8 Best Mental Health Platforms For Employees
Online mental health platforms for employees have recently grown immensely popular as an alternative to traditional face-to-face therapy appointments. Due to high demand and an increasing number of specialisations within mental health, platforms now often focus on specific mental health difficulties.
This article delves further into online mental health platforms for employees, their benefits, and pros and cons to help you navigate the many options in the market. Here are our top eight:
1. Unmind
2. Frankie Health
3. Virgin Pulse
4. Headspace
5. Calm
6. Spring Health
7. Limeade
8. Headversity
Before we see each of them, we’ll compare those platforms to traditional therapy and employee assistance programmes so that you can make informed choices about your and your employees’ mental health.
The significance of mental health in the workplace
Mental health in the workplace is a hot topic among employers and employees, especially since COVID-19. As we typically spend the majority of our lives at work, the workplace is one of the most significant influences on our mental health. This has driven many studies investigating how work conditions can impact productivity and job satisfaction, and many organisations plan on investing in workplace mental health in the upcoming years.
For the employer, managing mental health in the workplace is vital to maintaining a happy, organised, and productive workforce. Much health research shows that unmitigated chronic job stressors often lead to employee burnout – characterised as intense exhaustion, cynicism, or indifference towards the workplace, and significantly lower job performance. In other words, minimising or dismissing the mental health of your employees is a recipe for high turnover, lower engagement, and, ultimately, reduced profitability.
Conversely, research shows that taking steps to nurture your employees’ mental health galvanises employee loyalty, and leads to higher job performance and that taking steps to encourage your employees’ mental health galvanises employee engagement and leads to higher job performance and a considerable return on the investment.
> You may be interested in our article: “How does mental health drive employee engagement?”
Moreover, it helps create a culture where employees can face changing environments and various challenges, flourish in their roles, and boost resilience to stress.
Comparing traditional and modern methods of supporting your employees’ mental health
EAPs are typically offered to employees as part of company benefits or health insurance. They can involve a variety of options for your employees to receive assistance, such as face-to-face counselling, online therapy, and exercise programmes like yoga. However, EAPs are a reactive service rather than taking a proactive stance on employee mental health. This typically leads to under-utilisation and significant drop-out rates, particularly with the rise of online mental health platforms as an alternative.
> You may be interested in our related article, “Why EAPs don’t work”
Online mental health platforms have risen in popularity alongside improved technology and accessibility. Their services are delivered in the form of video, audio, or live chat sessions with a therapist appointed based on their areas of experience. Therapy delivered over the internet has markedly improved, with much research demonstrating its effectiveness is equal to traditional therapy. This is particularly true for symptoms of low-to-moderate severity, such as anxiety, depression, and stress.
The best mental health platforms share some similarities with EAPs: they can be delivered online, provide access to a range of therapy services, and offer employees a safe space to disclose their issues. However, mental health platforms offer several advantages over EAPs and avoid some main drawbacks.
For instance, your employees usually need to access their EAP through HR, which can lead to lower takeup or even avoidance of its services due to embarrassment. It can also promote fear of divulging information in cases where company management is perceived as less trustworthy. The support provided by EAPs also doesn’t often take into account the individual’s needs and isn’t tailored to support a range of difficulties. This can render EAPs inaccessible and costly for companies.
Conversely, online mental health platforms are highly discreet. Many only require personal information limited to an emergency contact number in case of emergencies. They deliver tailored counselling services to accommodate a range of mental health issues that, unlike many EAPs, aren’t solely related to the workplace. Due to the minimal infrastructure required, they tend to be a more affordable option.
Benefits of mental health platforms for employees
The main benefits of online mental health platforms are that they encompass many of the benefits of other methods, such as traditional therapy or EAPs, with fewer drawbacks. With a level of effectiveness equal to face-to-face therapy, combined with affordability and convenience, mental health platforms can be valuable if you’re looking to invest in your workforce’s mental health.
A common approach adopted by mental health platforms is the use of preventative, self-guided exercises to help your employees develop resilience. This stands in contrast to the reactive approach offered by EAPs, and means that accessing care is convenient and can be planned into the day. Helping your employees develop proactive ownership over their mental health helps lower their risk of absence in difficult circumstances.
What’s more, these platforms provide access to mental health practitioners across a range of needs, meaning the support is almost always tailored to the individual. Online platforms often provide profiles on their therapists to highlight their specialisms, and assure you as to their accreditation and experience. For example, Frankie Health describes its seven-step vetting process to ensure the highest standards of support across its therapists, psychologists, and coaches. The process is also entirely confidential, so your employees can feel confident and secure in seeking support.
The best mental health platforms for employees are also highly advantageous to employers due to the measurable outcomes they provide across employee goals. In many instances, they offer clear, informative, anonymous platform usage through data visualisation programmes to help give you a clear picture of your employees' progress.
