Vancouver BC—April 13th, 2021: Starling Minds, a leading digital mental health platform launches its new Return-to-Health program and Customer Portal to make engaging and effective digital mental healthcare accessible to employees on absence or short-term disability leave.

Powered by an expert system that emulates human-guided therapy, Starling’s digital platform delivers personalized, digital mental health to prevent an employee’s progression to a more serious disability claim and rebuild their confidence and ability to return to work. The Customer Portal (StarlingHQ) is an easy-to-use referral and reporting tool to help disability managers and clinicians refer and see referral statuses, program progression, and high-level member engagement metrics. 

“Employers and disability insurers are being hit by a tsunami of short-term disability claims from the prolonged impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, says Peter Oxley, Chief Executive Officer at Starling Minds.  “Our Return-to-Health platform has been purpose-built for the needs of the disability management space. It provides affordable and scalable access to digital mental health support for both physical and mental health claims, along with powerful administrative and tracking tools for case managers and clinicians to efficiently manage their claimants.”  

Starling Return-to-Health key features: 

• Assessments: To identify mental health issues, assess  productivity and functioning scores in an initial check-up and follow-up reassessments 
• Guided sessions: To help members build self-awareness, skills and resilience by delivering personalized and contextualized sessions in bite-sized experiences based on assessment results and a member’s life and experiences
• Practice Sessions: To allow members to focus, practice and develop a specific skill with short, 5-minute exercises through guided sessions
• Skills toolbox: To help employees set realistic goals, track progress, balance negative thoughts, and regulate moods
• Peer-community: To help members feel a sense of hope and validation through peer support, acknowledgement, and encouragement
• Crisis monitoring: To help ensure members are safe, anyone at risk of self-harm or harm to others are flagged and monitored by the Community Monitoring and Therapy team

StarlingHQ Portal: 

• Disability manager resources: Onboarding and video resources for disability managers to relay the benefits of Starling and identify who would be the most suitable candidates for the program 
• Referral tool: For disability managers to easily refer and track claimants
• Progress reporting: Reporting tool for disability managers and clinicians that provides engagement metrics, program insights, and skills gained as claimants access the digital mental healthcare  
• Aggregated reporting: To identify overall program health and trends through key reporting areas including adoption rates, engagement, and top stressors

Starling has already significantly helped improve the mental health of hundreds of Return-to-Health members, with an average increase of 34.2% in anxiety scores and 31.3% in depression scores. 

“Starling Minds has developed a valuable Return-to-Work platform that helps us provide 24/7, immediate, confidential mental health support to our staff who are off work,” said Dave Keen, Executive Director, Workplace Health, at Fraser Health Authority & BC Workplace Health Call Centre (Canada’s largest health authority). “Their expertise in the mental health impacts of absence and disability have added to our disability managers ability to assist and positively impact our employees who are off work due to injury or illness.”

Starling’s digital mental health platform includes two solutions:

• Starling Minds Return-to-Health – Physical: A return-to-work CBT program that supports rehabilitation and provides workers with the skills to manage the stress, anxiety, and depression that can accompany a physical injury or illness.
• Starling Minds Return-to-Health – Mental: A return-to-work CBT program that supports rehabilitation and provides workers with the skills and confidence to integrate back into work when the primary condition is a mental health issue.

Learn more at starlingminds.com