Employee Assistance Consortia

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Employee Assistance Quarterly

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Employee Assistance Consortia Rick Csiernik a b a a

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario b

McMaster University Hamilton, Toronto, Ontario c

School of Social Work, Ryerson Polytechnical University, Toronto, Ontario

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Version of record first published: 15 Oct 2008

To cite this article: Rick Csiernik (1995): Employee Assistance Consortia, Employee Assistance Quarterly, 10:2, 19-35 To link to this article: http:// dx.doi.org/10.1300/J022v10n02_02

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Employee Assistance Consortia: Developing a Research Agenda Rick Csiernik

ABSTRACT. Of the various Employee Assistance delivery mechanisms the consortium model is the newest and Icast documented. While there are various beliefs on how consortia should be established and operated, there is minimal formal or critical discussion in the lileralure. What does exist indicales a lack of liomogeneity between consortia. In endeavouring to learn more about this E M option, lradilionally associated with smaller businesses, a comprchensive research agenda should be adopted. Several different research methods can be used in studying consortia but wc should not rely solely on Ihe scientirrcmethod to guide us. Researchers need to be aware of what alternative standpoints offer such as those proposed by Ihe feminist methodology.

fNTR0DUCTION Since its earliest beginnings in the IXOO’s, as one aspect of welfare capitalism, to its reemergence as Occupational Alcoholism I’mgrams (OAF’S) in the 195O’s, a variety of models have been developed for the provision of Employee Assistance Programs (EMS)to the workplace. Table 1 summarizes the three primary EAP delivery options. This typology can also act as one starting point for a variety ~

Rick Csiernik I Y a doctoral c n d d n l o a1 h e Umrcraity of Toronto, a kwr the Employee A ~ r i i i a n c eDiploma R o g m McMa\ter U m v m i y , Hamilton, Ontano md an Inmuclor fur the Schaul of Sam1 Work. Ryerson Polyluhnical in

Univcrrity, Tommo. Ohranu. The author would like lo hank Ixll,orah Edwards for hm timely aniilmce in thc dzwlopmni and final prepmiton of this anicle.

Employce Asrislanw uuartwly. Vnl IO(2) 1994 2 1994 hy Thc H~worlliPre,s, hc.All ngltrs mscwed.

IY

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1.

Internal Volunteers a. recovering individuals (A.A./N.A. atfiliation) b. union counsellors. peer counsellow and referral agents c. self-help groups in the workplace

2.

Internal Professionals a. social workers and associated counselling professionals b. medical staff (occupational health nurses and occupational physicians) c. human resaurces staff

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TABLE 1, EAP Delivery Options.

3. External professionals a. private practice social workers and associated professionals b. large multidisciplinary agencies c. mnsortia

of research iniliatives in this field. The majority of EAP research has focused on clinical questions with much less attention centred on developmental issues. There are many aspects of EAPs that need to be explored more thoroughly, including impact assessments of different models on individual employees and worksites to answer the questions of what when, how and why. Of the nine primary formats employed in delivering EAP services (Table 1) the most recent to emerge is one that has no ties to either welfare capitalism or OMS,"the consortium." The consortium is also the design that has been subjected to the least amount of both research studies and critical appraisal.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CONSORTIA

Historically EAPs have been established in large work organizations where one or mote individuals operats the progmn an a part or full time basis (Table 1. option 2). However, more tban sixty per cent of workels are employed in organizations of 500 or less (Isenberg, 1985) with eighty per Cent of private sector employees employed in worksites having fewer than 100 employees (McClellan, 1982b). A major problem in occupational programming over the years has

