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Workplace Health
Hello and welcome to our Summer edition of the Workplace Health E-Bulletin.
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We have been super busy this last quarter, this is just some of the things we have been up to...
We have visited 16 Healthy Workplace's, 9 of which were new companies interested in working towards the healthy workplace award programme, which is exciting! We now have a total of 303 Cornish companies registered on our website.
With the help of our partner projects within the Health Promotion Service, we delivered support in the workplace setting to 17 different business, reaching over 447 employees!
Last months 'Workplace Health Business Forum' took place on Wednesday 25th May 2016 at Trewithen Diary. The morning consisted of two local professionals presenting, together with networking and information stands. The forum was a great success and as always it was lovely to see everyone. Thank you to our two guest speakers Jacqui Hodge, talking about Macmillan Cancer at Work and Karen Oldham-Waring talking about Mental Health & Resilience. Thank you to Trewithen Dairy for kindly hosting us and looking after us all so well, much appreciated indeed. Please do let us know if your business is interested in hosting our next Workplace Health Forum, in November 2016.
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Cornwall Beach Games - on Friday 13th May 2016, 15 companies from across Cornwall headed to Perranporth Beach to take part in the annual barefoot sports competition.
The 2016 Cornwall Beach Games saw over 175 people come together and compete in a series of sporting activities such as Volleyball, Netball, Tag Rugby, Relay Races, Tug of War, Orienteering and the Sand Sculpture competition. The event co-organised by the Cornwall Sports Partnership and Health Promotion Service's Workplace Health gives Cornish Companies the chance to have some active fun outdoors with their fellow colleagues.
Bruce Lockie, Physical Activity Lead at the Cornwall Sports Partnership said: ‘The beach games provided a marvellous opportunity for workplaces within Cornwall to take part in a great team building and networking event utilising a range of informal sports and activities. It was fantastic seeing several businesses taking part in their first beach games. It’s great to see businesses away from their core work engaging in physical activity and promoting their staff’s wellbeing’.
During the closing ceremony, all companies received a Beach Games pennant to remember the day with the top 3 teams presented with an award to celebrate their achievements. In third place was H Tempest, in second place was Francis Clark and in first place was Cornwall Council – Planning & Enterprise.
Rachel Faulkner, Workplace Health Coordinator, commented: ‘Another fantastic event – the 2016 Cornwall Beach Games! We are very proud to be a partner of the event and are thrilled that so many local companies get involved and join in and support the event. It is a great opportunity for local companies to promote the health and wellbeing of staff as well as a great team building activity plus to have lots of fun. Can’t wait until next year! Hope more and more local companies will join in'.
Pictures from the day can be found on the Facebook page: www.facebook.com/CornwallSportsPartnership
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Public Health England Health Campaigns
The following health campaigns have a workplace health link: There will be a selection of free resources available to order prior to each campaign commencing. The campaigns will also be promoted on national television, radio, billboards and in all pharmacies across the South West
Campaigns Months:
- Respiratory Health - Be Clear On Cancer - July - August
- Physical Activity for Adults (OneYou) - August - September
- Stoptober - September - October
- How Are You PART 2 reappraise health (OneYou) - January – March
OneYou Employer Toolkit:
To sign up to the PHE campaign resource centre and download your OneYou employer toolkit click here. The Campaign Resource Centre has downloadable resources and you can order printed materials using the password oneyou (case sensitive).
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Mens Health toolkit for employers
Beat Stress Service, is an online mental health support service for men, open to all but targeted at men in their middle years.
The middle-years can be a time of significant pressure. “Midlife Crisis” is the most visited mental health page on the Men’s Health Forum website and we know, through key search terms, that men are searching for ways to better manage their stress. The Beat Stress Service is about tackling the niggling stress before it becomes more serious.
The Beat Stress Service is a free, confidential and anonymous service. The webchat is open on Wednesdays from 7pm to 10pm with the email service available 24 hours a day offering a 48 hour turnaround.
Staffed by experienced, multi-disciplinary professionals with expertise in supporting people with their mental health and wellbeing.
The website also offers the Men’s Health Forum’s acclaimed content on male mental wellbeing, developed in line with the NHS England Information Standard by and for men in the target group. There is also online signposting.
Please support us by sharing this information with colleagues and service members through newsletters, online, social media and talking!
The Beat Stress Service can be found at: www.beatstress.uk
If you would like to know more, please contact Chris Stein, Senior Project Officer, chris.stein@menshealthforum.org.uk, 020 7922 7925
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How the Workplace Wellbeing Charter can help GP practices:
Health and wellbeing at work can make a real difference to people's lives - and improve patient care, argues Dr Jennifer Napier. So what can GPs do to make this a reality in their practice? The article from Gponline.com features Carnon Downs GP Surgery and Cornwall’s Workplace Health Awards. Details here.
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Carnon Downs - Well done on your achievement, it is great to hear about all the existing work which has been well maintained and new plans and ideas for the future. In November a session was organised on alcohol. A lot of work is organised to support local charities and some excellent challenges by staff have been completed. Rather than a separate healthy workplace group meeting an agenda item within the staff meeting ensures that items are discussed or updated on the healthy workplace agenda. The commitment to the healthy workplace agenda is clearly demonstrated within the mission statement and in the new employee induction guide. Carnon Downs Surgery is still the only practice in the whole of Cornwall to achieve any level of award never mind all three of Bronze, Silver & Gold – Well Done!
Any other GP surgeries intrested in signing up for the Workplace Health programme - please do contact us at the Health Promotion Service on 01209 313419.
