Jan 2008 - Occupational Health Magazine
PHS - Preventive Healthcare Services
One of our PHS users based near Dublin used the system to evaluate the effectiveness of promoting health in the workplace.
Promoting health in the work-place offers dual benefits; for the organisation in terms of productivity and increased moral and for the employee, maintaining their physical and mental health. Early participation in lifestyle screening ultimately promotes and maintains a peak level of health at work and consequently benefits both the employee and employer.
Baseline assessments of those who chose to participate were carried out on site by the investigating Occupational Health Nurse Advisor (OHNA) over a three-month period, using the PHS software module from Warwick International. Participants were reassessed six-twelve months later to establish if any lifestyle changes had occured and also to reinforce any positive lifestyle behaviour changes, at each stage participants were given a printout of their results and an advice sheet to help them make positive lifestyle changes.
Statistically noteworthy improvements in lifestyle behaviour were found in, level of physical activity per week, fibre intake, saturated fat intake, and ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. A marginal improvement in lifestyle behaviour was found in present stress levels and level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C).
Is lifestyle screening worth it?
Occupational Health Journal - January 2008 issue