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been the delivery of appropriate and adequate services to smaller organizations. Vinton and Brennan (1988) estimate that approximately one third of companies with under one thousand employees offer Employee Assistance services while only five per cent of companies with fewer than one hundred staff have access to a formal EAP. Traditionally smaller companies have had insufficient resources for coping with the wide range of problems that beset all organizations and those employed by them. The notion of a consortium was originally advocated by counselling prdctioners who wished to form an alliance with smaller businesses. The noun “consonium” refers to an assembly. association or partnership shuck to accomplish or achieve a mutual goal. In EAPs it means a collection of employers ur joint employer-management groups in a specific geographic area or business sector that join together to create an effective and manageable EAP. A consortium entails the banding together of several companies for the purpose of developing a mutually beneficial occupational program (Gavin, 1978). Successfully initiated consortia (Table 2) have generally been developed through cooperation and common consent of worksites interested in receiving EAP services and benefits yet which do not have enough employees to warrant their own individual E M . These organizations have chosen not to give control of the clinical services provided to their employees to an outside individual or agency (Table 1, options 3a and 3b). Instead they pool their mources and develop a collaborative program to maximize the individual resources of each company. Suitable services are available only through mutual association with like minded companies. Consort& are governed by their member organizations which CoUectively own the system of service delivery (Masi, 1984; Isenberg, 1985). A consortium is physicduy located outside the organizations it serves. Its members retain ownership of a service that they individuaUy could not afford either financially or time wise to properly maintain. Common to all consortia is the sharing of fscal, adminiistrative and governing responsibilities. Consortia are administered by a Board of Directors. Representatives of the member organizations usually make decisions on issues such as staff hiring, hours of service, record keeping and reporting through a democratic voting

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TABLE 2. North American Consortia. COMBO (Barrie, Ontario) Employee Assistance of Central Virginia (Lynchburg. Virginia) Employee Assistance Program Inc. (Taunton, Massachusetts) Greater Hamilton Employee Assistance Consortium (Ontario) Houston Consortium (Texas) Industrial Counselling Csntre (Greensboro, North Carolina) Interlo& (Vancouver, British Colombia) Kalamazoo Consortium (Michigan) Lincoln EAP Consortium (Nebraska) London Employee Assislance Consorlium (Ontario) Makato Employee Assistance Consortium (Minnesota) Marion Consortium (Ohio) Meaford Consortium (Oregon) Orange County Council on Alcoholism-EAP (California) Overlook Hospital Consortium (Summiti, New Jersey) Philadelphia Employee Counselling S e ~ i c e(Pennsylvania) Rockhill Consortiurn (South Carolina) Rhode Island Group Health Association (Rhode Island) SI. Bsnsfict's Hospital Consortium (Ogden, Utah] Salt Lake City Consortiurn (Utah) Tri-County EAP Consortium (Akron, Ohio) Valley Forge Hospital (Pennsylvania) procedure. Some Boards operate so that votes are weighted, based on each company's annual financial conhibution to the consodium. A company's size is not generally a factor in the decision making process. though. In some consortia as membership has grown it has become impractical to have 40 board members. In these instances assignment to committees and the executive is done b y means of an election. Each member organization is normally assigned one vote i n the electoral process. A significant difference between consortia and other external provision models is that consortia are not-for-profit in design. Administratively the consortiaplans and directs the program in an integrated fashion. Counsellors and administrative staff are generally hired and managed through the collective auspices of the consortia Its free standing and independent nature are key to the development of Qust and credibility within the organizations it serves and t o safe-

