miller Health Occupational Health and Fitness

23 Results DAIS May 2006

John Miller conducted a health management day at the Australian institute of Sport in May 2006.

Participants completed the following profiles

■ Mind and Body

■ Fitness

■ Musculo-skeletal risk

■ Diet

■ Chemical intake

■ Stress

■ Career Satisfaction

The results are presented in graphic format, with commentary.

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 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 assessments took an holistic look at health, being based on the premise that the major systems of the body maintain healthy function when they are supported by

■	a physically active way of life

■	a healthy diet that provides the cells of the body with the nutrition they need and isn’t directed at merely filling up the stomach

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

■	work satisfaction, including work stress

■	a life in balance in which people have interests outside of work which distract them from being busy and miserable.

HEALTH PROFILES

The Mind and Body profile was used as a way 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 nature of the sample selection, it is appropriate to make organisation-wide generalizations about health and fitness.

The aging population

We believe (barring disability) there is nothing stopping anyone of working age from being in exceptionally good physical condition – except lack of training. It's not so much that we have an aging population but a lazy population. We know this is the case because according to the principle of increased dysfunction, people are getting older younger!

Theoretically, as people get older they should be able to maintain a high level of fitness – they’ve had longer to train!

The Governments of Australia base their medical system data on the fact that as people get older they become more dysfunctional. Whilst this may be the case for people over the age of 75, it is not necessarily the case for people of working age . As a general rule, poor health and body system dysfunction goes hand in hand with low levels of physical activity, junk food diets, over-consumption of alcohol, an inability to handle the normal stresses of life and a job that does not suit their personality, intelligence strengths or interests.

MIND AND BODY PROFILE

People in poor shape experience

• headaches

• poor sleep

• lack of energy and vitality

• musculo-skeletal dysfunction

• frequent colds and flu

• obesity

• anxiety ...

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.

THE MIND AND BODY PROFILE

	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 very mediocre. The average score was 86.

How well you score on the Mind and Body profile will provide you with a good indication of how fit and healthy you really are.

I read somewhere that we don't see full blown body system dysfunction until the particular system is 70% dysfunctional. What the Mind and Body profile does is pick up the dysfunctions at an early stage - (you know something's wrong and you feel dreadful but you can't put your finger on the particular system that's causing it. It doesn't matter that you don't know the precise system involved. What you are aware of is that one or more of your systems isn't working at full pitch. The good news is that you can restore function to normal by getting fitter, eating wisely, meditating getting the job you'd love to do ...) Very few people became fitter and healthier in a doctor's surgery!

Being vigorously physically active on a regular and systematic basis is the most powerful symbol of your ability to give back to your Self. On top of that it protects the body from a wide range of dysfunctions and contributes to an enhancement of the body's own recuperative powers.

There is an epidemic of body system dysfunction in our community and it is certainly not caused by a lack of Panadol, Avpro, Diabex, Lipitor, Ventolin, Milantin, Celebrex, Valium, Zoloft, Viagra or Anusol!

The mind/body relationship

The body is an ecosystem of which the mind is an integral part. Major body systems are frequently negatively affected by stress generated in the mind. The body is incapable of dishonesty!

On the other hand, the mind is effected by the healthy working order of other body systems. Certainly it is affected by physical activity, diet, meditation, acupuncture and a low-toxic environment.

People who are physically fit are less likely to become depressed. They are also more likely to have a strong immune system and an autonomic nervous system that is balanced and healthy in its management of key physiological responses. They are healthy and happy. They have normal blood pressure, they sleep like logs, are about their ideal weighty, rarely, if ever get a headache and don't have a crook back.

As your fitness level improves you can be certain that your score on the Mind and Body profile will also.

FITNESS

The fitness profile is comprised of a mix of 10 objective and subjective assessments.

• Are you keeping yourself fit and healthy to the best of your ability?

• What was your score on the mind and body profile?

• Are you about your ideal weight?

• Aerobic fitness test

• Abdominal strength test

• Upper body strength test

• Flexibility test

• Mobility test

• Aerobic activity training behaviour

• Level of energy and vitality.

A reasonable score is over 70%.

Those receiving less than 70 are not training with sufficient vigour or intensity on a regular and systematic basis to keep themselves fit and healthy.

Overall the fitness scores were poor. There was, in effect two groups of participants, the fit and the not fit.

MUSCULO-SKELETAL RISK FACTOR

Our musculo-skeletal risk factor profile looked at a range of parameters including mobility, strength and flexibility and whether people are training to keep themselves strong and flexible.

The musculo-skeletal risk factor profile is comprised of a mix of 9 objective and 3 subjective assessments.

• Current musculo-skeletal condition

• Age

• Closeness to ideal weight

• Abdominal strength test

• Upper body strength test

• Flexibility

• Functional mobility – the ability to sit down and stand up with ease

of movement.

