UnitedHealthcare awarded Bell Seal recognition for Workplace Mental Health

May is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month. It was created in 1949 to spread awareness of the mental health challenges that 20% of adult Americans experience every year.¹ It is also a time to encourage open dialogue about mental health as a way to combat the stigma that can be associated with mental health care. As an organization dedicated to improving mental health outcomes, UnitedHealthcare was recently awarded the Bell Seal recognition for Workplace Mental Health by Mental Health America.

Recipients of the Bell Seal for Workplace Mental Health are recognized for creating work environments that promote overall employee mental health. Led by Mental Health America's rich history in research and advocacy, the Bell Seal's holistic evaluation of employer policies, practices, benefits, culture, compliance and wellness programs considers the entire employee experience.² Bell Seal recognition is available at levels of increasing mental health commitment labeled as bronze, silver, gold and platinum. In this first year of applying, UnitedHealthcare is proud to have received platinum recognition – the highest possible recognition level.

UnitedHealthcare also scored consistently higher than the average 2023 Bell Seal recipient in every category. In categories of culture, compliance and wellness, UnitedHealthcare scored 100% compared to the average 2023 recipient scores of 95%, 88% and 96% respectively. For the benefits category, UnitedHealthcare scored 86% compared to the 75% average of 2023 recipients.

This recognition is an incredible honor with only 1 in 4 employers who applied in 2023 meeting the standards for Bell Seal certification. Recipients were chosen for their promotion of practices rooted in promoting workers’ psychological health, their focus on improving people management to foster a collaborative culture and their implementation of innovative programs to promote workers’ well-being. 

Supporting employees’ well-being is of utmost importance to UnitedHealthcare, caring for teams who in turn care for members. Mental Health America looks for evidence that employers are listening to their employees and making relevant changes. UnitedHealthcare was able to highlight changes made based on employee feedback including benefits improvements and work schedule flexibility. UnitedHealthcare has also strengthened focus on members' behavioral health needs through medical-behavioral integration efforts.

Research supports UnitedHealthcare’s dedication to employee well-being, showing a correlation between employee health and organizational health. A 2024 Gallup survey found that when employee well-being is high, organizations benefit since employees take fewer sick days, deliver higher performance and have lower rates of burnout and turnover.³ Research from the Public Health Reports journal shows that employees with good physical, mental and emotional health are more likely to deliver optimal performance in the workplace. Healthy and happy employees have a better quality of life, a lower risk of disease and injury, increased work productivity and a greater likelihood of contributing to their communities than employees with poorer well-being.⁴

UnitedHealthcare is fully committed to its workforce. It is imperative to care for teams just as they care for members. UnitedHealthcare looks forward to continuing to build upon its efforts to improve the mental health and well-being resources available to its teams.