miller Health Occupational Health and Fitness

Index

53. Results AD May 2007

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John Miller conducted a Seven Habits of Fit and Healthy people seminar for The Organisation in May 2007.

20 participants completed the following profiles

■ Mind and Body

■ Stress

■ Career Satisfaction

The results are presented in graphic format, with commentary and recommendations and form the basis of this Health Climate Survey.

CONTEXT

The health assessment program conducted by Miller Health is based on the premise that the health of key body systems depends on

• physical fitness

• diet

• the avoidance of a toxic environment and

• an ability to manage the stress of both life and work.

Within the Australian community, there is currently an epidemic of body system dysfunctions which when translated into the workplace are associated with increased absenteeism and workers compensation, and decreased work performance and productivity.

There are very few organisations that are immune from this epidemic.

THE PROGRAM

The program included a series of lectures and assessments, taking an holistic look at health, and based on the premise that the major systems of the body maintain healthy function when they are supported by

n	a physically active way of life

n	management of stress, both that which is generated internally and that which impact on each individual from their external environment

n	work satisfaction, including work stress

n	a life in balance in which people have interests outside of work, which distract them from being busy and miserable and stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system.

n	Meditation

HEALTH PROFILES

A number of profiles were used as a means of obtaining a snap shot of people’s health, fitness and stress levels. In the workplace it is also a good measure of the risk of absenteeism, presenteeism and workers’ compensation.

People in poor shape experience

• headaches

• poor sleep

• lack of energy and vitality

• musculo-skeletal dysfunction

• frequent colds and flu

• obesity

• anxiety ...

Sample

Because of the size and nature of the sample selection, it is probably inappropriate to make organisation-wide generalizations about health and fitness.

OH&S risk management

Overall we rated the health of the group as average.

The aging population

I hold to the belief that, barring disability, there are few things stopping people of working age from being in good physical condition. It's not so much that we have an aging population as an unfit population.

The governments of Australia base their medical system data on the premise that it is because people are getting older that they are becoming increasingly dysfunctional. They haven't factored into the equation the fact that people are becoming increasingly dysfunctional at a younger age.

It's a poorly researched premise.

Down at the Productivity Commission and over at the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) they're betting on when the percentage of GDP poured down the medical black hole will reach 15%. It's the cause of great hilarity. According to their latest report, the AIHW even believes the 'health of Australians is getting better'. Hello!

While workplaces have become safer, they've also become unfitter and unhealthier compared to an earlier generation.

In our culture it's a big ask expecting to stay healthy without keeping yourself fit and it's an even bigger ask expecting to get better by having someone do something to you; sooner or later you have to do something to yourself.

Whilst we can expect people over the age of 70 to start slowing down, it is not necessarily the case for people of working age. As a general rule, poor health and body system dysfunction is not so much related to age as it is to

▪ a toxic environment

▪ low levels of physical activity - in particular sitting down all day

▪ diets high in energy and low in essential nutrients

▪ diets loaded with food additives, sugar and aspartame

▪ over-consumption of alcohol

▪ smoking

▪ an inability to handle the normal stresses of life

▪ a job that does not suit their personality, intelligence strengths or interests

▪ an over-reliance on junk medicine - medicine that is pharmaceutically based and which masks

symptoms without stimulating the body's own recuperative power.

Whilst what's actually going wrong may be hard to determine, it's the symptoms that suggest something is indeed going wrong somewhere inside (and on the surface) of your body.

SYMPTOMS OF METABOLIC DYSFUNCTION

The symptoms of metabolic dysfunction are growing by the month. They include

▪ getting fatter

▪ headaches and migraines

▪ tiredness

▪ anxiety and depression

▪ diabetes

▪ high blood pressure

▪ elevated cholesterol levels

▪ cardiac insufficiency

▪ irritable bowel

▪ asthma

▪ poor sleep

▪ snoring and sleep apnoea

▪ rashes and itchiness

▪ attention deficit

▪ ...

(On top of that is musculo-skeletal dysfunction, caused by tight and weak muscles dragging bones out of alignment.)

MIND AND BODY PROFILE

The Mind and Body profile provides people with a very good idea of how well the various systems of the body are functioning, particularly the

• the mind

• autonomic nervous system

• immune system

• digestive system

• circulatory system

• elimination system

• musculo-skeletal system.

On this profile, the lower the score the better.

