NvV (clip)

“It’s about employees feeling brave enough to share their mental wellbeing needs and having conversations with their line managers to find the right tools and resources. When this happens in the workplace - in an inclusive environment, we gain from the greatness of the diversity of experiences to innovate and create. These are the fruits that help businesses thrive and survive in the market.”

LN

Hi and welcome to the latest episode of Fit for Duty. This is the Aetna International podcast for the global health and well-being benefits sector. My name is Lorien Norden and I’m going to dive into the conversation about mental health in the context of international population health management.

We’ve recently celebrated World Mental Health Day in early October. This year’s theme – while always relevant – is particularly appropriate to our podcast today: Making mental health and well-being for all a global priority.

As an organization with impressive international reach and experience, Aetna International is focused on providing people all over the world with convenient access to affordable, quality care.

NvV (Clip)

"Consideration for individuals’ cultures within the international work environment needs to be given beyond the visible aspects of culture, such as age, race, gender and language to the invisible aspects, including religion, values, social class, personality, beliefs, sexual orientation. We call this cultural competency. We are able to properly deliver care when we recognize and respect what seemly separates us and also what commonalities we share."

LN

In the modern work-from-anywhere world and where digital and in-person health care is widely available, we want to make sure the care available is holistic. That’s to say, it’s care provision across the full well-being spectrum – from those who are currently healthy to those who are struggling or those who may be in crisis – and that it caters to mental and emotional health and not just physical health and well-being.

NvV (clip)

“I find that barriers can be removed when people take the time to get to know each other, possibly by asking questions and listening rather than assuming another person’s experiences based on appearance or perception.” 

Today, I’m joined by Nicole van Valen, a Clinical Psychotherapist and Senior Business Leader with Aetna, a CVS Health company. I’m going to be asking Nicole about the ways in which businesses with international workers can help ensure their teams and their people get the support they need for their holistic well-being. And how they can make sure they’re taking an inclusive, proactive approach to mental health and not just paying the topic lip service.

Hi Nicole, welcome to Fit for Duty. Thank you so much for being here today. How are you?

NvV

Wonderful thank you, and thanks for having me here.

LN

My pleasure. Now, Nicole and I first crossed paths a couple of months ago when we were working on a thought leadership discussion for a cohort of senior diplomats in Washington DC, and it was about the important role culture plays in healthcare. During that session, were all captivated by Nicole’s professional and personal stories.

Nicole, for the benefit of our listeners today, can you please tell me about your background and experience?

NvV

Yes. I have over 20 years of experience in the healthcare and behavioral health industry. I am a licensed behavioral health clinician. I received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of Miami (UM) “Go CANES” and a Master of Science Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Nova Southeastern University (NSU); where I also studied Organizational Leadership, specializing in Human Resources.

During my tenure at Aetna, a CVS Health company, I have had the opportunity to serve members with mental health disabilities and get them back to work.  My career expanded to consulting business units and developing clinicians on a learning and performance platform.

LN

That is such an impressive and beautiful journey to date. Now, can you give me a little bit more information about your current role please?

NvV

My passion for helping people has led me to my role as a senior business leader for CVS Health’s Mental Wellbeing and Resources for Living. We help members build mental health resiliency and manage life’s challenges. I work directly with Resources for Living’s team to drive strategic engagement strategies and lead new initiatives to engage diverse populations on a variety of issues by championing mental wellbeing throughout the enterprise and the community. We recently created, developed, and implemented two new mental well-being products that help colleagues, including:

• The Leader’s Guide to Mental Wellbeing Resources -- demonstrating how CVS Health is leading the way in supporting our leaders’ mental wellbeing.
• Here4U peer support groups are not clinical in nature, so it alleviates barriers to seeking care – voluntarily speaking with people who are similar to each other. With a focus on preventative mental health and maintenance of well-being, we find that people have an increase in feeling connected and engaged while addressing loneliness and isolation.

LN

So, we’ve talked a little bit about what brought you here today and your role and your experience. What about what the future holds for you, Nicole?

NvV

Thank you for asking. So, I have decided to accept an internal position offer within the CVS Health enterprise and it’s a great opportunity to look at my profession from a different angle and add value to the enterprise by embarking on an exciting journey on the supplier diversity team in the CVS Health procurement organization. When I look back over my career up to this point, I am grateful for all of the various things I have been able to accomplish with the various teams I’ve been on and creating new and innovative things along the way. I’m really grateful for all of the opportunities and I’ve learned a great deal from every single person I’ve interacted with. Now I look forward to the opportunity to continue to take past collaborations and relationships that I’ve built into the future to help impact our consumers.

LN

That is a perfect segue into what I want to talk about next which is really, as the global medical community is trying to address the negative stigma associated with mental health conditions, I’d like you to offer up a view on how global organizations can address the topic of mental health successfully. While in some areas of the world, mental health conditions such as stress or anxiety or depression are widely spoken about, they are largely free from stigma. But in other areas they are still misunderstood, they might be sidelined, they might be ridiculed. So how important is it that business leaders focus on destigmatizing common mental health conditions such as the stress and depression that I just spoke about, and how is this currently being done? And then also your thoughts on how it can be improved? So if you’d like to just start to tackle that for me please.

NvV

Of course. So, leaders are encouraged to educate themselves and apply the knowledge if and when they need it and discuss resources with their teams during team meetings, create presentations on the topics to share with their departments and publish it in their newsletters and share it with colleagues. With the Leaders’ Guide to Mental Wellbeing Resources, leaders learn how to recognize when someone is struggling, what to say when check-ins with their staff, and how leaders can be the signpost to care and support.

