Tackling stress is more important than ever…

http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/news/1005505/Health-Wellbeing-employers-brink-stress-epidemic/

Get up and running!

National Men’s Health Week takes place from 14-20^th June and is organised by the Men’s Health Forum, a charity that focuses on the issues and inequalities affecting the health and well-being of men and boys. This year’s theme is “Up and Running: Improving the health of men and boys through physical activity and sport”.

Most men are not physically active enough to make a difference to their health.

• Just 40% of men meet the Chief Medical Officer’s recommendations for physical activity (30 minutes of at least moderate intensity activity on 5 or more days of the week).
• Over a quarter of boys do not meet the recommended physical activity level (at least 1 hour of moderate or more intense activity a day).
• Physically active men are less likely to be overweight or obese and to develop diabetes, bowel cancer or dementia. They will also feel better about themselves and reduce their risk of depression.
• Men are more likely to drink alcohol above recommended levels, smoke cigarettes and eat a poor diet. 

Some the key aims of National Men’s Health Week are:

• To encourage more men to become more physically active (e.g. walking, using the stairs, gardening, DIY)
• To improve male participation in sport  

Major forthcoming sporting events create an enormous opportunity to engage more men in physical activity. This year, National Men’s Health Week takes place during the early stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa and will aim to encourage men to be more active and more healthy. It will get men up off the sofa and walking, jogging, gardening, swimming, playing sport… in short, moving more! 

See what some celebrities have to say about Men’s Health Week and getting more active: 

• ‘I fully support Men’s Health Week in their attempts to get us men more active; and the fact that you don’t need to join the gym to get more active is an important message. In my opinion, spending time working in the garden is a great way to keep active and healthy!’ Joe Swift, Gardeners World presenter 
• ‘I believe that my success has a lot to do with my fitness and state of mind. Keeping physically active is not only important for sportsmen like me, but for all men; which I why I support Men’s Health Week and their aim of informing men that becoming more active has so many benefits for them.’ Jorge Lorenzo, MotoGP Rider 
• ‘The Men’s Health Forum is a great source of information and guidance for men who perhaps don’t listen to their bodies as much as they should, but are nevertheless keen to make changes for the better.’ Dr Mark Porter  

Go to www.menshealthforum.org.uk/ for more information.

“The Revitalised service is an excellent way of demonstrating our commitment to the health and well-being of our members. It offers great value for money and is highly recommended.”

Overview

The Police Superintendents’ Association of England and Wales (PSAEW) is the professional Association that represents the senior police officers in the 43 Home Office Police Forces, British Transport Police, Civil Nuclear Constabulary and Isle of Man Police in the rank of Superintendent and Chief Superintendent. Their members are the senior operational commanders and managers delivering local policing, specialist investigations and operations and support services within police forces.  

Background

In the early 1990s, the PSAEW noticed a downturn in the health and well-being of its members. The ever multiplying and challenging demands in the workplace and diminishing resources seemed to be having a negative impact on Superintending ranks. 

Poor well-being and long working hours presents various risks to the Police Service including: 

Health Risks: poor ongoing physical and mental health, risk of serious illness or even death, lack of/poor quality sleep and fatigue.

Performance and Effectiveness Risks: poor concentration and memory, poor decision-making and less clarity of thinking, poor time management, organisation and planning.

Impact on Outlook: low self-esteem and confidence, doubt over whether doing a good job/making a difference, dissatisfaction with work and home.

Impact on Others: marriage breakdown, impact on children, poor relationships in the workplace, poor relationships outside work and breakdown of social life. 

Wellbeing at work is important in the Police Service from a range of perspectives:

• Improved wellbeing of staff will reduce the costs associated with sickness absence
• Fewer staff are likely to leave the Police Service, retire early or take ill-health retirement if wellbeing is improved
• Healthy staff perform better, are more efficient and are better at handling interpersonal demands, such as dealing with members of the public
• Under Health and Safety legislation, the Police Service has a legal responsibility for the health and wellbeing of all employees. In addition, the way the Service treats its own staff should be a role model for the way officers treat the public (with respect and care).

