Marion Borcherds

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EAPs IN SOUTH AFRICA 
Marion Borcherds Director Workplace
Programmes Gauteng Department of Health 
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The South Africa Context

• A culturally diverse, middle-income developing
  country of 50 million people
• A mix of 1st and 3rd world with a large
  discrepancy between rich and poor
• Rapid social, political and economic
  transformation post 1994
• Increasing global competitiveness and a 4.9
  economic growth rate
• Limited and inadequate community resources
• A young democracy grappling with
• Rapid growth and radical change
• High incidence of violence, crime, and trauma
• Rampant HIV/AIDS infection rate

This impacts negatively on the lifestyles of
individuals resulting in high levels of stress,
fear and uncertainty, heightened levels of
insecurity, and dysfunction
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EAPs in South Africa

• Predominantly occupational social workers
• variety of models have established themselves
• Emergence of specialist consultants
• Emergence of various training programmes on
  EAP, including a Masters
• level programme

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EAPs in South Africa

• 70 of the top 100 companies, and a growing
  number of medium to small organisations, have
  EAPs
• All local and provincial government organisations
  are required to implement EAPs
• There is an increasing trend towards outsourcing
  in both the private and government sectors
• EAPs are expanding and evolving rapidly to remain
  relevant and appropriate to the economic, social,
  and political changes confronting the country
• EAPs fulfill both an economic and a social
  function in South African society

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Typical Components of a South African EAP
The South African context demands EAPs that are
comprehensive and capable of addressing the
complex range of issues and challenges
confronting SA society
Employee Assistance Programme
Counselling
Practical Assistance
HIV/AIDS Health
Trauma Management
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EAP Needs Analysis Ranking (n 38 000)
South African employees ranking of critical
issues that the EAP should address (Source EAP
provider organisation)
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EAP Problem Incidence Emotional Practical (top
10)

• Note Low incidence of eldercare

(Source EAP provider organisation)
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Provincial Government Demographic Trends (1)
Gender Utilisation
Representative uptake by both males and females
?
?
Language Utilisation
African Languages 54 English 38 Afrikaans 8
English
Sotho
Utilisation by Age
47 of EAP service users are under 40
31-40
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Provincial Government Demographic Trends (2)
Referred by
Low number of Formal Referrals by managers due
to the impact of problems on work performance
Manager
Self Referred
Status of User
Good Uptake by both managerial and
non-managerial staff
Managers
Employees
Length of Service
Largest Group of users have more than 10 years
of service
10 Years
5-10 Years
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Provincial Government Demographic Trends (3)
Call Times
Limited After Hours EAP uptake
Flagged Cases
Relatively high incidence of flagged/ serious
cases
Dependant Utilisation
Use of the service by dependants is suprisingly
low
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High risk EAP cases over a 24 month period

• Alcohol Abuse 299
• Drug Abuse 133
• Anger Management 91
• Bullying, Harassment Discrimination 100
• Crime Committed 66
• Debt 284 (severe) 171
• Fraud Committed 14
• Gambling 13
• Major Depression 382 (186 severe)
• Grievances 72
• Health Safety 20
• HIVve 323
• Disciplinary Issues 58
• Psychiatric Disorders 103
• Suicidal 141

• Trauma 671
• 103 MVAs
• 60 armed robbery
• 38 assault
• 59 domestic violence
• 11 family murders
• 35 hijacking
• 19 homicide
• 7 kidnapping
• 34 rape
• 35 sexual abuse
• 20 child abuse
• 17 violence
• 220 other trauma

25 of all Problems Over 2500 counselling
sessions
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HIV/AIDS cases over a 24 month period

• HIV and AIDS ranked as one of the top 3 most
  important services (BRMA)
• HIV-related problems 700
• HIVve cases 323

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Conclusions
South African organisations in both the public
and private sectors are increasingly adopting and
adapting EAPs that are able to effectively manage
the powerful influence of physical,
psychological, social, behavioural, and economic
factors on the wellbeing, productivity and
performance of their employees.
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Thank You