Building value from our Core Technology. (President's Message).

By the time you read this, many of you will be making final preparations to attend EAPA's 2002 Annual Conference in Boston. The Annual Conference never fails to offer a rewarding mix of educational activities and networking and socializing opportunities, and this year's version is no exception. From workshops on behavioral e-health and continuous quality improvement to a plenary session on today's workplace realities to the President's Awards Banquet, the conference is packed with events that no employee assistance professional should miss.

The 2002 Annual Conference will be noteworthy as well for reports that task forces will be presenting to the Board of Directors. For example, one task force has been looking at the impact of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and its accompanying information privacy regulations on the EA field; another task force has been examining the international EA market and the needs of non-U.S. employee assistance professionals. A third task force has been reviewing the response of EAPA and EA professionals to the September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon.

The task force reports, which will be shared with the EAPA membership after the conference, will help the board develop strategies to support EA professionals in addressing some of the many critical challenges facing employers and employees in the 21st century The after-effects of the terrorist attacks are still being felt and continue to generate widespread media coverage, but several less visible issues are confronting the workplace as well. One is certainly the aging of the workforce and the increasing tendency of retirees to remain in or re-enter the labor pool. A recent survey by Allstate Insurance found that 71 percent of baby boomers expect to continue working during their retirement years, partly to earn income but also to participate in the social interactions that worksites offer.

An older workforce presents employers with both opportunities and obstacles. On the one hand, older employees bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their jobs and also help offset the shortage of qualified workers in the labor force. But older workers cost more to insure, a key consideration at a time when the economy is soft and health care costs are rising at double-digit rates. Older workers also are more prone to disease and illness and tend to be absent more days than younger workers.

To combat increasing health care costs, many employers are turning to disease ...