The workplace looks a lot different nowadays.

Some mornings, you are headed to the office, ready to connect with colleagues in person and tackle everything from the inside of your cubicle. Other days, you might log in three minutes before the start of the workday, tackling whatever may come via headset.  

No matter where you are working, you are fulfilling your duties and collaborating on projects that make your company stand out. But as an employer, you have the additional responsibility of making sure all of your employees have what they need to manage their health and well-being, too.  

The weight of this responsibility has never felt heavier than during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

With the rapid increase of employees working from home at the height of the pandemic, you had to adjust quickly in your work processes AND your wellness offerings.1 During the harshest parts of the pandemic, many employees needed more assistance, especially mental health assistance, to help them feel less alone.2 

Since employees could not receive many in-person wellness offerings, digital health coaching was one way to help, and employees were receptive.3 In fact, 67% of people overall accessed some type of telehealth service during the pandemic for healthcare.4,5 Employers, 84% to be exact, began to offer some type of digital health resource as a part of their wellness benefits.6  

Many office workers took advantage of this new digital approach to healthcare, while employers saved on costs by including it in their offerings.

While office workers could work, live, and access healthcare safely from home, some non-office workers unfortunately did not have the same opportunity.  

Non-office workers, including shift workers, industrial workers, and truck drivers, had to keep our country moving, often to their own detriment. Research shows that working long hours can make non-office workers more susceptible to chronic conditions.7 For example, truck drivers are more likely to have heart disease and experience loneliness from constantly traveling.8,9  

All workers, whether they work in an office or not, deserve their well-being to be minimally impacted by their work duties. Since digital health coaching was successful with office workers during the pandemic, could it be just as successful for non-office workers?  The answer is yes, definitely!  

Before we dive into digital health coaching’s benefits, let’s look at what’s typically been done in the past. Many available wellness and health promotion programs — in-person or digital — have mainly focused on physical activity, stress management, and nutrition. However, the problem with many of these programs is that they were only available in-person and not on the employee’s time.10,11,12  

With digital health coaching, non-office employees would get to focus on themselves for once.

They would be able to connect with a health coach who is knowledgeable and resourceful with a good understanding of who they are and what their unique circumstances are in their career. With this information, their health coach can make targeted and individualized suggestions on how to improve their wellbeing. They will feel more supported as they incorporate new healthy behaviors into their already busy lives. 

While there were new hurdles in the workplace during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, there are also new solutions to clear them. 

The pandemic has been impactful in every facet of our lives, especially how and where we work. But we are at a crossroads here when it comes to employee wellness: do we stick with what we already know or do we evolve with our circumstances to enhance effectiveness?  

If employers want to evolve in how they approach employee wellness, the benefits can be limitless both within and outside the office when digital health coaching comes into play. 

