Samaritans Promoting Corporate Wellness Program began as a pilot project with the New York State Office of Mental Health with the goal to improve New York City businesses’ ability to respond to staff, management and customers who are in distress and potentially suicidal by providing businesses with education and technical support services tailored to their specific prevention and crisis response needs.

With an estimated 7% of the American workforce battling depression (the leading cause of suicide), NYC businesses are in a strong position to help tens of thousands of employees who are in crisis, and prevent potentially destructive situations from escalating and adversely impacting that person, their family, colleagues and workplace.

This is also true of the businesses’ customers and members of the public with which they come in contact, through their hotels, restaurants, banks, pharmacies, public spaces, etc.

Your Business May Be More Exposed Than You Think

Many CEO’s, Board Members and Executives have a false sense of security when it comes to their belief of how effective their businesses are in identifying and responding to those employees who are depressed or in crisis.

Though they may provide their employees with comprehensive benefits packages and a qualified Employee Assistance Program (EAP), research suggests corporations are not identifying and/or responding to the majority of their employees who are depressed or suicidal and that the majority of staff who experience depression do not utilize programs offered by their EAP’s for help.

Promoting Suicide Prevention Is Good Business

Every executive and member of upper management knows that it is good business to support and promote employees’ health and well-being. It impacts employee morale and job satisfaction, increases their performance, productivity and provides a positive public corporate image.

When you consider the human and economic cost suicide has on American businesses, it becomes clear that increasing a business’ crisis response planning positively impacts its bottom line.

According to The Journal of the American Medical Association, “Enhanced and systematic efforts to identify and treat depression in the workplace significantly improves employee health and productivity, likely leading to lower costs overall for the employer.”

Services Available To NYC Businesses

Samaritans Corporate Suicide Prevention Program provides consultations, education and technical support to small and large businesses, corporations and for-profit entities in the areas of needs analysis and assessments, development of education and training programs, protocol development and site preparedness, staff training, etc.

NYC businesses and corporations can take advantage of an initial free on-site consultation and the provision of important information about best practices, evidence-based programs, resources and experts they can utilize to improve their company’s prevention planning and readiness.

Samaritans Corporate Suicide Prevention website is at: www.promotingcorporatewellness.com

For more information, contact: The Samaritans of New York’s Education Department at (212) 673-3661 or e-mail: education@samaritansnyc.org