To complete the profile, circle the number appropriate to the degree to which you experience the symptoms on the left hand side of the page. The greater the symptom, the higher the score.

	Symptom	None		Not much			A fair bit			A lot
1.	Headaches	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
2.	Migraines	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
3.	Lack of energy and vitality	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
4.	Candida - jock itch, thrush, tinea ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
5.	Poor sleep. If on tablets score 10	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
6.	Snoring &/or sleep apnoea.	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
7.	Crook back, sore shoulders RSI ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
8.	Frequent colds, flu, sinus	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
9.	Unsettled stomach, reflux	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
10.	Irritable bowel, constipation, trots ...	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11.	Overweight - 1 point for every 2Kg	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
12.	Asthma	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
13.	Low level of aerobic fitness	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
14.	Chest pain, palpitations	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
15.	Rashes, itchiness, psoriasis, zits	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
16.	Mouth ulcers, cold sores	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
17.	Elevated blood pressure. Score 0 on pills	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
18.	Reduced libido	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
19.	Shakes, nervous ticks, mannerisms	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
20.	Grinding teeth	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
21.	Alcoholic drinks per day (2 pts/drink)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
22.	Smoking. (1 pt/cigarette/day)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
23.	Caffeine (1 pt/cup per day)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
24.	Anxious about life in general	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
25.	Insecure/apprehensive about the future	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
26.	Sad or depressed (On medication, score 0)	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
27.	In wrong job for now	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
28.	Under-appreciated at work	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
29.	Under-appreciated at home	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
30.	Unhappy with family and romantic life	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10

Score

The score of a normal, fit and healthy human being is less than 20

Higher scores are symptomatic of dysfunction of one or more body systems.

People with high levels of stress usually score well over 100.

For people with a score of more than 80, the ‘background noise’ of their life is becoming louder and louder. It is hard to concentrate on your work when body systems are dysfunctional.

We know a fit and healthy group when we see the majority of scores below 40. This was not the case with this group. By and large higher scores are usually a reflection of

• low levels of fitness

• an inability to deal with what life and work are serving up to them.

Remember, it is not what happens, but how we deal with what happens that determines our level of stress.

This profile is described as poor. The average score was 64. A lot of people are putting up with a lot of background noise. From my assessment this is not a very fit and health group. The risk of absenteeism, presenteeism and workers' compensation claims is considered high. The 6 people who scored less than 40 are in good shape.

SCORES ON EACH ITEM, RANKED - the higher the score the worse the problem

60 people completed the profile. We added the scores for each item. The results appear in the table below.

	Symptom	% scoring 7 or more
	Low level of fitness*	25
	Poor sleep***	20
	Snoring***	20
	Crookback*	20
	Overweight***	20
	Lack of energy***	15
	Blood pressure***	10
	Insecure*	10
	Depressed**	10
	Under appreciated at work	10
	Colds and flu	5
	Irritable bowel	5
	Asthma	5
	Libido	5
	Shakes	5
	Grinding teeth	5
	Alcohol	5
	Smoking	5
	Caffeine	5
	Wrong job	5
	Under appreciated at home	5
	Unhappy family	5
	Headaches	0
	Migraines	0
	Candida	0
	Crook gut	0
	Chest pain	0
	Rashes	0
	Mouth ulcers	0
	Anxious	0

* Fitness related

* Diet related

* Stress related

We recommend the organisation focus on dealing with the top 6 items.

Perception

Based on people's perception (where they gave a particular symptom a score of 7 or more, and backed up by objective scores) the 3 key issues are low levels of fitness, musculo-skeletal dysfunction and obesity.

Fitness

This workplace, like most others has a fitness problem.

It's interesting that rarely do people have their aerobic fitness levels measured, when aerobic fitness is the key driver of poor health. We measure every thing but; blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and fail to measure the key driver of metabolic health. It would be good to actually measure the aerobic fitness of people in this workplace.

Obesity

20% of people surveyed were 20 or more kilograms overweight. It's symptomatic of high energy diets and low energy lifestyles.

Musculo-skeletal dysfunction

20% of people indicated that they suffered from some sort of musculo-skeletal dysfunction.

The main driver of body system dysfunction is lack of physical fitness. In the case of musculo-skeletal dysfunction it's a strength and flexibility problem. For the other items marked with a red asterisk it's an aerobic fitness problem.