8 best mental health platforms for employees in 2023
We created a list of the best mental health platforms for employers in 2023, with their pros and cons, to help you choose the right one for your employees' needs.
Unmind
Unmind helps leaders create psychologically safe and engaged cultures and empower employees to lead more fulfilling lives. That means addressing every layer of an organisation and empowering every person to drive change for themselves and those around them. Unmind connects employees with more than 1000 therapists worldwide and can support a global workforce with more than 30 languages.
Pros
1. Offers a preventative approach (meditation, yoga, mindfulness)
3. Offers a therapeutic approach and connects employees with more than 1000 therapists
2. Supports healthy eating habits and personal relationships as well
3. Easy to manage (via app or laptop)
4. Good for small businesses and SMBs in English-speaking countries
Cons
1. No Slack or Microsoft Teams apps
Frankie Health
The mental health platform Frankie captures clinically validated data on stress, excessive anxiety, burnout, and depression to personalise each employee’s experience. Insights are anonymised and combined to reveal mental health trends in the company, helping you respond to your team’s well-being in real time. Frankie connects employees with more than 1000 therapists worldwide and can support a global workforce with more than 30 languages.
Pros
1. Offers a preventative approach (meditation, yoga, mindfulness)
2. Offers an Anxiety Rate tracking
3. Offers a therapeutic approach and connects employees with more than 1000 therapists
4. Good for SMBs and global companies with employees working from different countries5. Native Slack and Microsoft Teams apps
Cons
1. Doesn’t offer an employee engagement rate yet
2. It needs at least a team of 50 people for its AI to work properly
Virgin Pulse
Virgin Pulse gives employees a single destination to access all their health and well-being benefits, including the industry’s leading digital health programs and certified coaches on-demand. From mental health programming to team challenges, Virgin Pulse keeps employees engaged with daily nudges, gamified programs, and a one-of-a-kind experience
Pros
1. Offers mental, physical, social, financial, and community health
2. Digital Experience on mobile & desktop powered by AI
3. Gamification through Challenges
4. Integrated health assessment
5. 190 territories and countries supported
Cons
2. Doesn’t connect employees to real therapists
3. No Slack or Microsoft Teams apps
Headspace
The mental health platform Headspace offers a collection of guided meditations and exercises through Its Android and Apple apps. Headspace helps employees with stress management, sleep, and self-care. Headspace gives access to a global Facebook community to chat and get support from other users.
Pros
1. Member support
2. Administrator portal
3. Engagement reporting
4. Launch and enrollment resources
5. Themed engagement resources
Cons
1. Doesn’t connect employees to real therapists
2. No Slack or Microsoft Teams apps
Calm
Calm Business uses individual and group settings to develop effective mental wellness habits that continuously support your employees’ learning and exploration. Calm offers approachable mental health practices that are engaging, culturally relevant, and diverse.
Pros
1. Guidance from wellness experts and celebrities
2. Administrator portal
3. Mindful sessions
4. Support for the whole family
5. User-friendly platform
Cons
1. Doesn’t connect employees to real therapists or psychologists
2. No Slack or Microsoft Teams apps
Spring Health
The mental health platform Spring Health is a holistic solution that allows employers to manage their mental health and legal and financial situation. Users complete a detailed assessment to determine what help they need most, and then Spring Health matches them with specific therapists, workshops, and coping tools designed to meet their unique needs.
Pros
1. Training and Programming for employees
2. Work-Life Services for employees
3. Legal Services for employees
4. Financial Services for employees
Cons
1. Is an EAP and offers 12 hours of therapy per year
2. It does too many things
3. No Slack or Microsoft Teams apps
Limeade
Limeade allows our employees to find ways to support their well-being wherever they are on their journey. Employees choose what is meaningful to them and are more inclined to stay engaged. Limeade also supports employee business/resource groups, D E & I and other internal groups or organizations, further enhancing the employee experience.
Pros
1. One solution to manage employees' well-being, care and engagement
2. Real-time insights about the health of the employee
3. Available in 19 languages
Cons
1. Doesn’t connect employees to real therapists or psychologists
2. It does too many things
3. No Slack or Microsoft Teams apps
Headversity
Headversity is a very user-friendly mental health platform. Easy to sign up, great functionality, quick sessions, and multiple learning streams. The ability to practice suggested lessons and tools is nicely presented. The app has a lot to explore, which always engages employees.
Pros
1. Daily practice tools
2. Micro-lessons
3. Video & audio lessons
4. Gamified interactives
Cons
1. Doesn’t connect employees to real therapists or psychologists
2. It does too many things
3. No Slack or Microsoft Teams apps
Wrapping up
With typically greater affordability, flexibility, and individualised support, online mental health platforms for employees have several key advantages over EAPs and traditional therapy. The best mental health platforms for employees, like Frankie, exist to help you support your employees’ mental health and ensure better work productivity, team communication, and job satisfaction.
