Index

94 RESULTS TSA NOVEMBER 2007

USEFUL LINKS

NEWSLETTER

FACT SHEETS

John Miller conducted a one day health management seminar for The Group in November 2007.

19 participants, 15 men and 4 women completed the following profiles: -

■ Health, Fitness and Wellbeing

■ Musculo-skeletal risk

■ Diet

■ Chemical intake

■ Stress risk

■ Career satisfaction

The results are presented in graphic format, with commentary.

CONTEXT

The health assessment program conducted by Miller Health is based on the premise that the health of key body systems depends on

•      physical fitness

•      diet

•      an ability to manage the stress of both life and work and

•      avoidance of a toxic environment.

Within the Australian community, there is currently an epidemic of body system dysfunctions which when translated into the workplace are associated with increased absenteeism and workers compensation, and decreased work performance and productivity.

There are three principal categories of dysfunction,

▪ metabolic

▪ musculo-skeletal

▪ psychological.

These dysfunctions are recognised by their symptoms

There are very few people and even fewer organisations that are not affected by this epidemic.

At the same time as workplace incidents causing injury have declined, the incidents of personal body system dysfunctions has increased.

Because these dysfunctions are personally generated it is imperative that organisations put up a firewall between dysfunctions and injuries and move heaven and earth to prevent the dysfunctions from being treated as compensatable injuries. For staff and organisation alike, it's better to deal with small problems rather than allowing them to become large problems.

In this day and age, organisations with high levels of absenteeism, presenteeism and workers compensation premiums are not adequately managing the dysfunctions.

You can't solve a 21st Century problem with a 19th Century solution.

It's time for an new OH&S model.

THE ASSESSMENTS

The assessments took an holistic look at health, based on the premise that the major systems of the body maintain healthy function when they are supported by 

HEALTH PROFILES

The Health, Fitness and Wellbeing profile was used as a way of obtaining a snap shot of people’s health, fitness and stress levels. In the workplace it is also a good measure of the risk of absenteeism, presenteeism and workers’ compensation.

People in poor physical condition experience

•      headaches

•      poor sleep

•      lack of energy and vitality

•      musculo-skeletal dysfunction

•      frequent colds and flu

•      obesity

•      anxiety ...

The aging population

We believe (barring disability) there is little stopping most people of working age from being in exceptionally good physical condition – except lack of training. It's not so much that we have an aging population but a lazy population.

Theoretically, as people get older they should be able to maintain a high level of fitness – they’ve had longer to train!

The Governments of Australia base their medical system data on the fact that as people get older they become more dysfunctional. It's a poorly researched premise. What's actually happening is that people are getting older younger! They're unfit and unhealthy.

As a general rule, poor health and body system dysfunction is not so much related to age as it is to

•      low levels of physical activity

•      junk food diets

•      over-consumption of alcohol

•      smoking

•      an inability to handle the normal stresses of life

•      a job that does not suit their personality, intelligence strengths or interests

•      an over-reliance on junk medicine - medicine that is pharmaceutically based and

       which masks symptoms without stimulating the body's own recuperative power.

HEALTH FITNESS AND WELLBEING PROFILE

The Health, Fitness and Wellbeing profile provides people with a very good idea of how well the various systems of the body are functioning, particularly the

•      the mind

•      autonomic nervous system

•      immune system

•      digestive system

•      circulatory system

•      elimination system

•      musculo-skeletal system.

How well people score on the Mind and Body profile provides them with a good indication of how fit and healthy they really are.

I read somewhere that we don't see full blown body system dysfunction until the particular system is 70% dysfunctional. What the Mind and Body profile does is pick up the dysfunctions at an early stage - (you know something's wrong and you feel dreadful but you can't put your finger on the particular system that's causing it.

But it doesn't matter that you don't know the precise system involved. What you are aware of is that one or more of your systems isn't working at full pitch. There is something wrong with the whole ecosystem.

The good news is that you can restore poor function to normal healthy function by getting fitter, eating wisely, meditating, getting the job you'd love to do ...) Very few people became fitter and healthier in a surgery or a pharmacy!

Being vigorously physically active on a regular and systematic basis is the most powerful symbol of your ability to give back to your Self. On top of that it protects the body from a wide range of dysfunctions and contributes to an enhancement of the body's own recuperative powers.

There is an epidemic of body system dysfunction in our community and it is certainly not caused by a lack of Panadol, Avpro, Diabex, Lipitor, Ventolin, Milantin, Celebrex, Valium, Zoloft, Viagra or Anusol!

The human ecosystem

The body is an ecosystem of which the mind is an integral part. Major body systems are frequently negatively affected by stress generated in the mind. The body is incapable of dishonesty!

