The health of employees is continually getting more attention from governments around the world. Mid-may saw Barack Obama’s spokesman say “As a result of many successful program at businesses across the country, workers have become more engaged in their own health, productivity is increasing, absenteeism is dropping, and employers are passing some of their health care savings to their workers”. 

Obama felt these programs were so successful, that his government is investigating the best approach to implementing a workplace health program for US federal employees.

In Australia, several state governments have launched government-funded workplace health programs for the private sector. This was initially started by the states but more recently, the commonwealth government has distributed funds to all states and territories for similar activities. While it is still early days, it will be of interest to see how this unrolls. There is no doubt that using government funds to implement effective workplace health programs will be a successful way of improving the health of our nation. 

Continue reading Obama Promotes Workplace Health

When your company goes to invest in a new service it is always nice to be able to try the service before investing the money and time into it. At FitSense Australia we are very technology driven and therefore use a number of software programs to assist us in our day to day work. The ability to try these programs before investing in them has been very beneficial in allowing us to get the best fitting software for our company. However, this is ‘try before you buy’ approach is very difficult to do with a corporate health service.

Therefore FitSense Australia has launched our free health assessment campaign. We are now offering three 45-minute health assessments to any organisation looking at implementing a health and wellness program, or wanting to improve their current program. This allows you to experience the high quality, and benefits of our service, prior to deciding on your workplace health provider.

At FitSense Australia, we pride ourselves on the quality of our service, and the benefits we offer our clients. That is why we are offering the free health assessments, because we are confident you will like the experience and want to offer the assessments to all your staff.

To register for the free health assessments, click here.

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Health coaching is a great term used to describe a service where a health expert assists an individual to improve their health. Similar to a sports coach who works with an athlete to improve their performance, the health coach works with an individual to develop suitable health goals, an appropriate action plan to achieve these goals and then assists the individual work towards these goals.

FitSense Australia provides health coaching as part of our LifeCheck Health Assessments, however a more comprehensive health coaching service is also available. This involves a 30-60 minute one-on-one session with an exercise physiologist.

Not only does this provide the individual with support from a professional, it also provides motivation and scientifically based assistance to achieve the goals.

However, as with any new trend, there are also a lot of so-called Health Coaches out there with very little background or qualification in this area. A health coach is a very beneficial type of assistance if you wish to improve your health, however pick carefully. If you want health coaching for your company or organisation, contact FitSense.

Continue reading Health Coaching in the Workplace

As we all know we are in the middle of an economic downturn; how could we forget with the media highlighting it each day.

I recently heard a word that has been popular during recent times - “Rightsizing”. Effectively this means downsizing, but it betrays a less negative meaning. This rightsizing is unfortunately becoming more frequent during these tough economic times. However, there are many potential costs of reducing staff numbers.

While many business advisers can provide you with a list of future costs associated with downsizing, such impacts have actually been researched and reported. An article titled ‘ The Impact of Downsizing on Workplace Attitudes’ was published in the Group and Organisation Management journal in 1999.

Firstly, this highlighted the different reactions to downsizing by management when compared to front-line employees. One of the big costs associated with downsizing is reduced morale of those employees who managed to keep their jobs. These employees have to undertake a greater workload, under greater pressure which ultimately results in increased stress, reduced company loyalty and reduced performance.

A recent article in Fortune magazine further highlighted by mentioning that medical claims increased ninefold among employees who were left behind after downsizing.

What this means is that if you are really forced to downsize, then it needs to be a priority that you focus on the health and wellness of your remaining staff to ensure that they can continue to lead your company in the right direction.

Continue reading “Rightsizing” in the Economic Downturn

Browsing through some online blogs recently came across a really interesting post on the HR Marketer Blog. It related to a page in the annual report of Johnson and Johnson. This page included a table titled ‘Sustainability Measures’. It provided a summary of the company’s ability to protect the environment, respect their employees, and be responsible to the community.

From a health point of view, it was interesting to see that they actually reported on four key measures employee health. These health indicators were:

• Smoking
• Hypertension
• High cholesterol
• Physical inactivity

This information showed an improvement in all four indicators by Johnson & Johnson staff in the two years between 2005 and 2007. Additionally, overall staff statistics indicated Johnson & Johnson employees were of greater health than the general population.

What is most impressive about this though is the priority that management obviously place on the health and wellness of their staff. Not only do they collect this information, but they report on it as part of their annual report, highlighting how important such characteristics are a success of an organisation.

A real credit the Johnson & Johnson, and it would be great to see such reporting from more companies.

Continue reading Employee Health Indicators

It is common knowledge that physical activity is beneficial to the health and wellbeing of all individuals. A little more than a week ago the Australian government officially released its physical activity recommendations specifically for older Australians.

Under these recommendations, older Australians are encouraged to accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity per day. These recommendations apply to all older people, regardless of their level of health and ability.

This physical activity can come in a range of forms but is best to include some moderate intensity of aerobic activity, strength activity, flexibility and balancing activities.

Of special importance are those individuals who have stopped undertaking regular physical activity. They are encouraged to start reintroducing light physical activity back into their daily routine.

Australia has one of the longest life expectancies in the world, and there are currently over 2.8 million Australians aged 65 years and above. This number is expected to triple by 2060, coupled with an increase in life expectancy to 90 years of age for an Australian woman.

With more Australians getting older, and the average working age increasing, it is more and more important to ensure that physical activity is maintained throughout every Australian’s life.

