The virtual health platform is building on the first phase to offer multi-disciplinary mental health care
Virtual health platform Dialogue has launched phase II of its Stress Management and Well-Being program for Canadian employers who wish to provide mental health and healthcare support to their employees.
“Dialogue's new expanded mental health program is a perfect example of how new technologies can improve access to quality care,” said Dr. Julien Martel, Dialogue’s chief medical officer, in a statement.
The new program, which was made available to all employers in Canada on World Mental Health Day, builds on Dialogue’s full suite of virtual healthcare services. Phase I of the mental health program, which enabled thousands of mental health consultations, was developed over the last year in partnership with industry leaders that opened access to the program to their employees.
“Mental health issues are at the root of many issues and represent, as an insurer, a major concern,” said Éric Trudel, Senior Vice-President of Strategy and Product Management at SSQ Insurance, which was among the companies to partner with Dialogue. “We continually seek to provide relevant tools and deploy innovative solutions that will contribute to the well-being of our policyholders.”
Phase I of the program reportedly yielded “overwhelmingly positive” results. Offering an online stress-management assessment questionnaire that could be completed in 4 minutes, as well as flexibility for patients living with mental health issues to receive support at their convenience, 100% of users said the program was easy to fit into their schedules.
Among the patients with access to the first phase of the program, up to 20% reached out to assess their risk of suffering from high stress levels, anxiety, or depression. Those found at risk were offered access to multidisciplinary treatment from psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers, doctors, nurses, and medical specialists.
Those found to have depressive symptoms and who received multidisciplinary treatment showed a mean improvement of 55% based on the PHQ-9 assessment tool. All of the patients reported improvements to their condition, and 96% were very satisfied with the care they received.
“To meet with the ever-growing mental health needs of employees in Canada, Dialogue will continue hiring dozens of psychologists and psychotherapists,” the firm said. “Proactively providing mental health support and prevention offers opportunity to attract and retain talent, reduce absenteeism and promote productivity.”
