Making the most of integrated mental health support

Group Risk and protection benefits often provide integrated mental health support, but are your employees making the most of it?

The UK is facing what the Keep Britain Working review recently described as a “quiet but urgent crisis” in workplace health.

Poor health is now one of the biggest drivers of economic inactivity, costing employers around £212 billion annually and accounting for roughly 7% of GDP. Mental health is a major contributor: millions of working age adults are out of work due to conditions such as anxiety, depression and stress.

In 2024 alone, research by Unum discovered that one in three employees - the equivalent of 10 million people - experienced a mental health issue, with a quarter reporting that their mental health had worsened. For HR professionals, this is not just a social issue but a pressing business challenge.

Healthy, resilient and engaged

Unum’s Group Risk products - group life insurance, income protection and critical illness cover - together with the newly launched Health Plan 360, have moved beyond their traditional role as financial safeguards. Now part of a comprehensive wellbeing strategy, they embed mental health support to help employees stay healthy, resilient and engaged.

By combining financial protection with everyday health services such as counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, on demand self-help resources, manager training and absence pathways, these benefits provide practical tools for early intervention.

Support is woven into daily life, providing tools to manage issues early rather than waiting until they escalate, so employees gain timely access to the right support, while employers benefit from improved long-term outcomes and workforce resilience.

Seeing the benefit

Help@hand, Unum’s total health and wellbeing solution, provides a useful lens into how employees are using mental health benefits.

In 2024, stress, anxiety and depression accounted for 77% of all mental health consultations accessed through the app.

This reflects the scale of the challenge: the majority of employees seeking support are struggling with conditions that often directly impact workplace performance and wellbeing.

Seven out of ten (71%) of those who used Help@hand over a two-month period said their mental wellbeing had improved as a result of engaging with the service.

This demonstrates that when support is easily accessible, confidential and timely, employees are seeing the benefit.

Accessibility barriers

Despite the availability of such services, many employees remain unaware of what’s offered or feel hesitant to use them.

Accessibility difficulties, stigma and workplace culture can all act as barriers, preventing staff from engaging with support that could make a real difference. If employees don’t know these add-ons exist, or don’t feel confident accessing them, the preventative health strategy behind them is ineffective.

This is why it’s not just about having benefits on paper, it’s about creating a culture and strategy where mental health is taken seriously, where people feel safe speaking up and where support is clearly communicated and reaches those who need it.

To ensure employees make the most of mental health support, HR teams should consider focusing on embedding it into everyday practice, including:

Independent access routes: Offering support through third-party providers (such as EAPs or wellbeing apps) ensures employees can seek help without involving line managers or HR directly. This separation reassures staff that their personal information is not visible to their employer.
Regular emphasis: Confidentiality should be reiterated into everyday messaging. This normalises the idea that seeking help is safe, private and encouraged and will not affect career progression or performance evaluation.
Training managers to spot early signs: Give managers the tools to recognise when people are struggling silently, especially in hybrid teams and the confidence to step in early. This can make the difference between an employee thriving or slipping into longterm absence.
Embedding wellbeing conversations: Train managers to proactively integrate wellbeing into one-to-ones, team meetings and performance reviews. When leaders share their own experiences and signpost confidently to resources, it signals that mental health is an authentic part of the organisational culture, not a side initiative.

Mental health support is the single most important wellbeing benefit employees want and need from their workplace, yet many still find resources difficult to understand, access or use.

For HR professionals, the message is clear. Mental health initiatives available via Group Risk and health plans are only effective if employees know about them, trust them and feel empowered and confident to engage. That requires investment, accessibility, training and a culture of openness.

Done well, these steps not only support individual wellbeing but also strengthen organisational resilience in the face of one of the biggest workforce challenges of our time.

To explore actionable insights and strategies on embedding wellbeing to get your business thriving, take a look at our Employee Wellbeing Report.