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guarding anonymity and confidentiality while providing a comprehensive range of clinical services to employees. Consortia also offer the advantage of allowing each individual member the freedom to develop its own unique htemal policies and procedures based upon internal organizational needs. The service centre model (Table 1, option 3b) is related to the consortium in several ways except that within this EAP delivery option each organization has a separate contract for a specified type and amount of assistance. Ownership in this model belongs not to the organizations hut to the service providers. Another variant to a consortium is when organizations simply pool their financial resources to maKimize their ability to purchase clinical services for their employees but do not shax any of the operational or functional responsibilities of service provision (Table 1, option 3a) (Fossen, 1975; Keohane and Newman, 1984:Isenberg, 1985). In the 1970’s,the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) encouraged the development of consortia in the United States by providing organizational and fmancial aqsistance. Prior to that initiative the only consortium in existence was the Industrial Counselling Service in Greensboro. Noah Carolina, independently initiated in 1966. In Canada the first formal consonium to be created was LEAC, the London (Ontario) Employee Assistance Consortium in 1976. This w a followed by COMBO in Barrie, Ontario. The newest addition to the genre is the Greater Hamilton (Ontario) Employee Assistance Consortium, inaugurated in 1991. F’resently there m over twenty active consortia in N o h America (Table 2). Consortia are created with the intention of reaching under-serviced small businesses. While there is much debate on what actually constitutes a small business, the common perception has been to include all those organizations with less than 100 employees in this category though some researchers consider any workplace of under 500 or even lD00 employees to fit into this classification. Table 3 summarizes the number of member organizations, the total number of employees eligible for service and the average number of employees per member organization for twelve consortia. It clearly illustrates that the assumption that EAP consortia are exclusively for small organizations is a myth. The workforce size for member

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TABLE 3.EAP Consortia Participants. Location Qge&&m Akron, Ohio 9 Atlanta, Georgia 2 Dallas\Fort Worth, Texas 25 Grants Pass, Oregon 5 Greensboro, North Carolina 30 Philadelphia,Pennsylvania 26 Kalamazoo. Michigan 80 Lincoln, Nebraska 40 London, Ontario 15 Marion, Ohio 23 Summilt, New Jersey 3 Taunton, Massachusenes 16

Fmolovees

48,000 3,000 3,400 900

32,000 25.000 20,000 14,000 14,000 25,000 4,500 7,500

1500 136 180 1067 962 250 350 933 1087 1500 469

Sources: Fossen, 1874:ALMACA, 1975b;Ma% 1979;Masi. 1904;Thorensonand Hoskawa. 1984;and Janda. 1988.

organizations in consortia ranges from as small as 35 (Lynchburg) and 40 (Taunton)to as many as 16,000 ( h o n ) . Masi (1984) claims that consortia work best for companies with under 2,ooO employees yet in existing consortia dozens of active members have signifcantly more employees. Other characteristicsthat vary between consonia include the nature of the counselling service provided and thus types of problems addressed, h i t s on number of visits allowed or after which the employee must pay a supplementary fee. (five, ten, unlimited), the type and length of follow-up, and nature of case management provided. Some consortia staff provide seminars and training for mernber organization personnel, particularly managers and supervisors. Other consoRia have staff that routinely monitor the program and who evaluate the impact of their consonium’s clinical assistance to individual members in respect to service utilization and problem resolution. Another highly controversial issue has been the most appropriate manner in which to fmance a consortium. During the early interventionist years of the NIAAA, it provided threeyear stm-up funds for the majority of American-based COnSORia Fmancial responsibility for operations was transferred to the member organizations after the

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initial grant period which resulted in the cessation of operation for several consortia, including those in Baltimore, ,Maryland and Grant’s Pass, Oregon. Financial schemes that have been successfully adopted in consortia are varied and include fees based upon: i. membership independent of size ($25,000/year/organization); ii. per capita utilization ($15.00/employee); iii. per capita size (under 50 = $2000.00; 51-100 = $4,500); iv. initial fixed may membership fee ($l,ooOa) then monthly retainer gauged to the sire of organintion and use ($23o.cK)/month); v. per capita utilization ($10.00/employee) supplemented with a fee-for-service paid by the employee ($2O.oO/visit); and vi. flat annual fee ($2,500.00) plus a supplemental fee if over a threshold number of empluyees (500).(Fossen, 1974: Hallan, Neville and Datnoff, 1982; McClellan, 1982a).

