More than a check up

Employee health is intrinsically related to an organisation’s well-being and long-term success. But according to the Singapore Health Promotion Board (HPB), the prevalence of chronic diseases is expected to rise with the country’s ageing population. Problems like high cholesterol, blood pressure and obesity are likely to increase throughout the island.

Lam Pin Woon, CEO, HPB, says all organisations should be considering staff health as an important factor in their HR strategies. This need will become even more demanding when new legislation for reemploying older workers comes into effect from 2012.

Regular and comprehensive health screenings are an important first step in keeping staff healthy, and reducing the social and financial burden of such long-drawn illnesses.

HPB advises companies to conduct health screenings once every one-to-three years. Mature workers over the age of 40 should be screened for high blood pressure annually and also checked for diabetes and lipid disorders, including high cholesterol every three years. Women over the age of 50 are also advised to get a mammogram check for breast cancer every two years.

While there are fewer chronic health problems afflicting younger staff, Lim says they should still opt for a health screening once every three years.

The earlier a condition is diagnosed and treated, the better the chances of delaying its progression and the onset of associated complications. “Chronic diseases like diabetes, for example, may result in complications requiring expensive hospital admissions if not detected early and treated optimally,” Lim explains.

In addition to standard screenings, healthcare service providers also offer premium packages that look out for diseases of the liver, thyroid and kidneys as well as more serious ailments like coronary artery disease and cancers. Health screening packages can be customised to meet the needs of a company’s workforce, especially since employees from different industries face different health risks. Health concerns could also vary according to age. For example, older female employees might want to be screened for osteoporosis.

Dollars and sense
A well-planned out health screening programme and corresponding follow-ups can offer significant benefits to a company’s bottom line. Swee Yong Peng, CEO, Parkway Shenton, a healthcare services provider, says increases in healthcare insurance premiums are pushing many organisations to look at preventative as well as reactive healthcare policies. And health screenings offer some of the best value preventative care around.

“Preventive healthcare and wellness programmes need not be viewed as non-critical expenses incurred, but rather as smart investments in a company’s most valuable asset - its people,” Swee says. An executive health screening at one of Parkway Shenton’s clinics is completed within a morning and a booklet containing the results is ready in about a week.

The surge in demand has brought a corresponding surge in service providers; bringing down the cost significantly over the last few years. HPB’s “Health Screening on Wheels” programme costs only $8.00 per Singaporean or Permanent Resident employee aged 40 years and older.

There are also a number of incentives available to push local organisations down the corporate wellness path. HPB’s Workplace Health Promotion Grant makes up to $10,000 available for kick-starting or sustaining health programmes, including screenings. The money can also be used to cover health education activities, sports and physical education as well as targeted health interventions such as weight and cholesterol management.

Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) can also turn to HPB’s off-the-shelf health packages. These send pre-selected vendors to deliver health screenings and intervention programmes on the organisation’s own premesis. The programmes cover four key areas: physical activity, healthy eating, mental wellbeing, and smoking control.

Power and automation technologies company ABB Group, provides free basic health screenings for its employees annually through an external service provider. Some of the conditions tested for include rheumatoid arthritis, Hepatitis A and B, thyroid disorders and cancer. Priscilia Lim, HR Business Partner, Power Product Division, says the screenings are an important investment, reaping both financial savings and improved earnings. “A healthy workforce will ensure that our productivity is high, staff members are happy and medical costs are reduced.”

Of course, health screening can also turn a life-threatening situation into a manageable one. Lim recalls one occasion where an ABB employee was found to have Stage One colorectal cancer during one of the routine health screenings. With immediate treatment and ongoing care, the effects were able to be minimised. “Apart from increasing health awareness among employees, regular screenings might even save lives,” she said.

Total Care
Making sure employees are in the pink of health goes beyond just annual health screenings. Companies also need to follow-up test results with timely intervention programmes at the workplace, and encourage employees to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Apart from screenings, healthcare service provider Dayspring Medical Group offers a health and lifestyle survey as well as a health profile service that provides additional information for companies planning their corporate wellness programmes. The survey collects information on lifestyle habits such as dietary practices, exercise frequency and employees’ preferred health programmes. Its health profile service creates a report summarising the findings of a health screening exercise and presents it against appropriate benchmarks. As a further follow-up Dayspring offers a number of intervention programmes that can target specific areas within an employee population. Areas covered include weight management, smoking cessation as well as mini-canteen management where a nutrition team will visit a company to advise on healthier food options.