How many hours do Americans spend at work daily? According to American Time Use Survey published by Department of Labor, on average, full time employees in the US spend 8.5 hours of work time on weekdays, 5.5 on weekend days and holidays they worked in 2019. Work is surely one of the main activities of our lives, for it is essential for our personal growth and financial stability. Spending almost one third of our time at work, we try our best to fit in self-care and health care routines in our already busy schedule. Often, despite our best efforts, it’s easy to skip exercises, eat a quick meal in front of computer and delay medical/health related appointments.
Imagine though, your company provides high quality health and wellness programs, that are conveniently located at your worksite. It can surely increase your participation in health and wellness care and the quality of life. The worksite wellness program can include exercise programs, health educations, yoga classes, a shower/locker room, a cafeteria with health food options, as well as health care services such as acupuncture, massage therapy, chiropractic care and physical therapy.
From 2018 to the beginning of 2020, I provided acupuncture services for the employees of four different advertising agencies in New York City. Each day, I witnessed amazing effects of acupuncture on many of these stressed and over-worked employees. It was evident from beginning the office workers suffered from chronic musculoskeletal pain, anxiety, stress and frequent headaches. Over the course of treatment process, I’ve seen their pain intensity and frequency levels decreased and their energy level and general sense of wellbeing increased. Acupuncture was one of the most popular specialties among the wellness programs. When acupuncture was newly incorporated to the already existing wellness program, there could be a low enrollment rate initially. However, soon enough, it would pick up its momentum to run on its full capacity. Within the company setting, the word-of-mouth traveled fast. In addition, the corporate leaders were eager to please their young talents in order to keep them in their company for a long time. They often encouraged the workers to participate in these wellness programs. Many of the employees thought the treatments were especially beneficial right before the deadlines, when they were experiencing high anxiety and pain level. Following a session, the patients often reported to me relief of pain, better focus and calmness. As the treatments progressed, more and more workers came in for maintenance, “to stay healthy and feel optimal”. I heard many times that acupuncture session was their “favorite meeting of the day”.
In the field of worksite wellness research, “the RAND study” by Mattke et al, is widely cited work. According to the authors, more than half of American companies provide some type of wellness programs already. They found that every dollar an employer invested on worksite wellness program, there was more than three dollars “return on investment” (ROI). Since this RAND study was published, the worksite wellness program became more popular. It not only benefitted the workers but also employers. Rising health care costs are a major concern for many corporations. Healthcare cost related to poor employee productivity is considered 2-3 times higher than direct health care cost (Mattke et al., 2013).
When companies implement well-designed and highly effective worksite wellness programs, it can save costs, increase the worker productivity and decrease absenteeism (Gubler, 2017). When workers are unhealthy and suffer from illnesses, they often miss their work (absenteeism). Sometimes, even if workers are present at work, it doesn’t always lead to productivity (Presenteeism). Smokers are 28% more likely to have high presenteeism. Employees who do not eat healthy diet are 66% more likely to have high presenteeism and those who do not exercise have 50% more likely to have high presenteeism (Aldana, 2020). The company wellness programs provide great opportunities for helping the employees to change their unhealthy behaviors. Many companies provide weight loss interventions, smoking cessation programs and resources. The worksite wellness expert, Dr.Aldana writes in his article, “Wellness programs are good at helping people adopt and maintain healthy behaviors. This is perhaps the biggest benefit of having a wellness program”.
Companies try to encourage participation by adding more programs, expanding hours of operation, and offering incentives to participants. Acupuncture is a great option to include when developing an effective worksite wellness program. Research is catching up to show how acupuncture can deliver favorable results in these programs. According to a study by Harari & Casarotto (2019), the multifaceted intervention including acupuncture, workplace exercises and ergonomics was provided to 126 workers. The authors found after 22 months, the workers’ musculoskeletal pain was reduced by 40% in at least one body part region, and absenteeism was also significantly reduced(p=0.020).
