Dr. Deepy Sur of the Ontario Association of Social Workers says the increase is needed to help employees access regular ongoing counseling during a stressful, stressful time when some employees return to their workplaces after up to two whole years of absence.
“The workplace has changed forever and we have to respond to this change,” he told CP24. “Thinking about increasing stress, stress, anxiety of carers, children, family in long-term care and mental health benefits is a critical tool in controlling the pandemic.”
“Echo pandemic” is a term used by mental health professionals to describe the expected increase in mental health problems associated with isolation, burnout, feelings of loss, and changes in parenting caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sur, whose organization represents more than 8,000 social workers in Ontario, says it is making the request because new research shows that most employee benefit plans do not provide enough to provide regular ongoing counseling for employees facing new challenges, such as return to the physical at work or to new stressors at home, and many employee benefit plans offer absolutely nothing for mental health care.
A February 2022 poll of 1,000 Ontario residents by Leger found that only 54 percent of respondents had a job benefit and only 36 percent had a plan that included any mental health benefits.
The average allowable amount was $ 750.
With a maximum of $ 750 in expenses, Sur said “often you do not have enough to get this regular support”.
“Our research tells us that $ 1,500 allows people to think about developing access (mental health care) over time,” Sur said.
Only 28 percent of those polled said access to mental health was easy.
Eighty-six percent of respondents rated mental health professionals as a basic service.
Sur said employers need to recognize that a good service plan that shows empathy for employees should be more than just medicine and dentistry.
“Many employers do not know and have not considered mental health care as part of an employee benefit package.”
Wider access to mental health care is now the focus of provincial political parties preparing for the June 2022 elections.
The Ontario NDP wants to add regular access to mental health care to the Ontario Health Insurance Program, and Ontario computers have pledged an additional $ 3.8 billion over mental health and addiction support over the next 10 years.
The Liberals have pledged to create portable benefit plans for all employees, which include coverage for mental health care.
