Global Perspectives of Employee Assistance Programs

R Paul Maiden, David Sharar

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781317333586
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Social Psychology

Global Perspectives of Employee Assistance Programs is the first book of its kind to empirically address the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) concept and model in a diverse, global context. This book features a variety of studies which deal with the design, delivery, cultural adaptability, evaluation, and measurement of international employee assistance programs in a truly global variety of settings. Contributors also evaluate the impact of EAP on expatriates, the potential for an international well-being assessment tool, and the training of international EAP professionals. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health.

First Nations, Maori, American Indians, and Native Hawaiians as Sovereigns: EAP with Indigenous Nations Within Nations

RODNEY C. HARING, PhD, MSW

One Feather Consulting, Cattaraugus Territory of the Seneca Nation; Office of Health Disparities, Cancer Prevention, and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York, USA

MĀUI HUDSON, BHSc AIT, MHSc AUT

Te Piringa Faculty of Law, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

LOUISA ERICKSON

Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board, Ōpōtiki, New Zealand

MAILE TAUALII, PhD, MPH

Native Hawaiian and Indigenous Health at the University of Hawai‘i, Honolulu, Hawai‘i, USA

BONNIE FREEMAN, PhD(c), MSW

School of Social Work, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Indigenous workforces have existed across the world since the creation of Earth. What has changed is the evolution of multicultural societies, governments, and landscapes that have become part of, or sit parallel to, sovereign Indigenous nations and their workforces. An international response to Employee Assistance Programming (EAP) and workplace health will be shared from various Indigenous groups across the globe. These societies include the Maori of New Zealand, First Nations of Canada, American Indian groups from the U.S. mainland, and Native Hawaiians. Guidelines for EAP practice include the discussion of historical trauma, communication skills, confidentiality, and environmental issues. Theoretical underpinnings for health sovereignty are shared through ancient teachings of Indigenous philosophies and their relationships to contemporary EAP development and utilization.

INTRODUCTION

Long before the Europeans arrived in North America thousands of distinct Indigenous groups inhabited much of North America. The same is true about New Zealand and in the remote Islands of the Pacific where Polynesians settled the main island groups hundreds of years before the arrival of European sailors. Today these societies are known in many different ways: Native Americans, American Indians, Native Hawaiians, First Nations, tribes, or bands. Due to a variety of historical occurrences roughly 1,000 distinct federally recognized Indigenous Nations exist today in North America, more than 100 distinct iwi (tribal entities) in New Zealand. There are also continued negotiations among Indigenous Peoples, such as the Native Hawaiians, whose land is illegally occupied, creating a unique relationship between the Indigenous Peoples of Hawai‘i and the United States (Public Law 103–150). These Indigenous Nations are sovereign entities within their respective landscape and have long-standing government-to-government relationships as such.

HISTORICAL INDIGENOUS VALUES AND PURPOSE

One distinction related to a value system is the interdependence between individuals and society (Brieland, 1977). A narrative account representing this property stated, “the chiefs are generally the poorest among them, for instead of their receiving from the common peoples as among the Christians, they are obliged to give to the mob” (Megapolensis, as cited in Jamerson, 1909, p. 46). In this passage, the value of sharing is exhibited when individuals in Haudenosaunee society with great power, such as chiefs, relinquish personal items for the betterment of people and society. Barbara General (personal communication, March 1, 2004), RSW (Beaver Clan) of the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada, indicated that this notion of giving is represented by the Haudensoaunee term O gwa deni:deo that translated forms the meaning of “taking care of your own.”

A second property of Indigenous value incorporated into Employee Assistance Programming (EAP) practice revolves around the concept of having social responsibility for one another and the responsibility of providing ways to overcome obstacles that cause disequilibrium between individual and environment (Brieland, 1977). An anonymous Dutch writer cited in Van Meteren (1535–1612) wrote the following account:

We went another league and a half and came to a hunter's cabin, which we entered to eat some venison … a chief invited us into his castle. There was a big fire lighted, and a fat haunch of venison cooked, of which we ate. He gave us two bearskins to sleep upon, and presented me with three beaver skins …. We slept in this house, ate heartily of pumpkins, beans and venison, so that we were not hungry, but were treated as well as possible in their land. (Jamerson, 1909, p. 141)

