Health Insurer Offers Free Counselling Sessions For Members

Specialist workplace health insurer UniMed is lending its support to Mental Health Awareness Week and the wellbeing challenges facing Kiwis by fully funding three therapy sessions for nearly 100,000 of its members.

Partnering with Clearhead, a digital mental health and wellbeing service, UniMed’s offer is open to all members from the beginning of October until the end of next March. Clearhead has 250 registered therapists and counsellors across New Zealand, with virtual consultations also available.

“We know that one in four of us will face a mental health challenge in any given year and the ongoing effects of COVID-19 have only added to the anxiety many people are feeling. At UniMed, we recognise the importance of supporting the whole person and mental health is an integral part of that,” says UniMed chief executive Louise Zacest.

During the first lockdown in 2020, UniMed launched a new Wellbeing benefit that Zacest says has been very popular with members.

“We’re now extending that benefit and are committed to providing practical ways of helping our members who may be struggling with anxiety, depression and stress.”

Clearhead’s real time data showed that during the lockdowns, the number of Kiwis who were severely depressed or thinking about suicide increased four times compared to pre-Covid levels and have stayed up at that level.

Dr Angela Lim, CEO & co-founder of Clearhead, says public therapy waitlists average three to six months, while the wait time for their counsellors is usually less than a week.

“We’re delighted that, through this partnership, we are able to significantly widen timely access to talk therapy for 100,000 more people. We know that counselling isn’t for everyone, so we also provide proactive digital wellbeing support and comprehensive data analytics to some of New Zealand’s most iconic businesses.”

Established in 1979, UniMed is a not-for-profit society that specialises in workplace health insurance schemes. It has a reputation for delivering value for money, and industry leading customer service performance.

https://unimed.clearhead.org.nz/
 

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