StLukesHealth – Corporate client
CASE STUDY LENGTH: 2016 – 2022 | APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 120
Client context: St.LukesHealth are a Tasmanian not-for-profit organisation who have been providing private health insurance to Australians since 1952. Healthy Business have been partnering with St.LukesHealth since 2016, delivering health and wellbeing support to around 120 of their employees at their six office locations across Tasmania.
St.LukesHealth’s promise to their members to “help them stay healthy, get well and live better while delivering peace of mind” is one that they also pass on to their employees. St.LukesHealth say that the wellbeing of their employees is important to them, which is why they have partnered with Healthy Business to help their employees get the most out of their working and personal lives.
Focus areas: Health and wellbeing support | Ergonomics/injury prevention | Employee engagement | COVID-19/working at home support
The challenges
in 2019-20 the financial and insurance services industry reported 695 serious claims, with the most common cause of injury relating to body stressing (incorrect ergonomics/manual handling), falls/slips/trips, and mental stress.[1]
Office work comes with many challenges regarding employee health and wellbeing, which are generally due to psychosocial effects and hazardous manual handling. This can include:
- repetitive work, like computer use
- static postures (sitting for long periods)
- poor ergonomics, and
- work-related stress
St.LukesHealth needed to find a solution to address these challenges, to look after the health and wellbeing of their employees, and prevent physical and psychological injuries.
In addition, St.LukesHealth wanted to provide their people with a culture of care and become an employer of choice by adding health and wellbeing support to their employee benefits.
The solution
To address their needs, St.LukesHealth partnered with Healthy Business to design and deliver a program that would engage their people and support positive health and wellbeing outcomes.
The health and wellbeing program included:
- Providing employees with individualised one-on-one health and wellbeing coaching to:
- proactively identify and address any health and wellbeing concerns early;
- provide them with personalised support, education, and empowerment to make sustainable improvements to their health and wellbeing; and
- to target support to those we identified as needing it the most. - Providing confidential onsite health checks to help employees understand their current health status and what areas they might need to improve. This included measuring blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, weight, and body measurements.
- Workstation ergonomic assessments and recommendations to prevent or manage musculoskeletal injuries.
- A supporting mobile application with a huge range of resources to help employees track their progress and achieve their health and wellbeing goals.
- General health and wellbeing awareness messaging, both onsite and digitally, including presentations, posters, articles, videos and emails.
- Having a systematic process to onboard new employees into the program
- Adapting during COVID-19 to provide support to employees working from home, via phone coaching, including:
- ensuring their home workstation ergonomics were setup correctly
- providing support to help manage stress and anxiety
- helping them adapt to change, establish new routines and maintain good work-life balance, and
- continuing to support their general health and wellbeing improvement - A monthly organisational risk profile to provide StLukesHealth with oversite and to guide the appropriate interventions and/or the allocation resources.
- Supporting other health and wellbeing initiatives provided by StLukesHealth.
The outcomes
From the beginning of the program in 2016, Healthy Business have been able to improve the general health and wellbeing of the StLukesHealth workforce. We have also retained high engagement levels with 77% of employees participating in the program during 2021.
From initial health assessment data, there has been a successful reduction in employees presenting with high-risk lifestyle health metrics, including a:
By working with these employees and providing the appropriate early intervention, we have been able reduce their risk of developing more serious and potentially life-threatening conditions, such as type 2 diabetes, heart attack or stroke.
In addition, the program has proactively supported over 70 employees with musculoskeletal concerns, potentially preventing them from developing into serious injuries, which could lead to absenteeism and even compensation claims.
The Health and Wellbeing Program has made significant improvements on the lives of StLukesHealth’s employees. By creating a healthier workforce and proactively addressing musculoskeletal issues, there is a flow on effect of less absenteeism from injury and ill health. On top of this, productivity levels increase, with staff feeling more engaged, motivated, and cared for by their employer.
“There are many success stories from our employees who take up individual consultations with Healthy Business coaches, which is accomplishing the purpose of St.LukesHealth engaging in their program to support the health and wellbeing of our employees.
Employee involvement shows us they care about better health outcomes for themselves, which then aligns with the St.LukesHealth vision to focus on healthy outcomes for our members and the community. What a fantastic synergy!
Manager of a major contractor team (50+ staff)
References:
1. SafeWork Australia, Key work health and safety statistics, Australia 2021
