Promoting workplace psychological wellbeing: evaluation of a multidisciplinary Employee Assistance Program at a...

Despite the growing availability of Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) aimed at improving workplace psychological wellbeing, the implementation and effectiveness of EAPs has not been well described nor well studied in the literature. This study seeks to describe and evaluate an insourced, multidisciplinary EAP consisting of Occupational Medicine Physicians, Psychiatrists, Psychologists as well as Human Resource Professionals to promote psychological wellbeing among healthcare workers in a tertiary hospital in Singapore.

This study utilized a health service evaluation framework and analyzed the implementation of the EAP across five dimensions, namely: Reach and Adoption, Effectiveness, Implementation and Maintenance. Anonymous longitudinal data of all participants enrolled into the EAP program between 01 Jan 2024 to 30 April 2025 were collected for analysis.

Data from a total of 39 EAP participants were analyzed. Nursing staff formed the largest proportion of staff who utilized the EAP at 51.3%. The most common route of access to the EAP program was through referral by the staff's department at 43.6%, followed by self-referral (23.1%) and referral by a peer-supporter (23.1%). The most common reason for EAP attendance was work-related stressors at 48.7%. A statistically significant decrease between the median pre-EAP Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) score (7) and median post-EAP PHQ-4 score (2) was noted. 59% of participants were able to return to work. An estimated average running cost of $648.48 per participating staff was required to sustain the program.

This is the first longitudinal study in Southeast Asia describing the evaluation of an EAP. Using an objective clinical questionnaire, an improvement in psychosocial wellbeing was noted for EAP participants. The evaluation methods and outcomes described provide a framework for companies and human resources department to review ongoing EAPs as the organization and structure of EAPs continue to evolve.