Screen employees for depression, anxiety
January 1, 2010 2 minutes read
Screen employees for depression, anxiety
Since employees with medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer often have co-morbid mental conditions, it makes sense to screen these workers for depression, says Nancy W. Spangler, MS, OTR/L, a consultant to the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health and president of Leawood, KS-based Spangler Associates Inc. "Screen for depression in diabetes management programs, for example," she says. "Treating the underlying mental condition helps reduce the costs of the medical treatment."
If you do screen for depression or anxiety when workers come to see you for other issues, "provide mental health information, and make appropriate referrals to employee assistance programs or community services," says Spangler.
At Polk County in Bartow, FL, the occupational health clinic uses the Patient Health Questionnaire Nine-Symptom Checklist to screen employees. If mental health issues are identified, a referral is made to the employee assistance program and to the worker's primary care physician.
"By doing the depression scale, we expect to remove obstacles to treatment of many chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension," says Mike Kushner, the county's risk management director.
Employees who have depression may not be able to adhere to their medications or may not obtain optimal results. "Our disease management program also takes note of family issues, financial issues, and other factors, which may lead to depression and or anxiety," says Kushner.
Clinical outcome reports are shared with senior management, including data from the county's employee assistance program, which shows relatively high utilization compared to norms.
"We expect that this is due to a high number of referrals. Many of our members have co-morbidities, including depression, which have an impact on the overall outcome," says Kushner. "We have confidential data, which show that patients who do receive mental health treatment have better outcomes in terms of their overall disease management goals."
Since employees with medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer often have co-morbid mental conditions, it makes sense to screen these workers for depression, says Nancy W. Spangler, MS, OTR/L, a consultant to the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health and president of Leawood, KS-based Spangler Associates Inc.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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