wellness across the full spectrum of primary and preventive care. By leveraging the power of technology to deliver connected solutions and services both in-person and virtually, TELUS Health is improving access to care and revolutionising the flow of information while facilitating collaboration, efficiency and productivity for physicians, pharmacists, health authorities, allied healthcare professionals, insurers, employers and people globally, progressing its vision of transforming healthcare and empowering people to live healthier lives.