About us

LifeAssist is a member of the LifeSense Group.

TraumAssist is a division of LifeAssist. TraumAssist has been serving banks, retailers, employers, schools and the broader community for more than a decade. We have earned the respect of the traumatology industry and are recognised as a leading specialist provider of trauma assistance services in Southern Africa. We have set the benchmark for rapid response and are unique in our holistic approach to trauma management and crime prevention.

The LifeSense Group originated in 1991 with the establishment of the Health Maintenance Organisation − now known as LifeSense Corporate Health Care. In 1999, the company restructured under the LifeSense Group banner in order to incorporate LifeSense Clinic Solutions, LifeSense Disease Management, LifeSense Human Resource Management and LifeSense Financial Services.

The evolving of the Group in terms of focus, experience and expertise, over the years, has enabled it to establish an in-depth understanding of the health, human resource and financial risk management requirements that exist within South African companies.

LifeSense's superior service and product offering is backed up by the fact that the Group and/or its subsidiary companies have received numerous awards, such as being voted the most admired HIV/AIDS risk management company for five consecutive years in independent research conducted in the healthcare industry. This award was received with the aid of the Companion™ HIV/AIDS Patient Care Management software, the most advanced HIV/Aids patient care management software in the market today, fully developed in-house.

The LifeSense Group's 'no compromise' approach in all it does extends to LifeAssist, TraumAssist, LifeSense Corporate Healthcare and LifeSense Financial Services.

Employee wellbeing programmes

LifeAssist offers creative employee wellbeing programme (EWP) solutions in partnership with employers to meet organisational objectives.

We have a passion for cultivating robust and caring organisations, families and communities by assisting people to become more resourceful, resilient and responsible for their personal and professional wellbeing. We do this through our unique engagement model.

We are committed to rendering professional, ethical and efficient services and hold ourselves accountable to the client, our members, our peers and relevant professional bodies.

It is our intention to optimise the synergies of partnerships with the client and, where appropriate, other role players in the health and wellness arena – i.e. Human Resources, Occupational Health & Safety, Medical Schemes, Absenteeism Managers, HIV/Aids programmes, etc.

Our clients

Corporate organisations invest in the LifeAssist EWP as a catalyst for employee engagement. The objective of the EWP is to assist the employer to cultivate a culture of care within the organisation, identify and address workplace issues and support leadership. This has proven effective in:

• Improving productivity
• Retaining engaged employees
• Reducing absenteeism.

It is estimated that South Africa is losing an estimated R12 Billion a year due to absenteeism, of which between R1.8 and R2.2 billion can be attributed to the effects of HIV/Aids (Article in the Business Report, 'Absenteeism Costs R12 billion per Year').  The EWP has also been successful in assisting organisations to meet the 'triple bottom line' objectives (3BL − people, planet and profit).

Our members

We acknowledge that work and personal life are intertwined and therefore extend our services to the employee and his or her immediate family.

Service delivery

We respect the right to privacy and choice.

Our members can access the services through various media:

• Care Centre – 24/7/365, unlimited, confidential, multi-lingual telephone support for counselling, health information and advice and scheduling of face-to-face sessions
• Face-to-face counselling by qualified professionals – sessions are not limited to a per person, per event or per annum basis, but each case is managed professionally and sessions are allocated in accordance with best-practice protocols
• Training workshops
• Website
• Print media − creating awareness of the EWP and promoting health and wellness.

We have a responsibility to communicate effectively. Our staff is sensitised to cultural diversity and differing health beliefs. We also try as far as possible to speak to our members in their mother tongue. Hence, within our staff complement, we have the ability to communicate verbally in the five most commonly spoken official languages in SA – English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho.

Our affiliate network

We pride ourselves on the calibre of our affiliates. We apply a stringent accreditation process whereby we verify their professional qualifications, assess their professionalism and other relevant personal and business competencies. We also ensure that they are supervised and that they receive regular debriefing.

We have a nationwide presence.

The composition of our network is as follows:

• Therapists: Psychologists, counsellors
• Advisors: Financial and legal
• Wellness: Dieticians, biokineticists, doctors and nurses
• Other: Health spas; masseurs; shelter facilities; safety and security assessors.

Scope of services

Work-related and personal problems

Trauma services

By definition, trauma is a real or perceived threat to a person's life resulting from an out of the ordinary event that is so intense that it renders a person powerless and overwhelms his or her ability to cope. A traumatic event involves actual or threatened death, violence or serious injury.

TraumAssist's trauma response includes:

• Crime or accident scene containment/diffusing
• Trauma counselling
• Victim empowerment interventions such as ID parade and court appearance preparation
• Crime prevention training
• Security and safety assessments
• Shelter facilities.

Examples of traumatic incidents include:

• Bank robberies
• Hijacking
• Accident
• Rape or an assault
• Burglary or an armed robbery
• The loss of a loved one
• Natural disaster
• Murder
• Domestic violence
• Trauma of a family member

Psycho-social counselling

• Occupational
• Career change
• Stress management
• Burnout
• Retrenchment
• Retirement
• Substance abuse
• Shift work
• Trauma
• Physical and sexual abuse
• Hijacking
• Suicide
• Armed robbery
• Relationship problems
• Divorce
• Parent/child
• Abusive relationships
• Interpersonal conflict
• Diversity management
• Depression
• Bereavement
• HIV/Aids
• Substance abuse
• Adjustment problems
• Diversity management
• Anxiety.

Financial and Legal advice

• Telephonic, electronic (Website) and face-to-face.

Lifestyle management/Wellness

Training

Quality assurance

LifeAssist is registered with EAPA (Employee Assistance Professionals Association).

Our Care Centre staff is supervised on a day-to-day basis and all calls are voice-recorded for quality assurance purposes.

We use world-class call centre technology.

A panel of experts assisted in the verification of our case management protocols. These are periodically reviewed.

Affiliates are registered with the professional bodies relating to their professions – i.e. Health professionals, HPCSA and the respective professions associations. Financial advisors are FAIS and FSB compliant.

Our staff and affiliates have access to courses for continuing professional development and soft skills training.

Accountability

We are committed to rendering professional, ethical and efficient services and hold ourselves accountable to our clients, our members, our peers and relevant professional bodies.

Reporting

Every interaction with our members – telephonic, face-to-face and electronic – is assimilated and processed through our award winning Companion® computer system to generate data that enable us to:

• Monitor utilisation
• Identify trends
• Case manage
• Assess risk.

The data intelligence equips us to consult strategically and initiate proactive intervention.

Detailed reports are presented to the client each quarter. Utilisation summaries are presented each month.

Contact us

Karen Simpson, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

PO Box 1774

Parklands

2121

86 Oxford Road

Houghton Estate

2198

Our corporate webaddress is www.lifeassist.co.za.