Another new label for a core EA practice. (Front Desk).

Should EAPs concern themselves with "disease management?" Is this one more example of our field being drawn into the world of health care at the expense of our workplace roots?

At first glance, that might seem to be the case. But looking more deeply, we find that effective disease management is not simply a medical function, In fact, EAPs long have been among the most effective components of the management of the disease of alcoholism. When EA professionals facilitate constructive confrontation of an alcoholic employee, follow up during and after treatment to ensure continued progress toward treatment and return-to-work goals, and consult with supervisors and work groups about how to respond to recovering co-workers, we are delivering disease management.

Disease management means accepting the reality of a chronic disease while mobilizing every means available to minimize the disease's negative impact on a person and his or her environment, including the work environment. Players in this process include the medical system, the family, the workplace (including the EAP), and, of course, the affected individual.

In the United States, chronic conditions such as depression, diabetes, asthma, and hypertension affect more than one in three workers and consume as much as 75 percent of the nation's health care costs. Around the world, afflictions like AIDS and hepatitis overwhelm available resources and exact a terrible toll on societies and economies.

In recent years, some employers have begun to implement disease management programs for chronic conditions in an effort to reduce rising health care ...