Health Means Business

Do you run a small or medium size business in the Wakefield district? Do you value the health of your employees? Would you like to help improve the health of your workforce?

If so NHS Wakefield District has teamed up with Royds Community Association to help workers across the district to lead healthier lives.

With the help of funding from the Big Lottery Fund's Well-being programme, the new service called 'Health Means Business' aims to support employers and their workforces to adopt a 'prevention is cheaper than cure' attitude. It works by supporting businesses to develop and roll-out a tailor-made programme of health promotion activity.

Why should I get involved?

Poor health has a significant impact on both employers and employees, for example:

• In 2004 workplace sickness absence costs in the UK were estimated to be £588 a year for each employee. (Office for National Statistics 2002).
• In 2004 it was estimated that each employee was taking, on average, 9 days off each year due to sickness. That equates to 3.4% of total working time.
• One in five workers report feeling extremely stressed at work and work related stress, depression and anxiety is the second most common type of work related illness (Health & Safety Executive 2004).

However helping your workforce to lead a healthier lifestyle can make a real difference, for example just improving the physical activity levels of staff, has in the past proven to:

• increase productivity;
• improve absenteeism and ability to return to work after illness;
• help with the retention of staff;
• improve the morale of the workforce;
• be as effective as psychotherapeutic interventions in depressed patients and also help with secondary symptoms such as low self esteem and social withdrawal (Richardson, Faulkner et al 2005);
• reduce workplace injuries;
• improve workability among older employees; and
• create a positive corporate image.

How does it work?

Health Means Business tailors the service to your business supporting you to develop and deliver a four-year programme of health promotion activity.

It works by:

• Securing the support of top management. Managers have a key role to play in creating a healthy environment - leading by example and participating in the activities will motivate your workers to take part.
• Appointing a Champion to oversee the effort. At a small firm this might be a single individual, perhaps even the boss.
• Collecting data. You can't change what you can't measure.
• Creating a simple plan and setting simple goals. An action plan will keep the programme focused and measurable.
• Choosing the appropriate intervention. This could be anything from providing information on healthy eating to facilitating exercising at work.
• Creating a supportive environment. It's important that you make it clear to staff that you approve of and support their participation.
• Carefully evaluating outcomes. If the desired result isn't being achieved, it may be necessary to change the intervention or make the environment even more supportive.

Remember we will be there to support you!

Who can get involved?

The Health Means Business project is open to Wakefield district employers of small and medium enterprises (SME's), employing between 20-249 people.

How do I get involved?

If you'd like to sign up for the project or you just want to find out more information please contact Lisa or Gemma by:

• Phone: 01274 355600;
• Email: healthmeansbusiness@royds.org.uk; or
• Visit www.royds.org.uk

Go on - show your employees you value their health and start seeing the difference!