employees are reconsidering what a top-notch company offers its employees in terms of benefits. In fact, the addition of wellness programs in recruiting and retaining hiring talent is more critical than ever. “Big or small, all businesses can benefit from some form of a wellness initiative at work,” Gladd reminds us. Following are a few that he cites: • Corporate wellness programs. “Companies that incorporate programs such as yoga, meditation, wellness sessions, etc., are much more abundant today than even just a few years ago, and they provide employees with some good, solid health education on various topics.” • Health spending accounts. “These are often provided by companies and are used by employees to purchase wellness-based products or services like exercise equipment, gym memberships and supplements.” • Comprehensive and flexible benefits programs. “They’re offered by some employers to help mitigate some of the negative mental and physical effects of the pandemic.” • Flextime. “Flextime provides employees with greater flexibility regarding when they start or end their workday. Likewise, it enables employees to schedule much-needed medical/self-care appointments during the workday.” • Online therapy. “These online resources are becoming more and more common, and some employers offer this type of service to their employees.” • Eating healthy. “Modeling healthy food options at no or low cost for employees has been
“It’s highly dependent on individual circumstances,” he explains. “Working from home has allowed some to prioritize habits that support their health goals, while others may have let the uncertain lines between their home and home office affect their routines and commitments to healthfulness.” Following are a few very basic considerations for maintaining good health while working from home, according to Gladd: • Maintain boundaries between work and home. “Discuss expectations for workload and availability with your manager or employer. Try disconnecting from work duties after hours by turning off your work devices and/or email notifications during non-working hours.” • Stay connected with your team. “To help lower stress, keep your manager and/or team informed of what you are working on and any obstacles you may be experiencing. A few communications tools for this include instant messengers such as Slack, Google Chat, and Microsoft Teams.” • Work in active time. “If you are not doing regular activity, put what you already have at home to work by scheduling active time away from your home office area.” • Optimize your office space. “Just as it’s an important consideration for your company office or workspace, make sure that you’re working in an ergonomic environment. Take a good look at where you’re working and what opportunities it presents to introduce some good ergonomic tools: your seating and posture, your air quality, your desk—these are all critically important to your health.”
successful in the examples I’ve seen. I have also heard of companies offering discounted take-home healthy meals for families to lighten that burden on the employee when they get home.” The at-home plan Gladd also emphasizes that working from home can offer the same opportunities for maintaining health and fitness that returning to the office can.
Dr. Jeff Gladd Chief Medical Officer, Fullscript
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IN YOUR CORNER ISSUE 13 | 2023
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