Context & Decision-making in Employee Assistance Programs

This doctoral dissertation examines the role of context on decision-making by employers, plan enrollees and employer representatives in Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). EAPs have grown from their beginnings in the enlightened industrial alcoholism treatment movement to become an integral part of today’s healthcare delivery system, providing a) access to behavioral health services for a majority of working age Americans and their families and b) an organizational resource to employers seeking to maximize workplace productivity. However, this expansion of EAPs in the workplace has not been accompanied by the amelioration of historical concerns regarding access to optimal behavioral healthcare, particularly in this population served by employer-funded health benefits. It is hoped that these findings may encourage health benefits consultants and behavioral health care providers to more fully engage with purchasers of behavioral health services to provide a more customized and relevant EAP product which may better serve each organizations’ unique workforce needs. Additionally, this study seeks to inform and increase understanding among work organizations of the need for greater efforts in the prevention of behavioral health conditions and the provision of additional outreach efforts to plan enrollees designed to facilitate more effective methods to overcome historic barriers to treatment for substance use and mental disorders via the EAP gateway.