HealthWorks A National Strategy for Comprehensive Workplace Health Promotion

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HealthWorksA National Strategy for Comprehensive
Workplace Health Promotion

• Why Wellness An Integrated Approach to Workplace
  Health
• NS Safety Council Conference
• March 25, 2004

Mary-Lou MacDonald MSc. Director,
HealthWorks Heart and Stroke Foundation of NS
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Objectives

• What is HealthWorks and why did Health Canada
  fund this project in Nova Scotia?
• What is wellness and why is an integrated
  approach the only successful option?
• Why is this initiative important to you?

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Unique Partnership

• Major Partners
• -Health Canada
• -Heart and Stroke Foundation of NS
• -Metropolitan Halifax Chamber of Commerce
• -Capital District Health Authority
• Supporting Partners
• NSCC, WCB, Office of Health Promotion, AHWI,
• National Quality Institute

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HealthWorks Purpose

• Work with business leaders/champions to create
  local case studies for workplace health (3 pilot
  businesses selected)
• Create a network of public and private
  organizations committed to sustaining workplace
  health in Nova Scotia
• Develop national support networks for
  dissemination and sustainability.

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The Pilot Sites Small/Medium Size Business

• Secunda Marine Services
• Rideau Construction
• Page and Wood
• Developed awareness and commitment
• Developed and conducted health and organizational
  culture assessments
• Developed tailored wellness program and
  interventions
• Assisted with the program roll-out and evaluation
• Developed business case

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The Workplace Paradox

• The workplace has become an environment that
  both contributes to employee ill health, while
  simultaneously offering the most potential for
  improving overall employee health and
  well-being.
• Canadian Council on Integrated Health Care 2002

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Elements of Comprehensive Workplace Wellness

• Healthy and Safe Workplace

Organizational Health
Personal Health
Environmental Health
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What is a Healthy Workplace?

• Occupational Health and Safety reducing work
  related injury, illness and disability by
  addressing environmental hazards in the
  workplace, ergonomics and air quality
• Leadership improving job satisfaction and
  productivity by changing worker attitudes and
  perceptions, management practices and the way
  work is organized
• Health Promotion reducing the risk or incidence
  of worker illness by addressing individuals
  lifestyle behaviors through education, supportive
  environments and policy

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Workplace Wellness

• Environmental Wellness ergonomics, noise level,
  air quality, workplace design, work pace, safe
  lifting, safety guidelines, physical demands
• Organizational Wellness work-family balance,
  flextime, morale, training/professional
  development, recognition, supervisor
  communication/ feedback, social atmosphere,
  management style/skills
• Personal Wellness smoking cessation, physical
  activity, healthy weight, shift work,
  alcohol/drug use, stress coping

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• The health of workplaces has a determining effect
  on the health of Nova Scotia and Canada.

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Cost of Unhealthy WorkplacesIn Nova
Scotia/National Comparison

• Highest rate of deaths from cancer and breast
  cancer
• Highest rate of death from respiratory disease
• Highest rate of hospitalization for chronic
  illness
• Highest percentage of smokers
• 80 of NS have one or more of the major risk
  factors for CVD
• 2nd highest spending rate of health per capita
  on institutions

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Cost of Unhealthy WorkplacesIn Nova
Scotia/National Comparison

• 2nd highest rate of diabetes
• 2nd highest psychiatric hospitalization rate in
  Canada.
• 2nd lowest life expectancy
• 3rd highest percentage of heavy drinkers
• 3rd highest percentage of overweight adults
• Highest reported use of disability days

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• A strong case can be made that a healthy
  workforce, a healthy and safe work environment,
  lead to optimal employee productivity, higher
  quality of goods and services, and improved
  corporate performance.
• IHPM 2000

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The Human Factor

• Productivity cannot be reduced to simple
  accounting or presence on the job or volume of
  work output
• Simple representations of work and production
  misrepresent the reality of work life
• A simple dichotomous representation of work such
  as absent or not, injured or not, or flawed or
  correct, does not accurately reflect the
  continuum of performance that extends beyond the
  absolute boundaries of these incident-based
  definitions

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Nova Scotia Economic Losses

• Work absences are increasingly due to personal
  reasons. Canada lost 82.2 million workdays for
  personal reasons in 2001, up from 65.6, 5 years
  ago
• NS has more sick days than any other province
  (8.7 days per year)
• Ontario has 6 days per year
• Canada has 7 days per year
• In Nova Scotia more than 400 million a year is
  lost to the economy due to sickness and disability

GPI Atlantic 2003
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Health and the Workplace

• While Canadas health care system is under
  intense scrutiny, little attention is being paid
  to the role of workplace culture on employee
  health.

Canadian Council on Integrated Health Care 2002
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Cost of an Unhealthy Workplace Culture

• Canadas workforce is aging. Older workers
  (55-64) average 2x number of sick days of younger
  workers. Benefit costs and absenteeism will
  escalate if older workers dont improve their
  health
• Workers who have little input into
  decision-making and how their job is organized
  were found to be 50 more likely to suffer from
  heart disease
• Mental and nervous conditions have replaced
  musculoskeletal conditions as the top conditions
  causing long-term disability. Estimate approx. 30
  billion is lost to the Canadian economy annually
  to mental health and addiction problems.

