Affairs Of The Heart - Does Your Employer Value Your Health & Wellbeing?
19 March 2018
It’s no secret that exercise and a healthy diet is the key to good heart health. Many jobs and careers are becoming more sedentary, which is affecting how people use their bodies for 7-10 hours a day. This can have a significant impact on the health of your heart. Fortunately many employers are investing in employee physical health and wellbeing programmes to address this issue.
Each year, 140 million working days are lost to sickness absence in the UK, costing UK businesses an estimated £29 billion. With this in mind, it is imperative that employers know the causes of poor health and wellbeing in the workplace and equally important that employees know what initiatives are out there to improve their health.
Workplace Factors That Can Affect The Heart
There are a number of factors that can attribute to poor heart health in the workplace including:
- Physical hazards such as extreme temperatures can put pressure on the heart
- Psychological impacts of the workplace can contribute to the development of heart disease with the stresses and strains of working life
- Sedentary work in offices coupled with a less active lifestyle can put workers at a high risk of heart disease
What Health And Wellbeing Initiatives Does Your Employer Provide?
There are many great initiatives available through employer physical health & wellbeing schemes that can improve general heart health and wellbeing. Your employer may already have signed up to a number of schemes that could help you improve your health.
The list below provides an overview of some of the support available, but to find out what your employer offers, register here for your Vivup account and get instant access their schemes and incentives.
- On-Site Fitness Programmes and Gym Membership: Regular exercise can reduce the risk of a heart related illness by 35%
- Flexible Working Arrangements: Having the ability to work flexible hours or work from home on occasion can reduce stress and improve heart health
- Mindfulness Training: Mindfulness exercises such as meditation and yoga are great for getting in tune with your thoughts and feelings and managing them better which in turn reduces stress
- Cycle to Work: Cycle to Work schemes are a great way to not only improve your heart health but also make your commute to work cheaper and quicker
- Healthy Office Snacks: Employers can provide fruit and healthy snacks on a daily basis to promote healthy eating which will make for a healthier and more productive workforce
- Team Healthy Lunches: Either going out to a healthy restaurant or buying a healthy lunch for the team is a great way to get employees to consider their eating habits
- Healthy Lifestyle Workshops: There are initiatives which can help employees to stop smoking, cut down on drinking and improve diet quality by changing daily habits and providing great information and techniques
Why Should Employees Get In Involved In Health And Wellbeing Initiatives?
There are a lot of benefits of having a healthy heart inside and outside of the workplace:
- Performing better at work: Better heart health will enable you to perform better at work and feel less tired and stressed through your daily routines
- Having more energy: Having energy to work and play is one of the biggest benefits of getting involved in health and wellbeing initiatives as it gives you so much more scope to do more of the things you love to do in life
- Improving life expectancy: A healthier heart can have a really positive impact on life expectancy
- Improve quality of retirement: Having a healthy heart will help you to enjoy your retirement rather than being affected by ailments or ill health that reduce your quality of life
- Increase in happiness levels: Healthy eating and exercise release endorphins which in turn make you feel happy
Get Involved In Workplace Health And Wellbeing Initiatives Today!
It’s clear to see that a healthy heart is key to being able to enjoy life in and perform well at work. The huge health benefits of regular exercise and eating healthily is evident to both the employee and employer.
With that said, employers need to invest in health and wellbeing for their employees, not only from a monetary perspective, but a culture perspective. A healthy, happier workforce will make for an energised and productive workplace.
As an employee, take advantage of the great initiatives your employer has available. They’ve been created to make your life inside and outside of work that much better. Find out what your employer offers by registering for your Vivup account and exploring their health & wellbeing schemes.