Help raise awareness of women's heart health by wearing red Friday 11 June.

Raise awareness of cancer by holding a Morning Tea to raise funds for the Cancer Council's many programmes.  You are sure to have many talented cooks among your staff who could produce goodies to sell.  Early detection of cancer is very important.  if you have employees that spend time in the sun during their working day, encourage them to have their skin checked.  Female employees should be reminded of the importance of regular breast self-examination.  When done correctly it saves lives.  Offer a Breast Cancer awareness clinic during work hours, or a lunch & learn on the topic.

1 day after you quit smoking your heart rate slows down and carbon monoxide leaves your body.
5 days after you quit your blood pressure drops slightly and your blood oxygen levels rise.
3 months after you quit smoking the cilia in your lungs begins to recover and they can clean themselves again.
1 year after you quit your risk of heart disease is halved. These facts come from both Quit and the Heart Foundation.

Has anyone tried the Acai berries?  Their uses and benefits include being a weight-loss aid, immune booster, anti-aging, skin health,
antioxidant and prevention of chronic disease.  They are full of vitamins and minerals, as well as anthycyannis.
 

Did you know that wearing a scarf around your neck or waist during winter can help improve your mood and your immune
system.  Red is a good colour to increase energy, orange to help adapt to change and green or pink to be kind and loving.

Your employees may be turning up for work each day, but is their health affecting their ability to work productively or remain task-focused enough? You might find that productivity is much lower than it could be, but you can’t pinpoint why. Perhaps your workers are present, but their health is holding them, back.

How is presenteeism measured? It requires tracking the effects of health problems on specific functions. Examples: Data entry output may be measurably slowed when a keyboard operator suffers from migraine. Phone on hold times may be excessive when a customer service representative suffers from untreated or unrecognised depression Displacement activities, such as web surfing or social media use may be connected to a chronic health issue or concern that arises when an employee tries to focus on a work task, but is distracted by pain, discomfort or worry about that issue.

For 160 large US companies, the number 1 reason for sponsoring workplace wellness was healthier employees who will maintain a productive, qualified workforce.

Why the workplace? It is the most logical and effective front line for promoting wellness and preventing health problems because employees spend a growing amount of time at work.

When encouraged to make healthy choices, people become stronger and more committed workers.

Employers interviewed in the 2006 surveys by National Business Group on Health and Pricewaterhouse Coopers say improved productivity and reduction of indirect costs, including absenteeism and presenteeism, are the primary reasons they run wellness programs. Other reasons why they invest in wellness programs:

• To be more attractive places for people to work.
• To be more socially responsible and improve their corporate image.
• To improve their bottom line.

In a 2008 JOEM study, musculoskeletal problems (often related to back pain and muscle tension) were by far the most costly workplace health issues, followed by depression, fatigue, sleeping problems, high cholesterol, arthritis, hypertension, obesity, and anxiety, according to the self–report questionnaire developed for the study.

QHS Corporate Health runs a wide range of in-house screening programs and services to address these issues.

The WHO reports that global death toll from H1N1 swine flu is 1154.

    As of 31 of July 2009, 168 countries and overseas territories/communities have reported at least one laboratory confirmed case of pandemic (H1N1) 09. All continents are affected by the pandemic.

    The countries and overseas territories/communities that have newly reported their first pandemic (H1N1) 2009 confirmed case(s) since the last web update (27 July 2009) as of 31 July 2009 are:

    Azerbaijan, Gabon, Grenada, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Monaco, Nauru, Swaziland, Suriname

The report also says there have been 162,380 cases but the actual total is supected to be much higher.