Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP)
The SFU Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) is a voluntary and confidential support service that provides professional assistance to help you or your family members resolve issues that affect your personal and work lives. The University retains the services of an external program provider, Homewood Health, who are staffed with certified counsellors and registered coaches.
The program is available to all full-time, part-time, continuing and temporary staff in APEX, APSA, SFUFA, POLY, Internal Postdoctoral Fellows, and continuing staff in CUPE. Temporary staff in CUPE, and staff in TSSU, including the English Language & Culture/Interpretation & Translation Program (ELC/ITP), who are not covered by the student health plan MySSP also have access. Research employees are currently covered until December 31, 2024
Professional Counselling Services
EFAP counselling can help with a wide range of issues including, but not limited to:
- Stress
- Depression/anxiety
- Trauma
- Anger management
- Relationship issues
- Life transitions
- Family or workplace conflicts
- Alcohol, drug, and gambling issues
- Grief and bereavement
- Financial worries
You can refer yourself by simply calling Homewood Health at 1-800-663-1142, online at Homeweb or mobile application e-AP.
Users will also have access to Homewood Health's network of registered licensed counsellors who identify as having extensive experience in counselling clients within the Indigenous community, as well as many counsellors identifying as experts in Inuit, Metis, First Nations and Residential Schools, LGBTQ2+ and BIPOC communities.
For users who wish to access support through a more culturally traditional approach with Elders and/or Knowledge Keepers through Homewood Health, they may call the Intake Centre with a self-identified Elder and/or Knowledge Keeper of their choosing. In circumstances where the Elder is not self-identified at the time of intake, Homewood Health would offer to connect the user to one of their clinical experts who are specialized in Indigenous Culture.
Pathfinder
Pathfinder is part of your EFAP offered through Homewood Health and is powered by Homeweb at no cost to the user. You may access Pathfinder on your smartphone, tablet or desktop (Invitation Code: SFU522). Pathfinder tailors personalized care plans and service recommendations based on your unique presenting concern(s). Pathfinder offers you and your family members the ability to create an individual profile, and includes an assessment of the severity of your concern(s) and combines the optimal clinical solution with your unique preferences to create a customized and curated care path. Some helpful resources that may be accessed through Pathfinder include:
- Life Smart Coaching services for nutrition, jumpstarting your wellness, smoking cessation, financial advice, legal advice, and parenting.
- Eldercare/childcare resource locater
- Sentio - Homewood Health's internet-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (iCBT) treatment program to treat anxiety and/or mild cases of depression
- Homewood MeetNow - where clinically appropriate, you can chat with a professional immediately
- Self-directed e-learning courses on a wide range of topics
- Video counselling
- Health and wellness library
How to access Homeweb and Pathfinder:
Step 1: Visit Homeweb and click "sign UP"
Step 2: Type in Simon Fraser University and click ‘Find it!’. Select from the list provided. Enter information into the required fields, choose an email and password, and click 'Next Step'.
Step 3: Confirm how you are covered by Homewood Health, (e.g. through your organization or the organization of a family member), and confirm your relationship to the organization (e.g. employee, spouse, dependent, etc.). Submit the additional information required and click ‘Sign Up’ at the bottom of the page.