Travelers launches AI-driven mental health app for injured employees

Courtesy photo Travelers Insurance in Hartford

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The Travelers Cos. Inc. announced Thursday that it had launched an app designed to promote the mental health of injured employees and facilitate recovery.

The app was created with help from Wysa, which provides mental health support tools driven by artificial intelligence.

The Wysa for Return to Work app helps users build mental resilience skills that can help them overcome psychosocial barriers to recovery. A psychosocial barrier is defined as an opinion, attitude, state of consciousness or emotion of a person that severely affects their ability to communicate.

The app responds to what users communicate through a secure, anonymous, texting-style platform, and offers strategies that include cognitive behavioral techniques, guided meditation and breathing exercises.

According to Travelers, more than 40% of employees who have missed work days due to injury have experienced a psychosocial barrier to recovery.

“Factors unrelated to an individual’s injury, such as fear, unrealistic expectations, lack of sleep or minimal social support, can hinder the recovery process,” said Dr. Marcos Iglesias, chief medical director at Travelers. “Helping injured employees bounce back requires an approach that addresses an individual’s physical and mental health challenges.”

The new app is accessible to injured employees who indicate one or more psychosocial barriers to their recovery during conversations with a Travelers nurse or claim professional. Early results show that injured workers using the app missed one-third fewer work days compared to those not using the app.

New York City-based Travelers has about 30,000 employees and its largest office is in Hartford. The company, the country’s largest workers compensation insurer, generated revenue of $35 billion in 2021.