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Kaycee gets the lowdown on Employee Wellness Week with Nurse Silvia Craucamp - take a listen.
Employee Wellness Week is an annual campaign that runs from the 1st to the 5th of July to create awareness of the importance of maintaining the health and well-being of employees in the workplace and within their home and social environments.
Throughout EWW, the Foundation aims to educate private and public sector employers and employees about workplace wellness, with a focus on heart and brain health; as well as the associated conditions such as hypertension. The Foundation’s health promotion and disease prevention programmes facilitate developing an enabling environment within and outside the workplace. These programmes are largely defined by health talks and conducting health risk assessments (screening) for existing risk factors for ill health in order to recommend specific interventions. Positive health behaviour changes are promoted for behavioural risk factors such as tobacco smoking, alcohol consumption and accessing health services. The Foundation’s Employee Wellness Program offers the following benefits: sustaining a productive workforce, lowering absenteeism and risk of disability, lowering the risk of occupational conditions and becoming a proactive employer who adopts a holistic approach to promote and preserve heart and brain health.
The HSFSA uses a holistic approach, to address key issues relating to employee wellness, including physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual components of health. Keeping in mind that we are complex beings, our health requires a multifaceted approach. As the WHO constitution states: "Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity." As health is also an individual responsibility, the Foundation encourages employees by providing practical ideas on how they could improve their overall health.
The Foundation is calling on employers to empower their workforce by employing the HSFSA to perform the EWP on their staff. The trained health professionals at the Foundation help employees understand that being healthy is about long-term healthy habits and offer ways to create healthy environments and behaviours to promote productivity, reduce absenteeism in the workplace, and enhance social well-being.
Vaping has become extremely popular among many in the workplace and among the youth - it brings with it a whole host of health concerns as depicted below.
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The employer may expect the employee wellness programme to offer different mechanisms in the form of health information sharing (health talks and/or educational reading material), health risk assessments (HRAs), individual counselling and guidance on specific behavioural modifications, as well as offering referrals for those at high risk of developing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The HRAs include blood pressure screenings, blood cholesterol testing, blood glucose testing and Body Mass Index (BMI).
Sustaining healthy employees begins in a healthy workplace. The HSFSA understands the challenging environment that employees sometimes find themselves in and are often affected by the demands of the job. Creating health-enabling environments to reduce workplace stress and offering health-conscious food items in vending machines or canteens, as well as offering water stations and creating space for physical activity takes a large stride in creating productive healthy employees. More practical ideas are discussed during the employee wellness programme.
Nutrition is a key aspect of maintaining good health and the Heart Mark Food Endorsement programme is part of ongoing efforts by the HSFSA to reduce the number of deaths in South Africa from preventable heart disease and strokes by guiding food manufacturers and consumers about what constitutes a healthy food product. The Heart Mark programme forms part of a health-enabling environment offering consumers a tool which makes choosing healthier foods easier. Our market research shows that 8 out of 10 (80%) adults instantly recognise the Heart Mark logo, and associate the logo with healthy eating and a sense of credibility. Approved by the National Department of Health, the endorsement program works with food manufacturers to improve food formulation. Ms Shoni Nephalama, the HSFSA dietitian states that the Heart Mark guideline is not a diet, but rather a guaranteed way to purchase food lower in salt, sugar, saturated fats and higher in fibre.
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About the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA
The Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSFSA) plays a leading role in the fight against preventable heart disease and stroke, with the aim of seeing fewer people in South Africa suffer premature deaths and disabilities. The HSFSA, established in 1980 is a non-governmental, non-profit organization
To find out more go to www.heartfoundation.co.za - you can also follow us on Instagram and Facebook.
For more information on bookings and costing, contact 021 422 1586 / pamela.naidoo@heartfoundation.co.za