D E V E W H N G A RESEARCH AGENDA htroduclon

Numerous assumptions about the strengths and weaknesses of consortia have been made from questioning their ability to operate as change agents, to challenging their record on reaching substance abusers, to assuming that a disproportionately low number of referrals are made by supervisory personnel within this delivery option. However, little of this has k e n formally validated. The greatest difficulty with attempting to draw any type of substantive conclusions on this aspect of Employee Assistance Programming provision is the general dearth of research on consortia. Shah and Groeneveld (1980) were the first to begin developing a research agenda for consortia when they asked several key questions that had never been adequately addressed before. They wondered if small employers actually wanted this type of service and at what size organizations were large enough to warrant their executives to think about generation of a specific service for alleviating problems? In addition they attempted to determine how worksites became aware of formal mechanisms used to assist employees with personal or work related problems. Masi (1979) had also recognized shortcomings in consortia research when she Listed several

EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE Q I J M € R L Y

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areas that required further research cost-effectiveness. staffimg, service centre location, service delivery, optimum size of member organizations and staff to membership ratios. Masi’s questions m primarily clinically orientated. To her Lqt can be added how successful are different consortia models, how are different consortia models administered and operated and who is being seen and why? The investigative context must be expanded from merely clinical inquiry to include the mezzo and macro levels of analysis. The research agenda also needs to consider factors such as: the impact of social learning; the role of workplace culture; how benefits offered to the workforce are perceived; organizational development issues; the levels of participation by various hers of the workforce from human resources to medical to front line supervisors to support and line staff; the relationship of the consoltia to the rest of the EAP comtnunity; and when the consortia was established with respect to the provision of other types of EAP models and services.

The lack of answers to these questions might explain why the Association of Labour-Management Consultants on Alcoholism (19SY) claimed that more EAP consortia have failed or never become operdtional than have stayed in service. What is required is a greater examination of consortia, how they operate, who uses them and their limitations. To answer all these questions and those that arise from their answers, a specific research agenda is needed but what type of investigation should be undertaken? In developing a research agenda both methods and also methodology issues need to be considered for by employing only traditional research approaches; large areas of inquiry may be omitted. Merhodology

The Scienrifrc Methodology

Historically, the scientific methodology has been the traditional and predominant manner in which mearchers have asked and

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attempted to answer questions. Most social science work is steeped in the scientific methodology which is based on the following five interrelated assumptions:

i. objectivity assumpticm4he social world is knowable in the same way the natural world is knowable; u. subject/object separation assumption-the subjective knower and the object to be known must be kept separate and distinct, or else the subjective knower will infect objective truth, iii. empirical assumption-information gained through the senses, through observation, is considered the only means through which to be objective; iv. rationalist assumption-cause and effect predominate social science research. Social life is orderly and rational with events not merely happening without cause or effect. The goal then becomes to develop universal laws about the social world and social behaviour; and v. unity of the sciences assumption-all sciences share the same method of learning about the world, which leads to objective scien!ifii conclusions free of subjectivity and personal bias. These five assumptions are associated with a howledge generating approach that emphasizes rationality, impersonality, prediction and control of events (Nielsen 1990: 4-5). Whiie a highly respected and emulated methodology on which much EAP data collection has been based, the scientific method is a limiting model not just in EM research but for all types of investigation. Despite its claims, only naive social science practioners can maintain the belief that inquiry is truly value-neutral, dispassionate and disinterested without political goals, objectives and agendas. By exclusively following this procedure we continue to exclude a variety of research formats and the ability to better understand not only consortia but also the relationship to other mechanism of setvice delivery. Neveaheless, we cannot abandon empiricism totally as that would lead us open to aretum to a period of inquiry based upon "blatant bias and superstition" (Nielsen 1990: 31). While retaining aspects and methods from the scientific approach researchers should not and must not allow this format to dominate the Employee Assistance Program research agenda.

