The effect of an enhanced employee assistance program (EAP) intervention on EAP utilization

Objective: An enhanced employee assistance program (EAP) intervention was d eveloped that delivers comprehensive EAP outreach services to all employees who may have alcohol-related and other workplace problems; standard EAP ma terials traditionally targeted at white men were enhanced to include women and minorities. This study evaluates whether the enhanced EAP intervention increased EAP utilization. Method: The enhanced EAP intervention was develo ped at a large community-based not-for-profit EAP located in Rockford Illin ois. Two primary worksites and 16 other newly contracted worksites received the enhanced EAP intervention and served as intervention sites; the 107 ot her worksites serviced by the EAP were used as comparison sites. We used ti me series data from 1991 to 1998 and included repeated measures on each fir m's quarterly EAP utilization. Results: The enhanced EAP intervention incre ased the mean number of women and minority cases per worksite by 58%, white male cases by 45% and total EAP cases by 53%. Conclusions: This study show s that, for a modest cost, the enhanced EAP intervention successfully incre ased utilization of EAP by all employees, especially utilization by women a nd minority employees. It also shows that traditional EAP services and outr each materials can be made more appealing to women and minorities without a dversely affecting their utilization by white men.