Preventative wellness, the ultimate to wellness

If we observe the evolving wellness trends, we find most of them to be preventative. Efforts to enhance overall wellbeing are aimed to keep our mind and body free from ailments and disorders by making healthy and informed lifestyle choices. When we talk about various wellness treatments, it does not solely mean addressing a specific condition or concern but to give a proper service to our mind and body so that it runs smoothly without any major breakdown.

Preventative wellness – promoting health and mental awareness

A healthy diet, the right choice of food and nutrients, adequate rest and activity and a balanced lifestyle are all that are needed for disease prevention. Health promotion campaigns are aimed to educate and empower people to make the right choices. The behavioral changes of individuals significantly reduce the risk of chronic ailments and associated costs that have overburdened global healthcare.  Just a few years back, the wellness moonshot campaign taken by the Global Wellness Institute to create a world free of preventable diseases deserve special mention.

Why preventative wellness?

Data from the CDC suggest nearly 70% of all global deaths every year are due to preventable diseases. According to the World Economic Forum, the global healthcare cost of preventable chronic diseases could touch $47 by 2030. It is having a crippling effect on the global economy. Preventative wellness is today’s most pressing need.

Preventative wellness provides better returns

While many agree to the adage that prevention is better than cure, there are skeptics who feel focusing too much on preventive measures and infrastructure can be costlier. Wellness programs at workplace, home or in clinical settings may not be financially viable especially in today’s scenario of drastic cost cutting everywhere. But an analysis by Healthcare Trends Institute finds, every single dollar invested in wellness programs results in $3.27 reduction in healthcare costs.

The good thing is that employers have started realizing it. As a result, we see widespread implementation of corporate wellness programs by organizations big and small. Private healthcare insurers are also getting the message clear. Some of them are offering mindfulness programs at workplace and also providing coverage for several preventative services. This leaves little doubt that preventative wellness programs reduce morbidity and save lives and are also cost-effective.

Wellness and prevention are not synonymous

Wellness covers a broader aspect with a holistic approach enabling an individual to lead a fulfilling life. Prevention comprises a set of strategies that help you to build resilience to illness. You follow a healthy diet and do regular workouts as a health management strategy but that does not always take care of your wellness as a whole. The good thing is the holistic approach to wellness automatically adds the layer of prevention as it takes care of your overall wellbeing. 

Simple steps to preventative wellness

Big achievements start from singular efforts. Every single individual can make preventive wellness a habit for others to follow. You need to nurture that attitude and assess yourself considering all dimensions of life. How often do you do the following? Maintain a periodic journal and share with others. 

  • Allow yourself to take care of personal wellbeing
  • Choose the right lifestyle like healthy eating, exercises, adequate rest and sleep and proper breathing techniques to balance your physical and emotional energy.
  • Try to bounce back fast in the face of disappointments and setbacks
  • Practice relaxing and calming activities when you feel stressed
  • Build an optimistic mindset for future
  • Bring in more passion and purpose to life and work
  •  Prioritize wellness in daily life for you and those around you.
  • Work towards the wellness and happiness of others.

There is no ideal score for this assessment. By following this regularly, you will be able to track your progress in preventative wellness.

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Mind Wellness in Organizations

Happy employees make happy organizations. And it is not all about health and monetary incentives. How well are employees connected to their work? Employers stressing on Mind wellness programs have significant benefits than those who do not. Workplace anxiety and burnouts are common in today’s competitive world and unless there is a mind-body synergy at work, corporate organizations will not be able to reap full benefits of employee engagement.

But what we see is, a majority of the corporate wellness programs are focused on physical wellness like helping in maintaining vital parameters or supporting smoking cessation etc. Needless to mention, monitoring each of these can significantly reduce employee healthcare costs often covered by employers, lessen absenteeism and promote productivity. But mental and emotional wellness also matter a lot in employee performance and productivity. Mental stress and issues also lead to job abandonment, high turnover and productivity loss and escalate health-related costs.

Organizations can no longer ignore Mind wellness

If employees have to mentally drag themselves every day to work and if they are unable to open up about their issues and concerns, it can be a problem for them and the organization.  Job burnout, workplace violence and injury can plague the entire operation of the organization. Organizations need to observe the drivers influencing the employees’ resilience and their ability to remain mentally and emotionally well at the workplace.

Incorporating mind wellness into workplace wellness programs – the need of the hour

Organizations need to ensure that their work culture and practices support the emotional needs of their employees. They can incorporate:

  • Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) allowing employees access mental health benefits through mental health professionals, counselors, wellness coaches and experts in the privy.
  • Wellness awareness program and learning sessions to address various mental and emotional concerns specific for male and female employees based on their age and designation.
  • Post-work exercise programs where employees can enter their stress logs.
  • Sessions on mindfulness, guided imagery and group therapy.
  • Motivational speaking. The speaker can be an in-house member or hired recognized speaker. 
  • Mental illness awareness programs to de-stigmatize mental disorders and encourage employees to open up instead of suffering silently.

Challenges 

Mental issues are very private to every individual more than any health issue. Therefore, the best efforts may either take a long time to yield or may not work at all. Employees may not be willing to attend educational sessions fearing they may be isolated or marked. They will also fear that they will be considered less competent or incapable.

To mitigate this, organizations need to conduct these sessions regularly with a clear message that they care for employee’s mental and emotional wellness. They should create the ambience of ‘emotional safety’ setting standard rules like not allowing judgmental comments, interruption in conversations and cross-talk. This would be meant to take care of sensitive employees. 

Finally, organizations apprehend that implementing employees’ mind wellness programs may increase medical cost. Such programs may need complex psychiatric treatments and psychotropic drugs. But when employees start attending their mental issues from the beginning owing to the organization’s effort, the cost automatically comes down. They will themselves become more aware of mental wellness which will work in the organization’s favor.

As corporate wellness programs continue to evolve, mind wellness will get more attention. It will not be right to think of mind wellness programs as a solution for complex mental disorders. The aim is to nurture mind wellness of employees along with physical wellness where employees get the feeling of wellbeing at the workplace. That would create the healthy growth of both the employees and the organization.

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