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How healthy is your practice?

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30th Apr 2009
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Ben McGannan, MD of Water Wellpoint highlights the value of healthy staff in economic hard times.

As more firms realise that their greatest asset is their staff, health and wellbeing policies are becoming an integral part of business success. By focusing on wellbeing, companies can boost the health of their staff, reduce sick days and increase their bottom line.

The employer’s role should be to provide easily accessible advice, guidance and support for staff. This may sound like a major investment, but small health initiatives, supported by an easily understood wellbeing policy, can help engage staff to take responsibility for their own wellbeing.

Indeed, health programmes can be designed to fit seamlessly into any company, whether as part of an overall wellbeing policy or just a simple health check to motivate staff.

Six key measures for a healthy workforce
Some of the essential indicators to keep an eye on are:

Weight watching: Encourage staff to monitor and maintain a healthy body weight so that they can enjoy a healthy lifestyle and reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Have a heart: The average heart rate of an adult ranges between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Measure it regularly for an indication of your general state of health.

Blood pressure: Regular blood pressure checks can provide a valuable insight into physical condition. High blood pressure contributes to heart disease and strokes.

Body Mass Index: BMI is a recognised method of determining obesity. It is calculated by dividing the individual’s weight by the square of their height.

Body fat content (BFC): BFC is the percentage of fat of which the body is made and is an important indicator of the risk of future health problems.

Hydration quota (HQ):This is an easy means of remembering the amount of additional water you need to drink in order to maintain a good level of hydration – fundamental to the healthy function of the brain and body alike.

Case study
One easy way to engage staff in an on-going process to manage their health is a wellbeing day. During a recession the health of a business’s people is more important than ever.

Employees see health checks as a clear benefit, as well as helping businesses track the progress of employee health and make positive changes to increase wellness in the workplace. Ultimately, by focusing on health and wellbeing, companies benefit from a happy, motivated workforce that takes responsibility for its own health.

Kent based accountancy practice, Stephen Hill Partnership (SHP) worked with Water Wellpoint to run a wellbeing day for its employees in January 2009, providing health checks and advice on health issues. A Water Wellpoint Kiosk was installed at SHP’s offices in Gillingham for a day, offering the company a chance to engage staff in their wellbeing.

“We’ve got a great bunch of staff and I wanted to show them we are here and helping them,” explained Lance Clifton, a director at SHP. “It’s in my best interests to keep everybody healthy at SHP so that they can be as productive as possible”.

A Water Wellpoint kiosk was set up at the company’s premises for the day, which enabled employees to check some key measures of their wellbeing in a highly engaging way. Employees were able to self-test in about five minutes without any involvement from SHP management, and the results of each test were completely confidential to the individual. However, the management team were able to look at the aggregated results of the day to identify if there were any particular health issues affecting staff as a whole.

“The wellbeing day offered me and my colleagues an opportunity to look at managing our own health holistically instead of focusing on one specific area such as weight”, says Malcolm Sackett, a fellow director of Stephen Hill Partnership. “As an office, I have noticed that we have swapped the compulsory coffee for glasses of water. It’s amazing to think that one wellbeing day can have such a lasting effect”.

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By AnonymousUser
01st May 2009 15:19

Erm...
I agree that having a dog could be good for your health as they encourage you to get out and walk every day, but please don't compare wives/girlfriends to dogs! People who add up the cost of their relationships in this way usually end up alone.

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By lawmaniz
01st May 2009 12:51

Accountants need to find a balance.
In my opinion, every accountant and all those who spend most of their working day sat on their ****, ought to get a dog. This would help them achieve a balance between the demands of their job and a healthy lifestyle. Yes, of course I realise it costs money to have a dog. Is it cost-effective? Well, you could pose that question about your wife or girlfriend... and, for the wealther accountants, their mistresses...

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