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Episode 9 – Addressing Teen Suicide from an Employer Perspective

Hear from Doug Nelson, vice president of compensation and benefits, at The Timken Company as he shares how the company is stepping forward to raise awareness of teen and adolescent suicide.

Congratulations to episode nine’s gift card giveaway winner, Kim Stephens of Hanover County, VA.

Marcas Miles (0:09)

Hello and welcome to the Employers Health HR Benecast, your source for clarity on health benefit trends and strategies. This is your host, as usual, Marcas Miles. And in this episode, we’ll cover a few topics, but one that’s a very sensitive yet important topic of suicide, specifically among adolescents and teens.

We will look at the agenda for our upcoming annual Innovations and Benefits Conference. We’ll talk a little bit about May as Mental Health Awareness Month. And then I’ll share a lineup of other opportunities for you to be able to learn and connect with your peers.

To start this edition of the podcast, I’d like to remind you to listen for a keyword, which we do in each episode. And then each month, a lucky listener will be eligible to win a $50 Visa gift card simply by submitting the keyword from the podcast. So I will give you the code word for this month’s drawing at some point during the show.

So be sure to listen carefully for that.

As I get started, I have some exciting news to share with you. Your Employers Health was recently certified as a great place to work by the independent analysts at Great Place to Work.

This credential was earned based upon extensive ratings provided by employees through anonymous surveys. Great Place to Work is a global authority on high trust, high performance workplace cultures. 29 of my colleagues completed, and me included, completed surveys which ranked trust, pride, and confidence in the organization.

Everyone gave the organization a rating of 100% for offering great challenges, a great atmosphere, and a great pride in the organization. So if you wanna see more about that, a summary of the ratings can be found through a link on the EH website. Simply look for the Great Places to Work logo right there on the homepage.

I mentioned that May is Mental Health Awareness Month or Mental Health Month. It has been observed here in the United States each May since 1949. It reaches millions of people through media, local events, and screenings.

Through our Right Direction initiative, we’ll be offering a special toolkit to infuse your efforts around depression and or mental health or provide you with a starting point. So there’ll be posters, content with messages and tips, and lots of things that you’ll be able to use readily for your efforts, all at a convenient landing page. So be sure to add this to your to-do list for the upcoming month and keep an eye out for the toolkit which will be launching soon.

Now in that same vein, let’s move into our main topic for this episode of the podcast. Tough conversations about sensitive topics in the workplace are never easy, but I always say that employers are in a very powerful position to be able to engage employees and to inform change. Suicide is an important public health issue that involves psychological, biological, and societal factors.

Rates of suicide among adolescents and young adults have continued to steadily rise over the last decade and remains a leading cause of death for that demographic. Sadly, our community here in the Akron-Canton area has been dealt a significant blow as multiple local teens have taken their lives by suicide over the last six months to a year, with one school district experiencing six alone. So we recognize that this isn’t only an issue plaguing our community, but likely your community as well.

The magnitude of this issue is far too large and important for one individual, one group, or one idea to address. So we must work together as a larger body of leaders, parents, friends, and stewards to educate, empower, and support one another. The Timken Company, one of the founding members of Employers Health, recently stepped forward as a catalyst for engaging its employees to raise awareness through education, open conversations, and transparency.

The goal is to reduce stigma and better understand the signs and symptoms that may lead someone to take his or her life and offer support for prevention. The leadership at the Timken Company would like to ask and encourage other employers to follow its lead and champion this cause when and where possible. Together with the Stark County Schools Superintendent, the Canton Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the United Way of Greater Stark County, we at Employers Health hosted a program for business and community leaders and introduced tips, resources, and strategies to assist in this endeavor.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank our friends at Comp Psych, EAP, for providing an excellent trainer that shared some really relevant insight on the topic. For this podcast, though, I wanted to be able to share with you more about what the Timken Company is doing to help educate and to help reduce the stigma of the topic of suicide with employees. I recently sat down with Doug Nelson, who is the Vice President of Compensation and Benefits at the Timken Company.

 

Thanks for taking the time, Doug.

Doug Nelson (5:07)

Yeah, more than welcome.

Marcas Miles (5:08)

So based upon what I said a little bit earlier, I let our listeners know what’s been going on and that the Timken Company has been one that has stepped forward to help address this topic.

So I’m curious to know how initially the conversation started at the Timken Company or what ultimately is behind you stepping out to take on this task.

