Employees covered by a Tryg health insurance via their employer, now have access to stress counselling. A new telephone counselling service will provide clarification regarding sources of stress, options available for action, clarification of who is able to help in the process and not least advice on how to avoid stress.
Stress is a growing problem for both businesses and individuals. The consequences thereof are days of sickness and loss of quality of life of the individual and large losses and difficulties in maintaining the production for Danish businesses. Therefore, Tryg will now offer stress prevention under the name of StressStop. The service will be provided along with its ordinary health insurance targeted Danish workplaces - without any additional costs for the customer.
Both the person feeling stressed, the manager of a stressed employee and the colleague who can see that something is wrong, can call the StressStop hot line and get good advice.
- The offer is not a treatment, because treatment of stress requires medical expertise in relation to the physical symptoms and psychological expertise in relation to the psychological symptoms. On the other hand, StressStop will offer assistance in identifying the problem and, based on this, in making the decisions necessary - whether this involves treatment or a change in the demands of the professional or personal life of the person concerned, says Jens Stener, Manager of Health Care & Pension in TrygVesta.
Stress may have serious consequences for the individual
- Our aim is to give advice at an early stage so action can be taken before the employee 'hits a wall' - and maybe is absent for a relatively long period of time owing to sickness. However, we do know that many people never return to the labour market when they have become sick as a result of mentally stressful pressure of work. It is paramount that action be taken immediately, Jens Stener says.
Every year, 2,800 employees retire early from Danish workplaces due to mentally stressful pressure of work. 11 percentage of all men and 13 percentage of all women feel stressed in their everyday lives, and every year 1,400 deaths are related to stress (source: Statens Institut for Folkesundhed (The National Institute of Public Health)).
Although stress in its nature resembles a widespread public disease, the public health system has not yet formed a complete adequate offer to the persons affected. Referral can be made to a general practitioner and this is crucial where stress has resulted in physical disorders. However, where psychological therapy is needed, this is in general at one's own expense. Therefore, Tryg offers the businesses the possibility of buying additional cover. This additional cover will provide the employees with the right to psychological therapy in case of stress. In all cases where Tryg refers to therapy, the therapy will be given by educated psychologists with experience in treatment of stress.
Assistance on an almost non-transparent market
- Stress treatment today is a market which may be difficult to fully comprehend if you are not experienced in evaluating the treatment options. I believe the businesses will appreciate being able to draw on our expertise and network within this area.
- Already today, several large businesses have formed a task force on stress, but for many small and medium-sized businesses, stress is a new challenge, which they may not have large experience in handling. Here StressStop may be a helping hand both for employees and for the management. But also large businesses can enhance their stress control initiatives - and in TrygVesta we will of course offer the service to our own employees, Jens Stener says.
Further information:
- CCO of TrygVesta Troels Rasmussen, phone +45 44 20 30 70, cell phone +45 3035 3070 or email troels.rasmussen@tryg.dk
- Manager for Health Care & Pension in TrygVesta Jens Stener, phone +45 4420 2650, cell phone +45 3483 5438 or email jens.stener@tryg.dk