On the other hand, the mind is effected by the healthy working order of other body systems. Certainly it is positively affected by vigorous, physical activity, and Hourglass diet, meditation and a low-toxic environment.

People who are physically fit are less likely to become depressed. They are also more likely to have a strong immune system and an autonomic nervous system that is balanced and healthy in its management of key physiological responses. They are healthy and happy. They have normal blood pressure, they sleep like logs, are about their ideal weighty, rarely, if ever get a headache and don't have a crook back.

As your fitness level improves you can be certain that your score on the Mind and Body profile will also. 

The profile

On this profile, the lower the score the better.

To complete the profile, circle the number appropriate to the degree to which you experience the symptoms on the left hand side of the page. The greater the symptom, the higher the score.

The score of a normal, fit and healthy human being is less than 20     

Higher scores are symptomatic of dysfunction of one or more body systems.

People with high levels of stress usually score well over 100.

For people with a score of more than 80, the ‘background noise’ of their life is becoming louder and louder. It is hard to concentrate on your work when body systems are dysfunctional.

We know a fit and healthy group when we see the majority of scores below 40. This was not the case with this group. By and large higher scores are usually a reflection of

•      low levels of fitness

•      an inability to deal with what life and work are serving up to people.

Remember, it is not what happens, but how we deal with what happens that determines our level of stress. 

Classification of average scores: Excellent - less than 40. Good - 41 - 50. Reasonable 51-60. Poor - over 60.

This profile is described as poor. The average score was 88. Anyone scoring more than 80 is putting up with a lot of 'background noise'.

HEALTH CLIMATE SURVEY

Based on scores received in the Mind and Body profile we've compiled a Health Climate Survey. Scores on each item have ranked - the higher the score the worse the problem. We added the scores for each item. The results appear in the table below.

Our recommendation is that the organisation focus on improving scores on the 8 items highlighted.

Fitness

This workplace, like all others has a fitness problem. People aren't in good shape.

It's interesting that rarely do people have their aerobic fitness levels measured, when aerobic fitness is the key driver of poor health. We measure every thing but; blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar and fail to measure the key driver of metabolic health.

Blood pressure

The organisation has a serious blood pressure problem that relates directly to

- lack of aerobic fitness

- being over weight

- being stressed.

32% of people surveyed had a blood pressure problem. 5 people were on medication.

A blood pressure reduction program that is pharmaceutically based misses the point. The medication masks the symptom - the underlying causes persist. Bad behaviour is encouraged.

I recommend the organisation take very serious note of blood pressure results and give staff every encouragement to seek non-medical interventions to restore blood pressure to normal. Of course when high blood pressure is first diagnosed medication is an appropriate, short term therapy, but it needs to be accompanied by the following programs

- fitness

- weight reduction

- yoga or meditation

- holidays

- stress management.

Obesity

58% of people surveyed were 10 or more kilograms overweight. This is not a trim, taut organisation. It's symptomatic of high energy diets, low energy lifestyles.

Musculo-skeletal dysfunction

Like all organisations, the organisation has a musculo-skeletal dysfunction problem. 63 percent of people said they had some form of musculo-skeletal dysfunction. Sooner or later these self-generated dysfunctions become labeled as 'injuries', at great cost to the organisation's workers compensation arrangements.

It is recommended that the organisation build a firewall between dysfunctions and injuries. What this means is requiring staff at risk (and staff experiencing musculo-skeletal pain) to attend musculo-skeletal prehab sessions, in work time, to improve strength and flexibility and to get bones back into alignment - tracksuit therapy not white coat therapy.

Our surveys show that staff will willingly participate in such a program.

A similar approach needs to be taken with people who've already been tipped into the workers compensation bucket. These people should attend daily rehab sessions, conducted by registered fitness practitioners that involve strength and flexibility exercises.

There is probably a case for the organisation to establish its own health and fitness centre where prehab and rehab sessions can take place, where there is a good hydrotherapy pool.

There is a good case for subsidizing fitness centre memberships, but only for people who go and only for people whose fitness is getting better, or has achieved an acceptable level. A lot of organisations pay by input, not output. They don't get good value for money.

Smoking

The good news is that only one person smoked. That's well below the community average.

Depression

There is an epidemic of depression in our community and we encourage all organisations to target depression. This group did not exhibit high levels of depression and no-one was on anti-depressant medication. This is a good result.

MUSCULO-SKELETAL RISK FACTOR

Our musculo-skeletal risk factor profile looked at a range of parameters including mobility, strength and flexibility and whether people are training to keep themselves strong and flexible.

