Tag Archives: employee wellness programs

Cancer Awareness: ROI in Lives and Dollars

employee performance, well-being, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Cancer Awareness – Measuring ROI in Lives and Dollars

February is National Cancer Awareness Month.  Newly released data from the American Cancer Society,  for 2016,  reports:

  • 1,685,210 new cancer diagnoses
  • 595,690 cancer deaths

According to the CDC, 75% of chronic illness can be adjusted with lifestyle – however, where this fall shorts is a completely incomplete explanation of lifestyle. We all know certain basics – Don’t smoke, eat right & exercise. That’s great – but even if we are following that advice, it falls painfully short – and we are all left wondering …why do we still get sick.

According to 2014 research from IBI, Integrated Benefit Institute, a leading workforce health and productivity research and measurement organization, cancer costs businesses $19,000/100 employees per year.

Cancer Costs:

  • In lost work time & treatment: $19,000/100 employees/year
  • Lost work time and presenteeism  $10,000/ 100 workers
  • Medical and pharmacy treatments  $9,100
  •  Absent 3.8 more days per year
  •   Lose the equivalent of 1.8 more days per year to presenteeism.
  • At any given time, about 1/4 of employees with a history of cancer are in treatment.
  • Employees with cancer have an average of approximately four other conditions that complicate care management strategies

Impact on productivity, co-morbid conditions:

  • depression (16% of employees with cancer)
  • chronic fatigue (22%)
  • obesity (19%)
  • anxiety (14%)
  • chronic back or neck pain (23%)
  • high cholesterol (30%)
  • and hypertension (24%).

“Cancers present complex challenges for the workplace. At a basic, human level, a cancer diagnosis is a frightening, sometimes emotionally devastating, event. It is natural that co-workers and supervisors will want to provide support to a friend and colleague when told he or she has cancer. At the same time, balancing privacy and workplace accommodation is a critical, but sensitive, issue. Many employees with cancer will frequently feel too sick to work, while others report that remaining on the job keeps them ‘connected’ and provides a sense of routine as they undergo treatment,”

(Past)  IBI President Tom Parry, PhD.

At the root of all of our chronic illnesses is the reality of oxidative stress, and a resulting condition of chronic inflammation. Nurturing our cell-being – sadly, is not incorporated into employee wellness programs, except at Best In Corporate Health, aka, Cell-Being.com.

Cancer awareness Shira Litwack, corporate health provider, on Voice America Oxidative Stress
Oxidative Stress – The Root Cause of Chronic Illness

Oxidative Stress: The imbalance between the production of free radicals in the body and the ability of the body to neutralize / detoxify their harmful effects with antioxidants. Some chemistry geek – Free Radicals: A molecule that has a single unpaired electron in an outer shell ….Reactive Oxygen Species. Our redox state, the balance in our body between free radicals and antioxidants, determines the status of our inner biology, our cell-being. Uncontrolled oxidative stress can lead to inflammation – which a certain amount is necessary – however chronic inflammation has been proven to be at the root of all of our chronic illnesses….cancer, diabetes, heart disease, depression, Alzheimers, macular degeneration, respiratory, our ability to focus, mood disturbances, autoimmune disease……….

Cancer awareness is all health awareness. Building cancer awareness into our employee wellness programs will provide a brilliant ROI, measured in both dollars, and lives.

Author…..Living a Life to Prevent Cancer is the Healthiest Lifestyle of all…..

Shira Litwack….Measuring & Maximizing Employee Cell-Being

Cancer awareness cancer in the workplace - Shira Litwack on Breast Friends Voice America
Shira talking with Becky & Sharon on Breast Friends, Voice America on Oxidative Stress and inflammation

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shira Litwack, Corporate Program Designer
Shira Litwack, medical fitness professional, Cancer Exercise Specialist , Medical Exercise Specialist, Holistic Nutritionist, Corporate Health Provider

Chief Health Enthusiast – Best In Corporate Health

Employee Wellness Toronto, Ontario – But offered worldwide!