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Smoking
The Stop Smoking Service can offer a variety of levels of support for any of your staff members who would like to take part in the Stoptober Challenge this year. Stoptober is a national campaign which encourages individuals to sign up (they then receive a quit kit) and to remain smokefree for 28 days during October. Many participants then go on to remain smokefree.
Stoptober launches on 22nd September enabling smokers time to prepare to quit. The Stop Smoking Service can offer:
• Information on how to access support to quit
• An employer Stoptober pack (supply may be limited to first come first served)
• Awareness session in the workplace to offer advice on where to receive support to individuals
• Weekly sessions for 6 weeks to workplaces who have a large number of Stoptober participants to provide smoking cessation products and support
The Stop Smoking Service usually tailor sessions to suit the workplace, such as some workplaces prefer group awareness sessions and others prefer us to set up a stall in the canteen and speak to individuals. Equally with the weekly sessions we can run those as a group, drop-in or through appointments depending on what fits in with the employer. Anyone interested, please contact smokefree@nhs.net
Vaping in public places:
Vaping in public places: advice for employers and organisations - New vaping in public places advice recognises there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
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Healthy Eating
Snacks are an integral part of a healthy diet and balanced diet; they help keep hunger at bay between meals. Don’t snack on crisps, chocolate or other junk foods; instead, choose foods that are low-calorie and filling. Opt for non-perishable snacks to stash in your desk or briefcase to help you fight the urge to head to the vending machine!
If you would like Cornwall Healthy Weight to come and deliver a healthy eating session to your workplace, please contact us at the Health Promotion Service on 01209 313419
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Physical Activity
Public Health England has released a new briefing for transport planners and public health practitioners which sets out the benefits of active travel. The guide suggests a range of practical action for local authorities, from overall policy to practical implementation. It highlights the importance of community involvement and sets out steps for transport and public health practitioners.
Key messages:
• Physical inactivity directly contributes to one in six deaths in the UK and costs £7.4 billion a year to business and wider society.
• The growth in road transport has been a major factor in reducing levels of physical activity and increasing obesity.
• Building walking or cycling into daily routines are the most effective ways to increase physical activity.
• Short car trips (under five miles) are a prime area for switching to active travel and public transport.
• Health promoting transport systems are pro-business and support economic prosperity, They enable a optimal travel to work with less congestion, collisions, pollution and they support a healthier workforce.
Cornwall Council have reviewed and updated the Travel to Work Grant Guidance and application form on the Council website with an open window for applications until 28th Feb 2019 or until all the funding has been awarded, whichever is sooner.
Physical inactivity is estimated to cost Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) £455 million per year according to Public Health England.
In their new report Physical inactivity: economic costs to NHS clinical commissioning groups they place the cost of inactivity at £817,274 per 100,000 people, the equivalent of £8.17 per person per year. The figures illustrate the significant cost saving potential that addressing inactivity can make and helps support the case for a robust approach to increase physical activity through clinical pathways.
The figure was calculated using health board level expenditure for five disease groups from NHS budgeting data. This was coupled with Population Attributable Fractions (PAFs) from the World Health Organization for five diseases - ischaemic heart disease, ischaemic stroke, breast cancer, colon cancer and diabetes. PAFs enable researchers to estimate the cost of these diseases that can be attributed to physical inactivity.
It should be noted that this report only takes into account the effect of inactivity on five diseases and therefore this estimate is lower than the true cost of disease related inactivity. The actual cost is likely to be higher and provides further support for the need to increase physical activity through clinical pathways.
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2016 Business Sports Day
The ‘old-school’ Workplace Sports Day will take place during lunchtime on Friday 19th August on Lemon Quay.
All equipment will be provided and there will be a trophy for the winning team! Teams of 4 can enter by emailing – the name of your organisation, contact name and details to Natasha Howard at info@cornwallsportspartnership.co.uk
- Date - Friday 19th August
- Venue - Lemon Quay, Truro
- Registration - 12.15pm
- Competition - 12.30pm – 1.15pm
- Presentation - 1.15pm
- Cost – Free!
- Maximum of 12 teams competing
- 4 people per team (individuals can join together from different organisations to create a team)
- Teams can include more people, but only 4 can compete at any one time
- All equipment will be provided
- Please wear trainers and comfortable clothing
- Competitors take part at their own risk
- In the case of bad weather we will contact all teams by 10am on the day
- Parking is not available on the Quay, please use one of the nearby car parks
- For the full week event listing visit – enjoytruro.co.uk/getactivetruro
Entry closes on Friday 12th August
Get Active Truro is brought to you in partnership with -
Cornwall Sports Partnership, Totally Truro BID and Truro City Council
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Save the date!
The Get Active Cornwall Workplace Challenge is due to start on the 19th September! More informtation will be sent around soon...!
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A message from Tracey Coles, NHS Kernow:
NHS Kernow have updated the 'choose well' literature . For information, please visit https://www.kernowccg.nhs.uk/get-info/choose-well.
Leanne and Ben from the comms and engagement team can come out to organisations should you want to know more information. They can also send out hard copies of the information leaflets if anyone would like them – it is probably best to get in contact with Leanne direct to do this.
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Feedback and ideas needed!
As a member of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Workplace Health Award, the Health and Wellbeing Innovation Centre are planning to hold there first 'Health and wellbeing at Work' event.
The aim of this event is to provide businesses with information on workplace health and the key areas to consider when building and maintaining a healthy and productive workplace; giving employers the tools to commit to improving their employees working environment.
They have put together a survey that they are asking people to complete to help plan future events. They would love to hear your ideas and feedback. Please take the time to complete the short survey here
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