Why invest in wellbeing services?

‘Health at Work – An Independent Review of Sickness Absence’, carried out by Dame Carol Black and David Frost and published in November 2011, remains one of the most robust independent reviews of sickness absence. This work, presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, concluded that 140 million working days are lost annually in Great Britain due to sickness absence which is equivalent to 4.9 days per worker per year. Consequently, at the time of publishing, the associated cost of sickness pay to employers was calculated at £9 billion per year with the State spending £13 billion annually on health-related benefits.

Since then, the Office for National Statistics has published updated figures showing that the average number of sick days in 2018 had fallen to 4.1 days per employee per year. They estimated an updated figure of 137.3 million days of sickness absence, with mental health issues (including stress, depression, and anxiety) representing 15.5 million days lost per year (11.5%).

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2019 the impact of job losses, working from home, home schooling, social isolation, and loneliness due to cyclical lockdowns has had a significant effect on the nation’s mental and physical wellbeing. As the impact of COVID-19 will be felt for years to come, it is imperative that employers explore ways in which they can further support the wellbeing of their staff.

What does “evidence-based wellbeing services” mean?

To support employers, Hessington Health Limited have devised a well-structured and broad-based series of wellbeing seminars which are founded on the evidence of our research. These have received excellent feedback from the numerous organisations that have utilised our services. During the pandemic we have delivered education seminars successfully via video platforms and will offer this option in the long term, as well as in-person sessions when safe to do so. Our popular infographic wellbeing posters have been adapted for the workplace to support employers in promoting employee wellbeing.

Carefully selected educational seminars, covering both physical and mental wellbeing and underpinned by published literature, ensure that employees receive the most up-to-date information in a language that is accessible to all.

Examples of some of our sessions include:

  • What is mental wellbeing and how can we optimise it?
  • What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ or EI) and locus of control, and how does it influence wellbeing?
  • What is physical wellbeing and how can we optimise it?
  • How a wellbeing profiling webtool can support wellbeing optimisation?
  • The role of nutrition in optimising wellbeing.
  • Metabolic syndrome and the risk of diabetes and coronary heart disease.
  • Common cancers (bowel, prostate, breast, and ovarian).
  • The differential diagnosis mapped by physical symptoms (change in bowel habit, irritable bowel syndrome, gastric ulcers, gallstones, pancreatitis, bowel cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, and gynaecological pathology).
  • Allergies; common causes and useful investigations.
  • Chronic pain and multiple health conditions – the effect on wellbeing, personal life and employment.