VIEW ALL BRIEF POSTS Fresh evidence that treating employees well improves a company’s bottom line? A recent U.S. study revealed that companies that won the Koop National Health Award for effective workplace health and wellness programs had much higher stock value appreciation (tracked from 2000-2014) than average S&P 500 companies. How much higher? Koop winners’ stock appreciated 325% vs. 105% for the market average. Read…
New App Identifies Changes in Workers’ Stress Levels
Workplace wellness programs are based on the assumption that healthy initiatives at work will improve employee health and productivity. But rarely (if ever!) do they acknowledge the fact that work itself is often the main health enemy. Well, now a new app (for employee smartphones) identifies shifts in their stress levels (from changes in their tone of voice to sleep quality) – to stop stress before it gets out of hand.
Study: Mindfulness Beats Painkillers for Back Pain
Chronic back pain is an epidemic, and there has been a surge in painkiller prescriptions. But a new study found that mindfulness-based stress reduction (including meditation and yoga) led to a bigger reduction in pain (for 44% of participants) than usual care/painkillers (27% saw meaningful pain reduction). As The Observer put it, “It’s pretty striking to see a journal like JAMA endorsing meditation… considering that not so very long ago it would have been dismissed as woo-woo.”
Wellness Communities: Inspiring Times for the $100B Wellness Lifestyle Real Estate Sector
In May of 2015, pioneers in the development of wellness communities around the globe, came together for the first time to consider what a “wellness community” truly was. Armed with personal examples and experiences, the group broadly defined wellness communities as “communities and buildings developed with the holistic health of its residents, guests, environment and surrounding community in mind.”
Must-Reads from the Wellness World (Week of April 5, 2016)
“This four-letter word is the Swedish key to happiness at work” – Quartz, March 14, 2016
This short article looks at the “secret” to work happiness in Sweden – where workers are among the least stressed worldwide. It’s a four-letter word: fika…a coffee break during which employees leave work behind and relax in the company of colleagues. It is a key pause for the Swedish workday, and it may even boost productivity!
Just How Unwell is the Worker of the World?
If you live in the U.S. or the U.K., you’ve seen the swirling headlines about the developments in workplace wellness: businesses rushing to offer everything from standing treadmill desks to financial wellness counseling. Amazing progress is underway, but we need to do a little global gut-check; the average worker in the world is extremely unwell. Consider this: Three-quarters of people live on less than $13 a day, the same percentage report that their wellbeing is suffering, and over half are overweight or obese.
