To expand the availability of mental care to plan members, Medavie Blue Cross has launched a new service called “Text Therapy,” which allows plan members to receive mental health counselling through text messages sent to their phones.
According to Medavie, it is offering Text Therapy as traditional in-person appointments for healthcare needs “are no longer the norm.”
"The way in which individuals are accessing mental health services is evolving to be reflective of the way we communicate and connect in 2022," said Medavie Blue Cross director of drug, product & provider management Shane Reid. "Text Therapy enhances access to therapy for individuals who may experience barriers to accessing services, who may not be comfortable with in-person therapy or who find this modality more convenient for their lifestyles."
Text Therapy is provided by a registered therapist and is available at a preferred rate to all Medavie Blue Cross group and individual members through the carrier’s Connected Care platform. To offer Text Therapy, Medavie Blue Cross partnered with Focus Mental Wellness – a company that specializes in text message, telephonic and video counselling.
The new service comes as mental distress is growing to be a major issue among Canadian workers. In a release, Medavie Blue Cross cited the early findings of a five-year study by the Observatoire sur la santé et le mieux-être au travail (OSMET), which found that over one in three Canadians are experiencing some form of mental distress.
"Over the last two years, we have collectively been asking ourselves how can we continue to do things differently? How can we continue to evolve our offering to meet the needs of our plan members in today's changing environment?" said Reid. "Text Therapy is a great example of taking a traditional offering, like services from a registered therapist, and evolving it so that members now have another option in when and how they can access these services to better suit their lifestyles. We want to make mental health and wellness services as accessible as possible."
