People know they shouldn’t be smoking, just as they know they need to move their bodies more, eat real food and save for retirement. But a lack of care for total health may be preventing change around these habits. Do people truly believe something out there — science, celebrity miracle programs or some higher power — will suddenly save them […]
The Great-West Life Assurance Co. is now offering Dialogue’s virtual health-care services to employers in all Canadian provinces and the Yukon, as well as its own 10,000 employees. “Making innovative health technologies like Dialogue more accessible to our employees and customers demonstrates our commitment to supporting the physical, mental and financial well-being of Canadians,” said […]
Manulife Financial Corp. is making its Vitality health and wellness platform available to Canadian group benefits plan members next year. The platform, which connects with wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness bracelets, is designed to help users make healthy choices and then rewards them with discounts and gift cards for doing so. “We believe this program will help […]
Workplace wellness programs that encourage employees to take charge of their own weight may have a detrimental effect on those with obesity, according to research published in the academic journal Frontiers in Psychology. The study, by researchers at the Netherlands’ University of Groningen and Britain’s Leeds Beckett University, found these types of programs can potentially result in increased […]
About a quarter (28 per cent) of American employers made changes to their employee health-care benefits in 2018, according to a new survey by the Transamerica Center for Health Studies. The survey, which polled 1,350 U.S. business decision-makers, found the most common changes were to health insurance (36 per cent) or the addition of other health-care benefits […]
Cossette Inc. introduced webinars and information sessions around mental health and wellness in October. The offerings, which were provided through the communications company’s employee assistance program, are part of its focus on preventative health, according to Yee Makowich, vice-president of talent. With six offices across Canada, each office features its own wellness initiatives, in addition to a company-wide […]
Green Shield Canada is launching a rating tool that allows plan members to search ratings when looking for a pharmacy. Through the insurer’s app, members can access the rating tool to measure a pharmacy’s health outcomes. The five-star system bases its ratings on the promotion of good adherence to drug therapy, care for chronic disease and the safe dispensing […]
Buck is introducing a new online platform for its plan sponsors to help manage their human resources operations. The web and online-based platform aims to aggregate a plan sponsor’s health, wealth and career programs. It offers employers access to custom dashboards and model scenarios so they can see how well their programs are performing. “The HR industry is […]
Sun Life Financial is piloting its new wellness rewards website among its workforce before rolling it out widely to its employer clients. Since the program was launched in August, Sun Life’s website has received 43,000 visits. “We’re off to a great start,” says Helena Pagano, executive vice-president and chief human resources and communications officer at […]
These days, peace of mind is hard to come by, but the employers at the 2018 Workplace Benefits Awards roundtable centred their discussion around the many ways they can positively contribute towards their workforces’ mental, physical and financial health, particularly when it comes to absenteeism and improving return-to-work processes. “We know that if people are […]