"Needs can change over time, so support needs to change with them."
- Christine Husbands, Commercial Director at RedArc
RedArc has warned employers that offering a menu of added-value services rather than taking a holistic solution-led approach “risks letting people down,” especially since a growing majority of employers deem health and wellbeing support as a “self-select exercise.” Consequently, it calls for employees to be “properly assessed and then provided with the most appropriate support” to reduce unnecessary absenteeism.
Since employees need to know what type of support is needed before self-navigating the range of services on offer, a problem-led approach has drawbacks. For example, if someone has anxiety they may opt for a course of counselling, but if they’d been professionally assessed then hypno-counselling might have been identified as more appropriate.
This strategy sits at the heart of the holistic solution-led approach which promotes assessing employees before offering personalised support, tailored therapies, and continuous re-assessments. RedArc notes that this approach “treats the whole person, both physically and mentally,” mitigating the risks of self-navigating which could lead to employees opting for support that’s not best suited to them.
Christine Husbands, Commercial Director at RedArc, believes that “when people are properly assessed by a medically trained professional, and their diagnosis understood, the most appropriate support can be provided.” She believes this “saves time in the long run and leads to better outcomes for the individual.”
“Consumer Duty focuses on assessing a client’s needs and focusing on delivering good outcomes, so we predict an increase in a holistic solution-led approach to health and wellbeing,” she concluded.
