5 ways employees can take control of their health

It’s widely known that positive lifestyle choices such as eating well, not smoking, exercising regularly, sleeping well and not drinking too much help to keep us healthy. But what’s less known is that those five controllable behaviours are connected to five diseases – cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke and lung disease – which account for 74% of deaths worldwide[1].

The upside is that small, simple lifestyle changes can make a big difference to our overall health and wellbeing, as well as lower our risk of developing these serious illnesses.

Let’s explore the five areas your employees can focus on to improve their health and wellbeing.

1. Physical Activity

Physical activity can increase our lifespan[2], as well as reduce our risk of serious and chronic illnesses. It effectively reduces fatigue, improves alertness and concentration, and enhances our overall cognitive function – and helps to reduce stress[3].

The NHS recommends adults aged 19 to 64 do 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise a week.

2. Healthy Sleep

Sleep is critical to our health and wellbeing. It affects almost every type of tissue and system in our bodies, including brain, heart, lungs, metabolism, immune system and mood. Poor sleep increases the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and lead to early death[4].

There’s increasing evidence that the relationship between poor sleep and mental health issues goes both ways[5]. With stress and worries causing a bad night’s sleep, which leads to difficulty to focus and added anxiety.

3. Limit Alcohol

Alcohol is a depressant and disrupts the chemistry of the brain – the neurotransmitters that influence our mood[6]. Over time, this can worsen symptoms of anxiety and depression.

It can also disrupt our sleep and weaken its quality when we do sleep, which can negatively impact our physical and mental health.

On top of this, it can put strain on other areas of our lives, such as work and relationships, which can also lead to mental health challenges.

4. Eat Well

As well as lower our risk of developing life-threatening illnesses, healthy eating can improve our immunity and mental health. What we eat every day can positively impact our gut-health, which is responsible for 70% of our immune system and helps to boost our mood[7]and energy levels.

Eating fibre is essential to keeping our gut happy, but so is having 30+ plants a week, including fruits, veg, nuts, seeds, herbs, beans and pulses. And adding fermented foods that contain live microbes, such as yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi and kefit, help digestion.

5. Mindfulness

Mindfulness is learning how to be fully present and engaged in the moment, aware of our thoughts and feelings without distraction or judgment. Through meditation and greater self-awareness, these practices can help us become more aware of our thoughts, feelings and body sensations, so that instead of being overwhelmed by them we are more able to manage them.

Recommended as a preventative mental health tool by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), mindfulness was also found to have the same effect as anti-depressants in reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety[8].

How Vitality Makes Healthy Lifestyle Choices Easier

Our Vitality Programme can help your employees make positive changes to all these areas of their life. The world’s largest health promotion programme linked to insurance, it gives them personalised, scientifically proven advice on how to be healthy and stay healthy.

They get savings on gym memberships, fitness trackers, healthy foods, quit-smoking programmes, mindfulness apps and more to help them improve their health. And to motivate them to maintain new healthy habits, they can earn rewards, including weekly hot drinks and monthly cinema tickets.  

The evidence highlights how effective this approach is, with the Vitality Programme delivering 10 times greater engagement than comparable health and wellbeing interventions .

It’s built into our Business Healthcare cover, so you can help your employees to stay healthy every day and give them fast access to GPs and specialists.

Find out more

[1] World Health Organization - Noncommunicable diseases

[2] Massive study uncovers how much exercise is needed to live longer | American Medical Association

[3] Physical Activity Reduces Stress | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA

[4] Brain Basics: Understanding Sleep | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

[5] Sleep Foundation - Mental Health and Sleep

[6] Mental Health Foundation - Alcohol and mental health

[7] Food and mental health - Mind

[8] Meditation Programs for Psychological Stress and Well-being, JAMA Network, March 2014

[9] Vitality Programme data, compared to employee participation with wellbeing apps, Britain's Healthiest Workplace data 2022

Related: 5 tips to get staff active - The mental benefits of physical activity