All of us are shocked and saddened by the
tragedy of the shootings at Virginia Tech
University. Our hearts go out to the
families of those lost, those who were wounded,
and the faculty and employees of the university
who have been profoundly shaken by this experience.
Such an event has far-reaching impacts,
many of which can be seen and felt close
to home. To
help our members, customers and our communities
cope with this crisis, CIGNA has taken decisive
actions to offer our talents, resources and
capabilities to those in need.
First, we are
making the Critical Incident services provided
by CIGNA Behavioral Health available to any
CIGNA customer who wants them. These crisis
services include educational materials, unlimited
consultation with an Employee Assistance
Professional and onsite services, and will
be offered at no charge. Current CBH Employee
Assistance Program (EAP) customers will not
be required to pay a fee-for-service charge
nor will deductions be made from their Employer
Service Hour bank if the services are related
to the Virginia Tech incident. CIGNA
provides an excellent, confidential Employee
Assistance Program (EAP) that can be accessed
24/7 for any type of emotional, psychological,
or social issue. Anyone who is
struggling with the emotional aftermath of
this event, or who needs help and advice
with specific needs (e.g. how to talk to
your children), will find value in accessing
the EAP. The experts staffing the lines
are particularly skilled in helping people
through acute, traumatic events like this
one.
Second, employees, students and
their household members, of the Virginia
Tech community and CIGNA’s customers
who do not have our EAP services will now
have access to unlimited telephonic consultation
with a behavioral health clinician, via a
dedicated line. In
addition, CBH is extending this service to
residents of Blacksburg, VA who have been
so terribly impacted by this act of violence
in their community and has reached out to
the local media to help publicize the availability
of our services. The access number
for both Critical Incident and telephonic
services is 866-440-8387 and
will be answered 24 hours per day, seven
days per week. The services described
above will be available to CBH EAP and all
other CIGNA customers through May
31, 2007. CBH will evaluate
at that time whether there is a need to extend
the offering.
Third, CIGNA Behavioral Health organized
two telephonic seminars to take place the
week of April 22: the first, for employees
and focused on personal resiliency (stress
management, self-care, etc.); the second,
for managers to address how employers can
assist their employees following a disaster/national
tragedy.
In the coming weeks CBH will organize a
telephonic seminar for parents in order to
provide them with information and assist
them as they work through the tough question
of how to talk with their children about
violence and their fears related to it. Details
regarding each of the seminars will follow.
The
website supported by CIGNA Behavioral Health, www.CIGNABehavioral.com includes
updated materials relevant to the shooting
as well as useful information there on how
to deal with the aftermath of a traumatic
event like this one.
The next weeks and months
will continue to be challenging as our organizations,
communities and nation come to terms with
the events of April 16. While the services
and support offered by CIGNA Behavioral Health
cannot turn back the clock, we hope you,
your clients and their employees will find
they may lighten the burden.