References

  1. Reece JC, Neal EFG, Nguyen P, McIntosh JG, Emery JD. Delayed or failure to follow-up abnormal breast cancer screening mammograms in primary care: a systematic review. BMC Cancer. 2021;21(1):373. Published 2021 Apr 7. doi:10.1186/s12885-021-08100-3 
  2. Atlas SJ, Tosteson ANA, Burdick TE, et al. Primary Care Practitioner Perceptions on the Follow-up of Abnormal Cancer Screening Test Results. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(9):e2234194. Published 2022 Sep 1. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.34194
  3. Markossian TW, Darnell JS, Calhoun EA. Follow-up and timeliness after an abnormal cancer screening among underserved, urban women in a patient navigation program. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2012;21(10):1691-1700. doi:10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-12-0535 
  4. American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2022. Atlanta: American Cancer Society; 2022. https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2022/2022-cancer-facts-and-figures.pdf   
  5. Veach E. Cancer patients face identity changes through diagnosis, treatment. The Washington Post. Accessed May 10, 2023. https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/06/13/cancer-identity-change/    
  6. Preventive Services Covered by Private Health Plans under the Affordable Care Act. Kaiser Family Foundation. Accessed May 2, 2023. https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/fact-sheet/preventive-services-covered-by-private-health-plans/      
  7. Gavin K. Follow-up costs can add up if a free cancer screening shows a potential problem. Michigan Medicine. Accessed May 9, 2023. https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/follow-costs-can-add-if-free-cancer-screening-shows-potential-problem  
  8. Fortin J, Leblanc M, Elgbeili G, Cordova MJ, Marin MF, Brunet A. The mental health impacts of receiving a breast cancer diagnosis: A meta-analysis. Br J Cancer. 2021;125(11):1582-1592. doi:10.1038/s41416-021-01542-3  
  9. Janelsins MC, Mustian KM, Peppone LJ, et al. Interventions to Alleviate Symptoms Related to Breast Cancer Treatments and Areas of Needed Research. J Cancer Sci Ther. 2011;S2:S2-001. doi:10.4172/1948-5956.s2-001 
  10. Landmark BT, Wahl A. Living with newly diagnosed breast cancer: a qualitative study of 10 women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. J Adv Nurs. 2002;40(1):112-121. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.2002.02346.x 
  11. Hawley ST, Li Y, Jeanpierre LA, et al. Study protocol: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Comprehensive Breast Cancer Treatment Patient Decision Tool (iCanDecide). Contemp Clin Trials Commun. 2017;5:123-132. doi:10.1016/j.conctc.2017.02.001 
  12. Ligibel JA, Zheng Y, Barry WT, et al. Effects of an educational physical activity intervention in young women with newly diagnosed breast cancer: Findings from the Young and Strong Study [published online ahead of print, 2023 Apr 5]. Cancer. 2023;10.1002/cncr.34779. doi:10.1002/cncr.34779 
  13. Toija AS, Kettunen TH, Leidenius MHK, Vainiola THK, Roine RPA. Effectiveness of peer support on health-related quality of life in recently diagnosed breast cancer patients: a randomized controlled trial. Support Care Cancer. 2019;27(1):123-130. doi:10.1007/s00520-018-4499-0 
  14. Sheean P, Matthews L, Visotcky A, et al. Every Day Counts: a randomized pilot lifestyle intervention for women with metastatic breast cancer. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2021;187(3):729-741. doi:10.1007/s10549-021-06163-1 
  15. Sweet CC, Jasik CB, Diebold A, DuPuis A, Jendretzke B. Cost Savings and Reduced Health Care Utilization Associated with Participation in a Digital Diabetes Prevention Program in an Adult Workforce Population. J Health Econ Outcomes Res. 2020;7(2):139-147. Published 2020 Aug 18. doi:10.36469/jheor.2020.14529 
  16. Silberman JM, Kaur M, Sletteland J, Venkatesan A. Outcomes in a digital weight management intervention with one-on-one health coaching. PLoS One. 2020;15(4):e0232221. Published 2020 Apr 30. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0232221 
  17. Krist AH, Tong ST, Aycock RA, Longo DR. Engaging Patients in Decision-Making and Behavior Change to Promote Prevention. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2017;240:284-302. 
  18. Thom DH, Wolf J, Gardner H, et al. A Qualitative Study of How Health Coaches Support Patients in Making Health-Related Decisions and Behavioral Changes. Ann Fam Med. 2016;14(6):509-516. doi:10.1370/afm.1988 
  19. The Pack Health Team. Introducing the COACH Study: Revitalizing Cancer Survivorship Support with Digital Health Coaching. March 30, 2023. Accessed August 29, 2023. https://www.packhealth.com/news-coach-study-announcement/  

Copyright and Disclaimer

* The patient, “Rose,” mentioned throughout this piece is fictitious, and that the story is not based on an actual Pack Health member. 

Copyright © 2023 Pack Health, A Quest Diagnostics Company. All rights reserved.

Pack Health is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice provided by a person’s treating healthcare provider and is not intended to practice medicine. Pack Health is intended to be an aid for people to gain insights into ways to help improve their general health and well-being. 

Only a person’s healthcare provider should diagnose and treat their patients based on the provider’s clinical assessment, education, and training. This service should not be used as a substitute for a person’s healthcare provider.