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The Feminist Critique

What the feminist agenda brings to research is not new methods but a new definition of the research problem. There m only three core methods for gathering research data: listening to informants; observing behaviour and examining historical records warding. 1987: 2). Feminist mearch refocuses how we defme problems and how we identify what is to be studied. It takes the perspective of examining problems of those who have not dominated the culture nor decision making. It challenges not only the questions that have teen traditionally asked but also those that have not been asked. The goal is to provide women's explanations of social phenomenon. The context of discovery is as important as the context of justification (Harding, 1987). Unlike the scientific methodology, it clearly states its bias and lets all readers h o w the perspective upon which !he analysis is based. I'ractioners using this methodology are allowed and even encouraged to interact with those they are studying. Rrsonal involvement is an appropriate activity. Feminist research, in comparison with the scientific methodology, has been described as contextual, inclusive, experiential, involved, socially relevant, multimethodological, complete though not necessarily replicable, open to the environment and inclusive of emotions and events as they occur and BS they are experienced (Reinharz, 1983). Eichler (1985) postulated four epistemological criteria as a baseline for feminist research: i. all howledge is socially constmcted; ii. dominant ideology is that of the ruling group; iii. there is no such thiig as value-free science; and iv. as people's perspectives vary systematically with their position in society, the perspective of men and women vary. From welfare capitalism to Occupational Alcoholism to Employee Assistance Rogramming, women and men have teen heated diffemtly. Early welfare capitalism programs were designed to p r o m women frum the harsh realities of the newly indusaializing world. EAPs emerging from Occupational Alcoholism Programs were historically male biased in regard to alcoholism, resulting in a male orientated program and a male orientated paradigm for interpreting problems

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that existed in the workplace. Consequentially, workplace issues have an androcentric bias, omitting and neglecting both the views and needs of women. In the LEAC’s initial year of operation, 1976-1977, only fourteen per cent of its caseload was female. By 1987 it had risen to 53 per cent though the workforce was but one-third female (Malone, 1988). From the feminist perspective there is a unique standpoint not only caused by gender but produced as a result of being part of a dominated class. Nielmn (1990 24) thus claims that the feminist research perspective can apply not only to women but also to the working class and to blue collar men. This leads to yet another array of interesting and valid research questions that have yet to be addressed in the literature: What is the perspedive of the workforce to the consortia? Do perceptions vary between front line employees for whom the programs are targeted and those who initiated the consortia? What would the consortia look Lie if constructed by female employees or by working class members of the organization rather than by their managers and corporate directors? What features could be added to the model to create a more productive work environment? How can the consortia be used to reduce the types of personal problems that manifest themselves because of the structure of work and the power relationships in the workplace? What was the ratio of male to female workers in consortia that failed compared to those that have succeeded? Does the division of labour account for any differences in outcomes, success and utilization? What are the male to female ratios with respect to workforce population, those seeking assistance, those whose problem was deemed to be successfully resolved and the amount of time spent in counselling? The subject being studied, together with the interests and understanding of the researcher, should inform the choice of methods. Simply adopting non-sexist language and producing tabulations by gender does not rid one of bias. The concepts and perspective one brings to the design of yuestionnaires and other data-gathering

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inshurnents affect the types of questions asked and how they are presented (Moore, Milroy, and Andrew, 1988: 182). The feminist approach opens us to many valid questions that should be pursued with respect to consortia and EAPs in general and thus should not be omitted from our research agenda. Methods to Consider in Consorlia Research Case Studies

A case study is an empirical inquiry that in attempting to comprehend meaning investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context. It is employed when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident and when multiple sources of evidence are available (Ym,1989). It is an intensive and detailed study of one item or of a group as an entity through direct observation, self-repom, systematic interviewing and related means (Tesch, 1990: 39). The case study method is an intensive, holistic description and analysis of a single social unit, situation or phenomenon. It asks the questions how and why, focusing on process, understanding and interpretation rdtheX than on deduction and experimentation. “Interpretation in context” is the fundamental difference between case studies and research derived purely from methods employed in the scientific methodology (Memam, 1988: 21). Case study has been far and above the most popular method of examining consortia to this time. Since the emergence of the consortia model of EAP service delivery, those involved with consnma have been writiig to describe its developmental process emphasizing the strengths and weaknesses of establishing individual sites. ’he literature has c a e studies of the Overlook Hospital Consortium in Sununitt, New Jersey (ALMACA, 1975a), Greensboro, Noah Camh a Consdum (ALMACA, 1975b3, London, Ontario Employee Assistance Consortium (Gavin, 1978), Taunton, Massachusetts Consortium (Masi,1979). state of South Carolina operation (Hallan, Neville and Damoff, 1982), Philadelphia and Disnict Feded Civil Serviee program (Janda, 1982), Tri-County Employee Assistance Program in Akrun, Ohio (McClellan, 1987) and Employee Assistance of Central Virginia Incorporated, in Lynchburg, Virginia (ALMACA, 1989).