In this passage, an Indigenous confederacy of tribes (Haudenosaunee/Iroquois) presented a historical foundation of social responsibility in the form of food sharing, in this case, across racial boundaries. Another narrative by a Scottish physician, Cadwallader Colden (as cited in McIntosh, 1844), replicated these findings by stating:

The hospitality of these Indians is no less remarkable than their other virtues. As soon as any stranger comes among them, they are sure to offer him victuals; if a number arrive, one of their best houses is cleaned for their accommodation. (p. 269)

Not only food sharing, but also the sharing of home, residence, and hospitality were features of Haudenosaunee social responsibility as it relates to values. As shared by Merle Watt, Jr. (personal communication, March 1, 2004), a Seneca (Bear Clan) from the Allegany Indian Reservation (USA), “It is the value of sharing and social responsibility that made the Haudenosaunee quite possibly the first North American people without a homeless population.”

Foundational EAP practice in the area of purpose focuses on identifying potential areas of disequilibrium between individuals or groups and the environment to prevent the occurrence of disequilibrium (Brieland, 1977). An example of this historical Indigenous property of EAP practice was brought forth by Parker (1913) when he related:

the Creator states it is a great wrong to be unkind to our grandmothers. He designed that an old woman should be as a child again and when she becomes so the Creator wishes the grandchildren to help her, for only because she is, they are. (p. 13)

This passage conveys that people must realize that keeping a positive process of respect between young and old is of great importance. By highlighting the purpose of care and help for the elderly by her next generation of kin, a cyclical process of positive equilibrium and family cohesion is accomplished. This equilibrium is accomplished in part by the purpose of family responsibility. Family responsibility is defined as a circle of family care. Although elders care for children as the children mature to keep equilibrium in the family structure, children must care for elders when their health wanes. If compared to modern day EAP practice, by not identifying and acting upon this circle of family care—workplace, social and community equilibrium is at risk.

Social work methods, often used in EAP practice, are described as the responsible, conscious, disciplined use of self in a relationship with an individual or group (Brieland, 1977). One method based in Indigenous philosophy is found in Caldwallader Colden's following narrative account: “they (Haudenosaunee) never execute their resolutions by force upon any of their people. Honour and esteem are their principal rewards; as shame and being despised their punishments” (as cited in McIntosh, 1844, p. 266). This process of disciplinary methodology indicates a nonviolent approach to societal peace. Through the use of psychological punishment in the form of shame and psychological praise in the form of honor and esteem, non-violent methods of group and society balance were promoted.

HEALTH SOVEREIGNTY THROUGH EAP

Sovereignty is described as the right to govern your own direction, a separate entity with self-determined laws, codes, policies, structures, and licensing. Sovereignty has been exercised in many forms in contemporary history. Examples include the use of sovereign status for the development of gaming enterprises. Dr. Donald Warne (Lakota) (personal communication, October 22, 2013), the first Native American candidate for the U.S. Surgeon General, indicated that “sovereignty has been put forward in such initiatives in health care such as the utilization of Indian Health Service health care in the US though the ‘638 programs’ in which tribes have the sovereign ability to structure health care services within their own communities as well as new provisions and set asides in the Affordable Health Care Act where money is specifically designated for federally recognized tribal governments. Hence, Indigenous groups as sovereign entities of their respective landscape have the means to guide their own process of living, well-being, and behavioral health.”

In relation to EAP practice, sovereign Indigenous groups have the unique ability to build EAP programs through in-house mechanisms, contract for service, or develop a hybrid model of care. EAPs are designed to provide employees and the employee's family a professional and confidential resource that can be used to address various social, mental, emotional, and health care concerns. These include coworker conflict, stress, substance misuse, marital distress, trauma, and other issues that may affect the individual, family, or community (Haring, 2011).

