Alcohol misuse silently claims lives, causing chronic illnesses and avoidable deaths.
How can employers, insurers, and governments effectively confront this issue?
Prevention and accessible treatments are key, and tools like the Wellcast ROI © calculator can measure the economic benefits of these programs.
The Scale of the Problem
A recent WHO report reveals that alcohol alone caused 2.6 million deaths in 2019, accounting for 4.7% of all deaths worldwide, with the highest impacts seen in Europe and Africa. Preventing alcohol misuse could significantly reduce deaths attributed to cardiovascular diseases (20%), cancer (15%), injuries such as traffic accidents and violence (30%), and communicable diseases like HIV and TB (10%).
Access to Treatment
Despite effective treatment options being available, less than 35% of individuals with substance use disorders receive treatment annually. This gap highlights the critical need for expanded access to effective interventions at all levels. Otherwise, we might find ourselves consulting TikTok influencers for our mental health tips!
Government Involvement
In many countries, there is no dedicated budget or monitored government spending specifically allocated for treating substance use disorders. This lack of financial commitment is partly due to misconceptions about treatment effectiveness and lack of Return-on-Investment (#ROI) measurement. Hence the persistent low prioritization of addressing these issues.
Investments in health and social care systems to handle effectively alcohol misuse would improve public health outcomes. Significant returns on investment (ROI) can be generated from reducing long-term healthcare costs and societal burdens associated with alcohol abuse. Investments that can save us from those awkward hangovers—financially and socially!
Health Insurance Offer
In Europe, insurance coverage for substance use disorder treatments is like a game of roulette—varying wildly by plan and region, often leaving individuals with high out-of-pocket costs or slim coverage.
Why should corporate insurance cover evidence-based treatments for substance abuse? It’s crucial because it ensures everyone gets fair access to mental health and substance use disorder treatments, alongside physical health care.
How does this help? By removing financial hurdles, individuals can get the treatments they need to recover.
Imagine a company where employees have comprehensive coverage for substance abuse treatments. They receive effective care, recover faster, and return to work healthier and more productive. This not only boosts their well-being but also saves the company money in the long run by cutting down on healthcare costs and improving overall productivity. It’s a excellent ROI for everyone involved!
Employers’ Role
Substance use disorders can seriously affect businesses with reduced productivity, more absenteeism, accidents at work, and legal issues.
Imagine a worker on the production line, navigating their tasks with unusual gestures, occasionally missing Monday mornings or post-football game shifts, adding a dash of unpredictability to team performance.
Employers can directly tackle these problems head-on with robust Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs). EAPs offer confidential counselling for the employee and affected family members and educational resources to help employees facing alcohol misuse. They can recommend support groups, outpatient programs and specialized therapies.
How do Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) contribute to reducing costs? Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) measure their effectiveness on cutting absenteeism, improving presenteeism, lowering turnover, preventing accidents, and reducing disability instances.
These programs offer a clear ROI, quantifiable at the company level using the Wellcast ROI© calculator. This measurement ensures that companies invest wisely and see financial gains from these interventions.
Calculating ROI
Measuring the ROI of alcohol misuse interventions is crucial. It ensures budgets get allocated, are effectively managed and deliver positive financial impact.
Essential factors for accurate ROI calculation involve
- Assessing the effectiveness of prevention and intervention programs in reducing risky behaviours.
- Identifying and targeting the right audience for these interventions.
- Utilizing specialized, unbiased tools to predict ROI and measure actual outcomes for each stakeholder.
- Ensuring adequate budget allocation. Monitoring outcomes is more economical than choosing cheap options or doing nothing at all.
Key Takeaways
Measuring the ROI of alcohol misuse interventions isn’t just crunching numbers; it’s about ensuring resources combat a critical issue.
Without this assessment, budget allocations may miss the mark, impacting public health and economic productivity, as well as families and individuals.
The Wellcast ROI© calculator is a scientific tool. Wellcast ROI has 30 years of global experience in measuring the ROI of various health, wellbeing, and safety programs. It provides ROI for corporate organizations, insurers, governments, pharmaceutical products, and healthcare providers. It incorporates predefined epidemiological and productivity databases for 31 European countries. Its results are customized up to the organization level, justifying budgets effective interventions.
Anca Coriiu,
Executive Director
Wellcast ROI Europe & India