MLC Life Insurance has launched a new mental health support program this week for customers diagnosed with depression and anxiety.
Intended to help improve their health mindset, the new service – Mindset4Life – is initially being made available to all the insurer’s active income protection insurance claimants.
According to a release announcing its launch, the service has been developed by MLC Life Insurance in partnership with Monash University and return to health and work specialist IPAR.
The program seeks to provide customers with tailored support services to improve their health literacy, physical health and nutrition, as well as their social connections.
Offered at no cost, the support program utilises an evidence-based assessment tool called Positivum, to objectively measure the need and level of support for each customer’s unique circumstances including their self-confidence, coping and resilience capacities and expectations about their ability to return to work.
The insurer reports more than 30 of its customers living with depression and anxiety have enrolled in the program to date and that they have experienced significant uplift in:
- Beliefs about the impact their condition or disability has on their ability to work, (up 67%)
- Perceptions of their general health and quality of life, (up 54%)
- Coping skills to handle life’s challenges, (up 46%)
- Self-confidence in their ability to do what they want to do. (up 39%)
Commenting on this initiative, MLC Life Insurance Chief Claims Officer, Jane Dorter, said the company’s aim is to help its customers better understand and self-manage their condition and have the self-confidence to return to optimal health and their work:
“While we’re here to protect our customers financially, we also want to support their overall wellbeing and provide tangible solutions that make a difference,” she said, adding, “People’s coping skills are individual, and it can often be challenging for them to see their own beliefs and perceptions. This is what Mindset4Life provides for.”
Dorter also noted research suggests that people who invest in their physical health, nutritional health, and who are coached to make the most of health practitioner advice will experience less depression and anxiety than those who do not: “Mindset4Life ensures every individual is empowered to do this on a daily basis by encouraging new lifestyles that change behaviour in the long term to better prevent relapses,” she said.
