AIA launches mental health solution

October 2022

The prevalence of mental health issues continues to rise, affecting every aspect of a person’s life, especially in the workplace. A new mental health solution from AIA, defines the way forward in workplace wellness.

A study by Relate Malaysia found that in 2018, 4.57 million working adults reported mental health issues with 29% of employees indicating that they have poor mental health (Source: The Business Costs of Workplace Mental Health, Relate Malaysia, 2020)

In 2019, the Malaysia’s Healthiest Workplace by AIA Vitality survey reported that the Malaysian workforce was increasingly sleep deprived and overworked, with 51% of them suffering from at least one dimension of work-related stress and 53% getting less than seven (7) hours of sleep per day.

Understanding the need to help organizations better address mental health issues at the workplace, AIA has launched a first-in-market Mental Health Solution, in collaboration with ThoughtFull, a Southeast Asian-based digital mental health platform. 

This new solution enables employers to provide better care and end-to-end support for their employee’s mental wellbeing.

“We’re seeing more and more members of the workforce struggle with mental wellness, which has been exacerbated by the pandemic. It is detrimental not only to the individual’s emotional wellbeing, but also to the nation’s productivity."

"Organizations who are looking to foster a healthy and happy environment for their employees while staying ahead of their competition would have to play a more active role in addressing mental health issues in the workplace,” says Tung Hsiao Ley, Chief Corporate Solutions Officer, AIA Bhd.

24/7 Wellness hotline for crisis interventions

The new Mental Health Solution is part of WorkWell with AIA, a proposition under AIA's Total Corporate Solutions. 

WorkWell with AIA offers a suite of solutions and services that provides guidance to organizations who are seeking to nurture and improve their employees’ wellbeing.

The services under Mental Wellness are made possible through AIA Malaysia’s strategic partnership with ThoughtFull. 

Employees covered by the Mental Health Solution will be able to access unlimited 1-on-1 daily coaching with a certified mental wellness professional, track their levels of stress, anxiety, and depression in real time, read science-backed digital content and use mood trackers and guided thought journals via the ThoughtFull app.

Being a responsible and progressive corporation, AIA Malaysia leads by example, having engaged ThoughtFull at the very start of the pandemic in 2020, to provide mental health support to its employees. 

Through ThoughtFull’s employee wellbeing programs, AIA’s employees reported a 43% average reduction in depression, anxiety, and stress levels. 

Additionally, employees who engaged with a certified mental health professional through the app also reported positive changes in their outlook and behavior.

“It was important for us to be able to support our people to strengthen their resilience so that they could thrive through the multitude of sudden and ongoing changes at work and in their personal lives. 

We worked with ThoughtFull because of their genuine and seamless approach to mental wellness in the workplace and saw first-hand the benefits that it brought to our employees. 

This only further motivated us to explore how we could bring this service to our own corporate clients,” added Tung Hsiao Ley.

As one of the country’s largest employee benefits insurance providers, AIA’s goal is to provide seamless solutions to improve mental wellbeing in companies across Malaysia – removing stigma and creating a safe space at work to foster mental health discussions.

“We’ve long been advocates of the importance of mental health in the workplace and we believe that it should be given just as much priority as we do to physical health.  Which is why we are really excited to partner with ThoughtFull to bring new and innovative mental health services to our corporate clients and their employees, under our WorkWell with AIA proposition."

“With the launch of our comprehensive Mental Health Solution, we believe that we have achieved a breakthrough in responding to a market need that is very real."

"Employers can now feel supported as they prioritize their employees’ mental health, giving their people access to support and resources that will help them achieve a better quality of life resulting in a happier, healthier and more productive workforce,” said Tung Hsiao Ley.

The employee benefits landscape has shifted from providing traditional insurance coverage to wellness-embedded employee benefits. 

Which is why AIA strives to bring together a program that combines employee benefits with workforce wellness and environmental as well as social and governance (ESG). 

AIA works together with employers to support their employees in their journey to achieve an overall state of wellbeing across four key dimensions: 

• Physical
• Mental
• Financial
• Social Wellbeing

Please visit AIA’s Mental Health Solution to learn more. 

• A dedicated team of Employee Benefits Consultants create solutions based on detailed research and a comprehensive analysis of the employees’ needs, company’s demographics and the business environment.
• Experienced Case Management Team looks into the optimization of utilization across the different portfolios to ensure charges are fair and reasonable and customary for the disability for the cashless facility. 

• My AIA Corporate Portal is a self-serve portal for HR personnel, while My AIA Customer Portal is an employee self-serve portal. 
• My AIA Mobile App comes with eMedical card facilities, allows members to pre-register their clinic visitations, view medical bills and even submit their claims. Members can easily view their policy coverage and utilization, request an Outpatient Letter of Guarantee, and access the Digital Health features.
• Significant information on employees’ cost-benefit and utilization - AIA’s data gathered is analyzed and benchmarked against industry standards and compiled into various reports that allow for better management of employees’ health, as well as cost management. 

• Digital Health Telemedicine supported by Doc2us - Live chat with doctors or healthcare providers at any time, and from anywhere. Medication is prescribed digitally and delivered to your employee’s doorstep seamlessly.
• Group MedCare - Exclusive access to Personal Medical Case Management services, ensuring your employees receive the best possible treatment and on-going medical support from diagnosis to recovery.
• A Med Express – Doorstep delivery service of long-term medication at no added cost, exclusively for AIA covered members. 
• AIA VIP Card program – Benefits and features designed to provide value-added services to employers and employees. 
• AIA Vitality – First in Malaysia: a unique science-backed health and wellness program that uses rewards to give AIA members incentives for the healthy choices they make. 

Provider Management - AIA partners with more than 1, 700 panel GP clinics nationwide and offers a Letter of Guarantee facility that is accepted by most major hospitals, providing cashless convenience for AIA covered members.