HCCA's Worksite Wellness Newsletter

National Work and Family Month

The month of October was first designated as National Work & Family Month by a Resolution of the United States Senate in 2003. This year, more than ever before, employers need to know there is an inexpensive, effective way to motivate and retain top talent they'll need to get through tough times. Employees need to know it's good to utilize work-life programs offered at an organization because it will help them become more productive.

Alliance for Work Life Progress (AWLP) encourages all workplaces to pause once a year during the month of October to communicate and celebrate the progress of creating healthier and more flexible work environments. This year, employees are encouraged to strike a balance by talking to their managers about a flexible work arrangement. Use October as a time to try telework, condense a workweek, join a wellness program or organize a workplace volunteer activity.

"Work-life is good for business," says Kathie Lingle, WLCP, executive director of AWLP. "Dedicating a month to this aspect of overall people strategy helps employers increase the attraction, retention, productivity and engagement of the talent required for organizational success. It reminds both employees and employers of the exchange relationship that connects their mutual needs, interests and satisfaction."

To learn more visit www.awlp.org

To download resources: www.awlp.org/awlp/nwfm/nwfm-resources.jsp

Children's Health Month

EPA celebrates Children's Health Month each October by developing publications and activities that highlight the importance of protecting children from environmental risks. This year, we are featuring work to protect children in their homes and schools.

To learn more and a list of resources:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpWeb.nsf/content/chm2009.htm

National Depression and Mental Health Month and Screen Month

Screening for Mental Health, Inc., (SMH) first introduced the concept of large-scale mental health screenings with National Depression Screening Day� in 1991. SMH programs now include both in-person and online programs for depression, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, alcohol problems, and suicide prevention.

Nationally, Mental Health in the workplace is the leading cause of disability, resulting in 217 million days of work lost due to lost productivity. Employee Assistance Programs or EAP's are valuable tools in identifying and referring employees to appropriate resources.

The following links are for confidential online screening tools:
www.dbsalliance.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_screening_screeningcenter

www.depression-screening.org/
www.nmha.org/go/help/finding-help/go/help/finding-help/take-a-screening/other-screenings/other-screenings

www.healthyplace.com/psychological-tests/

National Mammography Day

The third Friday in October of each year is National Mammography Day. On this day, or throughout October, radiologists provide free or discounted screening mammograms. The event is sponsored by the National Breast Cancer Awareness Month organization. This is a great day to celebrate by pledging to wear pink and donate the proceeds to a local mammography fund through your hospital.

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

At the Workplace
Women make up more than 50 percent of the American workforce. Approximately 44 percent of those diagnosed with cancer will be employed at the time of their diagnosis. Chances are some of those women are employees at your workplace.

The NBCAM Board of Sponsors urges all employers to examine the health care benefits they provide their employees and to take the steps needed to provide significant benefits for mammography screening. To learn more visit www.nbcam.org

Talk About Prescriptions Month

October 2009 will mark National Council on Patient Information and Education's (NCPIE) 24th annual "Talk About Prescriptions" Month. Our "TAP" Month 2009 theme this year, "Communication is Key!" reflects the fact that better medicine communication between consumers and their healthcare providers is the key to safe and appropriate medicine use - and better health. Implicit in this year's theme is that high-quality communication about medicines - at every teachable moment - must occur to ensure that consumers derive maximum benefit and minimum risk from their medicines. To learn more visit
www.talkaboutrx.org/

To stay up to date on H1N1:
US Department of Health and Human Services www.flu.gov/

Keeping Healthy: 10 Tips for Businesses
Employees are a crucial resource at any business, and especially small businesses. There are steps you can take now, and during the flu season, to help protect the health of your employees.
1.     Develop policies that encourage ill workers to stay at home without fear of any reprisals.
2.     Develop other flexible policies to allow workers to telework (if feasible) and create other leave policies to allow workers to stay home to care for sick family members or care for children if schools close.
3.     Provide resources and a work environment that promotes personal hygiene. For example, provide tissues, no-touch trash cans, hand soap, hand sanitizer, disinfectants and disposable towels for workers to clean their work surfaces.
4.     Provide education and training materials in an easy to understand format and in the appropriate language and literacy level for all employees. See www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/business.
5.     Instruct employees who are well but who have an ill family member at home with the flu that they can go to work as usual. These employees should monitor their health every day, and notify their supervisor and stay home if they become ill. Employees who have a certain underlying medical condition or who are pregnant should promptly call their health care provider for advice if they become ill.
6.     Encourage workers to obtain a seasonal influenza vaccine, if it is appropriate for them according to CDC recommendations (http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm). This helps to prevent illness from seasonal influenza strains that may circulate at the same time as the 2009 H1N1 flu.
7.     Encourage employees to get the 2009 H1N1 vaccine when it becomes available if they are in a priority group according to CDC recommendations. For information on groups recommended for seasonal and H1N1 vaccines, please see www.flu.gov. Consider granting employees time off from work to get vaccinated when the vaccine is available in your community.
8.     Provide workers with up-to-date information on influenza risk factors, protective behaviors, and instruction on proper behaviors (for example, cough etiquette; avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth; and hand hygiene).
9.     Plan to implement practices to minimize face-to-face contact between workers if advised by the local health department. Consider the use of such strategies as extended use of e-mail, websites and teleconferences, encouraging flexible work arrangements (for example, telecommuting or flexible work hours) to reduce the number of workers who must be at the work site at the same time or in one specific location.
10.   If an employee does become sick while at work, place the employee in a separate room or area until they can go home, away from other workers. If the employee needs to go into a common area prior to leaving, he or she should cover coughs/sneezes with a tissue or wear a facemask if available and tolerable. Ask the employee to go home as soon as possible.

Practice "social distancing". Avoid large crowds, handshakes, and casual kisses on the cheek. Steer clear of anyone who is coughing or sneezing.