• Shoulder function

• Dominant hand grip

• Non-dominant hand grip

A score of 70% is attainable by those who have a regular and systematic training program.

Those scoring less than 70 are not doing sufficient in the way of strength and flexibility exercises. They are therefore exposing themselves to a high risk of musculo-skeletal dysfunction. (It would be bizarre for a workplace to offer to pay the rehabilitation costs of people who were not keeping themselves strong enough or flexible enough to do their job without succumbing to musculo-skeletal dysfunction, wouldn't it?)

This risk to The Organisation is much higher than the risk we see in other organisations.

Current musculo-skeletal status was patchy. We recommend that those scoring less than 60 be obligated to going to a regular, in-house strength and flexibility program.

The usual suspects had trouble touching their toes - suggestive of tight calves and hamstrings which in turn pull the pelvis back and cause lumbar, thoracic and cervical vertebrae to become out of alignment. The result is a crook back, stiff neck, the 'cold' shoulder and dysfunctional wrists (which most people blame on the keyboard).

The two principles involved here are

1. Bones do what muscles tell them to do.

2. The cause of the pain is rarely at the site of the pain.

As a result, few people, or their therapists attribute lower back and neck pain to their tight calves, buttocks and hamstrings,

In the main shoulder function was good.

Lack of strength and flexibility is something that The Organisation needs to take seriously and monitor carefully and put in place an organisation-wide strategy to improve musculo-skeletal function. By far and away a high proportion of people do not have a strength and flexibility program. As a result they are getting weaker and tighter by the week, thereby exposing themselves and the organisation to risk. When push comes to shove and people become dysfunctional, it will be The Organisation that ends up paying the high cost of an avoidable musculo-skeletal complaint. I’d recommend you go to our website and open the page titled from injury to dysfunction.

In our opinion musculo-skeletal dysfunction caused by lack of a regular and systematic strength and flexibility program cannot be classified as an injury. Responsibility for musculo-skeletal dysfunction needs to be sheeted home to individual employees, though it’s unlikely to happen without the establishment of a culture within the organisation that supports, values and understands strength and flexibility.

We recommend a range of strength and flexibility classes that are readily available Australia: -

• Posture and Flexibility

• Yoga

• Crookback Clinic

• Tai Chi

• Pilates

The Organisation would place itself in the forefront of OH&S practice if it took the musculo-skeletal risk seriously and moved heaven and earth to educate all staff about this risk and encouraged those at risk to take part in a regular strength and flexibility program. Maybe The Organisation and its worker's compensation insurer could invest in a pilot program to increase staff strength and flexibility!

We rate the score as patchy. The lack of strength and flexibility training and the results of the people who scored poorly in abdominal and upper body strength is a cause for concern and needs to be followed up.

DIET

The diet profile is designed to assist participants to check out whether they are eating wisely and also one which has appropriate amounts of carbohydrate, protein and fat. It also looks at various eating habits, eg eating too much, eating for comfort ...

• Closeness to ideal weight?

• Do you eat a decent breakfast?

• Do you eat a high fat diet?

• Do you eat a high starch diet?

• Do you eat from the top of the Diet Hourglass?

• How much water do you during each day?

• Do you supplement your diet with essential micro-nutrients –

vitamins, minerals, essential fats (omega 3) and glyco-proteins -

and nutraceuticals - ginko, aloe vera, Echinacea ...?

• Do you eat too much?

• Are you ruled by your addictions to fat, sugar and starch?

• Does the back end of your system work like a charm?

Low scores are usually symptomatic of high fat, high starch, low fibre diets. The results: - people become over fat and constipated.

Australia is in a grip of obesity and body system dysfunction generated by too much of the wrong food on the one hand, and too little of the right food on the other. It is our opinion that diets high in refined, cereal-based carbohydrates and sugar (the garbohydrates) are the reason for this epidemic. Too few people seem to be aware that their level of body fat is affected by the amount of flour and sugar they take in each day. The high starch diet has replaced the high fat diet, with the same consequences.

One thing that we observed was that not many people are aware that they may be allergic or intolerant of some foods, particularly wheat flour, milk, deadly nightshades, chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, preservatives ...

Looking at the profile it’s off the pace and it was reflected in the scores for eating too much starch.

Most people have a flour and sugar breakfast, attributed to the kelloggification of the Australian diet. You don't eat biscuits for lunch and dinner so why are you eating them for breakfast? The breakfast eating behaviour of Australians is dreadful. few people have fruit. Even fewer have vegetables, or adequate protein and fat.

Few people take vitamin and mineral supplements. I believe there are good reasons to do so. If you don't believe me, I recommend you buy the book, What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition May Be Killing You, by Ray Strand, MD.

By their own recognition a small number of people said they over-ate and were ruled by their addictions to junk food.

The operation of the back end of the system was only fair – low scores being reflective of a diet that lacks sufficient fibre.

