Janice Lenehan, Worldwide Director of Employee Assistance, summarizes the advantages of being part of the Worldwide Health & Safety team by saying, “This reorganization affords us the opportunity to utilize a broad spectrum of professional disciplines to address behavioral issues that significantly impact the health, productivity, and well-being of employees, their families, the communities in which we work, and the Corporation,” she said.
In looking at the American workforce it has been noted that depression costs industry $43 billion annually (it’s also an independent predictor of cardiovascular disease); anxiety runs $42 billion annually; alcohol costs $185 billion annually (harmful drinking is involved in one-third of suicides, one-half of homicides, and one-third of child abuse); medical claims dollars total $3.8 million annually, and the lost-time burden is $6.6 million annually.
The Employee Assistance Program, or EAP, offered at the Johnson & Johnson operating companies is in line with the company’s approach that the health of the individual cannot be separated from the health of the corporation.
Deborah Owens, a member of the on-site EAP team at Johnson & Johnson’s McNeil Consumer Healthcare & Specialty Pharmaceuticals Company and Janssen Pharmaceutica, emphasized that EAPs do not treat individuals, a point occasionally misunderstood by the public.
EAP activities at Johnson & Johnson include the following:
Stress Management/Resilience Program. Johnson & Johnson is in the process of developing a global stress management/resilience program for its employees. This program will include mental health screening tools, resilience training, healthy eating programs, fitness and wellness promotion, disease management, and stress management techniques that are sustainable over time through cultural reinforcement.
Interactive Screening Tool. Johnson & Johnson implemented WorkplaceResponse™, a mental health interactive screening tool developed by Screening for Mental Health, in 2003 for its domestic employees and family members. The program screens for depression, alcohol problems, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, and eating disorders. Recently, Johnson & Johnson funded the translation of this tool into Portuguese to allow for broader use at its units in Latin America.
According to Ms. Lenehan, Johnson & Johnson undertook the screening program because it fit with the mission and vision of the health and safety programs and seemed timely given recent world events and an increased need for creating multiple access points for employees and household members.
“Johnson & Johnson has a culture that supports its employees using the EAP,” said Ms. Owens. “Managers and Human Resource professionals receive training in how to encourage members to seek assistance before serious performance or health issues develop.”
