DATELINE: Moscow, Russia
Employee Wellness. Russian steel manufacturer implements Substance Abuse Program. Worksite intervention new in Russia.
Alcohol consumption MORE THAN DOUBLE critical level set by World Health Organization. Alcohol Screening Program has worked…cut Absenteeism Rates
News Report | June 29, 2014
In May 2014, Chestnut Global Partners announced that a workplace alcohol screening program launched by its Russian-based affiliate Corporate Health reduced absenteeism during the program’s first year. The screening program, based on the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), was implemented at a large Russian steel manufacturing plant. During the first year, Corporate Health screened employees and provided counseling to 66 employees who were identified as having alcohol disorders. Employees who received the services reduced their drinking significantly, which resulted in a drop in absenteeism rates 30 days after the intervention. Additionally, a follow-up survey found that their life satisfaction scores on a standardized assessment increased to the baseline level of a control group without alcohol use disorders.
The outcomes were reported in “Corporate Health: Substance Abuse Program at Russian Steel Manufacturer Summary on the First Year of Operations” by Richard Lennox, Ph.D., of Chestnut Global Partners and Kenneth M. Burgess, M.Ed., of Corporate Health.
AUDIT has been used in American and European workplaces since the 1980s. Chestnut Global Partners and BEAC adapted AUDIT to a Russian cultural context before Corporate Health launched the screening. The follow-up survey was developed by the Chestnut Global Partners Division of Commercial Science. Corporate Health plans to continue researching the effectiveness of the Russian workplace alcohol screening and counseling program.
Moscow-based Corporate Health was formed in 2009 by Chestnut Global Partners, LLC and BEAC, LLC; it is the first professional occupational health and employee support provider organization in Russia.
Corporate Health works with both multinational organizations with operations in Russia as well as with domestic Russian companies. The services are delivered by a network of Russian professionals with partners from Europe and the United States with international experience in the design and delivery of employee support and corporate wellbeing programs.
BEAC, LLC, is a United States-based company founded by Edward Trieber, JD, Ph.D., and Chris Cavazos, MPA, MSW, CEAP. Both are experienced in the employee assistance industry.
Chestnut Global Partners, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chestnut Health Systems, Inc., a not-for-profit behavioral health organization based in Bloomington, Illinois. Chestnut Global Partners offers a full range of employee assistance and related workplace services to domestic and multi-national companies. It has operations in 130 countries. The Chestnut Global Partners Division of Commercial Science helps provider organizations and employers deploy scientific assessment technologies, outcome measures, and analytical methodologies so that employee assistance programs, wellness companies, disease management entities, and purchasers can determine the effects or worth of programs.
The full text of “Corporate Health: Substance Abuse Program at Russian Steel Manufacturer Summary on the First Year of Operations” was published in May 2014 by Chestnut Global Partners. A free copy is available online at http://chestnutglobalpartners.org/Portals/cgp/Publications/CH-SAProgramatRussianSteelManufacturer.pdf (accessed June 25, 2014).
For more information, contact: Dave Sharar, Ph.D., Managing Director, Chestnut Global Partners, 1003 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Bloomington, Illinois 61701.
Bloomington, IL — May 6, 2014 —
Corporate Health, a Russia-based EAP (employee assistance program) lead by Chestnut Global Partners (www.chestnutglobalpartners.org) and BEAC, today announced the results of the Occupational Substance Abuse Program that they implemented for one of Russia’s largest steel manufacturing companies.
In its first year of operation, the program successfully counseled company employees identified as having Alcohol Use Disorders (AUDs); findings from the report indicate that employees receiving services curbed their drinking significantly, resulting in a sharp drop in absenteeism and presenteeism thirty days after intervention.
Alcohol consumption in the Russian Federation is more than double the critical level set by the World Health Organization. While substance abuse programs have a long history in the West, implementation of a worksite-based intervention service is new in Russia, which allows the unusually high incidence of AUDs to go unchecked, undertreated, even overlooked.
The program Corporate Health implemented at the steel manufacturer is based on the proven, early intervention model used in the U.S. and the West since the 1980s, which Chestnut Global Partners (CGP) and BEAC adapted to a Russian cultural context. Its success provides further validation of CGP’s “glocal” model wherein local resources and centralized coordination provide timely, culturally-aware services that overcome long-established barriers to behavior change.
“The cultural aspect of the program we implemented at the steel company was critical to its success, as social drinking, particularly the consumption of vodka, has long been woven into the fabric of Russian society,” said Russell J. Hagen, CEO of Chestnut Global Partners. “We know from our experience in various parts of the world that Western-style interventions need to be adapted to long-held cultural norms and behaviors. Our program was entirely new to the company’s employees, managers and supervisors, and we brought in local resources to provide a context that was non-threatening and to assure that the program was well understood. We were pleased that many at-risk employees embraced the program and its services, and followed the necessary steps toward recovery and regaining control over their lives.”
“Russian culture typically discourages the use of mental health services and individualistic approaches, even when someone is dealing with a personal problem such as alcohol abuse,” said Dr. Richard Lennox, Chief Scientist with Chestnut Global Partners. “Despite the newness of this concept, the response to our program at all levels of the plant — employees, managers, supervisors — exceeded our expectations. Supervisors reported that they were ‘pleased’ with the results. We look forward to continuing this work and toward accomplishing what once may have seemed an impossible task: to gain strong and positive control over rampant alcohol abuse in the Russian workplace.”
A summary of our methodology and findings can be found at: chestnutglobalpartners.org/Publications
About Corporate Health
Corporate Health (CH) is Russia’s first professional provider dedicated to improving the health, wellbeing, and productivity of employees and their families. Corporate Health’s expertise combines a well-trained network of Russian professionals with Partners from Europe and the United States who have over 20 years of international experience in the design and delivery of employee support and corporate wellbeing programs. Corporate Health works with both multinational organizations with operations in Russia as well as with domestic Russian companies. The Corporate Health service center is based in Moscow. For more information, visit http://www.corphealth.ru/.
About Chestnut Global Partners
Chestnut Global Partners, LLC, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chestnut Health Systems, Inc., a not-for-profit behavioral health organization based in Bloomington, Illinois. In addition to offering a full range of employee assistance and related workplace services to both domestic and multi-national companies, Chestnut Global Partners’ Division of Commercial Science helps providers and employers deploy scientific assessment technologies, outcome measures, and analytical methodologies so that EAPs, wellness companies, disease management entities, and purchasers can determine the effects or worth of programs. Visit www.chestnutglobalpartners.org.
About BEAC, LLC
BEAC, LLC, is a US-based company founded by two experienced professionals in the Employee Assistance industry. CEO Edward Trieber, JD, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and attorney specializing in mental health, law, business, finance and technology. Chris Cavazos, MPA, MSW, CEAP, is a 25-year veteran of behavioral health organizations and Employee Assistance Programs, and uses his expertise in both organizational dynamics and employee performance in his capacity as COO.
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