Headache has serious impact among worker in the US. According to Larden et al. (2017), US spends over 11 billion dollars directly and indirectly related to migraine among workers. In the article, Effectiveness of preventive and treatment interventions for primary headaches in the workplace: a systematic review of the literature, the authors reviewed fifteen eligible articles and found that acupuncture can decrease both intensity and frequency of chronic headaches experienced by workers.
Lower back pain is another pain condition that is prevalent among workers. Yang et al. reports 27 percent of office workers complained of lower back pain (2016). Sitting for long time and being sedentary can make the back pain worse. Ergonomically designed work furniture can significantly improve musculoskeletal condition, but not all companies can afford to provide such highly priced ergonomics that workers need. In addition, there are many other risk factors that the workers are exposed to, such as lifting and trunk flexion (Coenen et al., 2013).
Acupuncture is an effective treatment modality for both acute and chronic back pain. 2018 Lancet article by Nadine et al., recommended acupuncture as a second line and adjunct therapy for lower back pain. This study showed that acupuncture was a better option than pharmaceutical therapy, epidural injection and surgeries, which are far more expensive than acupuncture.
When workers suffer from chronic pains, it creates ripple effects. They are unable to be productive and too unwell to be in good mood. It can negatively affect their relationships and quality of life. A study by Yang et al. (2016) showed lower back pain was highly related to stress and family-work imbalance. Pain and stress are often connected and coexist. Stress can be detrimental because it can make their pain condition even worse. Acupuncture is a clinically excellent choice in decreasing the stress level. Schroeder et al (2017) conducted a research on 111 participants who study or work on a college campus. The researchers found that acupuncture was more effective than sham acupuncture on the perception of stress. In this study, the authors saw 45.8% improvement in the perception of stress in the acupuncture group as opposed to the sham acupuncture group, which also showed 40.3% increase.
Acupuncture is also proven to be an effective adjunctive therapy to quitting smoking. Workplace Health America 2017 Survey showed, 70% of adult smokers want to quit smoking. Helping the employees to quit, increases productivity and cost effectiveness for the employers in the long run. The systematic review and meta-analysis of 24 randomized controlled trials by Wang et al. (2019), found that acupuncture, when it was combined with education and counseling or moxibustion, was effective in smoking cessation.
The research brief published by RAND corporation in 2014 further illustrated that the disease management through workplace wellness program delivered 86% of the hard health care cost savings, by generating $136 in savings per member per month and a 30% reduction in hospital admission. When acupuncture is included in the worksite wellness program, the benefit of saving costs and reducing health care expenses can be even more significant. According to the study by Fan et al.(2017), “Numerous federal regulatory agencies have advised or mandated that healthcare systems and providers offer non-pharmacologic treatment options for pain. Acupuncture stands out as the most evidence-based, immediately available choice to fulfill these calls”.
Companies should take care of their employee’s health by providing the high-quality wellness programs. When they do, they are investing for the better future of their company. It benefits the individuals and the company itself. It provides the preventive health benefits and disease management for the larger society. Additionally, the programs help increase the bottom-line of the companies by reducing the burdens of health care cost and increasing the productivity of the workers. There are added benefits of incorporating acupuncture into the wellness programs. Acupuncture is effective for treating chronic pain, helping workers quit smoking and lessening headaches and stress.
