Since good nutrition contributes to better mental health, what people eat has a direct relationship to their mood and how they function, said Charmaine Alexander, senior advisor of disability management at Desjardins Insurance. “Let’s compare our brains to a car engine,” she said during a session at Benefits Canada‘s 2019 Mental Health Summit on Nov. […]
While medical advancements and drug therapy innovations have been life-changing for patients and plan members, they also come with increasing costs, said Victoria Shaw, drug benefits manager at Alberta Blue Cross, speaking at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Calgary Drug Trends Summit on Oct. 24. Between 2011 to 2017, the number of high-cost drugs doubled. From 2016 to 2017, in […]
With more than 1,400 mental-health apps available for download, and more entering the marketplace every day, are these tools an effective way for employers to support employee well-being? The journal Nature Digital Medicine, which estimated the number above, also found only 2.6 per cent of apps that are clinically relevant specifically for depression provided evidence […]
Montreal-based virtual health-care services platform Dialogue Technologies Inc. is launching the second phase of its stress management and well-being program. Available to Canadian employers, the program aims to ensure plan members have access to doctors, nurses, medical specialists, psychologists, psychotherapists and social workers. These specialists “[work] together as a team to offer a personalized treatment plan and […]
While employers want workplace cultures that make employees feel good and included, gauging and quantifying that experience can be difficult. Toronto-based company Receptiviti Inc. is aiming to help employers create and maintain “people-first” workplaces that make culture a priority, recognizing it’s a foundational part of organizational health and business performance. To do this, it’s analyzing language across […]
SSQ Life Insurance Co. Inc. is adding pharmacogenetic testing to its group insurance offering. Pharmacogenetic testing helps determine how a person’s DNA reacts to prescription drugs, which makes it easier for doctors to choose the most effective medications for their patients. SSQ said it expects the offering will make it easier for plan members to access […]
The majority of Canadians said they’d either be reluctant to admit (48 per cent) or wouldn’t admit (27 per cent) to a boss or co-worker that they’re suffering from a mental illness, according to a new survey by RBC Insurance. Furthermore, the proportion (27 per cent) who said they wouldn’t admit they’re suffering from a […]
Canada’s national standard for psychological health and safety in the workplace provides employers with benchmarks they can measure themselves against. Would making it mandatory improve employer uptake, or impose unnecessary and duplicate regulations? Brian Gottheil, human resource advisor and lawyer at Bernardi Human Resource Law LLP: The national standard helps employers proactively assess and improve their […]
Six million Canadians are living with obesity and its prevalence is continuing to rise, said David Macklin, medical director of the weight management program at Medcan, during a session at Benefits Canada’s 2019 Chronic Disease at Work conference in Toronto on June 5. While many may consider obesity to be a matter of will power, […]
Compared with recreational users, medical cannabis patients frequently use CBD-dominant preparations with the smallest amount of THC to get the greatest improvements in symptom control, function and quality of life with the fewest adverse events, said Michael Koehn, founder of the CannSolve Clinic in British Columbia. During a session at Benefits Canada’s Chronic Disease at […]