TIME FOR TEAMS TO PRIORITISE WELLBEING

Wellbeing as a workplace issue has soared in importance as a result of the pandemic. A new, evidence-based approach helps teams avoid being overwhelmed.

Prior to COVID-19, most organisations provided light- touch wellness programs, such as referral systems for psychology services or free yoga classes during lunch hour. “Pre-pandemic, the emphasis on mental health was simmering below the surface, but it wasn’t regarded as a key issue or risk to business continuity,” says Phil Hayes-St Clair, co-founder and CEO of Drop Bio Health. “Since COVID-19, mental health issues have shot up in terms of importance.”

That’s no surprise, as the past two years have often been characterised by social isolation, uncertainty, higher workloads and illness. As a consequence, many employees have experienced a dip in wellbeing at some point in time. Hayes-St Clair says that feeling overwhelmed is a common issue, which can be more difficult to detect among remote team members. “Being overwhelmed manifests by people feeling consistently exhausted and not able to concentrate or plan and deliver work that they would ordinarily do well. It’s a chronic situation that builds up over time.”

WellBeing for Teams

Many organisations have undertaken reviews of their employee assistance programs (EAPs) to ensure as much support as possible is provided to their teams. Drop Bio Health has developed an evidence-based virtual events service called WellBeing for Teams. It gives organisations access to a curated suite of speakers who are specialists in their field. Each fortnight, a high-demand topic covers issues such as mental health first aid, toxic perfectionism, fertility, post-natal care, men’s health and conditions including menopause and endometriosis. “We found a way to bring all these experts together to deliver knowledge in an event-based format that respects the privacy of team members, but also creates a pathway to seeking help when it is needed. This combination of knowledge, access to experts and a sense of belonging helps to reduce overwhelm,” says Hayes-St Clair.

Team members use personal email addresses and don’t disclose their names as attendees for the purposes of the question-and-answer session at the end unless they wish. “It saves organisations the time investment in creating content, and provides confidentiality for team members.”

The simple fee structure makes it straightforward to sign off on. Companies with fewer than 5000 employees pay a flat fee of $25,000 annually. Employees can attend as many events as they wish and their family members also get access to on-demand events replays. Reporting on engagement with the content can be provided every six months.

Diving deeper

While knowledge and education is at the heart of Drop Bio Health’s WellBeing for Teams, the company recently launched a personalised wellness service called WellBeing. Using its accredited Australian laboratory, the WellBeing service analyses 36 blood biomarkers and lifestyle habits over time to provide comprehensive reports and suggested next steps to improve an individual’s sleep and stress, energy levels, inflammation, nutrition, exercise and alcohol consumption. All this can be determined from a tiny finger-prick blood sample taken at home. Tailor-made next steps and education is then provided with the aim of living a healthier life and averting common lifestyle-related illnesses like diabetes.

While conventional blood tests are critical to high-quality healthcare and disease diagnosis, Drop Bio Health is pioneering personalised insight that tracks and translates the role of important blood biomarkers that often exist in low concentrations, using clinical ranges created to enhance its view of underlying health and wellness, says Hayes-St Clair.

“There is so much that can be done to improve the health experience because we have new inputs we never had before. Our work is about securely combining personalised health data to help people answer one question: What is happening to me? The future for our members and for doctors, researchers and healthcare more broadly is very exciting.”

For more information about WellBeing for Teams, visit?dropbiohealth.com/wellbeing-for-teams