Posts Tagged ‘Health’
February 1st, 2010 in Health No Comments
How Happy You Are at the Office May Be as Important to your Health as What You Eat.
Job satisfaction can have as much influence on health and longevity as diet or exercise. One recent study noted in this article found that men who didn’t vent about unfair treatment at work doubled their chances of heart disease and heart attack. One Finnish study found that a major downsizing among municipal workers resulted in a five-fold increase in death from heart attacks, and even those not downsized were more likely to die sooner than the norm. U.S. research has shown that people losing their jobs in their 50s were more than twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke in the following decade.
One key factor influencing this situation is the degree of control employees have over the demands of their job. “A combination of high demands and low control,” notes the author, brings on health problems and an earlier death. The amount of healthcare access a person gets doesn’t seem to make a difference; this trend is also found in countries where free healthcare is available to everyone.
Key problem areas like smoking, physical inactivity during leisure time and fewer fruits and vegetables help to skew this crisis lower down the socioeconomic ladder, and the article suggests that this gap can be narrowed through public policies involving proactive health insurance and a shortening of the unemployment period. In our current economic climate, however, the author calls on employees to take control of those things in their power – eating right, exercising to relieve stress and raise spirits and taking care to find the best cultural fit in the workplace.
Source: Katherine Hobson, U.S. News & World Report (Washington), Feb. 1, 2010.
August 23rd, 2009 in Health No Comments
This article addresses “presenteeism,” the productivity lost by employees who are on the job but accomplishing little because they are distracted or suffering from fatigue or depression. The author believes this issue is particularly important now that many employers are financially unable to invest in infrastructure enhancements, making worker productivity more important than ever before. A recently completed multi employer study measured the total costs of employee illnesses. (more…)
August 11th, 2009 in Green, Health No Comments
Good air quality is an important factor in maintaining a healthy and comfortable office environment. This article takes a look at the latest techniques to marry the best of ventilation and air filtration systems with low emission, environmentally friendly furnishings to enhance the health and performance of employees and bolster the organizational bottom line. Notable efforts discussed include:
- The use of low-emitting carpets, low-volatile organic paints and urea-formaldehyde-free wood products;
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January 16th, 2009 in Health No Comments
Today two out of every three American adults is either overweight or obese and it’s predicted that by 2015, 40 percent of U.S. adults will be obese. Furthermore, notes the article, “Nearly 80 percent of obese adults have diabetes, coronary artery disease, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, or gallbladder disease. 40 percent have two or more of these conditions, with obesity linked to 400,000 deaths per year.”
For employers, this health catastrophe translates into high medical claim expenses, ever increasing short- and long-term disability expenses, higher absenteeism and falling productivity even when employees do come in.
This article explores the results of two major national surveys that shed light on these issues. The first survey examines weight-management programs offered by employers to counter obesity. The second survey explores employee views about these programs. The article briefly discusses the survey methodologies and then goes into some detail about the findings and their implications. Among the more interesting results:
- 71 percent of employers overall and 92 percent of employers with over 5000 employees agree that workplace weight-management programs are appropriate and effective in addressing their concerns about medical expenses and lost productivity;
- 80 percent of employees surveyed felt that weight-management and health lifestyle programs belong in the workplace, with only 10 percent (largely lower income, less educated workers) strongly believing that such programs interfered with privacy;
- 55 percent of employees agree that “seriously overweight or obese employees raise premiums for everyone”;
- Employers were more likely to believe obesity a result of poor lifestyle choices (93 percent) or preventable (87 percent) than “out of one’s control” (41 percent) or futile to treat (18 percent); while
- 81 percent of employees felt that obesity had a genetic component, although only 11 percent felt strongly about this.