We find that when leaders model the way - share how they are feeling and express the ways they overcome barriers - helps employees see that the environment is safe to seek needed help. With this level of transparency, leaders become a trusted source in helping to break barriers, reducing stigma and increasing care.

LN

So those principles, from the sound of it, are universally applicable. It doesn’t matter where you’re sitting, it doesn’t matter where your cohort, your teams, are sitting. Having that level of connection and having everybody on the same page in terms of engaging with people in their teams, in their wider division, that level of intimacy, that level of psychological safety is really important.

So, I was just thinking. At the moment a lot of large corporates are really trying to harmonize their benefits as well as their policies, workplace policies, their culture, and how they take that internationally. So my question to you is how do they find the right balance when it comes to diversity and inclusion whilst operating under different cultural norms of their different country of residence in which their individuals, their employees might be living, and what can be done to support staff based in countries where mental health is not widely supported or not easily available? What are your thoughts there, Nicole?

NvV

I feel that it’s really important that we look at people first. At CVS Health and within Aetna we are a health-first company, we consider the human aspect in how we work. People want to be able to connect, grow, make a difference and make things better.

Consideration for individuals’ cultures within the international work environment needs to be given beyond the visible aspects of culture, such as age, race, gender and language to the invisible aspects, including religion, values, social class, personality, beliefs, sexual orientation. We call this cultural competency. We are able to properly deliver care when we recognize and respect what seemingly separates us and also what commonalities we share. The ability to be inclusive is impactful because it addresses our core need to connect and belong.

Leaders provide support through understanding, education and awareness. The ability to point employees to solutions that make getting and staying healthy a simple and convenient part of everyday life, no matter where, enables individuals to make decisions and eliminate barriers to becoming fully engaged in their health and wellbeing. 

LN

Absolutely, and I’d say that it’s better decisions for the leaders and it’s better for the individuals when it comes to their own health as well, so it’s incredibly powerful, that model that you've just described there.

In terms of the ‘right balance’ between diversity and inclusion when it comes to mental health, how do you get that right balance while also respecting cultural differences?

NvV

Wonderful question. It starts with a culture based on psychological safety. This is critical for overall health and well-being. Psychological Safety, which is the belief that you won't be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes at work. This is a critical part of our strategy in engagement of our diverse colleagues at CVS Health. Within our Mental Well-being organization, psychological safety is a core component of our culture diversity and inclusion efforts to impact wellbeing in the workplace.

It’s about employees feeling brave enough to share their mental wellbeing needs and having conversations with their line managers to find the right tools and resources. When this happens in the workplace, in an inclusive environment, we gain from the greatness of the diversity of experiences to innovate and create. These are the fruits that help businesses thrive and survive in the market. 

Principles used for psychological safety, diversity, and inclusion apply to an international organization to help support their people overseas.

I find that barriers can be removed when people take the time to get to know each other, possibly by asking questions and listening rather than assuming another person’s experiences based on appearance or perception. This allows an opportunity to gain better insights and understanding of our similarities as human beings and ignite inclusion among diversity of experiences as well. That way, we can overcome barriers to care seeking and more towards health and well-being solutions that truly reflect the needs of people.

LN

Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. So, thinking about it from the perspective of a healthcare provider or a payer, whether that’s an organization, whether that is the government, what steps should be taken to ensure that care is preventative rather than simply curative when it comes to both mental, emotional and the physical side of the equation as well?

NvV

Earlier intervention. Earlier intervention means greater ownership of health and better disease prevention. The more personalized the support, advice and well-being offerings, the more likely that it is positively impacting health outcomes:

• Optimize navigation of the U.S. health care system by finding a benefits partner who can help guide your people to the right care, in the right place and at the right time.
  
• Preparing and educating employees about cultural differences - how the health care system works, what to expect and how to seek well-being support and care in the event of injury or illness demonstrates our Heart At Work behaviors of bringing our heart to every moment of across employees’ health journey.
• Employees can gain awareness of preventative wellness activities overall, not just with mental health but also with physical health, including exercise, mindfulness and meditation, and can be guided to additional services based on need.

LN

That’s spot on and I always say ‘what affects the mind affects the body’ and visa versa, so I couldn't have said it better. So just before we bring today’s conversation to a close, and I want to again thank you so much for being with me today to take a look at some of these important questions and providing such fantastic, structured guidance and advice.

Now I know that you love an inspirational or literary quote, so is there anything else that you would like to add before we close out for today?

NvV

A wonderful question! My favorite quote of all time is “Shine your light and make a positive impact on the world; there is nothing so honorable as helping improve the lives of others.” This quote is by Roy T. Bennett. It really sums up my overall mission in life, whether personally or professionally. I love when groups of people can come together from all different walks of life, different levels of experience, different cultures and come together and create something new and innovative that has never been done before, and I feel like that is where the magic happens.

LN

Absolutely, collaboration is the key. So, on that note Nicole, thank you so much and I hope we get to speak again soon.

NvV

Thank you.

LN

As part of CVS Health and Aetna, a fortune four company, our 165-year heritage of strength and expertise positions us as a world leader in health and wellness benefits. We provide global benefits for medical, dental and vision to wellbeing support and emergency assistance. Serving more than 300,000 members across North, Central and South America, as well as the Caribbean, we deliver convenient and affordable access to quality care around the globe. For more information about us, you can visit aetnainternational.com