About Mental Health
In order to attain total health, we must normalize a “whole person” approach that prioritizes mental and physical health equally. To do so, we are working strategically with employers, as they are uniquely positioned to reach employees, their families, and the surrounding communities, and can help them access evidence-based, innovative, inclusive prevention, treatment, and recovery resources to address mental health issues and addiction.
The three focus areas for our mental health work are 1) access to mental health services and resources, 2) innovation in scalable health technologies, and 3) investment in policy change (includes employers’ internal policies).
Examples of Past Projects
Employers Prioritizing Mental Health: Collaboration with Leidos
Building off the momentum of Leidos’ 2017 CEO Pledge, the Public Health team partnered with Leidos to create an Action Group of over 70 employers from across industries and sectors, committed to taking actionable steps to improve mental health and address the addiction crisis by examining internal programs, cultures, and internal policies. The efforts were aimed at focus areas including racial equity, stigma, raising awareness about the science of the disease of addiction, recovery-ready workplaces, and creating psychologically safe environments. Read more about this project.
Closing the Gap to Provide Addiction and Mental Health Resources with The Hartford
In response to The Hartford’s Employer Research findings, as part of our employer programmatic portfolio, we formed a listening and discussion series focused on “Closing the Gap” between what addiction and mental health resources employers think they are providing to employees and what employees use in practice. These sessions focused on themes of psychological safety, stigma in the workplace, and performance and engagement at work.
Raising Awareness among Employers about Local Drug Threats with DEA
The Public Health team has worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to address the demand for illicit drugs, understand the supply, and prevent addiction since 2017. Growing out of this long-standing relationship, in 2021, CPH was asked to collaborate with DEA as part of its larger Operation Engage initiative, focused on the employer component of a community-wide strategy to raise awareness about local drug threats. CPH held 11 regionally-based invite-only virtual convenings, during which employers had the opportunity to hear directly from their local DEA offices about the drug threats impacting their employees, their families, and by extension, their surrounding communities. In addition to raising awareness, these virtual events provided employers with free, evidence-informed drug prevention resources offered by organizations that specialize in evidence-based prevention. Read the final Reach and Impact Report summarizing this work.
