pulse Revolution in the battle against workplace stress Well Living a new approach to employee health & productivity

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1 A U T U M N Your HSA Group guide to health in the workplace pulse Revolution in the battle against workplace stress Well Living a new approach to employee health & productivity Marathon legend Deek first across the line for brain health Travel news Sporting fever is better than sporting a fever Well done Jets & Wildcats Keeping your business immune

2 Revolution in the battle against workplace stress Work Solutions has developed and launched an innovative stress management training program, Reframe & Refocus: Building Resilience, developed specifically to give organisations a new tool in the battle against workplace stress. Despite a pleasing decline in the percentage of total claims and costs of workplace stress claims relative to other claims down from 8% in 2004/05 to 5.5% in 2005/06 1 stress still represents more than 20% 2 of total claim costs and continues to be a leading cause of absenteeism and decreased productivity. Employers are continually asking our consultants what else can be done to battle stress, Dr Peter Cotton, Director of Psychology Services, HSA Group, said. Reframe & Refocus offers a new way to deal with stress based on Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT). It delivers an evidencebased, fresh approach to stress management focused on building worker resilience, Dr Cotton said. The training program consists of three 2-hour training sessions and a booster session three months later all sessions are run by Work Solutions psychologists (see breakout box). There are gaps in the current traditional approaches to stress management ACT helps fill these gaps, senior Work Solutions psychologist Dr Melissa Lehmann explained. Stress continues to be a major concern for our customers impacting all levels of workers from senior managers to the factory floor. It s great to be able to offer a new tool to help continue the downward trend in stress claims. An internal pilot was successfully delivered by Dr Lehmann and two other Work Solutions psychologists, Brock Bastian and Vanessa McKay. The Work Solutions staff found it very useful and have since reported that it continues to challenge some of the ways they normally deal with stress, Dr Lehmann said. Reframe & Refocus is a totally different stress management program in the sense that it doesn t target specific stressors (such as conflict resolution, communication, assertiveness), but offers a broader approach to stress management by aiming to change the relationship an individual has with stress, Ms McKay said. Put simply, it helps workers at all levels better manage stress by training them to become more resilient. THE REFRAME & REFOCUS TRAINING PROGRAM Session 1: Introduces key concepts by increasing participant self-awareness and challenging traditional stress responses Session 2: Explores the dynamic interaction between experiencing and evaluating stress, using techniques such as mindfulness and language to reduce the physical and psychological costs of this stress (reframe) Session 3: Engages participants in active goal setting to refocus energy previously spent on non-productive evaluation and reactions to stressful experiences or events Booster session: Refreshes participants in key concepts, strategies and learning activities To find out more please Dr Melissa Lehmann at: melissa.lehmann@worksolutions.com 1. statistics (Date of statistics: 10/10/2006) 2. Ibid

3 WELL LIVING A new approach to employee health & productivity One of the many innovative wellness services available from Health For Industry is Well Living, a unique, scientificallybased, on-line wellness program shown to lower absenteeism and turnover and increase work performance by improving employee health. Based on an internationally proven program developed in the early 2000s (Vielife), this approach is used extensively throughout the UK and USA and endorsed by the World Health Organisation. Well Living works at both individual employee and organisational levels. Individual employees are assessed with regard to five critical areas of health and wellbeing stress, sleep, nutrition, fitness, musculoskeletal function and given customised advice and information to support behaviour change and improved health. Well Living gives organisations a detailed profile of the overall health of their workforce the impact of poor health in terms of lost productivity, absenteeism and job satisfaction is objectively quantified, and targeted recommendations provided to improve workplace health and productivity. For more information about Well Living please Dene Cicci, National Client Manager, at wellness@hfi.com.au TIPS FOR REDUCING WORKPLACE STRESS EMPLOYEES Can make sure they: eat a healthy diet get adequate sleep exercise regularly lead a well balanced life communicate workplace concerns and problems to managers early seek appropriate medical advice and support when necessary. EMPLOYERS Can make sure they: encourage a positive, supportive and engaging work culture foster people leadership capability among managers run good induction programs provide role clarity support flexibility in the workplace involve workers in decision making.

4 Marathon legend Deek first across the line for brain health The HSA Group has joined forces with the Brain Resource Company (BRC), a world leader in brain function tests, and Australian marathon legend, Rob (Deek) de Castella, to launch an online Brain Booster Toolkit to help Australians maintain and improve brain health as they age. Maintaining our productivity and lifestyle in the near future in the face of a rapidly ageing population and workforce will be a challenge the good news is that brain research is providing us with new insights into how we can not only maintain but even improve brain health as we age. The Brain Booster Toolkit draws on the latest research to provide education as well as a unique, simple, online screening tool WebNeuro to help people get a scientific baseline of their current brain health Australians are being given the opportunity to do the WebNeuro screening for free * over the next six months. The screening can be done on any computer and takes about 40 minutes. * Once the figure or six month time period have been reached a fee of $35 will apply. The data, with participant approval, will continue to be fed into the international brain resource database. Walter Kmet (R), HSA Group Managing Director, with Rob de Castella (L) who celebrated his 50th birthday by launching the toolkit. Rob commented that it was a great (birthday) present to know that, instead of facing a decline beyond 50, I can look forward to using the Brain Booster Toolkit to maintain and, hopefully, even improve my brain function. Those who complete WebNeuro will not only be helping themselves but also aiding future research, with the data collected going to an international database that brain researchers in Australia and around the world can access for free. Australian business is already concerned about a rapidly ageing workforce. As the population ages, normal ageing will become an even bigger workplace issue. By collaborating on this project the HSA Group can support educational, research and service efforts into brain health both in the community and at the workplace. Access the Brain Booster Toolkit at We ve had an exciting ride with our two sponsored teams, the Newcastle Jets A-league soccer team and the Perth Wildcats National Basketball League team. Both teams made it all the way to the finals series only to bow out in hard fought matches. Despite this, both teams still managed to finish the season 3rd on their respective ladders. On behalf of the HSA Group we d like to congratulate the teams on a great season. Jets Team WELL DONE JETS & WILDCATS!

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