Employee Assistance Program Education in Canada

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Employee Assistance Program Education in Canada Rick Csiernik PhD a

a

School of Social Work, King's College, University of Western Ontario, Western Ontario

Version of record first published: 16 Oct 2008

To cite this article: Rick Csiernik PhD (2000): Employee Assistance Program Education in Canada, Employee Assistance Quarterly, 15:3, 15-22 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J022v15n03_02

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Employee Assistance Program Education in Canada: The State of the Nation

Downloaded by [McMaster University] at 21:49 17 August 2012

Rick Csiernik

ABSTRACT. Over the past few decades Employee Assistance Programming (EAP) has grown into a multi-million dollar industry in Canada, employing thousands of practitioners. With its emergence as a prominent field of practice one would have assumed a parallel development of formal post-secondary education in this area. However, a review of departments of business, psychology, social work and sociology in Canada’s 56 liberal arts universities found virtually no specific academic training in Employee Assistance Programming. This is one contributing factor explaining the current lack of substantive EAP research efforts in Canada. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678. E-mail address: Website: ]

KEYWORDS. EAP education

INTRODUCTION One may obtain a specialization in Employee Assistance Programming (EAP) at 17 post-secondary institutions in the United States, Rick Csiernik, PhD, is Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, King’s College, University of Western Ontario. He is the past coordinator of the EAP studies program at McMaster University. Address correspondence to: Rick Csiernik, 266 Epworth Avenue, London, Ontario, Canada N6A 2M3 (E-mail: [email protected]). The author would like to thank Ms. Kristie Van De Wetering and Ms. Marine McTavish for their assistance with this project and King’s College for its financial support. Employee Assistance Quarterly, Vol. 15(3) 2000 E 2000 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.

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EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE QUARTERLY

literally from coast to coast. One may also take courses in Employee Assistance and related subjects at both the undergraduate and graduate levels at many more colleges and universities (Gustavsson and Balgopal, 1991; Harney and Frissell, 1996; Masi and Maiden, 1985; Nida et al., 1987; Quick, Sonnenstuhl and Trice, 1987). While EAP is a product of western industrialized society, one may also study Employee Assistance Programming or occupational social work at a post-secondary level in South Africa (du Plessis, 1999; Mkalipe, 1992) and Malaysia (Balgopal et al., 1997). However, in Canada, a nation that can trace it origins in EAP back to the 19th century (Csiernik, 1992), a nation with thousands of EAP programs, staffed by thousands of Employee Assistance practitioners, there is practically no specific formal post-secondary training in the field. Canada by virtue of its size and population does not have the same number of universities, nor academic programs, as does the United States, however, the provision of Employee Assistance services is extremely prevalent across the nation. This is not to imply that Canadian Employee Assistance practitioners are not concerned with nor that they do not follow the core competencies, professional standards or ethical guidelines. Rather, it is a reflection of the importance placed on Employee Assistance Programming by the academic community in Canada. The question that arises is what type of educational opportunities do exist within Canada for those interested in a career in EAP. METHODOLOGY This examination of post-secondary EAP education began by obtaining a listing of all accredited liberal arts universities across Canada (n = 56) by province.1 Of these 56 institutions, five universities offer programming in French while two are officially bilingual campuses, offering courses equally in both French and English. The remainder have English as their language of instruction. For each university either a 1998-1999 undergraduate and graduate calendar was obtained or the course offerings were reviewed using the university’s web-site calendar. The total number of courses listed for each discipline was counted along with the specific number of courses pertaining to Employee Assistance Programming. The initial search focused on four undergraduate disciplines: business, psychology, social work and sociology. After reviewing those findings a second

Rick Csiernik

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search of graduate program courses in psychology and social work was undertaken.