The musculo-skeletal risk factor profile is comprised of a mix of 9 objective and 3 subjective assessments.

•      Current musculo-skeletal condition

•      Age

•      Closeness to ideal weight

•      Abdominal strength test

•      Upper body strength test

•      Flexibility

•      Functional mobility – the ability to sit down and stand up with ease.

•      Shoulder function

•      Dominant hand grip

•      Non-dominant hand grip

A score of 70% is attainable by those who have a regular and systematic training program.

Those scoring less than 70 are not doing sufficient in the way of strength and flexibility exercises. They are therefore exposing themselves to a high risk of musculo-skeletal dysfunction. (It would be bizarre for a workplace to offer to pay the rehabilitation costs of people who were not keeping themselves strong enough or flexible enough to do their job without succumbing to musculo-skeletal dysfunction, wouldn't it?)

	Not a particularly good result. Too many people are experiencing pain and discomfort. In a corporate setting we recommend that those scoring less the 6 be obligated to attend a prehab/rehab program, for their own benefit and that of the organisation.		As a group this is a mediocre result. 17 sit-ups (7/10) was the pass mark. People who can't do 17 sit-ups in 30 seconds aren't serious about protecting their trunk from dysfunction. Strong stomach muscles are a foundation of musculo-skeletal health.
	Another mediocre result. 17 press-ups (7/10) was the pass mark. People who can't do 17 press-ups in 30 seconds aren't serious about protecting the arms and shoulders from dysfunction.		A poor result. This lack of flexibility in calf, hamstring, buttock and back muscles is setting them up for musculo-skeletal dysfunction.
	This is a very poor result. When you can't get down and up off the floor 7 times in 30 seconds you've got a mobility problem. Fix it! 5 people were so dysfunctional they didn't even attempt the test.		This is very poor result. Too many people had shoulder dysfunction. The good news! It's redeemable.
	A good result. I strongly recommend people use the grip strengtheners every day to improve grip strength.		Another good result. I strongly recommend people use the grip strengtheners every day to improve grip strength. It's hard to blame the mouse and the keyboard when you're lacking in grip strength!
Its always the case, few people have a regular strength and flexibility program. The group needs to put in train a regular and systematic training program, on site, that includes   1.  specialist prehab and rehab sessions for those at serious risk and those already dysfunctional and on compo   2.  daily strength and flexibility sessions in the workplace for everyone.
Average score: 47. Not good. This graph show why people are experiencing pain. Too many people are not doing the things they need to do to keep their musculo-skeletal system in good shape. There is a strong case for the group to implement an obligatory strength and flexibility program for those who scored less than 60 in this profile.

We recommend the Organisation take seriously and monitor carefully the incidence of musculo-skeletal dysfunction and put in place an organisation-wide strategy to improve strength, flexibility and mobility. By far and away a high proportion of people do not have a strength and flexibility program. As a result they are getting weaker and tighter by the week, thereby exposing themselves and the organisation to risk.

DIET PROFILE

The diet profile is designed to assist participants to check out whether they are eating wisely and also one which has appropriate amounts of carbohydrate, protein and fat. It also looks at various eating habits, eg eating too much, eating for comfort ...

•      Closeness to ideal weight?

•      Do you eat a decent breakfast?

•      Do you eat a high fat diet?

•      Do you eat a high starch diet?

•      Do you eat from the top of the Diet Hourglass?

•      How much water do you during each day?

•      Do you supplement your diet with essential micro-nutrients – vitamins,

        minerals, essential fats (omega 3) and glyco-proteins - and

        nutraceuticals - ginko, aloe vera, Echinacea ...?

•      Do you eat too much?

•      Are you ruled by your addictions to fat, sugar and starch?

•      Does the back end of your system work like a charm?

We use the Hourglass Diet as out eating model.

Low scores are usually symptomatic of high fat, high starch, low fibre diets. The results: - people become over fat and constipated.

	This graph indicates that over half the participants registered themselves as being 10Kg or more over weight.		Patchy. A lot of people are filling themselves up on flour and sugar. The 'fat police' have just about stripped a cooked breakfast out of existence.
	If you're over weight you've either got a fat guts ...		or a starch guts.
	The nature of our culture is that it's too easy to eat junk food.		Most people don't drink enough water. We're too affluent - we can afford to drink coffee, fruit juice and carbonated drinks to slake our thirst.
	There is a good case for supplementing one's diet. Our food lacks vitamin, mineral and essential fats.		Not only do I fail to eat from the top of the Hourglass, I also eat too much.
	I'm addicted to chocolate, cola drinks, cake, biscuits, ice-cream ...		Back end function depends on eating less fat, flour and sugar and more fruit. vegetables and fibre. Psyllium husk works like a treat.
Patchy. Average score 54. The graph is shaped in the wrong direction. It's too easy to eat a high energy dense diet of manufactured food - particularly foods containing large amounts of fat, flour and sugar - food that comes in packets, tins, cans, bottles, cardboard boxes and plastic bags. This is a group that needs to design strategies to get more fruit and vegetables down their throat.

