Employee and Family Assistance Program

The EFAP provides services so you can take practical and proactive steps to improve your well-being and be the best you can through free, flexible, and confidential support services.

These include supports for topics such as:

• family and relationship
• anxiety and stress
• work related issues
• alcoholism and drug dependency
• personal and emotional difficulties
• childcare and eldercare issues
• legal and financial concerns
• traumatic events in the workplace
• grief and loss support services
• nutrition support services and health coaching
• health coaching
• smoking cessation
• stress management
• career support
• work life balance

It is important to remember that no problem is too small or too large.

EFAP services are available to eligible family members, including your spouse/partner and dependent children. This is in addition to the services you can access as a University of Guelph employee.
Access is simple. Your eligible family member only needs to:

1. Call the EFAP provider directly to request services.

2. Provide your name and relevant information as the U of G employee.

3. Confirm your employment with the University of Guelph when asked.

It may be helpful to share the EFAP wallet card or other program details with your spouse or dependent so they have:

• The EFAP contact number

• Any other basic information requested during intake.

Providing these details ensures their access process is smooth and quick.

For dependent children who are minors, a parent or guardian (the U of G employee) should be present during the intake call in case any supplementary information is required to confirm eligibility, provide consent, or support the intake process.

Eligibility for EFAP services is available to:

• Regular and temporary full-time employees

• Part-time employees with appointments longer than 6 months and workloads greater than 35%

In addition, immediate family members of all the above groups are also eligible.

The cost of EFAP services is paid by the organization as an employee health benefit. If you need specialized or longer-term support, the EFAP will help you find an appropriate specialist or service. While fees for these additional services are your responsibility, some may be covered by your provincial or organizational health plan.

Respect for diversity is a core value to Homewood Health. Our Intake Counsellors are trained to respond to requests that reflect the diverse needs of employees—such as preferences related to gender, cultural background, language, or other identity factors—when matching individuals with a counsellor. This is often presented as requests for a provider from a particular cultural background, language requests, or queries around the physical accessibility of an office space or alternative counselling modalities. Our Intake Team regularly works with our clinical network to meet such requests.

Phone: To get started by phone call 1-800-663-1142 – toll-free available 24 hours per day, seven days per week. If you prefer services in another language, let the Client Services Centre Intake Counsellor know at the time of your call so that the language matching service can ensure you receive help in the language you prefer. You or your immediate family member will need to confirm that you are employed with the University of Guelph. Verbal confirmation is sufficient,and an employee ID number is not required.

Online: You can also access the EFAP through www.homeweb.ca. Create your own private account.

• e-Counselling provides written exchanges, or real time chat with a counsellor via secure online portal.
• Video counselling
• E-Courses, Health Library, Locator Tools, Articles, Webinars, Podcasts.
• Mobile App

Homewood Health is fully bilingual, and more than 200 languages are always available at intake, via an immediate, over-the-phone interpreter service. Our national network of counsellors is diverse with more than 60 languages spoken fluently at any given time. As such, we are very likely able to provide, at minimum, telephonic services directly with a clinician who speaks your preferred language. We are continuously working to ensure our network meets the diverse language and cultural needs of Canadians across the country.

Individuals can utilize the 7-1-1 relay service to connect in with our Client Service Centre. Additionally, they can go online to www.homeweb.ca and use our chat feature for instant support, communicate via email with our Client Service Centre, or utilize the online e-Counselling form or video counselling form.

The EFAP toll-free number 1-800-663-1142 is available 24/hours a day, seven days a week and is one of the options to access EFAP Services should you require support. When you are connected to an Intake Counsellor they will speak with you to understand your needs and connect you to the support you need. You or your immediate family member will need to confirm that you are employed with the University of Guelph. Verbal confirmation is sufficient ,and an employee ID number is not required. This representative can also answer your questions about the EFAP and the available programs and services.

The Client Service Centre Intake Counsellor will ask you some eligibility questions as well as a set of risk questions.

Eligibility questions:

• Name and Date of Birth
• Are you an employee or family member
• Name of Organization

Risk Questions:

• In the past week have you…
  • Had thoughts of hurting yourself or ending your life? 
  • Had thoughts of harming or hurting others?
  • Had concerns about your safety at home or in your relationship(s)?
• In the past month have you had trouble with your relationship and responsibilities (home, work, school, social) because of your drinking or drug use?

These questions help to determine eligibility as well as to assess any imminent risk that you may be in. The Intake Counsellor will proceed with setting up your personal confidential file and collect only the necessary information to understand the reason for calling to identify and offer appropriate services to you.

Homewood Health’s short-term counselling program is a solution-focused, goal-setting approach that enables individuals to develop and practice the skills necessary to improve their well-being, coping strategies and resiliency to solve their life challenges. We offer a range of counselling modalities, giving you the ability to choose how you receive counselling, based on your unique needs.

The Homewood Health App is a mobile application for iOS and Android devises provided by Homewood Health. It provides users access to tools, resources and support so that you can get the help and support you are looking for, when you need it. The Homewood Health App includes access to a wealth of tools, and resources on Homeweb, one-touch access to Homewood’s Client Services Centre, and Chat.

