Employers are turning to virtual health care offerings to support employees’ physical wellness amid the ongoing pandemic. Since Alithya, a Montreal-based technology company, launched a wellness portal last July, a virtual fitness program has become one of the most utilized benefits offerings, says Catherine Bourque, its vice-president of human capital. The program — which allows employees to […]
Roughly a quarter (23 per cent) of Canadians working exclusively at physical workplaces said their working lives have worsened since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s latest mental-health index. The survey — which was conducted between Nov. 9 and Nov. 22, 2021 and prior to the spread of the Omicron variant […]
As the coronavirus pandemic drags on, it’s dragging down plan members mental and physical health, according to the 2021 Benefits Canada Healthcare Survey. About a third of plan members reported increased feelings of anxiety or sadness/depression, decreased physical fitness (34 per cent) and/or poorer eating habits (31 per cent) in the past year. More than one in […]
SAP Canada Inc. is accelerating the expansion of virtual wellness offerings through its benefits package amid the coronavirus pandemic. “The pandemic has essentially pressed fast-forward on a direction that the market was already going,” says Megan Smith, vice-president and head of human resources at the software company. “It forced the issue of remote work, causing employers […]
The mental-health impacts of isolation and quarantine are clear, but Canadians may not realize loneliness can also harm their physical health, said Diane McIntosh, psychiatrist and chief neuroscience officer at Telus Health, during Benefits Canada’s 2020 Mental Health Summit on Nov. 12. “There have been correlates that loneliness or isolation . . . is like […]
Online sleep clinic Haleo and employee assistance program provider Optima Global Health are forming a partnership to make solutions for insomnia and other sleep disorders accessible to millions of Canadian employees. Through the partnership, Haleo’s personalized insomnia treatment will be integrated into all of the basic issues covered in Optima’s EAP framework. Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, […]
Plan members living with insomnia or sleep problems could benefit from sleep-specific cognitive behavioural therapy programs accessible through their benefits plans. “One of the key things I’m going to say is benefits plans should offer some sort of online cognitive therapy for sleep,” said Atul Khullar, medical director of the Northern Alberta Sleep Clinic, in a session during Benefits […]
The majority (95 per cent) of global employers said they include emotional and mental-health programs in their corporate well-being platforms, according to a new survey by Business Group on Health and Fidelity Investments Inc. The survey, which was fielded last fall and prior to the coronavirus pandemic, found the most common mental-health and well-being offerings […]
In any industry, conferences are a great opportunity for continuing education and connecting with others — such as the 20-plus conferences hosted by Benefits Canada each year — but many people find these events overwhelming. They take us out of our daily routine and can be emotionally and mentally draining. Early wakeup times and evening events […]
While insomnia is a disorder, it’s just as commonly a symptom, which most people and physicians don’t grasp, said Dr. Atul Khullar, medical director at the Northern Alberta Sleep Clinic. A lot of times, not sleeping is essentially the body breaking down because of a separate disorder, risk factor or residual symptom of a mental-health […]