Employers realize that health begins with heading off illness
First, the good news: thanks to medical progress, many diseases once viewed as death sentences are more survivable than ever, and early detection is making it possible to avert many illnesses before they become serious. Second, the not-so-good news: with the reduction in acute cases, chronic diseases—the big four are cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes—are coming to the fore.
Fortunately, as these are diseases we live with over time, we have more control over the progress of chronic illness, particularly when we use preventative measures to proactively reduce risk factors (e.g., tobacco use, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption and unhealthy eating). At Benefits Canada’s ROI of One Life Forum in May, organizations and experts gathered to share what the employer’s role can be in prevention.
Our conference coverage is extended online. For a more comprehensive look at the forum and its attendees, go to the ROI of One Life Forum page on BenefitsCanada.com.
The Value of Prevention
Successful prevention can sometimes mean saving the employee from himself. Steve Sproule, team lead for health, benefits and retirement with Husky Energy, shared excerpts from a thank-you note that any employer would be happy to receive. An employee, who is a self-described alcoholic and workaholic, wrote, “The message from one of the presentations on depression really hit home with me, and I made another major life-changing decision. I give full credit to Husky for sending me to a workshop dealing with stress and depression.”
While anecdotal evidence speaks volumes, other employers are already starting to track the actual return on investment (ROI) behind prevention. Jason Fitzsimmons, vice-president of health, safety, employee and labour relations with Ontario Power Generation (OPG), listed a few examples. From 2010 to 2011, OPG reduced its mental health sick days by 16% ($865,000) and cancer sick days by 9% ($129,000). Drug costs in that same time frame were also reduced by $21,364 for mental health, $53,096 for cancer and $248,541 for cardiovascular illness.
In her presentation on chronic disease, Dr. Linda Rabeneck, vice-president of prevention and cancer control with Cancer Care Ontario, shared a few other Canadian ROI prevention successes: BC Hydro and Telus each save $3 for every $1 spent, and Canada Life saves $3.43 for every $1 spent.
So if that’s the bottom line, what does prevention look like in practice? Both Fitzsimmons and Sproule shared elements of their companies’ progress in this area.
At Husky, an energy company with 4,800 Canadian employees and operations primarily in Western Canada, but also in St. John’s, Nfld., Ohio, Indonesia and China, Sproule says the move toward prevention has been an evolution from the company’s initial focus on disability, drug plans and safety. Today, preventative measures include annual health fairs and clinics, where more than 600 employees receive flu shots and are screened for everything: from BMI and glucose, to bone density, blood type and, for men, the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test.
Beyond screenings, other Husky events include a points system for proactively healthy behaviour such as bringing healthy snacks and volunteering, plus health challenges several times a year, including a walking challenge in the summer. Another recent offering was a survival kit, with information on reducing jet lag, managing fatigue, eating healthier and managing stress. The kit also includes fun elements (e.g., a stress ball and an eye mask/earplugs combo for air travel).
At OPG, which operates nuclear, thermal and hydroelectric stations and whose 10,500 employees are 90% unionized, there has also been a shift to prevention, with an emphasis on mental health, cardiovascular disease, diabetes/obesity, cancer and musculoskeletal disease. At OPG, the high training costs of employees who are “grown not hired” make a focus on long-term health especially important. Fitzsimmons summarized his company’s approach using the four Es: educate, engage, empower and enable. He used diabetes as an example to outline the strategy whereby employees are first educated by the company physician about facts and figures around metabolic syndrome and diabetes, and then engaged via screening programs to determine their own warning signs. Employees are empowered as they learn about preventative actions such as weight loss and lifestyle changes. Finally, employees are enabled to intervene in their own condition with tools such as exercise facilities and dietary advice.
Forum attendees got to sample some of this program first-hand when OPG’s chief physician, Dr. Alain Sotto (he was also the forum’s honorary chair and is a medical consultant with the Toronto Transit Commission), later presented his information session on diabetes and even demonstrated a non-invasive machine called the Scout DS, which helps catch early warning signs of the condition by measuring the proteins in the skin.
Suzanne Bowness is a freelance writer based in Toronto. sue@codeword.ca
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