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Typically articles include caseload statistics and basic demographic information such as:

--

cases opened, closed and active; type of presenting problem (alcohol, marriage, fmancial); outcome (satisfactory resolution, referral, termination); gender ratio; source of referral, clientage; employment level; and length of service.

Despite its distinctive descriptive naiure, case study is viewed as a less desirable form of inquiry, primarily because of an assumed lack of precision, objectivity, rigor and its general lack of outcome generalizability. As well, those operating from the scientific perspective have perceived case study’s traditional association with qualitative research as diminishing its analytic value. Yet a case study can be consttucted in amanner where it has construct, internal and external validity and reliability. It is particularly suited to situations where it is impossible to separate the phenomenon’s variables fmm its context (Ym,1989). A case study can be employed to test or build theory, to incorporate random or purposive sampling and to include both quantitative and qualitative data as there are no specific approaches for data collection or analysis associated with it (Memam,1988). As published research on most active consortia is non-existent, case studies are a valid and useful procedure to begin building a database and to use as a precursor to funher research in this field.

Comparative Studies The f m t issue to consider when conducting a comparative study is what to compare. It is essential to anchor conceptualizations in theoretically and logically derived phenomenon. However, minimal conceptualization has occunrd with the consoaium model. The value of good comparative research is that it consists not merely of comparing but also of explaining. This procedure allows for discussion of what one wants to know and answers why (Przeworski,

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1987). The end purpose of comparative research is to reach a stage of truly comparative analysis where questions and answers are based on well-groundedtheory, generalizable concepts and comparative data (Lundquist, 1991). This is generally lacking in much of the EAP literature and most certainly in the area of consortia. The examination of similarities and differences in systems should be done by reasoned hypothesis testing rather than by the applicarion of description posing as explanation. Description, such as in m e studies, should not be the end goal nor deemed a satisfactory end product. Description is only a stepping-stone to abstraction and gaicralization. Yet comparison only is also inadequate as the research must move onto analysis. Oxley (1991: 73-74) lists several purposes of comparative studies that are readily transferable to examining consortia or for that matter any aspect of EM development: i. to extend knowledge by getting to know and informing others;

ii. to produce ideas for new policies; iii. to obtain materials tn be able to reject arguments based upon

narrow perceptions; iv. to examine theoretical procedures used by researchers in other settings; v. to examine the operation of systems in a wide context to better understand the systems and to make them better working; vi. to postulate a system and examine the interrelationships of variables in consortia to those in other EM delivery models; vii. to accumulate knowledge and ideas to formulate hypotheses; and v i k to be able to adequately test well defmed hypotheses. Problems that have been linked to the compamtive method include reliance on secondary data analysis, organization and availability of data, concerns with confidentiality, comparability of the data, and the ways in which problems are defmed and classified. There is extensive possibility for this type of research procedure with consortia but yet again, studies are aU but non-existent in the literature. Thorenson and Hosokawa (1984) did repon on one small comparative study that examined the Lincoln, Nebraska consortium with four university based programs across ten dimensions to compare model design and implementation strategies. Much value

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and utility lies in not only comparing one consortium to another but in comparing consortia to other types of EAF' delivery options as outlined in the opening typology (Table 1). me main task of comparative analysis is to understand broad contextual changes; what type of organizations choose the consortium model versus other forms of EAP service delivery? Once this is established there are a multitude of variables that could be cumpared and analyzed in developing a better theoretical understanding of EAP delivery mechanisms including: the impact of developmental time hames; differences due to location; equality and equity issues; how benefits are structured; fee paying arrangements; legitimation; and intelligibility. Procedures for integrating this theoretical understanding into future data collection could allow for more maningful comparative analysis and also for improved program development, promotion and clinical practice.