CHEMICAL INTAKE

The chemical profile focuses principally on the mix of culturally acceptable stimulants and depressants.

• Do you smoke?

• How many alcoholic drinks do you have a week?

• How much caffeine do you drink each day?

• Do you persistently feed a sweet tooth?

• Do you persistently feed a salt tooth?

• How many hours a week do you spend watching TV?

• Do you have a high intake of food additives?

• How do you rate your reliance on headache and pain-killing tablets?

• Are you on sleeping tablets or anti-depressants?

• Are you on diabetes or blood pressure mediation?

Five people smoked. Not a good score. Time to give it away. You can't be healthy and smoke at the same time.

By far and away most people are moderate drinkers. It is usually the case that fit and healthy people don’t drink to any great degree. In fact they only have one or two drinks per week, not the one or two drinks a day recommended by the bleeding heart charities.

We’ve well and truly entered the junk medical age when the medical priesthood is encouraging their clients to wash down an Aspro each day with a couple of glasses of claret, all in the name of good health! The people we see who are fittest and healthiest have very low, or zero intakes of alcohol and coffee.

Four person were on anti-depressants and four were on high blood pressure medication. Not good. I don't think that are any metabolically induced body system dysfunctions that are caused by a lack of Zoloft or Avpro!

This is higher than the community trend where more and more people are being prescribed anti-depressants. As the population becomes less physically active, eats diets high in flour and sugar and low in omega 3 fats, selenium and B group vitamins, and live lives devoid of meaning and purpose, we can expect rates of anxiety and depression to increase along with the epidemic in a whole range of body-system dysfunctions.

There is an epidemic of 'depression' in the community, and whilst not wishing to make light of the true ‘black dog’ of clinical depression, for some people the symptoms of stress, unhappiness, sadness, grief, hopelessness, disappointment, despair, vacuity, anger and anxiety are being treated as if they were the symptoms of clinical depression.

I believe it is appropriate for The Organisation to encourage those people with an unhappiness, anxiety or depression problem to make full use of the counselling services of the EAP and encourage them to do the things that unstressed people do - like keeping themselves fit, having a lunch hour outside, taking their holidays, eating wisely, not working too many hours and ‘getting a life’.

It is frequently the case that those people on anti-depressants are not doing the things that unstressed people do to keep their bodies and minds in good shape.

The best book about depression I've read, and what you can do about it, and one that I recommend highly is by psychiatrist, David Servan-Schreiber, Healing Without Freud or Prozac.

STRESS PROFILE

Participants completed a simple stress and relaxation profile designed to assist them in making an assessment of how they were affected by stress. It's 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?

If you look at the profiles you’ll see that some people

• lack an ability to manage stress

• don’t get a good night’s sleep

• don’t take a good long holiday every year

• aren’t keeping themselves fit and healthy

• don’t take time off a lunch time to stretch their legs, fart and get a

whiff of fresh air and a bit of sunshine

• don’t give back to their Self

• aren't particularly happy with their family life.

Most people don’t meditate – there is as compelling a reason to meditate as there is to be physically active

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.'

In the main people were happy 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

On the whole this can only be described as a patchy result.

CAREER SATISFACTION

The parameters in the profile relate to a mix of factors influenced 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.

This is another mediocre result.

When I look at the graphs I see several of distinct trends.

■	A number of people, (in fact a lot of people) were a long way away from their ideal job. 3 didn't know what they wanted to do (when they grew up!) It would be good to implement a career development program that assisted people work out what they really want to do and then assist them to get there. It would be a great place to work in that did that.

■	Current job satisfaction is generally good with only a few of people who aren't satisfied. A good manager will find out who these people are and get to the bottom of the dissatisfaction.

■	There is an extended tail of people who feel the work is stressed.

	It is usually the case that the question on the feedback is the worst answered question in the book. On this occasion only a small number of people were dissatisfied with the feedback they receive. Nevertheless, it’s something that managers need to be aware of. Whilst I know from experience that a large proportion of managers hate managing and just want to get on with their work, the fact that they are being paid to manage behooves them to make sure they persistently strive toward the creation of a productive, cohesive, happy organisation. Regular feedback is an important aspect of the work satisfaction equation - the better, the better! Staff also need to be aware of the first two laws of management 1. manage yourself 2. manage your boss. If they understand that and arrange to meet with their manager regularly, then the feedback score usually improves.

■	A very small number of people feel they're not getting an adequate financial reward. They're selling themselves short. We're all responsible for how much we get paid.

■	A very small number of people would like to feel more valued and appreciated and 3 definitely felt the organisation did not care about people.

■	Based on question people enjoy the company of their workmates.

■	Morale is patchy. It's normally the case that 'our' morale is good when 'my' morale is good.

Overall the results are mediocre. Based on our experience, probably half the group is in the wrong job.

SUMMARY

This is an mediocre report.

RECOMMENDATIONS

See the generic list of recommendations.