Doug Nelson (5:32)

Yeah, the story, it really goes back about two months now. And we had a good number of teen suicides occurring in the community and they were focused on one school.

And most of the other, let’s say, outlying school members, parents, et cetera, were sort of saying or thinking, well, it’s not my school, and sort of holding their breath. And then one day we woke up and there were three suicides the night before that touched more than the one school. And those three suicides, one of them was in the school district I resided in.

But equally as important within Timken, the quantity of employees that we have and children that are in these outlying school districts sort of raised the flag a little bit to the call to action, if you wish.

Marcas Miles (6:20)

It’s a very sensitive topic and one that, let’s face it, is very stigmatized. So who was the catalyst? Was it you? Was there someone else at Timken? Or how did that conversation even start with now, which we’ll talk about, becoming such a major conversation within the company?

Doug Nelson (6:42)

Yeah, it really, that part goes back maybe to the third, fourth quarter of last year where I pulled my team aside and we were trying to plan out 2018.

And I told them, let’s get on a near medium-term horizon, just sort of mental health within the company. You know, the corporate America, we’re starting to read more about it. And I put that more on a five-year trajectory, meaning let’s start and let’s keep crescendoing up and growing each year.

And when these three unfortunate events happened in one day, then it was, no, let’s put a couple phone calls together. Employers Health, Stark More, and a few other folks that we finally got engaged on this. But the call to action was really that event.

And basically being in a leadership role in Timken, we’re very big in the community and we were able to step up and get going with it.

Marcas Miles (7:32)

That makes a lot of sense. So let’s get to what you’re actually doing.

I talked earlier in the podcast about the business community leader meeting that we recently put together. But internally, what are you doing at Timken on this topic or to raise awareness?

Doug Nelson (7:50)

Sure. So one of the items that we brainstormed on really early was how do you get the business community involved? And Timken has a 1,000-person campus.

We’re one of the larger companies in the community. And the thought process went like this. If we’re able, we, the company, employ 1,000 employees, and if we can give up a few hours, if you wish, or minutes of our day and have the parents come in and listen, we could bring the educators in and have a constant message or a continuous message that is themed similar to what the schools have been trying to also share with the parents.

And if we were able to do that in a manner that was well-received, we would videotape that because we know there are medium and small enterprises that don’t have the resources to put this on. And then that videotape in itself would go out on various other organization sites. So for example, local chamber of commerce, maybe United Ways events or sites, and then basically let it snowball from there.

And it was all in the spirit of communicating beyond our doors but really reaching out in the community and seeing if we’d spread the word.

Marcas Miles (9:00)

So when you talk about educating employees, having meetings and providing them with information, who is doing that part of it?

Doug Nelson (9:08)

Sure. What we did on the actual communication channel was we partnered with our county’s school, sort of the head here in Stark County, and we created one group there that they were sort of ground zero.

And we wanted to make sure that from a school messaging perspective, we brought them in, and they were right in front of the parents and could talk about it. The second group then was really going to the experts who deal with mental health every day. So it was the agencies that are part of the government or affiliations there, that deal with whether it’s clearly the suicide, any of the mental health, domestic violence, et cetera.

And those groups were able to bring in two of their specialists. And we basically then sat down and went through formal, what’s called a PowerPoint presentation. And the education was everything on how do you talk about suicide? What are the myths? What are the signs? And really just bringing the whole education to light with the parents.

And it was a big hit.

Marcas Miles (10:09)

I have found just with my work in mental health and depression in the workplace that it’s so stigmatized that folks are tentative to attend or be a part of a conversation about that. And while that tends to be a little bit more personal, this isn’t far off from that.

So did you have a lot of people attend? What was that like? How was it being received by the employees?

Doug Nelson (10:31)

Yeah, our reception with respect to the number of employees that attended was really strong. We probably in any one day may have anywhere from 400, 800 people in the building depending on travel schedule. And we had a very strong group of parents, as you can imagine.

But we invited those that weren’t parents, those that may be single, those that may have grandparents. And we basically marketed it from that front. And those that attend, obviously it was an overwhelming feedback of the benefit that the company was bringing to the table for the community.

But really for the employee as well.

Marcas Miles (11:11)

Are you planning to do other sessions like that? Or what are some other tactics that you’re considering or have already executed?