RESULTS Table 1 summarizes the number of course offerings by discipline for Canada’s 56 liberal arts universities.2 There are 54 institutions offering undergraduate degrees in business, 54 in psychology, 49 in sociology and 30 in social work. Combined they listed 11,101 separate offerings, from first year general introductory level courses to specialized fourth year electives. Of these, none (0.0%) were entitled Employee Assistance or Employee Assistance Programming. One university, Dalhousie in Halifax, Nova Scotia offers an elective entitled Social Work in Industry while the majority of schools of social work have at least one undergraduate elective in addictions and provide a core foundation of individual, family and group counselling courses. Twenty-four psychology departments (44.4%) offer undergraduate courses in industrial or organizational psychology typically with a theoretical rather than an applied orientation, while several also provide a drugs and behaviour elective. Business department courses that have some relevance to the EAP field include organizational behaviour, human resources management, organizational theory and industrial relations, though none of these have a prominent focus on EAP. However, the business department of Laval Université, in Québec City, Québec does offer a course, in French, on Work and Mental Health. While the 49 sociology departments did not provide a specific offering on EAP, students could learn about the general area through taking courses such as work and organization, occupational sociology, or the sociology of organizations. The University of Toronto even offers an undergraduate course on the sociology of addiction. Graduate programming did not fair much better in the review. There are 34 Master of Arts programs in Psychology with a total of 1,180 listed offerings. While no course specifically was entitled Employee Assistance or Employee Assistance Programming, eleven universities (32.3%) did offer graduate courses on industrial or organizational psychology. Three (14.3%) graduate Schools of Social Work offer courses in occupational social work, two in English and one in French, representing 0.5% of the total social work courses listed. Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario and McGill in Montréal, Québec provide the English offerings while the Université de Québec à Mon-


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TABLE 1. Courses Offered by Canadian Universities by Discipline University

Location

Business Psychology Social Work Sociology Psychology Social Work undergraduate programs graduate programs

BRITISH COLUMBIA (n = 10) Kwantlen University College Malaspina University College Okanogan University College Royal Roads Simon Fraser University of British Columbia University College of the Caribou University College of Fraser Valley University of Northern British Columbia University of Victoria

Surney 17 Nanaimo 7 Kelowna 40 Victoria 22 Burnaby 90 Vancouver 108 KamIoops Abbotsford 61 Prince George 51 Victoria 74

ALBERTA (n = 4) Athabasca University University of Alberta University of Calgary University of Lethbridge

Athabasca Edmonton Calgary Lethbridge

26 91 15

Regina

39**

19** 43 37

24 28

70 57 14 27 45 54

16 21 19 29 28

66 108** 42

SASKATCHEWAN (n = 2) University of Regina Sask. Federated Indian College University of Saskatchewan

Saskatoon

73 29 133

MANITOBA (n = 3) Brandon University University of Manitoba University of Winnipeg

Brandon Winnipeg Winnipeg

29 103 27

43** 67** 74**

ONTARIO (n = 18) Algoma University Brock University Carelton University Lakehead University Laurentian University McMaster University*** Nippising University Queen’s University Ryerson Polytechnic University Trent University University of Guelph University of Ottawa University of Toronto University of Waterloo(1) University of Western Ontario(2) University of Windsor Wilfrid Laurier University York University

Sault Ste. Marie St. Catharines Ottawa Thunder Bay Sudbury Hamilton North Bay Kingston Toronto Peterborough Guelph Ottawa Toronto Waterloo London Windsor Waterloo Toronto

45 102 78 89 64 60 53 36 32 25 173 88 12 58 84 76 196

56 78 57 37** 38 50 36** 61** 33** 41 54** 86** 128 63** 154** 73** 49** 134**

QUEBEC (n = 7) Bishop’s University Concordia University Laval University McGill University Universite de Montreal Universite de Quebec Universite de Sherbrooke