Solution

As a result of the health issues that were identified and the clear benefits to be derived from adopting a wellbeing and work-life balance, the PSAEW developed a new ‘Be a Better Superintendent’ toolkit with a range of advice and tips for how to:  

• Perform better
• Feel better
• Live better
• Lead better
• Be Better Superintendents  

Launched in 2008, the aim of the toolkit is to help Superintendents and Chief Superintendents consider the impact of their behaviour on those they manage and to help them, through their management approach, to improve the well-being of their staff. Superintending ranks can set an example to managers in all ranks in the Police Service. 

In addition, through the toolkit, the PSAEW is taking a leading role and encouraging other Forces to consider their wellbeing. 

An integral component of the toolkit is access for all PSAEW members (and their families) to ‘Revitalised’ – a unique web-based resource offering personally tailored health support to help improve health and fitness. 

The system offers a combination of individually tailored support and guidance, along with access to general information covering all areas of wellbeing. It also helps users to positively change their lifestyle, improve fitness and health and control levels of stress. Importantly, the system is entirely confidential, can be used as little or as often as preferred, and can be provided to nominated friends and family members. 

Using the Revitalised system, the PSAEW were therefore able to provide a range of benefits to Superintending ranks including: 

• A Personal Training Plan (PTP) that can be carried out at home with no specialist equipment focusing on 3 distinct components of fitness – Cardio Vascular, Conditioning and Flexibility.
• A personalised Weight Management Programme (WMP) with information and advice in all areas of diet and nutrition – helping members to reach and maintain a healthy weight.
• Achievable goals are set for each member and performance is monitored through monthly feedback and regular assessments.
• Series of ‘10 minute wellness plans’ – updated monthly to focus on a different element of wellbeing, helping members to achieve health & relaxation benefits each day in 10 minutes.
• Positive Stress Management techniques – helping to manage & reduce the negative effects of stress.
• General information & support updated every month in the Advice Centre – managed by a panel of featured experts who members can contact for additional help & support through a free ‘Ask the Expert’ service.

Find out more…

If you would like to find out more about the PSAEW and the ‘‘Be a Better Superintendent’ toolkit’, please go to www.policesupers.com

If you would like to find out more about this case study and the Revitalised system, please go to: www.revitalised.co.uk

“In times of economic challenge, investing in wellbeing becomes even more important.”

“There is clear financial & moral evidence that staff wellbeing pays.”

These are the views of Dr Steve Boorman following his comprehensive review of health & wellbeing in the NHS. The Boorman Review found clear empirical evidence that Trusts who invested positively in staff wellbeing benefited through increased productivity, reduced absenteeism and better staff & patient outcomes across a range of key measures. The Final Report demonstrates clearly the financial & moral case for wellbeing.

Dr Boorman also maintained that “Health and wellbeing is now increasingly being recognised as more than a matter for individual attention - successful organisations have recognised that good health is a key enabler to good business. The health, safety and wellbeing of staff directly contributes to organisational success and poor workforce health has a high cost”.

Of course, Dr Boorman’s findings are applicable to all businesses.

The business case for wellbeing across all sectors & industries has been established for a number of years - with financial, performance & managerial benefits directly linked to effective wellbeing schemes. The benefits or adopting a health and wellbeing strategy are widely understood and include:

• increased productivity
• reduced absenteeism
• reduced workforce turnover - better retention & recruitment
• improved employee health
• reduced employee stress
• improved employee decision-making ability
• reduced organisational conflict
• duty of care
• improved morale & loyalty
• health promoting culture

Find out more….

We’re proud to be working with a large number of leading ‘healthy employers’ - helping them to support their staff & families to lead healthier lifestyles & reduce stress.

You can read more about us on www.revitalised.co.uk

We’d love to talk to you about how Revitalised can help support your health promotion efforts - at an annual investment equating to just a few pounds per person.

Let us know if you’d like a bit more info, or to arrange a ‘no-obligation’ meeting.