Doug Nelson (11:18)

The next step we have in this process is we’re currently working with the hospitals, myself and a couple other business leaders and school executives, to talk about how they come into play in this. So they receive the children or the young adults if you wish.

But how do you get feedback back to the schools then? In obviously a confidential manner. We’re then reaching out also to the clergy from the standpoint of a continuous message in education. So we have some sessions that you may go to church on around here when they’re talking about it.

Very religious based, which we understand. But you also have a great audience here to maybe educate them on the do’s, the don’ts. What do you see? What are the myths? And what are some contact numbers? What we’re doing next within the company is we’re providing an education session on technology.

So you think of your children’s smartphone and what do you do? You know, how many people go and look at the apps? What’s behind the apps? And we’re trying to bring some education light to that front as well.

Marcas Miles (12:21)

What about your health and wellness vendors? Have you engaged them? What role are they playing or do you anticipate or expect them to play?

Doug Nelson (12:31)

So we’ve reached out to all of our health and wellness vendors, and they’ve all been very good. You know, some of them aren’t located in the area just because of our footprint around the United States.

But they’ve all said, whatever we can do to help, call us. We also, with our EAP, we’ve contacted them. And this is such a specialized area when we were going to teenage suicide, it was a little more difficult to engage, let’s call it professionals in that space.

But through the government agencies really branching off beyond, let’s call it traditionally EAP and those that are really specialized in teen suicide, we’ve been able to bring groups or people, professional from around the United States in to speak. And Employers Health was instrumental with one of the local business chamber events, bringing a speaker in from Chicago who did absolutely just a fabulous job.

Marcas Miles (13:24)

We’re talking about adolescent and teen suicide here, but it’s, you know, it’s no secret that employers all the time are dealing with employee suicides and the ramifications of that, both from a cultural standpoint, impact on other employees.

And, you know, you have to say at a cost standpoint, it really does. You know, it’s just one of those that is tied to the greater mental health issue. And I’ve worked with companies who only have made steps to do something about it until that has occurred.

I don’t know what the case is at Timken, and I’m not asking you that question, but I want you to impart on whether you’re in a room of peers or those listening, why they should take steps to do this, and maybe just what are some basic words of advice to kind of get moving in the appropriate direction.

Doug Nelson (14:14)

Yeah, and you hit it earlier, stigma. So the ability to just sit down and break the ice with family, friends, neighbors, and just mention the word suicide, much less teen suicide, and engage family members is probably one of the hardest things that we in society need to break.

So whether it’s just depression, anxiety, other mental health issues in the workplace, and feeling free to talk about it is a tough icebreaker to get through. Now, specifically on teenage suicide, as we’ve had these, you know, unfortunate events, parents have had to belly up and really step up and take some, what’s typically very uncomfortable discussion and just put it on the kitchen table with the kids and the family members. And once they saw, I would say, when we were going through our presentations, that we were human just like everybody else and we had kids just like everybody else, all of a sudden the amount of people that went home and had that conversation with their children and broke the ice, and it’s just been a continuous dialogue ever since then.

So the awareness, you know, bringing forward. And likewise in the workplace, right? Trying to train your managers on the mental health side of anxiety, depression, and being flexible enough when an employee comes forward and says something in a confidential manner to not just blow it off, but to act upon it.

Marcas Miles (15:30)

Sure.

And so I have in front of me a document that the Timken Company put together. And just to cover quickly, I believe it’s something that any employer, at a minimum, could do. And, you know, one of my lines that I use all the time is that employers are in a very powerful position to start the conversation, to be a catalyst for change.

And even if you do one thing, that’s better than doing nothing. And on this sheet, you list out your benefits for employees at Timken. So EAP contact information.

Also, you know, talking to your primary care doctor might be even a place to start if you’re having feelings of something. But another thing that I suggest a lot as a best practice, and you’ve done that here, is tap local resources. And I know that you’ve done that.

So in every community, you typically have mental health and recovery services board, something like that. So crisis hotlines typically exist in every community. You can always include the National Suicide Hotline on some collateral or even post that around different locations.

And then they’re pretty easy to find different suicide warning signs and even how to talk with family and friends. So that’s a great, in my opinion, way to start. So if they, you know, do nothing else, that’s, I say, go ahead and do something like that.

Anything else that you want to share?

