Mental Health Awareness Month: Top 3 Ways Employers Can Get Involved

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a time when we should reflect on the importance of psychological well-being in our everyday lives.

Every touchpoint impacts mental health, from interactions with family, friends, and co-workers to watershed moments like deciding to start a family. After all, employee-sponsored healthcare coverage often decides when and how an employee can seek physical or mental health support. At Stork Club, we understand the profound role that access to comprehensive healthcare plays in supporting — or diminishing — an employee’s mental well-being. In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, let’s explore why employers should prioritize their employees’ well-being this month and beyond.

Healthcare’s impact on mental health

The U.S. is currently facing a mental health crisis. According to Gallup, nearly one-fifth of U.S. workers (19%) rate their mental health as “fair” or “poor,” and 40% of U.S. workers report that their job negatively impacts their mental well-being. For young employees and women, the statistics are even more concerning. Nearly one-fourth of working women (23%) report fair or poor mental health (compared to 15% of men), as do a staggering 31% of U.S. workers under 30.

The American Psychiatric Association confirms that underserved communities — including BIPOC, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community — are at greater risk of suffering from poor mental health. Why? These populations are likelier to lack access to critical care services and may have experienced bias or discrimination during previous interactions with caregivers.

We also see these disparities in care occurring in the workplace. Consider that only 30% of workplaces offer healthcare coverage for in-vitro fertilization (IVF), an assistive reproductive technology used by individuals experiencing infertility and LGBTQ+ individuals. And even fewer workplaces provide doula care, which has been proven to improve birthing outcomes, particularly among Black women.

At Stork Club, we believe lacking healthcare access should never contribute to your employees’ levels of stress, anxiety, or depression. That’s why we’ve built a comprehensive solution to tackle inequities in care head-on.

How employers can provide for their employees’ mental well-being

Employers are essential in supporting their employees’ mental health, so building a collaborative and equal workplace culture is critical. Additionally, employers must bridge existing gaps in mental well-being services by providing employees with the right benefits. But what are “the right benefits”?

During the pandemic, many employees faced mental health challenges. This sparked a critical conversation about how employers can provide for their employees’ daily well-being. In response, some workplaces upped benefits like PTO or drafted policies for employee assistance programs (EAPs). Nearly two-thirds of employers (64%) said their employers provided mental health resources on the job by 2022.

Mental health resources and assistance programs are a great first step and should be prioritized — however, they often fall short of addressing the root causes of an employee’s anxiety or depression. Thus, although mental health assistance is a must-have in the modern workforce, it is no longer enough.

Consider that employees now rank family-planning benefits as their second most-valued benefit in the workplace, second only to health and wellness. Clearly, priorities are shifting, and adequate family-building coverage is becoming integral to an employee’s physical and mental health. Furthermore, offering an inclusive family-building benefits package — in other words, one that provides critical medical care for diverse employees — fosters a supportive work environment that acknowledges and prioritizes all employees’ mental health.
Stork Club is committed to helping employers make their workplace more inclusive, healthy, and happy. We designed our robust benefits packages to provide comprehensive coverage, from generalized reproductive healthcare to specialized services and 24/7 support.

Here’s how a family-building benefits provider like Stork Club can aid your employees and their mental health

1. Access to specialized mental health resources — Stork Club’s suite of benefits includes offerings like fertility coaching and doula care, which significantly improve mental health outcomes. Fertility coaches help individuals experiencing infertility by supporting them through their journeys and managing stress levels. This service is critical because two in five women experiencing infertility report heightened anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, doula care provides new parents with essential care that can alleviate postpartum depression.
2. Comprehensive, inclusive coverage — Our plans cover a range of family-building solutions, including hormone replacement therapy (HRT), milk shipping, and travel reimbursement. Employers can bolster satisfaction levels and improve mental health outcomes organization-wide by providing underserved employees with necessary medical services and care.
3. Educational resources and always-on Care Navigators — At Stork Club, we understand that health (both physical and mental) is incredibly complicated. That’s why we provide access to knowledgeable Care Navigators — day or night — in person and via telehealth to meet employees wherever and whenever they are. Most importantly, all interactions with Care Navigators are HIPAA compliant. Access to further education and Care Navigators ensures your employees never experience unnecessary stress related to medical information.
4. Access to specialized mental health resources — Stork Club’s suite of benefits includes offerings like fertility coaching and doula care, which significantly improve mental health outcomes. Fertility coaches help individuals experiencing infertility by supporting them through their journeys and managing stress levels. This service is critical because two in five women experiencing infertility report heightened anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, doula care provides new parents with essential care that can alleviate postpartum depression.
   

Mental Health Awareness Month should remind us that we all have a role in building workplaces where employees can discuss mental health openly and access high-quality care. With the right benefits and resources, employers can improve mental health outcomes for all employees — because when they thrive, we all thrive.

At Stork Club, access to critical reproductive healthcare is a basic human right. Join us on the mission to make reproductive care available for all. Are you interested in adding Stork Club to your team? Sign up to view a demo.