Healthcare providers and their teams serve and treat patients on a daily basis. However, healthcare professionals may suffer from chronic diseases, i.e., diabetes, flu and other health conditions themselves. With workers in America today spending more than one-third of their day on the job, employers are in a unique position to promote the health and safety of their employees. The use of effective workplace health programs and policies can help reduce health risks and improve the quality of life for 138 million workers in the United States.
The CDC Workplace Health Resource Center (WHRC) features a growing number of health-related resources to help your employees manage their conditions.
Workplace health programs can help you:
- Establish health-promoting policies.
- Increase healthy behaviors, such as dietary and physical activity changes.
- Improve employees’ health knowledge and skills.
- Help employees get necessary health screenings, immunizations and follow-up care.
- Reduce employees’ on-the-job exposure to substances and hazards that can cause diseases and injury.
More than 30 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, and 1 out of 3 adults has pre-diabetes. Employers can play a significant role in helping their employees delay or manage diabetes—while also helping reduce the estimated $245 billion spent yearly on direct medical costs and time lost from work.
In honor of National Diabetes Month, inspire employees to think about their health, encourage diabetes prevention or support your employees who are managing their diabetes and develop a strategy to help employees with diabetes manage their mental health in your healthcare setting.
The Great Plains Quality Innovation Network provides resources and technical assistance for quality improvement efforts and diabetes self-management education programs across the four-state region that your employees can participate in. Learn more on the diabetes care initiatives page of our Web site.
Source: CDC