Dialogue's medical director Marc Robin highlights a few strategies employers and employees can take to improve wellbeing
A new report released by Dialogue, a Canadian health and wellness platform, offers a stark reminder to employers and employees alike when it comes to their workplace productivity. According to the report, the overall wellbeing of Canadians remains markedly lower than pre-pandemic levels, as they struggle with lifestyle challenges around sleep and physical activity.
These insights are assessed through Dialogue's Well-Being Score, leveraged by the World Health Organization's (WHO) Well-Being Index (WHO-5), one of the most widely used questionnaires to measure wellness in research, explains Dr. Marc Robin, Dialogue’s medical director. Robin says the findings are critical as they underscore the broader impacts on workplace productivity and individual health.
He explains why these results matter for employers and why younger employees, those aged 18-30, scored lowest in the report. Robin discusses the impact of work-related stress on sleep and productivity. He also suggests that both employers and employees can make a difference together by promoting healthy workplace practices and habits.
“The Well-Being Index measures wellbeing through five dimensions of lifestyle: sleep, physical activity, stress, mood, and sense of purpose. The two areas Canadians seem to be struggling with are sleep, and physical activity,” Robin confirms. “It's really helpful to know that because we can direct content and help address some of those issues proactively [to the individual]. For the employer, this data helps to inform workplace initiatives and leverage the tools needed to measure the successes of said initiatives.”
According to Statistics Canada, the recommended amount of sleep for Canadians is between 7-9 hours. Meanwhile, the Heart and Stroke Foundation suggests Canadians aged 18 years and older should participate in at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity of physical activity every week.
Robin is quick to point out that despite young Canadians having a low well-being score of 49.4 because of mental health issues, there is light at the end of tunnel for those who seek out help. “70 per cent of people who participated in this wellbeing survey adopted a healthy habit around exercising more, managing their stress, or getting tips about sleep. People actually went from taking the survey to doing something about it and I think that tells us the tool is being used and polls can make a difference,” he affirms.
“Young adults and early-career employees may be more likely to experience psychological distress due to several life transitions and entering the workforce can be a significant change as they transition away from familiar social supports at home or at university,” said Dialogue in their report.
To help combat this, Dialogue says employer-funded programs can help reduce or eliminate out-of-pocket expenses for employees. In fact, 80% of employees think employers should offer virtual care options. “This is because such programs ease the financial burden and encourage employees to seek support for mental health issues without worrying if they can afford it,” Dialogue added.
Accordingly, Robin noted should consider how workplace benefits can proactively address health concerns across the wellness-illness continuum. “Not by creating a solution that doesn’t wait until you’re sick, but one that really promotes well-being proactively and offers a prevention journey by leveraging tools [like Digital Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and integrated health platforms].”
“As we look ahead and want to address work-life productivity and overall well-being, we have to be a lot more proactive than the reactive EAP model that we've had for years,” he added. “Employers have a role to play by encouraging healthy practices at work. As employees and individuals, we all have to adopt a healthy habits of not staying online right before going to bed, to exercise more regularly and to be proactively managing our mood and stress levels.”
To promote lasting well-being and reduce future mental health cases in the workplace, clinical support is only one piece of the puzzle, Dialogue said in their report.
“Improving well-being means understanding the unique factors that put employees' at risk and intervening before more serious issues develop. By helping individuals adopt healthy lifestyles and implementing strategies to improve work-life balance, well-being is promoted in the workplace every single day — not just once or twice a year when employees are already sick or struggling.”
