EAP Association Exchange articles from March 2001

EAP Association Exchange archives from March 2001

The Next 30 Years.(employee assistance programs)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... What do the next 30 years hold for EAPs and EA professionals? Given the changes that have occurred during the past 30, no prediction would be too far-fetched. Uncertainty about the future of our profession is nothing new, of course. In...

Taking Concrete Steps.(employee assistance training program information)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In late February, 1 traveled to Washington, D.C. to attend a one-and-a-half-day training program on the Department of Transportation's new regulations pertaining to drug and alcohol testing. The training, held prior to EAPAs 2001 Public Policy...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
March 1, 2001... The Power of Integration I was pleased that the cover theme of the September/October 2000 issue was "Integrating Employee Assistance and Work/Life Programs." I wish to compliment the Exchange for focusing on such an important, if at times...

Drug-Free Workplace Programs.(management techniques)
March 1, 2001... A survey of small businesses shows that alcohol and drug use are problems, but many executives are wary of testing their employees for illicit substances. The practice of employee assistance in the United States traces its roots to the...

The Impact of EAPs.(employee assistance programs)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... "The overall impact of employee assistance programs can be enormous. When designed to include family members, the EAP can play a singular, major role which cannot be duplicated anywhere else in our society." Employee assistance programs...

Human Resources Management: EAPs Can Provide a Sense of Community.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The first thing that comes to mind when most people think of employee assistance programs is counseling services for workers and their family members. EA professionals are knowledgeable about the different types of counseling and other support...

Occupational Health EAPs Can Play a Preventive Role.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In a global economy where the competition for the best and brightest workers is perhaps even more intense than the competition for new customers and markets, the health and safety of employees and workplaces are critical to the success of any...

Health and Productivity: A New Opportunity for EAPs.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The Institute for Health and Productivity Management (IHPM) was founded in 1997 to help employers measure and increase their returns from investing in their human capital. The institute's vision is to make employee health a sound investment in...

Disease Prevention: EAPs Can Help Keep Workers Healthy.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... "I'd like you to raise your eyes and expand your vision. I'd like you to develop a view of health, of yourselves, and--in your particular concerns as employee assistance professionals--of the health of your employees that is as big as this...

EAPA Participates in Internet Summit.(National Mental Health Association holds conference on developing guidelines for online mental health information and services;)(National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Plenty of mental health information and services are available through the Internet, and more are being added each day. People who need such assistance, however, say they have difficulty determining the credibility of many on-line resources. To...

Bridging the Future with a Member Assistance Program.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The federal government continues to press for workplace drug-testing programs, and court cases involving drug testing are running against the interests of workers. For the foreseeable future, drug testing will continue to be the anti-drug...

Court Grants Confidentiality to EAP Records.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Nearly five years after the U.S. Supreme Court granted privilege to communications between psychotherapists and their patients, another federal court--the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit--did likewise for communications between...

Can EAPs Experiment in the Real World?(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... As a researcher who studies the employee assistance field, I am often asked, "Where is the research on EAPs?" What this usually means is that there are few studies on EAPs that conform to the classic experimental research design standards of...

NIMH Study Seeks to Improve Treatment of Bipolar Disorder.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The National Institute of Mental Health is launching a $22 million study of more than 5,000 individuals to identify the most effective treatments for bipolar disorder, a disabling disease that affects 2.3 million Americans and costs businesses...

States Spend 13 Percent on Substance Abuse and Addiction.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... U.S. states spent more than $80 billion in 1998--approximately 13 percent of their budgets--on substance abuse and addiction, but devoted less than a nickel of each dollar to prevention and treatment initiatives, according to a new study by the...

One in Five Workers "Actively Disengaged," Survey Says.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Nearly 20 percent of U.S. employees 18 or older are unexcited by their work or feel fundamentally disconnected from it, according to a survey of 1,000 adult workers by the Gallup Management Journal, a new publication from the Gallup...

Workers Say Time Off Boosts Their Productivity.(employee research and statistics)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
March 1, 2001... More than nine in 10 employees say taking time off from work makes them more productive, according to a survey of roughly 650 workers commissioned by Xylo, a provider of Webbased work/life solutions. The survey found that three in five...

Accrediting Group Releases Standards for Web Sites.(Utilization Review Accreditation Commission)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... A national health care accrediting organization has drafted standards for assessing health Web sites and is proposing a one-year accreditation program to cover the sites of health plans, insurers, hospitals, physicians, third-party...

More Employers to Offer E-Health Plans to Workers.(online benefit plans)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... One in four employers expects to offer an e-health plan to employees by 2002, and several more may follow suit in the coming years, according to a report by Forrester Research, an Internet research firm headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. ...

Railroad Ceases Genetic Testing for Carpal-Tunnel Claims.(Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad agreed on February 12 to stop conducting genetic tests of employees who file claims for carpal-tunnel syndrome, a musculoskeletal disorder frequently associated with repetitive hand and wrist motions, such...

Cambridge College.(diversity training programs analysis)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... An in-depth master's-level research paper (for Cambridge College, Cambridge, Mass.) explores the effectiveness of corporate diversity training programs by comparing approaches used in the United States and Britain. Copies of the paper, "How...

Human Rights Campaign.(gay and lesbian website information)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Building awareness of gay/lesbian issues increases our effectiveness in delivering services to these clients. One resource is "The State of the Workplace for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Americans 2000," an in-depth reference...

Cultural Diversity.(website information)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The Web site for Cultural Diversity at Work (www.DiversityCentral.com) is a global business portal for increasing "cultural intelligence." It offers interactive quizzes, articles on culture and best practices, news and trend information, tips...

www.DiversityInc.com.(website information)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Another diversity-related Web site, www.DiversityInc.com, contains information on current corporate trends and explores such issues as the link between diversity and investment performance and the changing role of women in the U.S. workforce....

Report Tracks Use, Consequences of Smoking and Substance Abuse.(website information)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In an effort to provide a comprehensive picture of smoking, drinking, and substance abuse--including long-term trends, effects on society, media and cultural influences, approaches to and effectiveness of treatment, and future implications--the...

Topics Selected for Conference Presentations.(employee assistance program conference information)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... EAPA's Conference Program Planning Committee has selected 52 presentations from among more than 100 proposals to serve as workshop and roundtable discussion topics at the 2001 Annual Conference in Vancouver, Canada. The committee, chaired...