At a time when mental health support is becoming a must-have for employees in their workplaces, only 42% of managers feel they can fully help their company with its wellbeing goals, according to research from Deloitte.
That’s why New York City-based Spring Health, a digital mental health company, announced last week that it is launching Sage, a platform that offers mental health education and tips to help managers support mental wellbeing in the workplace.
Sage, a web-based platform, includes asynchronous video courses led by Spring Health’s clinical team. There are courses for managers to help them know how to create a mentally healthy work environment, as well as courses for individual employees to help them take control of their own mental health. Lessons include burnout prevention, how to get into therapy, how to create psychological safety for your workplace and how to recognize if someone is struggling with their mental health.
“[Managers and employees] are able to come in on their own time, connect with the courses that they want, that speak to them, finish them and complete them,” said Dr. Amy Cirbus, head of clinical content at Spring Health and Sage program lead and content supervisor.
To keep people engaged, there are also activities like surveys, quizzes and self-reflection opportunities “sprinkled throughout” the courses, Cirbus said.
“The average attention span is like two minutes for us these days, so [on the platform] you’re watching something but then you’re engaged throughout,” she stated. “Following a brief video, there’s an opportunity for engagement.”
The company chose to offer this platform after hearing from its employer customers that training on mental health was needed. Cirbus added that offering mental health benefits helps companies retain employees.
Sage will be available to most of Spring Health’s employer customers for no additional cost, at least for now, Cirbus said. The company serves over 4,500 companies, including General Mills, DocuSign, Wellstar Health System and Instacart.
Other digital mental health companies that serve employers include Headspace Health and Lyra Health. Headspace Health offers a solution called Headspace Culture and Lyra Health has a program called Workforce Transformation, both of which provide resources and training to help employers build a mentally healthy workforce.
In launching Sage, Spring Health ultimately aims to help employers have a better grasp on mental health in the workplace.
“How do I boost my understanding of what mentally healthy practices are and how do I give that to the organization? When those needs are met, that is a success to us,” Cirbus said.
In addition to Sage, Spring Health offers users meditation, coaching, therapy, medication and other services. It uses a process called Precision Mental Healthcare, in which its machine learning models take in information on patients’ socio-demographic factors, family history, diagnostic criteria, social determinants of health and engagement, and then offers care that is tailored to the patient based on these factors.
The release of Sage comes after Spring Health expanded its family care solution last month. The revamped solution now serves kids of all ages and connects each family with a care navigator, who offers personalized care options like coaching for new parents and access to therapy. It also has a dashboard that allows parents and caregivers to view and manage their kids’ care.
Photo credit: Olga Strelnikova, Getty Images