Like all organisations, this organisation has a musculo-skeletal dysfunction problem. Sooner or later these self-generated dysfunctions become labeled as 'injuries', at great cost to the organisation's workers compensation arrangements.

It is recommended that the organisation build a firewall between dysfunctions and injuries. What this means is requiring staff at risk (and staff experiencing musculo-skeletal pain) to attend musculo-skeletal prehab sessions, in work time, to improve strength and flexibility and to get bones back into alignment - tracksuit therapy not white coat therapy.

Our surveys showed that staff will willingly participate in such a program.

A similar approach needs to be taken with people who've already been tipped into the workers compensation bucket. These people should attend daily rehab sessions, conducted by registered fitness practitioners that involve strength and flexibility exercises.

There is probably a case for the organisation to establish its own health and fitness centre where prehab and rehab sessions can take place, where there is a good hydrotherapy pool.

There is a good case for subsidizing fitness centre memberships, but only for people who go and only for people whose fitness is getting better, or has achieved an acceptable level. A lot of organisations pay by input, not output. They don't get good value for money.

Smoking

The good news is that only one person smoked.

Depression

There is an epidemic of depression in our community and we encourage all organisations to target depression.

Two people indicated they were depressed. This is higher than the community average. I believe that anti-depressant medication without a sustained physical activity program, nutrient rich diet and counseling is an inadequate form of treatment.

STRESS RISK

Participants completed a simple stress and relaxation profile designed to assist them in making an assessment of how they were affected by stress. It is based on the habits of unstressed people.

If you do what unstressed people do you are less at risk of becoming stressed. I’m yet to see someone who said they were highly stressed or depressed who got a high score on this profile. A good score is over 70.

• How would you rate your current stress level

• Do you get a good night’s sleep?

• Do you take your holidays?

• Are you keeping yourself fit and healthy?

• Is there balance in your life?

• Do you take time off at lunch time?

• How many hours a week do you work?

• Are you good at giving back to your Self?

• Do you meditate?

• Are you happy with your family (and romantic) life?

The matter of stress always needs to be addressed by organisations as part of a personal development thrust, and aimed at all staff. If stress management type programs are to be conducted, all staff need to be involved, otherwise those at most risk and those who are currently most stressed (and too wrapped up in their own busyness) will not attend.

For those who spend long hours at work, I often wonder whether the behaviour is externally or internally driven. I suspect the latter. No body on their death bed ever said 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office.'

A few people are struggling with their family life. This is another fertile area for personal development and counseling programs. It's hard to concentrate at work when your home life is in turmoil

SCORING GUIDELINES

Excellent, scoring 8 or more

Good, scoring 7 or more

Fair, scoring 5 or 6

Poor, scoring less than 5

‘Pass mark’ on all parameters 7/10.


	Patchy. Very patchy.	Not bad. 5 people don't sleep well. The first casualty of anxiety and low levels of fitness is sleep.

	Definitely not good. Paul Pearsal in his book Superimmunity' said you need a 21 day away from home holiday every year..	Not particularly good. In effect there are two graphs, those that keep themselves fit and those who don't.

	Not good.	A poor result. Too many people don't take time off to switch off and get outside in the fresh air.

	This is a mixed result, though those who work the longest hours in our society are mothers of young children who have three shifts - one before work, one at work and one after work.	Could be better.

	Very few people meditate. The reasons to do so are compelling.	Family life satisfaction is good for most people, but not for some. The tail suggests the organisation could move heaven and earth to encourage staff with family problems to go to the employee assistance program for advice and support.

Average score: 52. This is a very average score. People could do more to look after their self. I recommend that people scoring less that 40 spend time with a counselor or life coach.

CAREER SATISFACTION

The parameters in the profile relate to a mix of factors influences by the participant, management and their colleagues.

• How close are you to doing the job you’d really like to be doing?

• Are you in the right job for now?

• Is work giving you life or sucking life out of you?

• Are you focused on your career options?

• Do you get good feedback from your manager?

• Do you receive an appropriate financial reward?

• Do you feel you and your work are valued and appreciated?

• Do you work for an organisation that cares about people?

• Do you enjoy the company of the people you work with?

• What’s the level of morale like in your work group?

Normally, when results on the overall career profile are less than 70/100, people agree that they’re not in the right job. Certainly those scoring less than 60 have sufficient issues relating to career management as to seriously consider going somewhere else.