Health & Wellbing Gallagher breakfast briefing
At the latest Gallagher breakfast briefing held at our Guernsey office, three local experts offered their insights and perspectives on the financial, physical, and mental aspects of health and wellbeing in today’s workplace.
Kim Davies, Health and Wellbeing Manager outlined the importance of financial wellbeing in the workplace, confirming that although it receives more attention post-Covid than it has in the past, it is, nevertheless, still considered a low priority by many businesses today.
Pensions, investments, budgeting, debt management and saving plans are effectively the poor relation and yet financial issues are a common source of stress amongst employees. These should be considered part of the bigger picture and are connected to physical, mental and social wellbeing.
A survey by Wagestream identified that 24% of all UK employees worry about money every day and these issues are mirrored locally, particularly with housing and the cost of living being so high.
Businesses can support staff by putting in place an employee assistance programme, considering the demographics of the workforce – so youngsters entering the workplace for the first time alongside others preparing for retirement. This should also cover education, providing advice, signposting and making available mental health first aiders who can work with employees.
Dr Ranjan Vhadra, Medical Director of First Contact Health, then introduced physical wellbeing. Key factors influencing physical health include diet, eating the right foods to maintain the body, limiting consumption of substances such as tobacco, alcohol, drugs and prescription drugs, ensuring rest and sleep and the environment in which we live.
Ranjan stressed the importance of physical activity and keeping active which aids mental health and also helps avoid obesity. Everyone is also different, so no one’s biological makeup is the same and particular races are more subject to osteoarthritis, for example than others.
Another factor is musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, which afflicts many people and can affect joints, bones and muscles and range from minor injuries to long-term issues. Research by the NHS in the UK indicates that 54% of all medical problems can be tracked to MSK.
Ranjan emphasised that everyone should have access to healthcare along with obtaining the right diagnosis – the usual 10 minutes with your GP slot is insufficient. Health prevention is also key, leading to health screening programmes which aid people’s quality of life well into their old age. First Contact Health, Ranjan’s new business, offers such services from Guernsey including a full
health check for under £100.
Jo Cottell, Chief Executive of Guernsey Mind talked of the importance of recognising poor mental health and how in general, we are more aware than in the past but there is still work to do. Even today, a study by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development indicates that 76% of us take time off due work work-related stress and long-term absenteeism accounts for almost 63%.
Mind offers a range of services from its local office, which includes one-to-one sessions, workplace training, early preventative help, signposting, referrals and awareness. Each year, Mind sees around 500 Islanders seeking support.
Whilst stress in itself is not always bad, it is crucial that employers recognise stress can go bad, with employees potentially displaying cynicism, negativity, burnout and energy depletion.
Measures to address these include a workplace wellbeing plan, developing mental health awareness, encouraging open conversation, providing good working conditions and routinely monitoring employees’ mental health and wellbeing.
Jo referred to R;pple, which is an interceptive tool designed to present a visual prompt when a person searches for harmful keywords or phrases relating to the topic of self-harm or suicide. Another helpful organisation is the Guernsey Community Savings, which helps individuals with setting up bank accounts and debt management.
Richard Clarke, Rossborough Managing Director, Guernsey, said, ‘We were delighted to welcome these three experts for their insight and overview of health and wellbeing in today’s workplace. With Rossborough being part of the Gallagher Group for 10 years, we can now tap into the excellent support and vast specialist across a number of key areas, including healthcare, which historically would not have been available to us.’