Unum widens scope of employee digital health app

Employee benefits provider Unum UK has added new modules for its Help@hand app, which provides digital health and wellbeing services to workforces.

Among the additions to the app will be services to help workers maintain their mental health – for example, bereavement counselling – as well as financial wellbeing and physical health.

The move ties in with a trend towards including digital health within the employee benefits mix, at a time when access to traditional mental health and wellbeing services has become increasingly challenging due to poor availability, long waiting lists, complicated referral processes, and sometimes social stigma.

Unum’s extension of Help@hand comes as the cost-of-living crisis in the UK, fuelled by rising energy and double-digit inflation, is placing ever-greater strain on workers, with a just-published survey by a consortium of charities suggesting that almost a quarter (24%) of households regularly run out of money for essentials.

The revised app will provide unlimited mental health support for mild to moderate issues, with referrals for more serious cases, along with one-to-one nutritional support and personal training programmes. It will also offer a 24/7 helpline for emotional and practical support.

Access to the new services will follow the completion of four short assessments to offer users insights on their mental, physical, social, and financial wellbeing Unum calls a ‘360 wellbeing score’. Some selected services will also be made available via the app to uninsured employees.

Help@hand – which is provided to Unum customers by Square Health – already offers access to remote GP appointments, physiotherapy services, and medical second opinions, amongst other features, but according to Unum the new version – which will launch on 3rd April – represents a “leap forward” for the digital health service.

According to Unum UK chief executive Mark Till, the changes to the app reflect how the needs of the modern workforce are changing, and how benefit providers like Unum have to change to support businesses and their employees.

“With new and improved fully integrated services, all delivered by experts, employees, and their families can access meaningful, everyday support they can count on,” he said. The app also “puts employer admin in one place,” making the service simple to provide, he added.

“With data usage and insights, employers can use this to understand their employees better than ever.”