don's report archive
Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)
Tuesday August 28, 2007
Can it be done? Can companies concerned about unhealthy and therefore high cost employee lifestyles be reformed by wellness initiatives at the workplace? Can even well-funded, well-designed programs with attractive incentives for participation do the trick? In other words, can health promotion experts succeed through coaching, teaching, counseling, therapy, culture change, electric shock - anything? Is there some way to persuade workers, through any means mental or physical, voluntary or via the "moderate physical pressure" methods used by the Bush Administration on foreign combatants and Democrats, to support, adopt and practice wellness lifestyles?
The only sensible answer, in my opinion, is "hell no."
Why? For a dark, secret reason we wellites are loathe to accept or admit, even to ourselves, despite the overwhelming evidence that it is the reality. I refer, of course, to the notion, expressed extensively by Grant Donovan and myself, as "Icantdoit." (To review 20 separate articles on the Icantdoit concept, just click on icantdoit.)
As noted, a few people can do it, and it's not hard to identity who they are. The exceptions, those who can, are not smarter than those who cannot. They are not better than everyone else, not more virtuous or necessarily better educated or closer to any particular god. The fortunate ones who can do it (live wellness lifestyles AND perform well on the job) are few and far between. They can manage these great challenges because, for varied reasons, they find themselves in unusually favored circumstances of a cultural, environmental and/or genetic nature.
For most, the work routine by itself is nearly enough to discourage and defeat healthy lifestyles. Commutes are long, work is demanding and unsatisfying, it consumes most waking hours and drains energies five days a week or more. After dining, eating, sleeping and a bit of family and personal time, not many functional hours are left for quality time to pursue advanced states of physical, emotional and mental well-being.
How strong is the evidence that few can sustain wellness attitudes, behaviors or mindsets? What kinds of data support the contention that health promotion initiatives at the workplace are unlikely to enable US companies to compete more effectively on a global basis and thereby reduce the staggering costs of medical care? For such evidence, examine the data that reflects the status quo in key indicators. While it is true that identifying WHY people behave poorly with regard to health choices is hard to establish with any certainty, the evidence for poor lifestyles choices by most employees is self-evident and seen in morbidity and mortality data, health insurance costs to business and other indices.
Consider the latest data for one classification of disease, namely, cancer. A look at the scorecard of illness experiences reveals that most of these problems are attributed to hazardous health practices and the absence of wellness habits and commitments. According to a recent report, our society and others are awash in behaviors linked to various cancers, such as binge drinking, sunbathing, over-eating and under-exercising, to name just a few. Such high-risk behaviors are fuelling a massive rise in cancer and other diseases -- and a 70 percent surge in US employer health care costs since 2000.
Cancer rates are an important part of the Icantdoit case. The odds are long indeed for those who hope that health promotion will make things better, that is, support and guide workers to healthier lifestyle practices and thus better health status, not to mention higher productivity, relationships, morale and all the rest. Here are a few examples linking "bad" behaviors to high rates of morbidity and mortality. ("Bad" behaviors not in a moral sense, of course - people should be free to do what makes them happy provided it harms no one else, but "bad" in a destructive health sense.)
- Mouth cancers have increased by 25 percent in one year. All are
associated with smoking and alcohol abuse.
- Malignant melanoma - up by 43 per cent in ten years. People bathe in the
sun, despite being warned of the dangers.
- Kidney cancer, tied to excess weight and smoking, is on the rise.
- Womb cancer, also linked to the same causes, is up by a fifth.
A chart shows the rate of increase in varied cancers in the United Kingdom:
An organization in England called Cancer Research UK compiled most of the above data. (Source: The Evening Standard, "Modern Living To Blame For Cancer Epidemic, September 9, 2007.) The study's chief investigator stated that half of all morbidity and mortality could be avoided by the use of common sense. Common sense, unfortunately, is also affected by the principle of Icandoit, that is, it is anything but common. The truth is, common sense is rare, if acting in self-destructive ways constitutes a failure to practice common sense.
Another spokesperson for the UK research firm was quoted as follows: "We're very concerned that cases of malignant melanoma are spiraling. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation in sunlight is the main cause of skin cancer. Most cases of this disease could be prevented if people protected themselves in the sun and took care not to burn." True, but they won't or, more likely based on Icantdoit thinking, simply can't.
What, then, CAN companies do to lower health insurance and other costs of bad health habits by their workforces? Given the reality of Icantdoit, can ANYTHING be done?
Sure. Hire healthy people. Those who can make healthy choices are already predisposed to doing so. They welcome a little help from their friends in company high places. Also, company leaders can support reforms to the so-called health care system that will relieve companies from the requirement or even expectation of subsidizing burdensome employee health (medical) insurance. A national health plan federally-administered and taxpayer-supported that guarantees universal access to medical services for everyone is long overdue.
Be well. Always look on the bright side of life, even when things don't look so highly illuminated.
In addition to its normal filing in the archive, this essay will also be filed under "Icantdoit" at the Wellness Center homepage.
(Note: This essay will be filed in the archives in the MENTAL DOMAIN under the skill area of factual knowledge. Additional articles related to this theme may be found there.)
(Ed. Note: Views expressed in this and other columns are those of the author and not necessarily those of the SeekWellness Editorial Board.)
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