LAUSR

The purpose of this applied naturalistic study was to determine the effectiveness of brief counseling, estimate the potential cost savings associated with select outcomes, and explore the client ratings and comments evaluating their experience. Follow-up survey data from 830 employee users of counseling services from a statewide employee assistance program (EAP) were analyzed. Paired tests examined changes in anxiety, depression, health status, life satisfaction, and work productivity. At the start, more of the EAP cases were above the threshold for at-risk status on each outcome than healthy employees in normative data. Significant reductions in risk were achieved for all outcomes after counseling. Improvements in health were correlated with improvements in work productivity. Most of the cases (82%) considered their experience to be positive and helpful. Results were used to estimate an ROI of $4.26:$1 for the EAP from avoided overall health care treatment costs for depression ($611/case) and avoided lost work productivity ($1,433/case).