Deconstructing Comp

Dr. Les Kertay: Mental Health IS Health

March 23, 2023 Yvonne Guibert & Rafael Gonzalez / Les Kertay Season 3 Episode 3
Deconstructing Comp
Dr. Les Kertay: Mental Health IS Health
Show Notes

Dr. Les Kertay, Ph.D., Vice President of Behavioral Health at Axiom Medical, joins Yvonne and Rafael to discuss mental health and well-being within the workers' compensation system. 

Mental health issues have long been avoided within workers' compensation. We are starting to discuss it more frequently, post-Covid, but we have a long way to go before workers' compensation fully embraces how to manage mental health as a component of a workers' compensation claim. 

In this episode, we discuss with Dr. Kertay why there has been such a reluctance to incorporate mental health in workers' compensation claims. When a person gets injured at work, stress and anxiety naturally increase along with uncertainty and, in some cases, fear of losing their job. This can easily contribute to deteriorating mental health. Yet, there is still resistance to accepting mental health as part of a workers' comp claim. 

According to Dr. Kertay, claims will go longer and cost more if we ignore the mental well-being of injured workers. 

So why the continued resistance? Well, as with all things workers' compensation, the answer is complex. 

Let's go explore mental health and well-being with Dr. Les Kertay!

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