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Reduce Stress for a Healthier Heart

Written by dev on . Posted in COVID, Education.

February is American Heart Month, Reduce Stress for a Healthier Heart

Whether it’s from everyday deadlines, financial struggles, or the COVID-19 pandemic, stress shows up often in life. And your body reacts to it: your heart rate increases, your blood vessels narrow—and over time, these little blows can add up and do damage to your health, particularly your heart. With chronic stress, you’re more likely to have high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and poor sleep. Even other parts of your body – from your lungs to your gut – can take a hit.

But while you can’t always limit the amount of stress in your life, you can work on changing how you respond to it. Just like the automatic “fight or flight” response that kicks in when you’re scared – your muscles tense, heart rate increases, and brain becomes more alert – your body also has a built-in, healthy relaxation response. When that’s triggered, the opposite happens: your breathing and heart rate slow down, and your blood pressure decreases.

Luckily, with practice, you can learn to trigger that response. Try these techniques on your own or find a teacher or class to help you get started. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t get the hang of it quickly. And if one approach doesn’t work for you, try something new. You can learn to de-stress in lots of other ways.

Meditation. One of the most studied approaches for managing stress, this involves developing your ability to stay focused on the present, instead of worrying about the past or future. Find a quiet location with as few distractions as possible. Get comfortable by either sitting, lying, or walking. Focus your attention on a specific word or set of words, an object or your breathing. And let distractions, including thoughts, come and go without judgment.

Progressive muscle relaxation. To feel the effect, first tense your muscles for a few seconds, then relax them. Start by tensing and relaxing your toes, then your calves and on up to your face. Do one muscle group at a time.

Deep breathing. Take in a slow, deep breath, let your stomach or chest expand and then exhale slowly. Repeat a few times. Many people don’t breathe deeply, but it is relaxing and something you can do anytime, anywhere.

Guided imagery. This involves a series of steps that include relaxing and visualizing the details of a calm, peaceful setting, such as a garden.

Getting your mind and body to a place of calm doesn’t always mean being still, however. Other healthy ways to manage stress include taking a yoga or tai chi class, talking to a professional counselor, joining a stress management program or an art class, or meeting up with friends for a brisk walk. Being in nature can be very soothing for some people.

Combining de-stressors like these with other healthy habits can go a long way toward strengthening your heart. Eat more veggies, fruits and whole grains, and less sodium, sugar and saturated fats, for example. Move your body more – like through dancing and walking meetings. Find exercises you actually love and do them regularly. Get enough good, quality sleep. And develop a strong social support system. Then rethink some of the familiar ways you may be coping with stress, such as drinking alcohol frequently, using drugs and other substances, smoking or overeating. They can actually worsen your stress – and your health.

Taking care of your heart health is a lifelong journey, but at a time when the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 remains higher in people with poor cardiovascular health, learning new ways to make your heart strong has become even more important.

You can learn more about heart health from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute by visiting www.nhlbi.nih.gov. If you need help finding additional resources to help you cope with stress, talk to a healthcare provider. Seek urgent care if you can’t cope at all or have suicidal thoughts. Resources are also available at nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help.

3 Reasons to Care About Employee Health

Written by dev on . Posted in Education.

Knowing the Importance of Employee Health & Wellbeing

If you are an employer who is indifferent to their employees’ health outside of the workplace, it may be time to switch up your mindset.

Chronic health conditions in employees cost US employers roughly $36 billion each year. From healthcare costs to decreased productivity, having unhealthy employees or employees who suffer from preventable chronic diseases can cause a financial crisis at any company.

Financial

If you’re skeptical about just how much companies spend on employee healthcare costs each year, let’s break it down.

Healthy, active employees at General Motors saved employers about $250 in healthcare costs per person, according to a study by Johns Hopkins.  Employees that were less active were costing employers more money and more time for HR departments for filling out healthcare paperwork. The study concluded that if the inactive employees became regularly physically active, healthcare costs could be saved 1.5%.

According to a 2020 study, “the cost of group health insurance averaged $14,563 annually to cover a family and $5,946 of the premium for an individual.” Let’s say your company, like most average companies, has around 500 employees. Half of those employees are taking advantage of the individual coverage, which means 250 people will cost you nearly $1.5 million. Yes, some employers are enrolled in a plan where they are not 100% responsible for employee insurance costs, however the majority of companies do pay at least half. Ensuring these employees are healthy, active and taking care of themselves could save you big when it comes to healthcare costs related to preventable disease and injury treatment.

Working with a workplace health and safety partner like On Demand can help your company lower healthcare costs across the board. Measures such as company-wide trainings and education can decrease the risk of workplace injury, as well as encourage employees to begin taking better care of themselves at home.

Culture

Company culture should be a priority for any business. Company culture can be defined as the happiness level of employees in their work atmosphere and how they view the company they work for. Basically, if your company culture is poor, employees will be sluggish at work, skip out on events or meetings or keep to themselves in order to avoid conflict or socializing with coworkers. If company culture is excellent, employees will most likely engage daily with not only their customers but also their coworkers and daily tasks, exuding consistent positivity and contributing to the workplace in a positive way. 

Let’s say you notice several of your employees acting sluggish or fatigued at work and just going through the motions of their daily tasks. Although there could be several factors contributing to this behavior, the wellbeing and health of these individuals most likely plays a large role. This is where employer initiatives come into play. Offering healthcare contests such as hydration challenges, walking challenges or calorie tracking activities could encourage employees to get fit not only for themselves, but for incentives at work. Rewards such as PTO or gift certificates can incentivize employees to participate in health challenges and show up to work refreshed and ready to go.

Productivity

Productivity relates to both financial and company culture issues when it comes to healthcare. People who work in the U.S. full time spend at least five days a week at work and one third of their day at work. So, when employees come into work sick or injured, that much more productivity decreases. Employers who promote healthy, happy employees receive results such as significant improvements in health outcomes, reduced absenteeism, reductions in sick leave and positive returns on investments. 

Be sure to set realistic goals for your employees to reach weekly, monthly or quarterly, and assess the success with the individual at the end of the term. If you choose to work with a partner like On Demand, we can help coach you to communicate with your employees on a respectful level as well as work with your employees to educate them on why workplace productivity is crucial to maintaining their job and even their mental health.