Home Kelsey Rolfe

Assessing mental-health offerings for plan members with moderate to severe symptoms

The pandemic has taken a dramatic toll on the well-being of Canadians, but one of the most notable trends has been its impact on employees with pre-existing mental-health challenges, said Lanie Schachter-Snipper, registered psychotherapist and national director of outpatient services for EHN Canada, during Benefits Canada’s 2021 Chronic Disease at Work conference in late February. […]

  • April 9, 2021 April 25, 2021
  • 09:00

How employers can support Alzheimer’s and dementia patients, caregivers

Alzheimer’s and dementia is a growing area of concern for the workplace, with more than half a million Canadians currently living with dementia and the number expected to almost double to more than 900,000 by 2030, said Sharon Cohen, neurologist and medical director of the Toronto Memory Program, during Benefits Canada’s 2021 Chronic Disease at […]

  • April 9, 2021 April 25, 2021
  • 09:00

Tracking impact of coronavirus pandemic on cancer patients, benefits plans

Employers have taken on a larger role in employees’ cancer care in the past few years, but the coronavirus pandemic changed the game even further, said Tim Clark, president of tc Health Consulting Inc., during Benefits Canada’s 2021 Chronic Disease at Work conference in late February. Cancer is now the sixth most expensive disease by […]

  • April 9, 2021 April 26, 2021
  • 09:00

What plan sponsors need to know about employees with atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis affects all areas of patients’ lives, including their work and productivity, said Lyn Guenther, professor of dermatology at Western University, during Benefits Canada’s 2021 Chronic Disease at Work conference in late February. The chronic skin condition, characterized by dry and itchy skin, is growing in prevalence in Canada. About 3.5 per cent of […]

  • April 9, 2021 January 16, 2023
  • 09:00

Applying chronic disease principles to supporting plan members with obesity

Benefits plans tend to cover care for common chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and chronic obstructive lung disease. But the one they often don’t support is obesity, said Arya Sharma, scientific director at Obesity Canada and clinical co-chair of Alberta Health Services’ obesity program, during Benefits Canada’s 2021 Chronic Disease at Work conference in […]

  • April 9, 2021 January 16, 2023
  • 09:00

The business case for addressing chronic health issues

Public companies that invest in their people have three times’ the return on their stock price of those that don’t, making a clear case for investing in plan members’ health needs and disability prevention strategies, said Tyler Amell, adjunct faculty at Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences, during Benefits Canada’s 2021 Chronic Disease at […]

  • April 9, 2021 April 6, 2021
  • 09:00

New Zealand now offers paid leave for miscarriage, should Canada follow suit?

New Zealand’s parliament unanimously approved legislation last month that gives couples the right to three days of paid leave after a miscarriage or stillbirth, making it one of the first countries in the world to do so. While the country had previously required employers to provide paid leave in the event of a stillbirth — […]

  • April 8, 2021 April 7, 2021
  • 09:00

The Royal Mail Group’s road to offering U.K. employees a collective DC plan

The Royal Mail Group Ltd. will soon make history in the United Kingdom by becoming the first employer to sponsor an entirely new type of pension plan, called a collective defined contribution scheme. Under the U.K.’s Pension Schemes Act 2021, which received royal assent in February, collective DC pensions will essentially be a hybrid of […]

  • March 19, 2021 April 28, 2021
  • 08:51

Sleep Country Canada’s employee experience app taking centre stage amid pandemic

With a diverse and geographically spread-out employee population of office workers, retail store associates and delivery drivers, Sleep Country Canada’s human resources team knew it needed to get creative to make sure all its staffers received a high-quality employee experience. “We continuously wanted to improve and have a better way of communicating and give employees […]

  • March 5, 2021 January 16, 2023
  • 08:59

Desjardins making Telus Health’s Medisys On-Demand available to plan sponsors

When Desjardins Insurance wanted to determine the value of virtual health care in employer-sponsored benefits plans, it used its own employees as guinea pigs. The results were a resounding success. In the 2018 pilot project, Desjardins’ more than 48,000 employees received access to Telus Health’s Medisys on-Demand virtual application. Among employees who used the app, […]

  • March 5, 2021 January 16, 2023
  • 08:58