Diabetes Awareness Month
November is Diabetes Awareness Month and November 14th is World Diabetes Day. As an occupational health and wellness company, Apex is devoted to employee health and wants to spread awareness about this disease that is rapidly spreading throughout Canada.
What is Diabetes?
According to the Government of Canada “Type 1 diabetes is where the body makes little or no insulin and Type 2 diabetes is where the body makes insulin but cannot use it properly.” Type 1 diabetes cannot be prevented, whereas Type 2 diabetes can be prevented with a healthier diet and lifestyle choices.
What Can You Do As An Employer?
As an employer, what can you do to help your workforce stay healthy and prevent or postpone diabetes?
The Government of Canada has a list of measures that you can take to minimize your risk of Type 2 diabetes. These can go hand-in-hand with a plan to help your employees stay healthy!
- Don’t smoke. Offer a “quit smoking” support group at work. You can offer a space during the workday, or after, where group members can come together and connect. Your organization could also provide this group with nicotine replacement therapy patches or gum, prescription cessation aids and counselling support. Some organizations have even banned smoking from anywhere on their property, such as McMaster University.
- Achieve a healthy weight and maintain it. There are many different ways that you can help your employees stay in shape. This could be through benefits such as an on-site wellness coordinator, an on-site gym or a discount on a gym membership in the area.
- Be physically active. This goes hand-in-hand with the measure above. Provide options that help your staff stay active. This could include something as simple as running a step challenge that includes a prize at the end of each month.
- Limit your intake of fat and sugar. Do you have on-site vending machines or a cafeteria that provides unhealthy food? Try getting rid of candy and sugary foods/drinks in vending machines and re-thinking the cafeteria menu. You can also hold Lunch and Learns that teach your employees about healthy eating or, specifically, what they can do to decrease their fat and sugar intake.
- Maintain a normal blood pressure. The best way to do this is to lead a healthy lifestyle. A QuikBit that explains different lifestyle changes to control blood pressure could be beneficial if employees are struggling with this.
Another proactive option is to offer Health Risk Assessments. This provides your employees with a snapshot of their health. They will learn their cholesterol, blood sugar and triglyceride levels. Then the employer receives aggregate reporting that will reveal the top health risks of the organization. Now you can develop a comprehensive benefits plan that helps employees with the risks they are currently facing.
In Conclusion
Those are just some ideas for how you can help your employees minimize the risk of Type 2 diabetes. It seems like the theme is making healthy lifestyle choices, and offering Wellness Programming at your workplace is a great way to help your employees step towards those choices. Head to apexwellness.ca for more information on how Apex can help you with your employee health!