Support mental health and wellness during irregular operations
As PEAT outlined in its October 2020 Think Tank report, mental health needs are common, and many employees are experiencing significant challenges with added stresses related to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Mental health intersects strongly with other disabilities and is exacerbated when employees encounter accessibility problems that make it difficult to telework and engage fully in their workplaces.
Staff responsible for employee health, wellness and safety can offer AI tools to help employees address mental health and wellness challenges. Such AI tools can aggregate data from multiple sources—including wearable sensors and IoT devices—to provide personalized physical health, mental health, and wellness recommendations. The AI tools can include a variety of user interfaces including chatbots to support employees finding information or getting support and counseling and automatic support and safety recommendations during emergencies or during irregular operations.
Organizations should consider Equitable AI Principles when procuring and implementing AI health, wellness and safety tools. Questions to ask include:
- Has the AI tool been designed to protect employee disability status, health and wellness data, and ensure they are not disclosed to other employees except managers and supervisors on a need-to-know basis?
- Does the AI work for all employees including employees with physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities, and those who are neurodivergent?
