The mind and the body are inseparable. And you want to involve the entire staff in your workplace wellness program, right?

Most workplace wellness programmes today aren’t wellness programmes at all — they’re employee health management programs. Why am I saying this? Most workplace wellness programmes only pay attention to employees’ physical health, not their mental or emotional well-being, which is a big mistake.

As conceived by the founders of the modern wellness field (Robert Allen, Donald Ardell, Halbert Dunn, Bill Hettler, and John Travis), wellness is a multidimensional concept. The National Wellness Institute has written about a wellness model that includes the following: physical, social, emotional, intellectual, occupational, and spiritual.

Emotional well-being is associated with many health, family, work, and economic benefits. Positive emotions and an outlook on life are associated with a reduced risk of illness, disease, and injury; better immune function; better coping and faster recovery; and a longer life. In addition, mental health and mental illness can affect physical health and biological functioning. Positive mental health is associated with better endocrine function (i.e., lower levels of cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine) and a better immune response (i.e., higher production of antibodies and greater resistance to disease). It has also been shown to be associated with longevity.

Researchers continue to learn more and more about the mind-body connection. Emotions have been clearly shown to play a major role in our physical health. There is also a reciprocal relationship between many chronic illnesses and mental health. Self-efficacy, goal setting, and problem solving enable self-management behavior, and these components depend on emotional health. On the other hand, self-management behaviours that improve health, such as physical activity and stress reduction, can improve mental health status and quality of life. In many ways, it makes no sense to address physical health without simultaneously addressing emotional health.

The absence of mental illness does not imply the presence of mental health. Growing research supports the view that these are independent but related dimensions. Mental well-being is characterised by the presence of positive affect (e.g., optimism, cheerfulness, and interest), the absence of negative affect, and life satisfaction. On the other hand, mental illness is characterised by changes in thinking, mood, or behaviour associated with anxiety or impaired functioning. Why not

tackle mental wellbeing in the workplace?

The health of the body and mind cannot be separated. What affects one also affects the other. A healthy mind supports and thus contributes to a healthy body and vice versa.

Mental illness costs employers money, and mental health can affect employee productivity and performance. Like physical health, mental health can be viewed as a continuum. On the one hand, there is mental health and mental illness on the other.

Mental health generally refers to the successful performance of mental functions, resulting in productive activities, satisfying relationships, and the ability to adapt to change and adversity. These domains are commonly referred to as “wellness.”

Mental illnesses include illnesses with classic psychiatric diagnoses such as depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Mental health and mental illness can be affected by many factors, including genetics and biology and how they work together with social and environmental factors.

Employers approach employee health through a multi-strategic framework. A multi-strategy framework can also be applied to an employer’s approach to mental health. An integrated approach includes promotion, prevention, intervention, and follow-up. I think it’s important to know that mental health should be just as important as the prevention and treatment of mental illness.

In today’s workplace wellness programs, more than just physical health needs to be taken into account.

Addressing the total wellbeing of employees

Employee mental health is a critical part of successful workplace wellness programs. I invite you to let me help you create your own effective, successful, and sustainable program. I specialise in mentoring workplace programme coordinators and creating “Done With You” employee health and wellness programmes in the workplace. 

Brought to you by Bill McPeck, Your Worksite Wellness Mentor. committed to helping employers and workplace programme coordinators create successful, sustainable employee health and wellness programs, especially in small employer environments.