Benefits and Limitations of Implementing Mental Health Apps Among the Working Population

Mental health conditions can have a large impact on both individual employees and organizations. Employers may be able to leverage wide spread mobile technology platforms to deliver mental health benefits to their employees. Indeed, there is a large inventory of mental health applications (apps) that have already been developed and disseminated to the public. Although mental health apps can be relatively inexpensive and easily accessible by many employees, many companies will want to consider organizational outcomes such as worker presenteeism and absenteeism when making decisions regarding the implementation of such a program. Current scientific evidence surrounding mental health apps within working populations is limited relative to the number of available programs. Practitioners should proceed with caution in recommending mental health apps for widespread use in the workplace.

Automated summary

Scientific evidence regarding mental health apps in the workplace is limited, caution should be exercised in recommending widespread use. Companies should consider organizational outcomes such as worker presenteeism and absenteeism when deciding to implement such programs.