Prudential's new wellness hub simplifies benefits access

Along with the caliber of benefits being offered by an organization, ease of access — nowadays often found through technology — plays a large role in employee engagement.

Having benefits is not the same as knowing how and where to find them. A report from administration tech platform Businessolver found that 85% of workers are confused about their benefits. A study from MetLife revealed 47% of employees felt their engagement with offerings would increase if they had tools that made them easier to access. Insurance provider Prudential Group Insurance is working to solve these issues with the introduction of a digital well-being hub — a one-stop shop for all of their life, absence and disability products available to its employees and members. 

“Technology is such an important part of how we offer solutions and engage with clients and their employees, and we strive to provide services that drive those outcomes, provide impact [and] drive behavior change,” says Jessica Gillespie, Prudential’s head of group insurance product and underwriting. “That’s really in the spirit and the intent to increase employees’ resilience and improve their overall well-being, and that’s how the well-being hub comes into play.”

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When designing the hub, Prudential used feedback from employer clients that reinforced the need for improved employee interaction with multiple types of wellness care beyond the company’s wide variety of financial support, including education, debt management and housing counseling. The hub also includes access to its employer partners, behavioral health platform NeuroFlow and caregiving platform Wellthy.  

“When you go on to the well-being hub as an employee, it takes you to a landing page that is visually simplistic, not overwhelming, and easy to use,” Gillespie says. “There are the resources that an individual needs to build financial confidence and plan for what we call life’s big events, and hopefully they’re pre-planning for them, or navigating through big events that perhaps they weren’t anticipating. Some of these solutions we provide, [and] other solutions are through partnerships that are integrated into the core product offerings we have.” 

Through Prudential’s partnership with NeuroFlow — which includes tailored support for disability claimants due to the connection between physical and behavioral health — employees and members have access to wellness guides, sleep and stress trackers, pain management tools, suicide risk detection and clinical intervention. There is also support for depression, PTSD and maternal mental health. Through Wellthy, which provides a concierge-style caregiving support, there is expert guidance to family planning, eldercare, parenting and child care, teen support and dealing with end of life and loss.  

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By putting these wellness support categories all in one place, Prudential aims to create an omni-channel method of communication, cutting down on the time and energy people spend — or choose not to spend — on finding the benefits they need, Gillespie says. If a member calls to file a claim, they are also guided through any related offerings.

“You can offer 100 different point solutions, but if people are overwhelmed it doesn’t mean anything, because it doesn’t drive any outcome for the employee or for the employer,” she says. “If you are a Prudential client, you have Prudential benefits, and you have this resource center that you can access at any point in time. You can engage and you can plan and you can utilize these tools, but they also know that it will be an embedded resource, and part of their journey if they submit a claim with financial group insurance.”

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Gillespie notes that with the proper balance of human touch and technology, employers can set their workforce up to have an easy time navigating their benefits, which is especially important in times of stress that often accompany insurance claims. 

“These are some of the most difficult and challenging times of someone’s life, when they’re submitting claims for supplemental health or a disability or they lost a loved one,” she says. “So the focus on the omni channel will always be incredibly important, but we will continue to put significant investment into technology to make people’s lives easier.”