Perceptions of Depression in the Workplace
Community Report
(All Surveys)
June 6, 2002
Community Survey Count:
Paper: 1001
Web: 5398
Total: 6399
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The Mid-America Coalition on Health Care wishes to acknowledge the financial and technical contributions of Pharmacia Corporation to this project, specifically the involvement of the following Pharmacia Associates:
Randy Ross, National Director, Healthcare Purchasers, Managed Marker Operations
Thomas McKeithen, Jr., Education Outcomes Manager, Managed Market Operations
James Baumann, R.Ph., Regional Account Manager
Furthermore, the Coalition wishes to recognize the dedication and time commitment of the additional members of the Attitudinal Survey Development Taskforce:
*Tom Delaney, Director for Compensation and Benefits, Saint Luke's Shawnee Mission System
*John Heryer, M.D., Vice President Medical Director, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City
Stuart Munro, M.D., Assistant Medical Director, State of Missouri Department of Mental Health
*Carolyn Marney, Health Enhancement Coordinator, Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin
Susan Crain Lewis, MSSW, Sr. VP, Education & Evaluation, Mental Health Association of the Heartland
Maureen Hennessey, Ph.D., Executive VP & Chief Clinical Officer, New Directions Behavioral Health
Betsy Klein, LPC, LCSW, LMFT, CEAP, Regional VP of EAP Services, New Directions Behavioral Health
Bill Tidd, M.A., CEAP, EAP Director, Saint Luke's Shawnee Mission Health System
Bill Bruning, M.B.A., JD, President, MACHC
Chris Yonke, JD, Senior Vice President, MACHC
Brenda Kumm, M.S., Vice President, MACHC
* Indicates Community Initiative on Depression Participating Employer Representatives
Survey Count
Paper: 1001 (16% of response)
Web: 5398 (84% of response)
Total: 6399
Calculation of Results
13 Employers returned a total of 6,399 surveys from 38,945 distributed via the Internet and scannable paper surveys. The average company response rate for this survey was 21.5%. Six of the participating employers had a response rate of greater than 25% within their respective settings.
This report presents the cumulative results from all surveys as a percentage of the 6399 who chose each response per each question. Multiple responses to a question on the paper survey were treated as non-responses, and the rate of non-response is reported for each question (where appropriate).
Observations
· Fairly accurate with regard to symptoms of depression (#3)
· Suicide related question (#2) and prevalence of depression (#3) could be area for education focus.
· Prevalence of depression (#3) and personal experience with depression (#19), taken together, may be an indication that respondents are not truly distinguishing between major depression and depressed mood. Indicates a need for education differentiating the two.
· Respondents are on target with regard to treatment (#4) and positive outcomes (#5).
· Although 94% understand that a depressed mood is normal from time-to-time, nearly 25% would find it difficult to explain the difference (#’s 6 & 7)
· Respondents are open to a wide range of treatment options but prefer counseling and exercise. Talking about it is most preferred with their doctor, counselor or friends and family. (#’s 8 & 9)
· Greater than two-thirds of respondents feel that employers offer few resources or don’t know what resources or offered. One-third don’t know how to access employer offered resources. (#10 & 11)
· Mean scores regarding attitudes about depression (#’s 12 – 17) raise areas of concern for questions 13 and 16 where the mean is in the 2.0 – 3.0 range. 40% of respondents disagree with the statement, “Most people with depression can handle their share of the work.” 24% of people agree with the statement, “An individual with depression is more likely than other people to become violent.”
· Individual company reports allow each employer to see how their employees responded relative to the total surveys (community) or company weighted average. This may allow for some modification of intervention goals.