A meeting of the minds: AI and employee mental health
Over the last few years, the shortage of mental health professionals has become a national crisis. As of March 2023, 160 million Americans live where the supply of mental health practitioners is less than half of what is needed. This has led to overburdened therapists, patient delays and frustration and a loss of confidence in a failing mental health system. Everyone deserves mental health care when they need it, not three months later, as is often the case.
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), the first stop for many workforce members grappling with emotional and work-life challenges, are seeking new resources to address this shortage. More recently, their quest has led to artificial intelligence. But to what extent can AI replace the functions performed by EAP counselors? This topic was explored at the 2023 Spring Conference of the National Behavioral Consortium (nbcgroup.org), a trade association of thought leaders from top-tier EAPs, behavioral health firms and partner companies.
The promise and pitfalls of AIOn the positive side, AI is already enabling EAPs to streamline operations, making it easier to find and recruit counselors, schedule appointments, research work-life issues, manage billing and greet new website visitors. In short, AI allows EAPs to work smarter, not harder.
Read more: How to talk to your boss about your mental health
Some apps use AI algorithms to match individuals with therapists. But the process isn’t foolproof. For one, AI is not yet a master of nuance, which is critical when screening employees for a match. Experienced therapists skillfully navigate the sensitivities of matching clients and therapists based on personality, diversity and personal circumstances. This is particularly important if an initial match doesn’t work out, as the individual may be more likely to give up on therapy entirely.
“AI engines cannot duplicate the human soul,” says NBC member Susan Skinner, CEO of Personal Assistance Services (PAS) in St. Louis. “Nor can they accurately read emotions or express empathy. People who are distressed need a higher level of handholding.”
Word of the Day: deferential
The word deferential has appeared in 63 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on April 30 in “Many in U.K. Greet King Charles’s Coronation With a ‘Take It or Leave It’ Shrug” by Mark Landler:
“In 1953, Britain was a very deferential society,” said Vernon Bogdanor, an authority on the constitutional monarchy at Kings College London. “Now, it’s a competitive society, based on people who’ve earned their position through achievement. Therefore, the monarchy is bound to attract more skepticism.”
Buckingham Palace is sensitive to the changing attitudes. It has cut back the procession route between the palace and Westminster Abbey from that taken by Elizabeth in 1953. That has the benefit of sparing central London from gridlock while also ensuring that the crowds lining the streets do not look sparse.
Can you correctly use the word deferential in a sentence?
Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using today’s Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the word’s definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.
Then, read some of the other sentences students have submitted and use the “Recommend” button to vote for two original sentences that stand out to you.
If you want a better idea of how deferential can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com.
Students ages 13 and older in the United States and the United Kingdom, and 16 and older elsewhere, can comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff.
The Word of the Day is provided by Vocabulary.com. Learn more and see usage examples across a range of subjects in the Vocabulary.com Dictionary. See every Word of the Day in this column.
In Our Opinion: High school sports benefit more than just players
High school sports are an important part of life in communities everywhere, and we’re happy to see them return.
Before classes even started, some of our many local teams took the field for competition. The student athletes were at work weeks before that, getting ready.
Fall brings football, soccer, golf and field hockey. Many of the students playing those sports will switch gears at the end of the season to take on winter sports, and will take on yet another challenge when the weather warms up again and spring sports come to the fore.
We recognize that not all students are interested in team sports, and that’s fine. Each needs to find his or her place, and other pursuits may fill that need for them. They, too, are worthy of our support.
But team sports teach valuable lessons. Participation requires commitment. Sports give kids an opportunity to be part of something bigger than themselves, to be an important piece of a unit, counting on others to do their part and being counted on in return.
Sports are one of the many areas in life where an important life lesson becomes very clear: You get out of it what you put into it.
The same lesson applies to academics and so much more, but the consequences on the field are immediate. If a player doesn’t get down the field to make a play because he didn’t take his conditioning seriously, or if an opponent scores because a defender doesn’t know the playbook well enough to know where she’s supposed to be, the result is known immediately, and others are affected. Those are strong incentives to do a good job, to be prepared.
Victory in team sports is a great feeling. It’s built into our nature to succeed. And, while sports are not the life-or-death struggle that larger life may bring, winning a game or match brings exhilaration, a sense of accomplishment, pride.
And sports can also teach us that, even if we do everything right, we might lose. Sometimes, the other team just does it a little bit better. Sometimes, opponents are bigger or stronger due to nothing other than nature. Sometimes, luck plays a part.