Doug Nelson (16:51)

I’d like to stay with that, just the contact information sheet that we put out. And one of the items I had told my team, I said, look, I’m going to lose sleep at night until we get this information out to our employees. Because if we wake up one morning, one of our employees’ child took their own life, it’s obviously going to have a pretty hard day at the office.

Marcas Miles (17:11)

Right.

Doug Nelson (17:12)

For all of us at the office. So it was a bit of losing sleep until we got contact information out, which is just a simple one page.

Here’s some information. Please put it on your cover door. We hope you never need it.

But if it’s 2 a.m. and you need it, you have a resource to go to. The other item with respect to a lot of the, let’s call them public resources that we all pay through our tax dollars. The most of us probably sit back and say, well, no, not me.

Or how good could it be? Or what really would, you know, what could come out of this? You know, I’ve met these team of people. And I’ll tell you what, there’s some really, really quality individuals that are working in the public health space that are well worth the call. So don’t you know, the stigma of saying not me or why would I call a government health board? Really, really some strong programs that exist out in our communities.

Marcas Miles (18:01)

Yeah, and that’s always a challenge with a topic like this, mental health in general and getting leadership on board. You know, the reality is there’s always, you know, what’s the cost associated? What’s the resource allocation? And so I always encourage to definitely tap into those. So thank you for being a leader in this space, for sharing with others, both here regionally, but also those listening to our podcast.

Doug Nelson (18:25)

You’re welcome.

Marcas Miles (18:27)

We plan to host a webinar featuring CompSyche in the next couple of months. So please stay tuned for further information on that.

Other upcoming events on our calendar are pharmacy benefit management trends, which will be in relation with the Central Ohio CEBS chapter. That’s on April 10th at the DSW Designer Shoe Warehouse headquarters, which is in Columbus. On April 18th, we have a pharmacy benefit management webinar series.

The topic will be specialty management strategies that is online virtual at three o’clock on April 18th. On April 26th, we will be hosting an in-person meeting on the topic of rethinking obesity that will be featuring among the speakers, Dr. Bruce Sherman, who has been our consulting medical director here at Employers Health. So you will want to mark that on your calendar and attend if you are in the region.

And finally, on May 16th, coming up here in just a couple of months is our annual Innovations and Benefits Conference. So we want you to join us for this, the 19th annual Innovations and Employee Benefits Conference. The full day program will focus on developing, promoting, and implementing fresh strategies around healthcare, wellness, and more.

We have three excellent, in my opinion, general sessions lined up for you. The first being Caring for Employee Financial Health, which will feature Carol Harnett. She is president of the Council for Disability Awareness.

We will have a Washington DC outlook on healthcare, including politics, process, and policy delivered by Jim Klein from the American Benefits Council. Jim has been with us before, so definitely a welcomed presenter back with us. And then finally for our general session lineup, we’ll have Delta Airlines talking about best practices for integrating EAP, behavioral, and clinical programs.

Some of the breakouts for the afternoon will include a look at Ashley Furniture Industries and North American Specialty Hospital presenting a case study in international travel for treatment. We’ll have a presentation on using social media to achieve a 540-degree employee engagement. We’ll have also a presentation on EEOC wellness rules, the status, and future.

So those are just a few of the topics. Of course, we have application out to the Ohio Department of Insurance for continuing education credits, as well as through HRCI. So check out our website.

You can find a link there to the landing page and all the information that you need to know about the Annual Innovations and Benefits Conference. You can, of course, register for any of these events and find more information on our website at employershealthco.com. And don’t forget to follow us on our social channels, LinkedIn and Twitter, to stay up to date on all upcoming Employers Health events. We encourage you to submit questions regarding HR benefits and the value of membership in an employer-led coalition so that we can cover those and address those on future editions of this podcast.

You can do that by completing the field on the landing page for the podcast or clicking on the link titled submit your questions here. Pretty simple. Also, if you’d like to be considered for the $50 Visa gift card, the code word is awareness.

Again, the code word for this edition of the podcast is awareness. Please submit that along with your name and email address using the link on the landing page.

That will conclude this month’s podcast.

Thank you again for taking the time to listen, but more importantly, thank you for your continued membership and interest in Employers Health. And don’t forget, submit those questions so that I can cover those on upcoming editions of the podcast.

In this podcast

Marcas Miles

Employers Health | Vice President, Industry Relations

Marcas Miles serves as vice president, industry relations at Employers Health, where he oversees efforts to strengthen connections with clients, partners and stakeholders.

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