Lennoxville Montreal Quebec City Montreal Montreal six sites Sherbrooke

120 179 39 53 35 271 125

51** 67 63** 67 73 181** 52**

43

56

46 23

28

18 40 28 39 31 36

17 37 23 30

71 54 31 133 43

16

78 50

68 48**

27

10 62

22 20

90 55 33

21 35**

38

50

35

10

80

35**

41 62 68

10**

17 48

43 57 57 39 48 70 36 52 31 33 50 84 95 86 132 77 51 229 49 68 78 85 71 125

5 59** 18 16

32

47 15 11 23

22 47** 87** 78 30** 33** 6 19 14

75* 27

56 61 22 40** 118 28

24 65* 32 53* 19

44

Rick Csiernik University


NEW BRUNSWICK (n = 4) Mount Allison University St. Thomas University Universite de Moncton University of New Brunswick

Location

19

Business Psychology Social Work Sociology Psychology Social Work undergraduate programs graduate programs

Sackville Fredericton Moncton Fredericton/ St. John

45 44 68 163

37 45** 34 109

NOVA SCOTIA (n = 5) Acadia University Dalhousie University Mount St. Vincent St. Francis Xavier University St. Mary’s University

Wolfville Halifax Halifax Antigonish Halifax

69 69 58 48 28

39** 63 37 25 53

PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND (n = 1) University of Prince Edward Island

Charlottetown

57

45

NEWFOUNDLAND (n = 1) Memorial University of Newfoundland

St. John’s

77

67**

46

33

19

15

total number of programs

53

53

30

48

34

21

total number of courses

3655

3184

1094

3050

1180

629

0

0

0

0

0

0

total number of EAP specific courses

29 33

37*

49 38 12 101

62 69 47 54 94

21 30

6 37 28

15

15

17**

53

* these departments offer one course each in occupational social work ** these departments offer at least one course in industrial/organizational psychology *** EAP studies certificate program provided through the Centre for Continuing Education 1--The social work program is located at Rension College 2--The social work program is located at King’s College

tréal (UQAM), also in Montréal, Québec offers the course in French. In each case the course is an elective and not necessarily offered each year let alone each semester. These results, while disappointing, are not a surprise to anyone in Canada who has sought formal university-based training in EAP. There has been one response, however, by the Continuing Education Department of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Hamilton was at one time the industrial centre of Canada and home to the initial occupational alcoholism consultant to industry in the country (Bennett, 1975) as well as developing the inaugural EAP Council (Massey and Csiernik, 1997). Thus, it was not startling that the Centre for Continuing Education in consultation with the EAP Council of Hamilton-Wentworth should develop the first, and only, formal program of study in the late 1980’s exclusively focusing upon EAP. As there was such a dearth of standardized training, it was decided by the Centre for Continuing Education to offer the program both on-site in Hamilton


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and also in a distance education format to allow students across Canada the opportunity to formally study EAP. What initially began as two courses has evolved into two separate certificates. Each consists of six courses, with Level 1, Foundation Issues, intended as an introduction to the EAP field. It provides basic background to program development and core counselling skills including required courses in substance abuse, and EAP intervention techniques. Graduates of Level 1 may move to Level 2, Professional Issues, which is primarily intended as an advanced certificate for those already having earned a degree or certificate in a helping profession and who wish to gain specialized knowledge of the EAP field. Topics in Level 2 include Critical Incident Stress, Organizational and Individual Wellness, Family Issues, Specialized Clients and a course on business practice in EAP. The courses in both certificates are affiliated with the School of Social Work and can be combined and transferred for elective credit towards an undergraduate degree. However, the courses themselves are not taught at the degree level and do not appear in the official undergraduate or graduate university calendars. DISCUSSION The origins of EAP education date back to the industrial welfare workers of the 1800s. By 1919, 141 American corporations reported having a separate position classified as a welfare secretary. While many of these persons had no formal training, the major sector of employment for graduates from the New York School of Social Work during this era was industry. The University of Chicago also offered courses in social work and industrial welfare work during this time (Brandes, 1976; Popple, 1981). At the beginning of the 21st century, Canadian post-secondary institutions are barely offering more in terms of occupational education than their American counterparts were at the turn of the 20th century. In the interim, Employee Assistance Programming has become a multi-million dollar, multi-disciplinary practice area in Canada. Perhaps one reason there is virtually no empirical knowledge underlying the developmental dimensions of the field (Csiernik, 1998) is the lack of formal education in the field. Without a formal academic foundation there is limited impetus for research and increasing empirical knowledge of the field. With decreasing support being provided by the historically strong


