Human-Digital Approaches to Mental + Emotional Well-Being

As we head towards 2025, the ongoing imperatives for health plan cost management and employee well-being are driving more emphasis on the role of mental and emotional coherence. Unsurprisingly, digital health tool offerings and usage continue to become more and more integral to these efforts.

Wearable devices like smartwatches and medical-grade health trackers have become common, with estimates suggesting that 440 million wearables will have been shipped globally by the end of 2024.

Datapath developed an extensive view of this developing trend, going back to when COVID began reshaping pretty much everything. And Business of Apps just released its 2024 report on Health App Revenue and Usage Statistics.

Despite widespread adoption, however, achieving sustained engagement remains a challenge, particularly for mental and emotional health point solutions.

The engagement "upper limit problem"

While digital health tools have proliferated, employee engagement with these tools has hit a plateau. For instance, although health apps have seen millions of downloads, sustained usage is a persistent problem. Over 25% of users abandon their apps after just one day, and only about 35% continue using them after the first week. This "upper limit problem" has significant implications for mental health programs, where ongoing interaction is essential for meaningful outcomes.

Providers like Lyra Health, Spring Health, and Headspace, which serve millions of employees across hundreds of companies, are putting direct focus this issue. Lyra Health, for example, supports over 10 million employees through its services, Spring Health works with more than 800 employers, and Headspace claims 2,700+ employer clients.

Psychographic profiling offers a pathway for more sustained engagement

Unlike demographic data, which categorizes employees by age, gender, or income, psychographic data reveals their attitudes, values, and motivations. This information allows vendors to create more personalized journeys that resonate with employees on a deeper level.

For instance, employees motivated by mental clarity may respond well to mindfulness apps, while those driven by community might find value in social fitness challenges. By tailoring programs to match individual motivations, companies can foster sustained engagement—especially in mental health, where consistency is key for long-term benefits. Guided meditation and journaling modules can help employees develop their job role confidence, resiliency and even collegial and interpersonal skills.

Barriers to engagement from social determinants

Another critical factor influencing engagement is the social determinants of health (SDoH), such as income, education, and environment. Employees in lower-income brackets may face barriers to accessing healthy food, exercise, or even stable internet connections for teletherapy sessions. Mental and emotional health solutions that do a better job in accounting for these barriers will avoid becoming ineffective, especially for those most in need of support.

Emotional and mental health as a core employer focus

Lyra's 2024 State of Workforce Mental Health Report, Spring's 2024 Workplace Mental Health Trends, and Headspace's 2024 Workforce State of Mind all provide deeper dives, highlighting how vital it has become to address these needs:

• The percentage of U.S. employees supporting a minor struggling with mental health more than doubled from 2022 to 2023, to 55%
• 65% say their mental health impacts their ability to do their jobs, up 35% from 2020
• 46% say they've become less focused at work, and 36% say they're less productive
• 66% percent of supervisors acknowledged that factors like role clarity and recognition can positively affect team members’ performance
• 77% of employees say that work stress has negatively affected their physical health
• 24% of HR leaders say managers are now required to take mental health-specific training
• Spring specifically mentions social determinants as a key factor for parents dealing with teen mental health, noting that these particularly affect girls, LGBTQ+ and blacks in terms of suicide and depression rates

Employees are - clearly - aware of their own challenges and are more actively expecting their employers to offer support: Datapath found that 81% of employees now consider mental health support a top priority when evaluating job opportunities.

The last word

Ultimately, the key to achieving sustainable behavior change lies in personalized, consistent engagement with digital health tools. Psychographic profiling and the integration of SDoH into program design are powerful strategies that can help drive this engagement. Moreover, the value of partnering with leading mental health solution providers has likely become another form of "table stakes."

Through continued innovation and a focus on personalization, the next generation of human-supported digital health and mental wellness tools has the potential to transform employee benefits—and ensure that employees remain actively engaged in their health for the long term.

~ Mark Head

? 2024. All Rights Reserved.