- The benefit is available to all existing and future Group Income Protection, Group Life and Group Critical Illness customers of Canada Life, at no additional cost1
- myStrength will be available to all employees and their immediate family members over the age of 16, whether they are insured under a policy or not
- Almost 3m UK employees will benefit from free access to intuitive, bespoke mental wellbeing tools and services
Canada Life, the UK’s leading provider of group insurance, has today launched myStrength, a mental wellbeing app that offers a bespoke and intuitive service to its users.
The launch will benefit all employees of companies who have a workplace protection policy with Canada Life, equating to approximately 2.8m people, 5% of the UK’s entire workforce. Immediate family members2 of said employees can also access and use myStrength for free.
Canada Life identified a market need for a strong offering in the mental wellbeing space. Together, Canada Life and myStrength seek to help build resilience and wellbeing, whilst providing value outside of a claim. The launch of myStrength follows the great success of WeCare which has seen over 80,000 cases since its introduction and has over 100,000 registered users.
All elements of the app are free1. The service is accessible 24/7, has a simple registration process, and is incredibly easy to navigate thereafter. Powered by Teladoc Health UK, myStrength is designed to support individuals, based on their specific needs. Employees can communicate directly with a qualified wellbeing guide on a one-to-one basis, who are on hand to provide personalised practical tips and advice. Employees can learn from hundreds of evidence-based activities at their own pace, from guided meditation to improving sleep, helping them to make simple everyday changes to improve their mental wellbeing and emotional resilience.
Dan Crook, Protection Sales Director, Canada Life, comments:
“With a growing demand for mental health support in the UK, it’s important that employers have the tools in place to support employees – not just when medical intervention is needed, but throughout employees’ careers to help them maintain their mental wellbeing.
“That’s why we’re excited to introduce myStrength, extending the service to all employees, whether covered by the policy or not, as well as their immediate family members. This means almost three million people and their families will benefit from personalised mental wellbeing support through the app.
“With medical accreditation, and approved by CQC, myStrength offers a comprehensive package of support and is a welcome addition to our existing support services.”
Tips for employers when communicating myStrength:
Message from the top: When introducing a new benefit or trying to increase engagement, a message from a senior leader in your organisation can help drive awareness. The email should explain the service and provide details of how to register.
Inductions: When bringing new people on board, mention myStrength as a benefit and provide full details on the service including how to register. You can find employee guides to share on our website.
Line manager training: Make sure line managers are aware of the service and can confidently articulate it to team members. Line managers will often be the first to hear about health issues and are well-placed to recommend services such as myStrength.
Update remuneration and benefits information: Make sure you update your remuneration and benefits guidance to include myStrength. This could be in PDF format or hosted on your company intranet. Sometimes, employees may not want to ask a manager for this information. Having the information available elsewhere means the employee can access the service without barriers.
Link to national health awareness days: Link internal activity and relevant services with national health awareness days. These awareness days provide a great platform on which to promote health and wellbeing, as well as promoting benefits that can help. For example, Mental Health Awareness Week and World Mental Health Day would be good opportunities to promote myStrength.
ENDS
Enquiries:
Press enquiries should be directed to:
Elle McAtamney at Canada Life, 07913568213, elle.mcatamney@canadalife.co.uk
Notes to editors:
- myStrength is a non-contractual benefit provided through Canada Life and can be altered or withdrawn at any time
- Immediate family includes any spouse, civil partner, partner, parent, brother or sister living in the same household as the employee; any legal dependant under the age of 21 and in full time education; or any other legal dependant who is dependent on the employee because of disability. The app is available to all employees of companies who have a Canada Life workplace protection policy. Users must be aged 16 or over to access myStrength.
All policyholders have access to myStrength while CLASS and Group Income Protection customers benefitting from the full WeCare solution.
myStrength has been developed by Teladoc Health UK.
Teladoc Health UK is Care Quality Commission (CQC) accredited.
About Canada Life:
Canada Life is part of a group of companies controlled by Great-West Lifeco Inc., a diversified financial services holding company headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada. Through its subsidiary companies, Lifeco has operations in Canada, the United States, and Europe. Great-West Lifeco and its insurance subsidiaries have received strong ratings from major rating agencies. Great-West Lifeco has over 30 million customers worldwide and £1.341 trillion assets under administration (as at 31.12.21).
Canada Life Limited began operations in the United Kingdom in 1903 and looks after the retirement, investment and protection needs of individuals and companies alike. As well as providing stability and security through its individual contracts, Canada Life Limited has grown to become the leading provider of competitively priced group insurance solutions.
Canada Life Limited is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. Registered in England and Wales no. 973271. Registered office: Canada Life Place, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 5BA. Canada Life Platform Limited, trading as Canada Life, is a subsidiary of The Canada Life Group (UK) Limited, and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales no. 8395855. Registered office: Canada Life Place, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 5BA.