Health Assured

Find out more about Health Assured, the University's Employee Assistance Programme

Notice: Health Assured Information Sessions

Live, online information sessions are being run during Michaelmas Term 2023. Booking can be found here.

 

An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is a confidential employee benefit designed to help you deal with your personal and professional problems that could be affecting your home life or work life, health and general wellbeing. The University has partnered with Health Assured to provide this service to all University employees, your partners and dependants.

All the benefits listed below can be accessed via the free confidential helpline available 24/7, 365 days a year: 0800 028 0199.

If this is your first call, you will be asked your name, University and some contact details. If you've called before, you will be asked to answer some security questions. Find out more in this Calling the EAP Helpline guide.

If you cannot contact the service via the helpline, please contact them via the live chat or contact form on the Online Portal or My Healthy Advantage app. 

Health Assured can provide sign language counsellors, language line translators (click here for a full list of the languages spoken), text relay and video calls.

If you have any other accessibility requirements you would like to see included, please contact the wellbeing team at wellbeing@admin.ox.ac.uk.

Every employee can request six free sessions of counselling per issue per year. An initial assessment will be conducted by Health Assured to confirm if the issue you are facing is suitable for this intervention. If not, you will be signposted to a relevant source of support. To access this service, call the above helpline or use the live chat or contact form on the online portal or My Healthy Advantage app.

Counselling is available either face to face, online or via telephone. In-person counselling is available in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Staff partners and dependents can also request six free sessions of telephone counselling. 

Health Assured counsellors are trained to at least diploma level in counselling with a minimum of two-years post qualification experience. The team is made up of both female and male counsellors from a range of ethnic and cultural backgrounds. 

They work in accordance with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy's (BACP) ethical framework, and undergo regular clinical supervision and training in accordance with their guidelines.

The Health Assured confidential helpline, portal and and My Healthy Advantage app give you access to legal information and guidance on a wide range of issues including personal, financial and legal matters of any reasonable kind. Your call will be transferred to the relevant advisor by the helpline.

The Health Assured legal advisors are fully trained and will assist with a wide range of issues by providing information on legal processes, obligations and liabilities, enabling you to identify your next step and make informed decisions about the best way to resolve the issue at hand. 

Common reasons for calling include: 

  • Consumer rights
  • Family and matrimonial law
  • Childcare and eldercare
  • Civil litigation
  • Medical Negligence
  • Motoring offences
  • Personal injury
  • Wills and probate
  • Landlord and Tenant
  • Housing and property law
  • Immigration

For more information view the Health Assured legal information and guidance flyer. 

The Health Assured helpline also provides guidance and signposting for debt and money management including: 

  • Budgeting
  • Buying or renting a property
  • Negotiating with creditors
  • Debt management plans
  • County Court Judgments
  • Benefits and grants
  • Mortgage advice
  • Equity release
  • Financial calculators

To access this service, call the above helpline or use the live chat or contact form on the online portal or My Healthy Advantage app. Your call will be transferred to the relevant advisor by the helpline.

Every staff member can also access the Space From Money Worries programme by SilverCloud. This is a cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) programme aimed at equipping users with the necessary 
skills and coping techniques to better understand and manage their relationship between their financial difficulties and mental health.

To access this service, contact the above helpline or use the contact form or live chat on the online portal or My Healthy Advantage app.

Critical Incident Stress Management offers immediate emotional support to staff in distress via the helpline. This service focuses on solving an immediate and identifiable problem, enabling employees to return to their daily routine quicker. 

If an individual requires follow-up support, counselling can be provided across the UK and Republic of Ireland. 

If you require immediate emotional support, call the above helpline or use the live chat or contact form on the online portal or My Healthy Advantage app.

Health Assured provides a service which helps managers to deal with important issues such as workplace conflict, holding difficult conversations or communicating change. 

The managerial consultancy service is available via the helpline. The management advisors have a thorough understanding of emotional health in work as well as managerial requirements, and therefore work with managers to coach them in the following issues when supporting their employees: 

  • Stress management
  • Conflict resolution
  • Communicating change
  • Work/life balance
  • Performance and appraisals
  • Team building 
  • Time management
  • Post-trauma support
  • Management information 
  • Return to work support
  • Bullying and Harassment 

For more information view the Health Assured EAP managers guide.

To access this service, call the above helpline or use the live chat or contact form on the online portal or My Healthy Advantage app.

My Healthy Advantage app

Available for iOS and Android devices, the My Healthy Advantage app offers access to a variety of learning materials including health trackers aimed at improving water consumption, daily step counts, sleeping and smoking habits, interactive leaderboards, 4-week plans, mini health checks and more. 

Available via Google Play and the Apple App Store, you will need to input this employer code to set up the app MHA241469. After that you will be able to log in with chosen biometrics.

For more information on the app, please access this FAQ guide. 

Online Portal

The Online Portal contains information and self-help guides accessed at HealthAssuredEap.co.uk. Fact sheets, four-week programmes, webinars, wellbeing videos and regular newsletter articles are also available. 

Username: wellbeing

Password: lakecodedoves

BrightTV

This is a monthly TV series powered by Health Assured featuring well-known personalities talking about their personal experiences with mental health issues. 

All calls are confidential between the caller and their counsellor or advisor.

Exceptions can occur only if there is serious risk of harm to the caller or others. In such circumstances, the counsellor will always seek guidance before breaching confidentiality. 

Analytical usage data may be shared with your employer (excluding identifying factors). 

For more information: 

This service is available to all University employees based in the United Kingdom. College-only employees also have access to the provision if their College has subscribed to this service.

Staff travelling abroad can access this provision although face to face counselling and country-specific legal or other advice cannot be given. Unfortunately, this service is not available to staff based abroad on a permanent basis. 

Health Assured define dependants as living in the same household, aged 16-24 and in full-time education. 

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Access the online portal

Username: wellbeing

Password: lakecodedoves

Contact us

Wellbeing@admin.ox.ac.uk 

Meet the team

Joanne Mason – Head of Wellbeing 

Frances Parkes – Wellbeing Programme Manager 

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