Making Mental Health Services in the Workplace More Approachable
In this preview of our Work, Wellness and Space project, set to launch July 15, we feature Alex Simmons, founder of Boon Health, which provides a mental health platform for businesses, about evolving mental wellness services in the workplace.
After spending much of his 20s logging 80-hour weeks (or more) in investment banking and private equity, Alex Simmons was convinced: The way most employees access mental health services in the workplace is broken.
That’s why he founded Boon Health in fall 2019 – to provide a more approachable and holistic mental health platform that emphasizes coaching.
“It's no longer going to be sufficient for employers to simply have employee assistance programs,” said Simmons. “We’re going to need something more – something that’s designed not only for short-term crisis management but also for preventive mental well-being.”
That way of thinking – that mental wellness must increasingly focus on prevention – is a major takeaway from Work, Wellness & Space, the inaugural research offering by Immediate Frontier. The project, a partnership between GreenHouse::Innovation and Greentarget in special collaboration with Learn Adapt Build (LAB)/Amsterdam, will launch on July 15.
Simmons is among the more than two dozen experts in innovation, architecture, commercial real estate, public health and a host of related fields interviewed for the project. His company, based in Birmingham, Mich., has a team of 40 ICF-accredited coaches, therapists and clinical psychologists. Boon’s coaching services are strictly digital via Zoom, and the coach-employee relationships are 100 percent confidential. The company also offers interactive webinars on different trending, relevant topics in mental health. With remote work becoming a necessity since the start of COVID-19, Boon’s digital offering might make more sense in the weeks and months ahead than ever.
COVID-19’s impact on Simmons’ plans has been two-fold. Experts predict that longer term, the need for more robust mental wellness programs for employees will become even more important – and, among smart employers, more sought – than ever. They point to the combination of COVID-19, related economic disruptions and racial tensions spurred by George Floyd’s murder in May 2020 as major stressors.
But COVID-19 emerged in the United States right as Simmons was getting ramped up. That’s slowed things down in the short term, but he’s never been more confident about the long-term viability of the company. Especially if a greater emphasis on mental wellness in the workplace emerges.
“If you're a mom working from home with multiple kids and you're having to support those kids and entertain them while trying to work a full day, there's a whole host of other stressors that have entered your life that never existed before,” Simmons said. “And most of us aren't equipped with the tools and resources to be able to know how to deal with those stressors.”
“From an employer perspective, a lot of what I'm hearing is this idea of the acceleration of the mental health crisis and stress and anxiety epidemic in the United States. That is ultimately creating a greater need for better mental health resources in the workplace.”