WORKPLACE WELLNESS & STRESS MANAGEMENT

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We offer onsite treatments for acupuncture and seminars to educate how to improve your health. See our Corporate Health offerings at www.activelife-mobile.com.

According to Statistics Canada, the cost from all causes of employee absence alone is about $8.6 billion per year.

There are many causes for lost work time. Causes can be physical:

• Repetitive strain injuries from recurring motions such as typing
• Poor posture, common in people who sit for long periods of time
• Poor workplace setup (i.e. poor ergonomics) putting more physical stress on the body
• Physical labour

"62% routinely find that they end the day with work-related neck pain, 44% reported stressed-out eyes, 38% complained of hurting hands and 34% reported difficulty in sleeping because they were too stressed-out."
-- 2000 Integra Survey

Causes can also be mental or emotional, and stress can worsen many physical problems. According to The American Institute of Stress, "A 1997 three year study conducted by one large corporation found that 60% of employee absences could be traced to psychological problems that were due to job stress."

"Absentee-ism has tripled at the workplace in the last year due to stress"
--Good Morning America, ABC TV, 2001

Aside from stress, one of the fastest growing causes of pain in the workplace is repetitive-strain injuries (RSI). According to Statistics Canada, about 2.3 million Canadian adults suffer from RSIs. RSI is the name give to a group of conditions caused by repeating the same action over and over. This causes pain and swelling in the muscles, tendons, and small sacs of fluid that cushion the areas between tendons and bones (bursa). One of the most common RSI in the workplace is carpal tunnel syndrome.

Workplace Wellness Articles By Dr. Carr:

• Working Well
• Workplace Wellness

For the Employee:

Symptoms that may trouble you at your job include:

• Headaches
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Neck and shoulder pain
• Fatigue
• Stress
• Low back pain
• Frozen shoulder
• Frequent colds and flu

Because TCM works on rebalancing the whole body, all of the above symptoms can be relieved when attention is paid to the cause. Of course, in the spirit of our goal to help you to be the leader in your own health, learning methods to cope with stress, do self-acupressure, get proper nutrition, exercise, and adjust your workplace setup will all contribute to a speedier and continued feeling of wellness.

For the Employer:

Employee absences mean loss of money for the company. Here are some interesting and important facts for employers:

• According to the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, health care expenditures are almost 50% higher for workers who report greater levels of stress.

• The Bureau of Labor Statistics states that workers who take time off of work because of stress, anxiety, or a related disorder will be off the job for approximately 20 days.

• According to the 2000 Integra Survey, almost one in five respondents had quit a prior position because of job stress.

• Worksafe BC states that between 1997 and 2001, the average amount of days lost due to back injuries is 45 days.

• Health Canada states that The Second Tri-Annual Buffet Taylor National Wellness Survey shows that workplace wellness is becoming increasingly important to the Canadian Business community.

And finally…

"87% of poll respondents said they would work harder for a company that is willing to help them deal with personal problems."
-- Roper Poll, 1995

What this all boils down to is that taking care of your employees by offering them financial support for their health and well-being actually saves you money. This can be done by ensuring that the insurance plan that you offer your employees has sufficient coverage of registered complementary health practices such as acupuncture. Another way to support your employees is to offer them information sessions through lectures or seminars on health and wellness. 

Testimonial

Dr. Carr provided a “Lunch and Learn” seminar to our employees, on the topic of “Stressing out About Stress”.  Approximately 10% of our Head Office employees attended the seminar. Their written evaluations indicated that:
·    The seminar met or exceeded their expectations
·    The seminar was  useful
·    They learned something new.
·    They would recommend Dr. Carr and the seminar to others
Dr. Carr was organized, punctual, and easy to relate to and very animated about this topic. We will be inviting Dr. Carr to present seminars on other topics, to our employees, in the near future.

Carolynne Mahood, Manager Human Resources, IA Pacific

For more information, contact Dr. Carr.