Australia is in a grip of obesity and body system dysfunction generated by too much of the wrong food on the one hand, and too little of the right food on the other. It is our opinion that diets high in refined, cereal-based carbohydrates and sugar (the garbohydrates) are the reason for this epidemic. Too few people seem to be aware that their level of body fat is affected by the amount of flour and sugar they take in each day. The high starch diet has replaced the high fat diet, with the same consequences.

One thing that we observed was that not many people are aware that they may be allergic or intolerant of some foods, particularly wheat flour, milk, deadly nightshades, chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, preservatives ...

Most people have a flour and sugar breakfast, attributed to the kelloggification of the Australian diet. You don't eat biscuits for lunch and dinner so why are you eating them for breakfast? The breakfast eating behaviour of Australians is dreadful. Few people have fruit. Even fewer have vegetables, or adequate protein and fat.

Few people take vitamin and mineral supplements. I believe there are good reasons to do so. If you don't believe me, I recommend you buy the book, What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Nutrition May Be Killing You, by Ray Strand, MD.

By their own recognition a small number of people said they over-ate and were ruled by their addictions to junk food.

The operation of the back end of the system was only fair – low scores being reflective of a diet that lacks sufficient fibre.

CHEMICAL INTAKE PROFILE

The chemical profile focuses principally on the mix of culturally acceptable stimulants and depressants.

•      Do you smoke?

•      How many alcoholic drinks do you have a week?

•      How much caffeine do you drink each day?

•      Do you persistently feed a sweet tooth?

•      Do you persistently feed a salt tooth?

•      How many hours a week do you spend watching TV?

•      Do you have a high intake of food additives?

•      How do you rate your reliance on headache and pain-killing tablets?

•      Are you on sleeping tablets or anti-depressants?

•      Are you on diabetes or blood pressure mediation?

	Only one smoker. A very good result.		Overall a good result. As people become fitter the need for alcohol declines.
	Pretty good.		A few addicts. Time to stop putting it in tea and coffee.
	No need to have extra salt on your food. We're getting enough out of packaged food as it is.		There is a lot of time wasted in front of the box!
	A good result.		A good result
	A good result.		Too many people are on blood pressure tablets.
Average score: 75. A fair result.

With only a few exceptions people moderate drinkers. It is usually the case that fit and healthy people don’t drink to any great degree. In fact they only have one or two drinks per week.

However, we’ve well and truly entered the junk medical age when the medical priesthood is encouraging their clients to wash down an Aspro each day with a couple of glasses of claret, all in the name of good health! The people we see who are fittest and healthiest have very low intakes of alcohol and coffee.

Depression

We did not see anyone who was on anti-depressants. This is a pleasing result, well below the community trend where more and more people are being prescribed anti-depressants.

As the population becomes less physically active, eats diets high in flour and sugar and low in omega 3 fats, selenium and B group vitamins, lacks resilience, drinks too much alcohol and caffeine, has difficulty managing the internal and external conversations going on inside their head and/or live lives devoid of meaning and purpose, we can expect rates of anxiety and depression to increase.

This epidemic will, of course increase at the same rate as the epidemic of all other body system dysfunctions. The mind is just another part of the human ecosystem - an ecosystem under threat from low levels of health, fitness and wellbeing.

There is an epidemic of 'depression' in the community, and whilst not wishing to make light of the true ‘black dog’ of clinical depression, for some people the symptoms of stress, unhappiness, sadness, grief, hopelessness, disappointment, despair, vacuity, anger and anxiety are being treated as if they were the symptoms of clinical depression.

I believe it is appropriate for the Organisation to encourage those people with an unhappiness, anxiety or depression problem to make full use of the counselling services of the EAP and encourage them to do the things that unstressed people do - like keeping themselves fit, having a lunch hour outside, taking their holidays, eating wisely, not working too many hours and ‘getting a life’. There could be a high price of achievement for those who can't keep lives in balance.

It is frequently the case that those people on anti-depressants are not doing the things that unstressed people do to keep their bodies and minds in good shape.

The best book about depression I've read, and what you can do about it, and one that I recommend highly is by psychiatrist, David Servan-Schreiber, Healing Without Freud or Prozac.

