miller Health Occupational Health and Fitness

Index

76 RESULTS DIP OCTOBER 2007

USEFUL LINKS

NEWSLETTER

FACT SHEETS

John Miller conducted a Seven Habits of Fit and Healthy People seminar for The Group in October 2007.

15 participants completed the following profiles: -

■ Health, Fitness and Wellbeing

■ Stress risk

■ Career satisfaction

The results are presented in graphic format, with commentary.

Click here to read what the assessments are all about

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.

	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 people.

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

Classification of average scores: Excellent - less than 40. Good - 41 - 50. Reasonable 51-60. Poor - over 60.

This profile is described as reasonable. The average score was 69. Anyone scoring more than 80 is putting up with a lot of 'background noise'.

HEALTH CLIMATE SURVEY

Based on scores received in the Mind and Body profile we've compiled a Health Climate Survey. Scores on each item have ranked - the higher the score the worse the problem. We added the scores for each item. The results appear in the table below.

Symptoms/issues/concerns				% of people scoring over 5
	Fitness	Diet	Stress
Overweight	√	√	√	53
Poor sleep	√		√	47
Fitness	√			47
Lack of energy	√	√	√	40
Snoring	√	√	√	40
Crookback	√			40
Wrong job			√	33
Headaches	√	√	√	27
Blood pressure	√	√	√	27
Grinding teeth			√	27
Anxious			√	27
Under appreciated at work			√	27
Candida		√		20
Crook gut		√	√	20
Rashes		√	√	20
Insecure			√	20
Migraines	√	√	√	13
Irritable bowel		√	√	13
Alcohol		√	√	13
Caffeine		√	√	13
Colds and flu	√	√	√	7
Asthma	√	√	√	7
Chest pain	√	√	√	7
Mouth ulcers		√	√	7
Libido	√		√	7
Shakes			√	7
Smoking			√	7
Depressed	√	√	√	7
Under appreciated at home			√	0
Unhappy family			√	0

Our recommendation is that the organisation focus on improving scores on the items highlighted.

STRESS RISK 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 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.


	With only a couple of exceptions this is a pleasing result.	This is a pretty good result. The first casualty of anxiety and low levels of fitness is sleep.

	Patchy. Paul Pearsal in his book Superimmunity' said you need a 21 day away from home holiday every year.	Not good at all. A lot of people are not keeping themselves in good shape.

	FAQ.	A patchy result. Too many people don't take time off to switch off and get outside in the fresh air. This is a reflection of poor management - personal and organisational

	This is a very good result. We don't see many like this. No one on their death bed ever said 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office.'	Patchy. Some people are too busy to look after and nurture their Self.

	Very few people meditate. The reasons to do so are compelling, particularly for people in this industry.	Family life satisfaction is good for most people.

Average score: 69. This is an average score. People could do more to look after their Self. I recommend that people scoring less that 50 spend time with a counselor or life coach, or go to a personal development weekend to get themselves centred and grounded on looking after their Self.

CAREER SATISFACTION PROFILE

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.