CONCLUSION A lack of clear aims and methods will lead to wasted efforts, regardless of the research technique employed. Theory depends at least panly on one's social location, social identity and research purposes (Nielsen, 1990). The consortium design is an innovative model and the latest to emerge in the on-going evolution of Employee Assistance Programming. Consortia provide services to many Organizations that otherwise would not actively be engaged in awisting their troubled employees or their family members. Consortia allow organizations to maintain ownership of all internal aspects of their programs while also being involved in the decision making of service provision without having to bear all the adminisWdtive and financial responsibilities alone. Lastly, they also provide a vast area for research as little systematic work has been done on consortia. There is much to leam in moving to knowledge from assumption. While no single approach dominates this field, those few who have written about consortia have almost exclusively chosen to use the case study method. McClellan (1982b) stated that many occupational program specialists believed that the future of work-based alcoholism programs and EAPs is closely linked to consortia. In

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1983 the Association of Labour-Management Administrators and Consultants on Alcoholism (ALMACA) made the development of consortia its highest priority (Masi, 1984).Thus there is obviously a need for more research in this still new a e a but a variety of methods and methodological perspectives should be employed with none fostered to the exclusion of others. The creation of taxonomies are valuable as one means of coming to t e r n with the variations and differences in the ever developing field of Employee Assistance. However, taxonomic construction on its own is not enough. It can and should be used, however, in the pursuit of well defmed research questions and the building of theoretical standpoints. Ohenvise we simply create bener organized descriptions. The state of our understanding remains such that a variety of types of research is the best mute to follow in developing a research agenda. REFERENCES ALMACA (1975a), “A HospitalBased Consortiurn”Lobour-Maiiagemen1 Alcoholism Journal. 5(2): 1-15. ALMACA (1975b), “ A Privste ConsortiumThat Works,”Labour-Management Alcoholism Journal. 5(3): 1-18. ALMACA (1989), “How an EAP Consortium Meeu Employer Needs in Lynchburg. Virginia,” TheALMACAN. 19(5): 18-21. Canadian Labour Congress (1986) Join1 Employe# Assislance Programme. Oaawa: Canadian Labour Congress. Eichler, Margit (1980). “And Ibe Work Never En& Feminist Cozhibntions,” Canadian Review of Sm’oIogyand Anlhmpology. 2 2 619-644. Fossen, Pecr (1980), “Occupational l405&g for Alcoholism: The Consartium,” Labour-ManaEemenl Alcoholism Journal. 4(6): 1-12. Gavin, Mike (1978) Consorlium. Toronto:Addiction Research Foundation. Hallan, J.; Neville, M.and Damoff, A. (1982). “Occupational Programsin South Carolina.” Labour-Management AIcoholism Jownal. ll(4): 151-160. Harding, Sandra (l987), Feminism and Melhodology, Bloomington:University of Indiana Press. Howenon, Gary (1979). “Cooperative OccupationalProgram for Small CompaNes in a Rural Area.” Labour-Manogemenr Al~coholismJourml. 9(3), 98-100. Isenberg, Susan (1985). “ E M Service Centre Model,” in S.K l m i c h , J. Francek md C. Moore (&.), The Human Resource MoMgemenr Handbmk’. Toronto: Raeger. Janda, Beverly (1988), “The Peer Panel: An EAP Evaluation Resource.” EM Digesr. 8(2): 51-54. Keohane, Raymond and N e m q Carrie (1984). “A Family Agency’s Approach

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