Cancer is often described as a journey. For most people, it is a frightening trip into the unknown. Virtually everyone knows someone who has been affected by cancer, but just as we read about exotic locations, only the travellers truly understand the terrain.
A recent recommendation by a U.S. government advisory panel to ditch the PSA test for prostate cancer has reignited the call for a cancer screening rethink. It’s no longer OK to abide by the “screen early, screen everybody” maxim, the conversation goes, echoing the one that emerged when the frequency of routine screening for breast cancer was scaled back last year.
So often, when we’re at work, we’re focused on the bottom line. Generating revenue. Being productive. Achieving targets. Similarly, when we talk about workplace wellness, the focus is on the return on investment, and how best to measure and monitor it. But wellness is much more than a financial concern.
Although Canadians have made small improvements to their diets in recent decades, persistently poor eating habits continue to increase their risk of developing a chronic disease later in life, according to a new Conference Board of Canada report. And chronic disease is expected to create a significant burden for benefit plans.
It looks like the majority of Canadian employers recognize the importance of wellness in the workplace, and are implementing programs to improve the health and well-being of their employees, according to research by the International Foundation of Employee Benefits Plans (IFEBP).
Institutional investment consulting firm SHARE—an institutional investment consulting firm based in Vancouver—has released a guidance report for investors focused on corporate best practices in health and safety.
Our food-buying and consumption habits are influenced by a host of factors that never cross our conscious minds. And by simply changing the environment or situational context that people interact in, it is possible to affect their behaviour in a positive way, without needing to change their attitude or mindset.
In Canada, the majority of people who smoke are of working age. According to Statistics Canada’s 2010 Canadian Community Health Survey, almost three-quarters of Canadian smokers are between ages 20 and 64. Therefore, workplaces are ideal settings to promote, provide and support smoking cessation efforts.
Employers in British Columbia have a new tool at their disposal to help promote workplace wellness.
A new study says smoking, alcohol, poor diet, lack of physical activity and stress finds are costing Ontarians more than seven years of their lives.