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Tag Archive for: healthy workplace

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Improve Nutrition As A Team

Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

It is no secret that obesity is on the rise across North America.  In fact, a 2014 study shows that obesity now accounts for 8.6% of youth and 25% of the adult population.  (Després, Alméras, & Gauvin, 2014)   The leading causes of this “obesity epidemic” are sedentary lifestyles, lack of physical activity and poor nutritional choices.

With the stressful lives being led by our generation, taking time to prepare and bring healthy lunches and snacks to work is difficult.  Yet, without a healthy snack or lunch, the tendency is to purchase food that is not healthy, or to under-eat which, believe it or not, can also cause obesity as our body works to “hold onto” every calorie in fear of starvation.

Employers may ask “why do I care if my team is eating unhealthy”, but the answer is obvious:  a healthy workforce is a productive workforce and workplace absences for health-related problems (including obesity, heart disease, diabetes etc) are hugely disruptive.

Here are a few suggestions that can be implemented at the workplace to help improve the health of your staff and organization:

1.       Schedule Regular Healthy Pot-Luck Lunches — choose a day of the week and have each person bring in a healthy lunch item for a team-building activity.

2.       Bring A Colleague A Lunch — people are more likely to prepare healthy meals for others than for themselves, so capitalize on this and arrange for “bring a colleague a lunch week” and see the efforts people will go to in order to promote the health of a colleague.

3.       Recipe Of The Week — each week choose a member of the team to share make their favourite healthy meal or snack and bring it in to share with the team.  Have them send each member a recipe via email for them to make on their own.

4.       Education Opportunities — bring in a nutritionist, dietician or health coach to speak to the team about how to create healthy meals and snacks to help fuel their day at work.

5.       Brown Bag Week — encourage the team to have a “brown bag” week.  Eating out can lead to unhealthy choices and lack of portion control.  Bringing your own lunch can help to ensure you are getting the nutrients you need and fueling productivity the entire day.

6.       Russian Lunch Roulette — like secret Santa, have everyone bring a balanced lunch and randomly select who gets what lunch.  It always tastes better to consume something made by someone else, so people should enjoy the surprise lunch they end up with.  Of course, plan ahead for any allergies / food requests and ask people to put sauces / condiments on the side to be added only if desired.

In the end, lead by example.  Employers have the ability to create opportunities that can help their workforce to engage in healthy habits.  Use the strength of your organizational alliance to bring people together to help them achieve healthy goals.  Everyone will benefit, including the organization.

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Increasing Physical Activity At Work

Julie Entwistle, MBA, BHSc (OT), BSc (Health / Gerontology)

While anti-smoking campaigns have been in effect for decades, more recent health promotion efforts are being directed at preventing obesity, heart disease and the detrimental effects of prolonged sitting, now called “sitting disease”.  As society experiences this paradigm shift away from sedentary activity, employers too need to be on board with solutions on ways to keep employees active when the job demands require continuous desk work.

If you are concerned about the effects of sitting disease and are looking for ways to increase health and wellness at work, the solution is actually simple.  Just start by getting moving!  If you are an employer and are not ready or able to invest in a comprehensive wellness program, or you are an employee and these are not offered where you work, start with some simple team-building challenges.  Consider the following:

1.       Stair climbing.   Try to challenge workplace to at 30 day “Climb It Challenge” where everyone takes the stairs.  Or if your office is too high up, no problem, take the elevator 5 floors below your level and walk the stairs from there.

2.       30 day squat challenge.  This is easy, requires no equipment and won’t leave your office team with the need to shower following.  Have those interested meet for 5-10 minutes a day and complete each day’s challenge.  This 30 day squat challenge has a daily plan you can follow.

3.       Bike or walk to work month.  This is easier to do in the warmer weather months, so try to challenge your team to walk or bike to work each day.  If you are in a remote location, or if employees commute, ask employees to park a couple of blocks away and walk or ride from there.

4.       Get your yoga on.  Each day with your team, take 10-15 minutes to run through some easy yoga poses to help boost posture and strength. Check out some of these beginner poses to try.

5.       Organize a walking lunch group.  Each day with your team take a 30 minute power walk at lunch or break time.  Walking is great for cardiovascular and bone health and will help to prevent the negative effects of sitting all day.