References
Aldana, S. (2020). 5 Workplace wellness statistics every employer should know. Wellsteps. https://www.wellsteps.com/blog/2020/01/02/workplace-wellness-statistics-wellness-stats/
Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2020). American Time Use Survey. US Department of Labor. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/atus.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Workplace Health in America 2017.(2018). Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/data-surveillance/docs/2017-Workplace-Health-in-America-Summary-Report-FINAL-updated-508.pdf
Coenen, P., Kingma, I., Boot, C. R., Twisk, J. W., Bongers, P. M., & van Dieën, J. H. (2013). Cumulative low back load at work as a risk factor of low back pain: a prospective cohort study. Journal of occupational rehabilitation, 23(1), 11–18. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10926-012-9375-z
Fan, A. Y., Miller, D. W., Bolash, B., Bauer, M., McDonald, J., Faggert, S., He, H., Li, Y. M., Matecki, A., Camardella, L., Koppelman, M. H., Stone, J., Meade, L., & Pang, J. (2017). Acupuncture’s Role in Solving the Opioid Epidemic: Evidence, Cost-Effectiveness, and Care Availability for Acupuncture as a Primary, Non-Pharmacologic Method for Pain Relief and Management-White Paper 2017. Journal of integrative medicine, 15(6), 411–425. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2095-4964(17)60378-9
Gubler, T., Larkin, I. & Pierce, L. (2017). Doing well by making well: The Impact of corporate wellness programs on employee productivity. Informs:Pubsonline. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2017.2883
Harari, D., & Casarotto, R. A. (2019). Effectiveness of a multifaceted intervention to manage musculoskeletal disorders in workers of a medium-sized company. International journal of occupational safety and ergonomics : JOSE, 27(1), 247–257. https://doi.org/10.1080/10803548.2019.1575052
Lardon, A., Girard, M. P., Zaïm, C., Lemeunier, N., Descarreaux, M., & Marchand, A. A. (2017). Effectiveness of preventive and treatment interventions for primary headaches in the workplace: A systematic review of the literature. Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache, 37(1), 64–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0333102416636096
Mattke, S., Harry H. Liu, J.P., Caloyeras, C.Y. Huang, K.R. Van Busum, D.K. & Shier, V. (2013). Workplace Wellness Programs Study: Final Report. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR254.html.
Nadine, F. E., Anema, J. R., Cherkin, D., Chou, R., Cohen, S. P., Gross, D. P., Ferreira, P. H., Fritz, J. M., Koes, B. W., Peul, W., Turner, J. A., Maher, C. G., & Lancet Low Back Pain Series Working Group (2018). Prevention and Treatment of Low Back Pain: Evidence, Challenges, and Promising Directions. Lancet (London, England),391(10137), 2368–2383. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(18)30489-6
Purcell, J. (2016). Meet the wellness programs that save companies money. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/04/meet-the-wellness-programs-that-save-companies-money
Rand Corporation. (2014). Research Brief: Do Workplace Wellness programs save employers money?. RAND. https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_briefs/RB9700/RB9744/RAND_RB9744.pdf
Schroeder, S., Burnis, J., Denton, A., Krasnow, A., Raghu, T. S., & Mathis, K. (2017). Effectiveness of Acupuncture Therapy on Stress in a Large Urban College Population. Journal of acupuncture and meridian studies, 10(3), 165–170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jams.2017.01.002
Taylor, P., Pezzullo, L., Grant, S. J., & Bensoussan, A. (2014). Cost-effectiveness of Acupuncture for Chronic Nonspecific Low Back Pain. Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain, 14(7), 599–606. https://doi.org/10.1111/papr.12116
Wang, J. H., van Haselen, R., Wang, M., Yang, G. L., Zhang, Z., Friedrich, M. E., Wang, L. Q., Zhou, Y. Q., Yin, M., Xiao, C. Y., Duan, A. L., Liu, S. C., Chen, B., & Liu, J. P. (2019). Acupuncture for smoking cessation: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 24 randomized controlled trials. Tobacco induced diseases, 17, 48. https://doi.org/10.18332/tid/1091956
Yang, H., Haldeman, S., Lu, M. L., & Baker, D. (2016). Low Back Pain Prevalence and Related Workplace Psychosocial Risk Factors: A Study Using Data From the 2010 National Health Interview Survey. Journal of manipulative and physiological therapeutics, 39(7), 459–472. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmpt.2016.07.004
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