Tremendous Economic Toll Of Depression In Wisconsin Workplace

January 28, 2007 – 8:20 pm | posted in Bipolar, Depression, Psychology / Psychiatry, Public Health

A unique and robust partnership to address the significant economic burden of depression in the Wisconsin workplace was announced today by the Charles E. Kubly Foundation of Milwaukee. This partnership engages Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, Johns Hopkins workplace researcher Alan Langlieb, MD, and Employee Benefits News, the nation’s leading trade publication for benefits managers, to consider what Wisconsin employers can do to strengthen the state’s workforce and its productivity.

This month a Special Report for Wisconsin Businesses will be mailed to 5100 state leaders in corporations, insurance, health care, government and public policy. This report, “Sustaining Productivity: Addressing the Economic Burden of Workplace Depression,” is being disseminated as a supplement to a special issue of Advancing Suicide Prevention, a national health policy magazine. This issue focuses on male populations at greatest risk for suicide, and contributing factors including undiagnosed and untreated depression and substance-use disorders. The initiative is funded by the Charles E. Kubly Foundation, a Milwaukee-based public charity committed to improving the lives of those affected by depression.

“As Wisconsin employers seek better ways to maximize workforce productivity and company-sponsored health benefits, considering the role of depression is critical,” says Denise Pazur, senior editor for the Sustaining Productivity supplement. “That’s because depression, if left untreated or undertreated, can lead to failed projects and faulty products, absenteeism and employee turnover, diminished on-the-job safety, flawed decision making, poor morale and lack of teamwork. The drain on productivity is significant, to say the least.”

Nationally 225 million workdays are lost annually to productivity decline related to depression, according to recent research; this is more work loss and impairment than that from diabetes, asthma, arthritis and other chronic conditions, notes Pazur.

Moreover, employers are in a unique — and powerful — role to positively impact workplace depression, say experts, by improving the design, delivery, purchase and implementation of behavioral health benefits they fund. What’s more, employers who proactively address depression in their employees have seen real financial return on that investment. These include medium-size employer Highsmith, Inc. of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, which has seen health premiums and employee turnover at rates significantly lower than state or national averages; the Highsmith story is profiled in the Sustaining Productivity supplement. Also featured is an “Employer Call to Action” with eight key actions that Wisconsin business and policy leaders can take to better address the economic and emotional burden of depression in the workplace.

“Wisconsin employers are uniquely positioned to improve the productivity of their workforce, and ultimately their own bottom line and the economic outlook for our state,” says Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton. “As major purchasers of health care coverage, employers are de facto health policymakers. They can drive quality and accountability performance with the decisions they make as collective consumers. And their influence bears the weight of responsibility for the health and wellbeing of Wisconsin families, the workplace and our state economy.”

Charles E. Kubly Foundation
http://www.charlesekublyfoundation.org