Download and install the Homewood Health App using your smartphone through the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

Simply use the email address and password you chose when you registered on www.homeweb.ca to login to the App. If you have not created your account yet choose the Register option on the app, search your organizations name and create your own private account.

We offer a wide range of counselling modalities catering to diverse needs, presenting issues, geographies and expectations. Counselling services are offered face-to-face, through video, over the phone or online. Appointments are made quickly, with your convenience in mind.

Video Counselling

You can access video sessions with a counsellor, no matter where you live. Licensed Counsellors will deliver virtual care to through private, scheduled video visits. The service is accessible via desktop, iOS, and Android devices.

In-person

Counselling Homewood Health’s counselling may be delivered in-person at offices in multiple geographical areas. To support in-person counselling, we draw on our network of professionals across Canada.

Phone Counselling

• This delivery method is especially valuable to those who prefer the added anonymity of a telephone appointment, are time- challenged, or for whom in-person is not convenient or possible.

e-Counselling

• e-Counselling allows individuals to use written communication to access counselling with a counsellor who is in a different location than they are using a secure system for confidential communication. E-Counselling correspondence allows you send asynchronous messages back and forth with your counsellor. Chat counselling allows for real-time interaction in a private chat environment.

For non-critical counselling requests, depending on location, first appointment can be offered as soon 24 hours from the time of the intake call, although employee preference/convenience are determining factors. The average is within 3-5 business days. For Urgent or Crisis Counselling, same day and immediate appointments can be offered through our First Call Care/Meet Now support which connects individuals telephonically to a counsellor for immediate support.

If you are experiencing a crisis, you can call the toll-free number 1-800-663-1142 24 hours a day, 7 days of the week to connect in with a Counsellor for immediate support and crisis counselling.

If you are working and need assistance, ask a supervisor or colleague to assist you with calling the EFAP and indicate that the situation is a crisis.

Homewood Health has a network of counsellors who are professionally trained clinicians, such as social workers, psychologists and clinical counsellors, with a Master’s level degree and minimum of 5 years experience in clinical counselling. To offer access to services to clients across a broad geographical area, some rare exceptions to the above criteria have been made. In these cases, the counsellors have been internally vetted to ensure they meet Homewood Health’s professional and clinical standards

You will receive an electronic survey that you have the option to complete once you have finished counselling. This survey is sent to an email address that you provide to us and provides an option to share anonymous feedback on your experience. You can also provide immediate feedback by contacting our client service center at 1-800-663-1142. Our Intake Counsellors are always available to listen to your feedback as well as to help resolve any concerns you may have.

If you would prefer to see a different counsellor, contact our customer service for assistance and we will do our best to accommodate your preferences. It is important for you to find a counsellor that is the right fit for you. If you are not satisfied and would like to file a complaint, you can contact our Client Service Centre and our Intake Counsellors can assist. All complaints relating to counselling are investigated.

Whether you need to find a nursing home for an aging parent, obtain help getting your finances under control, receive advice on how to nurture a child with special needs or gifts, plan for a transition back to work following a parental leave, or receive legal advice, Homewood Health Life Smart Coaching can help. Individuals access Life Smart Coaching programs are provided with an overview of services at the time of first call by Intake Counsellors initiating support with a specialist. An Assessment of Needs is done and outcomes and additional supports and resources are customized for each individuals needs.

Life Smart Coaching is delivered telephonically and often includes a personalized package of information and useful tools, such as tip sheets, articles, and programs that have been selected with the individuals’ specific interests in mind.

What Programs Are Available?

Life Balance Solutions

• New Parent Support
• Childcare and Parenting
•  Elder and Family Care
• Relationship Solutions
• Legal Advisory
• Grief and Loss
• Burnout & Stress Solutions

Health Smart Coaching

• Nutritional Coaching
• Smoking & Vaping Cessation
• Jumpstart Your Wellness

Career Coaching

• Career Coaching
• Pre-Retirement Planning
• Shift worker Support

The organization will be given regular statistical information to help evaluate the uptake and effectiveness of services. These reports do not include any information about the specific identity of employees who have used the program and are meant for trending purposes only.

Yes. The EFAP has strict confidentiality guidelines in place to protect your privacy. Homewood Health professionals work within a strict code of professional ethics as the law requires and will only share personal information with certain authorities under very specific conditions, including threat of violence to oneself or others, reports of child/elder abuse, or a subpoena.

To preserve confidentiality:

• Two people from the same organization will not have back-to-back appointments with the same counsellor to avoid accidentally meeting each other.
• Homewood Health will not leave any identifying telephone messages at home or at work unless given permission to do so by employee/client.
• Counselling services can be provided away from the work site and can be offered before and after work hours if necessary.

No. Your employer receives only anonymous statistical reports to help evaluate how the program is being used and how effective it is. These reports do not include any information that could identify individual employees.

Homewood Health collects personal information for the purpose of providing appropriate services. Your personal information is kept as a secure record. Homewood Health will not disclose or release information without your knowledge and permission. At any time, you may withdraw your consent to the collection of your information. Please visit https://homewoodhealth.com/privacy/ to learn more about Homewood Health’s commitment to protecting your personal information.