Working together with a team dedicated to improving health and wellness will help to keep individuals motivated and on track.  In the end, don’t forget to celebrate your success and keep the momentum going!

Check out more on staying healthy at the office on our Healthy Workplace page.

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Reducing Injury and Illness In The Workplace

Having employees off from work due to injury and illness is costly to your organization and detrimental to the overall wellbeing of your team.  Stress, high demands, dangerous work environments and poor ergonomics in the workplace can lead to illness and injury.  Do employers realize that THEY (and their workplace environment) may be the leading cause of these leaves?  And more importantly that THEY are the ones who can work to prevent future illness or injury.

The following article discusses two of the main reasons an employee may be on long term disability leave, how the workplace environment may be the cause, and how occupational therapy can assist in the prevention of workplace injury and illness.

Roger Foisy:  How Employers Can Become a Cause of Long Term Disability Claims

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What Is Ergonomics?

I’m sure you’ve heard the term, “ergonomics” before, but do you know what it means and more importantly, how it could benefit your organization?

Ergonomics is a catch-all phrase for the process of ensuring the body is in an appropriate position when completing daily tasks. Sitting, standing, bending, lifting – all these movements require the proper ergonomic position of the legs, spine, and arms to promote comfort and productivity, and to reduce the risk of physical injury.  Proper ergonomics is often most important at work, as this is where you spend the majority of your time.

Everyone deserves to be comfortable at work – from the front line staff to the CEO. When people are comfortable they are happier, more productive, feel valued and supported, and are less likely to leave work due to physical injury from poor office ergonomics.

Check out our informative video for information on how an Occupational Therapist can help in your office by keeping people at work, enhancing productivity, reducing costs, and promoting employee morale and satisfaction.

 

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Cognitive Challenges at Work– There’s an App For That!

CanAssist is an organization at the University of Victoria with the mission of creating a better quality of life for people with disabilities.  They have created helpful apps, available on numerous devices, including the “CanWork” app which works to promote independence and build confidence by helping people with cognitive challenges at work.  The app helps individuals manage shifts, prepare for work and complete work-related tasks successfully.  It has just received endorsement from the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists and we encourage you to check out the “CanWork” app and many of the other helpful apps created by CanAssist.

CanAssist:  Apps For Download

 

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Survive the Sunday Night Blues

If the song is true and “everybody’s working for the weekend,” how will they feel when the weekend is over?  For most people weekends are a time to unwind and leave the office behind, so when it’s coming to an end it’s common to experience the Sunday night blues.  How can you get past this feeling?  The following from Business Insider shows proven ways to turn those Sunday night blues into enjoyable moments that will bring you success in the week ahead.

Business Insider: 11 Things Successful People Do On Sunday Night

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Is Mindfulness the Key to A Healthier Workplace?

“Mindfulness” is a term we have heard a lot this year.  This old technique seems to be the new trend said to improve the health of our busy and stressed generation.  The term “mindfulness” is defined as “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.”

Sounds like a great way to heighten self-awareness, decrease stress and boost health personally.  But what might surprise you is that many are saying the practice of mindfulness is the next big thing in workplace wellness.  The following article from the Vancouver Sun looks at the participation of one of Canada’s largest companies in a pilot project that is introducing mindfulness practice into the workplace.  Check out the preliminary findings and see if this ancient technique might be right for you and your company.

The Vancouver Sun:  Old meets new for workplace wellness

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Stop Headaches Before They Start

Do you suffer from headaches at work?  Are you sitting in front of a computer monitor all day long?  This may be the cause.  Headaches can be brought on by many different factors such as diet, hydration, and stress, but are often due to visual strain.  Our helpful guide provides cost effective solutions for reducing visual strain and headaches at work.

visual strains and headaches

Download the full e-book for more cost effective ergonomic solutions.

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The Benefits of Biking to Work

Nicer weather has arrived!  It’s time to take advantage by getting outside and adding some more physical activity to your life.  Biking to work, if your commute is close enough, is a great way to increase physical activity, reduce the effects of sitting disease, save time, money, and help the environment.  Don’t have bike?  Don’t worry!  Bike share programs, like the City of Hamilton’s new Bike the Hammer program, are popping up in cities across Ontario.

Check out more about this healthy alternative to driving in this helpful infographic from Lifehack.com:

bike-to-work-week