I was recently interviewed by the Nutrition Therapy Institute about the career opportunities in corporate wellness for their students and others with a background in nutrition.It was an engaging conversation and got me thinking about the typical corporate wellness professional who tends to have an HR background or perhaps a qualification in public health. Useful skills but not necessarily well suited to addressing the myriad...
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Wandering around the US Healthcare Conference in San Diego this week, looking at the sea of vendor booths, I was struck by the dilemma facing many employers today. A similar dilemma faces the solution-providers themselves when strategizing on the best path for their business. On the one hand there are many incredibly innovative health solutions really moving the needle on specific aspects of employee health...
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The majority of employers worry a lot about their company health plan. It’s a big expense. If employees are sick productivity goes down. If they get hurt on the job it’s the responsibility of the employer to support their recovery. Wellness or wellbeing is indeed an area of focus for the majority of employers according to WTW’s latest Benefits Trends Survey. However there is a...
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I’m a people pleaser. More accurately, I obsess about fixing your problem. Whether it’s a personal problem like a nagging health issue, or a business problem like reducing healthcare costs or expanding around the world. I can’t help myself; it’s part of my DNA. I’m also the bread-winner in my family. For 30 years I had a corporate job with amazing benefits and never had to...
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Awayday may be a British expression. Apologies to my American readers if this doesn’t resonate. You might call it a retreat but that sounds extensive, or an escape but that sounds negative. I just needed to get away from all my commitments and re-assess my priorities after leaving my corporate job of 25 years and starting my own gig. An awayday more typically involves a team...
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Employee Wellbeing has been baked into the talent agenda for over a decade now. The term “wellness” had been jettisoned to ensure we were incorporating broader aspects of what employees were looking for and what would lead to engaged and productive workers. Wellbeing typically includes dimensions such as Physical, Emotional (or Mental), Social and Financial Wellbeing with an employer trying to address all these aspects of...
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At last, we’re starting to see healthcare solutions that will move the needle in reducing healthcare costs in the U.S. And more importantly, because these solutions act on the root cause of disease, they will actually improve employee health and productivity rather than just managing a diagnosis.What are these solutions? These innovative companies are relying on the concept of "functional medicine". They focus on lifestyle...
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