Mental Health Awareness Month
May is mental health awareness month, and whilst there is still a long way to go in creating parity between physical and mental health, awareness of mental health is increasing, and the associated stigma is decreasing.
The Claim Lab has been doing research into the impact of mental health on duration of return to work (in last month’s newsletter we looked at it in detail). Whilst there is a strong correlation of poor mental health and a longer RTW, the detail behind this and the actual indicators are a bit patchy. Some studies have found severity of depression to be a strong indicator; others have found indicators such as quality of life to be more predictive. The definitive consensus is that more work needs to be done in this area to add to the research.
But what can and should insurance companies be doing now to get ahead of the game? Assessing claimants’ physical health is no longer enough, instances of mental illness are on the rise and insurance companies need to be planning how they will accommodate current and future claimants. More in-depth and regular assessments are needed to help evaluate a claimants’ well-being and likelihood of returning to work.
The Claim Lab is helping insurance companies develop these capabilities through the questionnaire tool. It is designed to build into your current claims process; sending out questionnaires securely to claimants to retrieve extra information on their mental health and wellness and merges with historic data to create a more accurate model for RTW prediction. The diagram below gives a loose demonstration of how it works.
The additional data can help:
- Better understand underlying mental health issues
- Establish levels of quality of life
- Link physical and mental symptoms
- Indicate a claimants attitude towards work
If you would like to better understand the role questionnaires could play in your claims process, contact us here: info@claimlab.org