STRESS RISK PROFILE

Participants completed a simple stress and relaxation profile designed to assist them in making an assessment of how they were affected by stress. It is based on the habits of unstressed people.

If you do what unstressed people do you are less at risk of becoming stressed. I’m yet to see someone who said they were highly stressed or depressed who got a high score on this profile. A good score is over 70.

•      How would you rate your current stress level

•      Do you get a good night’s sleep?

•      Do you take your holidays?

•      Are you keeping yourself fit and healthy?

•      Is there balance in your life?

•      Do you take time off at lunch time?

•      How many hours a week do you work?

•      Are you good at giving back to your Self?

•      Do you meditate?

•      Are you happy with your family (and romantic) life?

The matter of stress always needs to be addressed by organisations as part of a personal development thrust, and aimed at all staff. If stress management type programs are to be conducted, all staff need to be involved, otherwise those at most risk and those who are currently most stressed (and too wrapped up in their own busyness) will not attend.

For those who spend long hours at work, I often wonder whether the behaviour is externally or internally driven. I suspect the latter. No body on their death bed ever said 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office.'

A few people are struggling with their family life. This is another fertile  area for personal development and counseling programs. It's hard to concentrate at work when your home life is in turmoil

SCORING GUIDELINES

Excellent, scoring 8 or more

Good, scoring 7 or more

Fair, scoring 5 or 6           

Poor, scoring less than 5

‘Pass mark’ on all parameters 7/10.   

	A fair result.		Except for those on the LHS of the graph, this is a good result. The first casualty of anxiety and low levels of fitness is sleep.
	Patchy. Paul Pearsal in his book Superimmunity' said you need a 21 day away from home holiday every year.		Not particularly good. A lot of people are not keeping themselves in good shape.
	Patchy.		A poor result. Too many people don't take time off to switch off and get outside in the fresh air. This is a reflection of poor management - personal and organisational
	This is a good result overall. No one on their death bed ever said 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office.'		Not good. People are too busy to look after and nurture their Self.
	Very few people meditate. The reasons to do so are compelling.		Family life satisfaction is good for most people.
Average score: 54. This is indeed an very average score.  People could do more to look after their Self. I recommend that people scoring less that 50 spend time with a counselor or life coach to get themselves centred and grounded on looking after their Self.

CAREER SATISFACTION PROFILE

The parameters in the profile relate to a mix of factors influences by the participant, management and their colleagues.

•      How close are you to doing the job you’d really like to be doing?

•      Are you in the right job for now?

•      Is work giving you life or sucking life out of you?

•      Are you focused on your career options?

•      Do you get good feedback from your manager?

•      Do you receive an appropriate financial reward?

•      Do you feel you and your work are valued and appreciated?

•      Do you work for an organisation that cares about people?

•      Do you enjoy the company of the people you work with?

•      What’s the level of morale like in your work group?

Normally, when results on the overall career profile are less than 70/100, people agree that they’re not in the right job. Certainly those scoring less than 60 have sufficient issues relating to career management as to seriously consider going somewhere else.

SCORING GUIDELINES

Excellent, scoring 8 or more

Good, scoring 7 or more

Fair, scoring 5 or 6           

Poor, scoring less than 5

‘Pass mark’ on all parameters 7/10. 

	This is not a particularly good result. The people scoring 0 don't know what they want to do when they grow up! My encouragement to people who scored less than 6 is to move heaven and earth to work out what it is they really want to do - and develop a plan to get there as soon as they can.		With a few exceptions this is a very good result. Good managers can find out who the people scoring less than 6/10 are and assist them to move to the job they'd really like to have.
	Patchy, but generally speaking, not bad. Work is probably about as stressed as you want it to be. Walk away. Each morning set an alarm clock for 30 minutes before you want to leave work. Make appointments for yourself that allow you to get on with your work unhindered by interruptions.		In general a mediocre result. We would have expected more people to score 7 and above.
	Of all our profile questions, this one is usually the worst answered. In this organisation there's some extra work for managers. For staff our recommendation is always to get on the front foot and manage up. A		With a few exceptions, these people are pretty satisfied with what they sell themselves for. If you're not happy, you're selling yourself short. Log onto Seek and get your suit dry cleaned!
	This is a reasonable result, but too many people scored less than 7.		Patchy.
	This is a very good score. With a few exceptions, people like working with each other.		This is only a fair morale score. It's generally the case that our morale is good when my morale is good.
Average score: 63. Compared with other groups, this is a mediocre result. If you get less than 70 there is the whisp of a suggestion you're not in the right job. Less than 60 and the smell is becoming stronger.

RECOMMENDATION

See the generic list of recommendations that cover all our profiles.