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Cost of an Unhealthy Workplace

• Canadians are experiencing extreme levels of
  stress due to work-life conflict. Workers with
  high work-life conflict registered 13.2 days
  absence/year vs. 5.9 days in those with low
  work-life conflict.
• Recent study of executives in Canadian public
  service showed that an individuals lack of job
  control increased the likelihood of distress.
• High distress in turn was shown to increase the
  likelihood of experiencing musculoskeletal
  problems by 90 cardiovascular problems by 120
  gastrointestinal problems by 210 coronary heart
  disease by 350 and mental health disorders by
  1740.

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Due Diligence

• By providing a healthy workplace environment
  employers protect themselves from liability
  charges related to exposure to an unidentified
  work hazard.
• Employers may soon face litigation based on lack
  of due diligence that creates excessive stress
  for employees. As well, unhealthy employees may
  threaten the health and safety of others.
• As employees become more stressed they become
  more likely to become involved in workplace
  accidents and sustain injuries.
• Employers are required to protect employees and
  the public from the unsafe actions of a worker.

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• All effective interventions aimed at improving
  the physical work environment probably have some
  behavioral or social component, and rely on a
  conducive corporate culture to be effective.
• Institute for Heath and Productivity Management
  2001

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More Research Required

• Rather than a living representation of mechanical
  performance, the human also experiences the
  effects of mental, motivational, emotional and
  social influences
• Because of this strong association of
  productivity with softer factors, researchers
  and practitioners often have difficulty
  identifying and describing exactly what it means,
  let alone what should be done to optimize it.

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Choose Wisely-But Choose!

• Employers are now realizing that the astute
  selection of, and investment in, these programs
  may be key in increasing worker performance and
  corporate productivity-essential factors in
  business success today

IHPM 2001
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How Long for Return on Investment?

• within a few months
• employees engaging in healthy activities during
  work hours
• within 1 year
• your front-line managers see evidence of
  increased job satisfaction, commitment to work,
  improved productivity among workers and an
  increase in customer satisfaction
• within 3 years
• Significant quantitative improvements in health
  related costs

Source CCIH, 2002
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Behavior Change Programs

• Behavior change programs typically require 3-5
  years of intervention programming for
  cost-benefit to occur
• This timeframe puts nutrition, smoking, and
  exercise programs outside the typical short-term
  corporate business planning cycle
• However, the top four for short term outcomes

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• Exercise programs for low back pain problems
  reduce absenteeism
• Evidence on exercise and its impact on
  performance shows short term reductions in
  absenteeism and reduced turnover etc., etc., etc.
  etc., etc.
• Depression detection and treatment significant
  and immediate relevance in work setting. Few
  health issues take such a broad toll in cost,
  performance and quality of life.
• Smoking cessation to reduce smoke breaks
  increases productivity (unscheduled smoke breaks
  cost NS employers 208 mil/yr estimate smokers
  cost employers 2308-2613 more than nonsmokers)
• Vaccinations for influenza reduces both
  absenteeism and medical cost

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Pathways to Productivity
INTERVENTIONS
RESULTS
DESIRED OUTCOME
Disease Prevention, Health Promotion
Reduced Absenteeism
Increased Productivity
Acute Chronic Illness Management
Improved Performance, Creativity, Motivation
Environmental Health Safety
Reduced Accidents, Cost Savings
Cost Reduction
Healthy Corporate Culture
Reduced Health Care Costs
IHPM 2001
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A Healthy Workplace Why is it Important?

• Employee
• Increased job satisfaction, health and
  productivity, loyalty
• Employer
• Positively affects the bottom line of the
  business
• Lower insurance premiums and benefit costs
• Better able to attract and retain higher caliber
  employees
• Lower absenteeism rates, disability costs
• Community and Government
• Broad social and economic benefits

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Walk the Talk

• If people are truly our most valuable asset
  why arent more businesses and organizations in
  Nova Scotia creating work environments that
  contribute to the health and well being of their
  workers?
• Education
• Cost
• Support

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HealthWorks A National Strategy for
Comprehensive Workplace Health Promotion
Leverage
Incentives
Social Marketing
Create Sense of Urgency
Create Awareness
Leadership/ Sustainability
Impact Leadership
Identify Leadership
Training/ Education
What, How, Who
Infrastructure
Tools/ Supports
What, Who, How?
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Leverage
Incentives
WCB
Government
Policy
Chamber of Commerce
Pharma
Programs
Prevention
Health Insurers
Legislation
Unions
Financial Institutions
Other
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Tools and Support

• Developed National and Provincial Model for WPHP
• Network of Stakeholders
• HealthWorks Website
• Government of NS
• Workplace Champions Award
• Support development of provincial strategy
• Corporate strategy
• Metropolitan Halifax Chamber of Commerce
• Healthy Business Award
• BusinessToolkit (posters, brochures, awareness
  campaign)
• Sponsor National Policy at Canadian Chamber
  National Meeting
• National Quality Institute Framework for the
  Development of a Healthy Workplace
• Small business assessment tool, recognition and
  rewards

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Metro Halifax Chamber of Commerce

• Nothing is more important to productivity than
  a healthy, well-motivated workforce So it is in
  the economic interest of our business community
  to take a personal interest in the health and
  well-being of our employees We must be much more
  proactive than in the past.
• - Metro Halifax Chamber of Commerce
  Health Care Task Force, 2001