Continue reading Physical Activity Recommendations for Older Australians

In another promosing sign, the government is continuing to prioritise workplace health initiatives. One state government is now officially looking for a panel of accredited service providers for their state-based program which is to begin on 1 July, 2009.

The program has been in gradual progression and has recently undergone a pilot program which has obviously proven successful enough of the government to open up the initiative across the State.

In summary, the benefits of the program is that it will pay for, or subsidise, the implementation of workplace health assessments across the state. Additionally, they will also fund workplace-based health promotion programs.

We look forward to seeing how the program unrolls as it is undoubtedly being watched closely by other state and territory governments.

Continue reading State Based Workplace Health Programs

We all have varying levels of health, and we all have varying motivation to maintain or improve our health. A recent study has shown that a health scare is one of the most effective means of motivating an individual to improve their health.

The study showed that after experiencing a health scare, smokers are three times more likely to quit. Unfortunately the same was not true for weight loss. Individuals who were overweight or obese and suffered a similar health scare, did not go on to have substantial weight loss.

The researchers determined that this was due to a lack of support. There are strong links between weight loss and emotional support at home and work.

From a practical point of view this has two interesting outcomes. Firstly, it highlights that if effective programs are implemented after any health scare, then the opportunity to make improvements is much greater. Secondly, it shows that in many cases people need such a scare to act as motivation to make change.

It also highlights that weight loss is a very difficult challenge, it can be long-term, require a lot of support, and be very demanding goal to achieve. It also shows that any effective weight management program needs ongoing support and assistance to maximise effectiveness.

Continue reading Scaring You to Good Health

For this post I have opted to include a short article that we recently published in our bi-monthly Wellness eNewsletter. It is a real life account of an individual who was motivated and determined to achieve their exercise goals.

Growing up, I did just about every sport available at school and on the weekends it was usually netball and Little Athletics. In my early 20s it was mixed netball and a bit of soccer. By the time I was 28, I had spent a number of years with very little activity when living and travelling overseas so my fitness levels & weight had been quite the yo-yo.

Two years ago, at the age of 28, I decided to start running in order to lose weight and build my general fitness. Initially, this was enough motivation to get me out the door. Starting out was hard and not only a struggle physically, but it was also quite tough mentally. My first couple of attempts began with a short run, until I was out of breath, and I would walk the rest of the way home. I remember quite clearly the first time I actually ran for 7 minutes continuously without stopping! To me, this was a huge achievement! Not long after this, I managed 11 minutes without stopping. For a couple of weeks I continued with jogging for as long as I could and then a combination of walking and jogging for the remainder of the way, never anything over about 3 or 4 km and mostly on flat ground.

I remember hearing a quote about exercise once that went something along the lines of “if you do something for 22 days in a row, it becomes routine”. For me, this meant getting up a bit earlier every morning and if I wasn’t going for a jog, I’d go for a walk. Sure, I may have stayed in bed a couple of those 22 mornings but when it came down to it, it was definitely all about consistency and not giving up.

The mental side of running was quite a struggle at times, and can still be today. I didn’t want to stop and walk and give up, but in reality I couldn’t physically keep running so walking was the only way I could get through it. Running is a very demanding activity on the body and therefore very difficult at the start. Some days were better than others and some days I whinged and moaned about being hopeless at running, before, during and after the run! At this stage I remember reading a magazine article about mental toughness and how just thinking more positively about the whole process can make you enjoy it a lot more. It’s funny how the right frame of mind can really make a difference (much to the relief of my partner)!

By consistently getting up in the mornings to go for a run (probably 3 times a week at the start) and a walk on the other days, I gradually started to improve. Improvement for me was running at the start for longer before having to walk, and also needing to walk less and less in each run. It was also around this time that I was beginning to actually enjoy being out there! Finally! I was enjoying the challenge of trying to reach my goal which was to run for 30mins (5km) without stopping. I also enjoyed how it made me feel each day with more energy, and I was also losing weight (in conjunction with eating better). I had definitely formed a new habit, in fact, I was close to being addicted.

Running for 30 minutes without stopping took me a number of months but if I hadn’t remained consistent with getting out there in the mornings, I’m quite sure I would have given up through frustration and not seeing instant results. The rewards from having stuck with it continue to come: I’m fitter then I’ve ever been in my life, I’m in a healthy weight range and I can now run comfortably for more than an hour. And the best thing, I love starting my day by going for a run and I never thought I’d ever say that!

Continue reading Becoming an ‘Exerciser’

We all know that being overweight or obese have a detrimental impact on health.

We all know that Australia is becoming one of the fattest nation in the world.

Obesity is defined as having a BMI greater than 30. This accounts for approximately one in five Australians. However an additional two in five Australians are classified as overweight, meaning they have a BMI that is greater than 25.

The cost of obesity in the workplace is continuing to become evident. Some recent data suggests:

• More employers are becoming concerned about the impact of obesity in their workplace;
• Workers with a BMI greater than 40 make twice as many workers comp with claims as their healthy weight colleagues;
• Obese workers have more absent days from work;
• Obese workers are less productive when they are at work.

Then there are the obvious impacts to the individual who suffers from obesity. These include a less active lifestyle, inability to undertake some functional activities, poor health, and the greater risk of injury, illness and disease.

With the obesity rate growing, it means more and more people are struggling to achieve a healthy weight status. It also means that more and more organisations will benefit from the implementation of weight management programs.

If this is something that your organisation is concerned about them now is the perfct time to look at implementing a weight management focused wellness program. This will have obvious benefits from a financial point of view.

Continue reading The Price of Obesity