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Canadian social safety net and the increasing prominence of the private sector in health care and social service provision, EAPs are becoming more integral in the lives of Canadians with personal, family, and work related issues. As a result, EAPs are also becoming more prominent in the creation and maintenance of healthy communities. Considering the lack of formalized education in the field, it truly is time for Canadian universities in their forthcoming reviews of curriculum to place some emphasis on EAP. This is not a new issue, however, as a similar concern was expressed about American post-secondary EAP education by Epstein and Perryman in 1985. Thus, it also needs to become the responsibility of those working in the field as alumni of universities and colleges to ask what is being done by our alma maters to prepare the next generation of EAP practitioners so that they will be better prepared than we were for the challenges and nuances of the EAP profession. NOTES 1. The Université de Québec with six campuses was only counted once. The official language of instruction on each campus is French. 2. The provinces are listed from west to east.

REFERENCES Balgopal, P.; De Silva, E.; Mun, L.W., and Choo, Q. (1997). ‘‘Improving Quality of Work Life in Singapore: Implications for Social Work in Industry,’’ Employee Assistance Quarterly, 12(4), 51-60. Bennett, Ken (1975). Development of Industrial Alcoholism Programs in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton: Addiction Research Foundation. Brandes, Stuart (1976). American Welfare Capitalism, 1880-1940, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Csiernik, Richard (1998) ‘‘A Profile of Canadian Employee Assistance Programs,’’ Employee Assistance Research Supplement, 2(1), 1-8. Csiernik, Richard (1992) ‘‘The Evolution of Employee Assistance Programming In North America,’’ Canadian Social Work Review, 9(2), 214-228. du Plessis, Angela (1999). ‘‘Occupational Social Work in South Africa,’’ Employee Assistance Quarterly, 14(3), 19-40. Epstein, H. and Perryman, W. (1985). ‘‘Proposal for a Collaborative Curriculum,’’ EAP Digest, 5(5), 27-33. Gustavsson, Nora and Balgopal, Pallassana (1991). ‘‘Training of Social Workers in Work Settings: Response of the Academia,’’ Employee Assistance Quarterly, 6(4), 79-89.

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Harney, Paula and Frissell, Susan (1996). ‘‘An Update to EAP Curricula in Higher Education,’’ EAPA Exchange, 26(1), 10-14. Masi, Dale and Maiden, Paul (1985). ‘‘EAP Specialization at the University of Maryland,’’ EAP Digest, 5(5), 63-64. Massey, Martin and Csiernik, Richard (1997) ‘‘Community Development In EAP: The Employee Assistance Program Council of Hamilton-Wentworth,’’ Employee Assistance Quarterly, 12(3), 35-46. Mkalipe, Sello (1992). ‘‘Occupational Social Work Education in South Africa,’’ Employee Assistance Quarterly, 7(3), 115-125. Nida, S.; Foley, S.; Maze, B.; Maze, M. and Braucht, G. (1987). ‘‘Preparing Undergraduates for Careers in Employee Assistance,’’ EAP Digest, 7(1), 57-61. Popple, Philip (1981). ‘‘Social Work Practice in Business and Industry, 1875-1930,’’ Social Service Review, 55, 257-269. Quick, R.C.; Sonnenstuhl, W.J., and Trice, H.M. (1987) ‘‘Educating the Employee Assistance Professional: Cornell University’s Employee Assistance Education and Research Program,’’ Public Personnel Management, 16(4), 333-343.

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