Although many Indigenous communities offer prevention programs that educate Indigenous peoples on issues of diabetes, obesity, depression, heart disease, and stroke, the resources and support to sustain a healthier lifestyles related to work/life balances are lacking. As a result, rates of chronic disease among Indigenous people continue to rise (Health Canada, 2003; MacMillan, MacMillan, Offord, & Dingle, 1996; Shewell, 2004) leading to increased health disparities among Indigenous employees and the communities they reside in. According to the Statistical Profile on the Health of First Nations in Canada report (Health Canada, 2003), Indigenous people younger than age 30 years make up more than one half of the total Indigenous population. As the population of Indigenous people continues to increase, so do many of the issues, which eventually transcend into the work environment. The report by the Royal Commission on Aboriginal People (Government of Canada, 1996) describes how Indigenous people are going through a loss of cultural identity, high rates of poverty, limited employment opportunities, inadequate living conditions, weakened social structures, and ongoing racism. For many Indigenous employees, these demoralizing conditions have contributed to increased substance abuse, suicide, violence, and mortality (Chandler & Lalonde, 1998; Freeman, 2004; Olson & Wahab, 2006; Strickland, Walsh, & Cooper, 2006; White Bear, 2003;).

Another growing concern within Indigenous communities is the usage of methamphetamines. Studies show rates of methamphetamines use of 1.7% for U.S. Indigenous populations and 2.2% for Native Hawaiians compared to rates in Whites (0.7%), Hispanics (0.5%), Asians (0.2%), and African-Americans (0.1%) (Office of Applied Studies, 2005). In fact, the National Indian Child Welfare Association estimated that 80% to 85% of the Indigenous families in child welfare systems have drug or alcohol abuse issues (The National Congress of American Indians, 2006).

Evolving and comprehensive approaches in EAP are starting to diversify their offerings to include health coaching, disease management, legal guidance, and financial consultations among other core features. Offerings often include detailed quarterly reports; outcomes-based evaluations of program functioning, encouragement of face-to-face sessions, and on-site crisis management. EAP services are often based on an assessment, short-term counseling, and referral type model which focus on workforce performance and improvement.

INDIGENOUS THEORY: HAUDENOSAUNEE UNDERPINNING SETTING THE STAGE FOR EAP PRACTICE

Since the beginning of time, Indigenous groups have been instructed to strive for peace as individuals, communities, and Nations and to constantly strive to speak, work, live, and to carry on in a peaceful way or mind-set. To the Haudenosaunee, peace is more than just the absence of conflict but is founded on spiritual and social foundations of wellness. Peace has been defined as the active work toward establishing universal justice. True peace is the product of a unified society on the path of good will and good thought through the process of reasoning.

This process of Indigenous theory has a definitive place in the EAP practice and workplace health. When EAP practice works for peace, practitioners have the ability to develop a “good mind” or a “good way of thinking.” This “good mind” occurs when an organization(s) and EAP professional incorporate or blend their minds and emotions in harmony with the flow of the intent of wellness in the workplace and the realization of Indigenous space where the intervention occurs. Further, principles related to the “good mind” also encourage that thoughts of prejudice, privilege, or superiority be put to aside and that recognition be given to the reality that the EAP in its capacity of wellness and good intention is designed for the benefit of all equally.

Lastly, the underpinnings of workplace health through the Haudenosaunee lens shapes a workplace with the help of the EAP to work for peace and a good mind and by doing so the EAP within the Indigenous community will develop strength. This strength is then encouraged by strength-based and resiliency focused EAP programming that uses a good mind to incorporate rational thinking and persuasion to channel the inherent good will of the EAP professional to...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• 1. First Nations, Maori, American Indians, and Native Hawaiians as Sovereigns: EAP with Indigenous Nations Within Nations
• 2. Employee Assistance Programs in Australia: Evaluating Success
• 3. Using an Interactive Self-Assessment Tool to Strengthen Your Employee Assistance Service
• 4. Evaluating EAP Counseling in the Chinese Workplace: A Study with a Brief Instrument
• 5. Eureka: An Employee Services Perception Study in Continental Europe
• 6. Innovative Career Support Services for Professional Women in India: Pathways to Success
• 7. A Substance Abuse Intervention Program at a Large Russian Manufacturing Worksite
• 8. Pricing Models of Employee Assistance Programs: Experiences of Corporate Clients Serviced by a Leading Employee Assistance Program Service Provider in South Africa
• 9. The Effects of Psychosocial Problems on Employee’s Stress, Self-Esteem, and Organizational Commitment: The Case of South Korean Workplaces
• 10. Response to the Challenge of Training International EAP Professionals: An Online Certificate Program
• 11. Group Characteristics and Mental Health of Chinese Expatriates in Africa and Central Asia: A Multisite, Multiyear Study
• Index