  • Shira is regularly consulted by Naturopaths, oncologists, health coaches on cancer exercise and exercise adherence.
  • Has assembled over 20 health and fitness professionals with varying specialties to bring to corporate wellness programs
  • Platforms include: Speaking, One-one/group health coaching, Retreats, Course development for in house delivery, Metrics to measure success available, Partners always included
  • Now offering live interactive webinars, just as if each participant has a personal health coach – making corporate wellness programs affordable to all.
  • Shira has been interviewed & published in hundreds of resources over the last 12 years:

Articles featured in: ezines, ArticlesInk, European Registry of Exercise Professionals, The National Post, Investment Executive Magazine, Directory of Greater Toronto, Canadian Leukemia & Lymphoma Association, Prostate Cancer Canada, Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Anytime Fitness, Today’s Black Woman, Today’s Seniors, Medical Fitness Network, FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered), Willow (Breast & Hereditary Cancer Support),Myeloma Canada, Cancer Exercise Training Institute, Urban Poling for Breast Cancer, ROW – Recovery on Water for Breast Cancer, Sirius XM Doctor Radio

Gut Health – Our Second Brain

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Gut Health – Nourishing our Second Brain Our Belly Brain

Gut Health? Really conjures up some not so corporate images.

Gut Instincts? That’s Your Belly Brain Calling You!

The gastrointestinal system is probably the most taken advantage of and under appreciated part of the body.  It merits respect – it is the 2nd brain, and Hippocrates said “all disease begins in the gut”.

The digestive tract is the ultimate mirror of  lifestyle habits – our personal sewage system. Not a very glamorous topic, but the truth is it holds the answer to  many of our undiscovered medical ailments.

Gut Health for optimizing health in all Best In Corporate Health ProgramsOur belly brain – more scientifically respected as the enteric nervous system is the reason why we get emotionally “sick to our stomach” or have a “gut feel” or “gut instinct”. Serotonin, is our “happy hormone” (key to our focus as well), and thanks to the incredible research of Dr. Michael Gershon, we now know 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the stomach, not the brain as assumed. The enteric nervous system can send and receive impulses & secretes neurotransmitters just like our central nervous system. Our belly brain needs care, but more often gets abuse.  It needs great nutrition – especially loads of fiber, micro and macro nutrients to strengthen. -And exercise, to promote peristalsis – the passage of all we have ingested through the digestive tract, keeping proper blood flow and nutrient supply, digestion and absorption. When our GI tract is not optimized, nor are we. It means we are not absorbing the nutrition from our food properly & just passing out the internal sewage to the external sewage system. ….yeah you get it. We can have numerous unexplained symptoms and we just can’t seem to find the cause…..the answer is probably lurking in the stomach, somewhere through to the intricate coils of the colon.

Still skeptical about the belly brain? Gastric bypass surgery, where a large percentage of

Gut Health optimized as prescribed by Hippocrates in all Best In Corporate Health Programs
Gut Health optimized as prescribed by Hippocrates in all Best In Corporate Health Programs

the stomach is removed for weight loss purposes. There, unfortunately, is a very common side effect of these surgeries of psychiatric issues – from depression, alcoholism – because of the loss of production of serotonin. It is commonly accepted people after gastric bypass surgery need careful vitamin supplementation, not just with any vitamins – with those that have a very high bioavailability – the body is now seriously compromised for absorption. Included in this is the amino acid tryptophan – which is key to serotonin production. The stomach is not just the garbage bin at the bottom of the chute – it is a vital organ, to every organ system, not just digestion.

In our world of poor food choices, lack of physical activity, GMOs, toxins and bacteria entering our compromised guts – popping antacids recklessly destroying our precious HCl, constant stress released hormones, no wonder disease is rampant.

Optimizing gut health must be a central part to a corporate health program. Our gut health is our physiological and psychological well-being.

I feel compelled to mention some great sources of fiber – that are also nutritionally gifted: celery, oatmeal, brown rice, avocados, raspberries, beans, onions….. and please be acutely aware of those fiber impostors. Many breakfast cereals claim to be “good sources of fiber” when they are not. If a cereal does not have a minimum of 5g of fiber – Yes, drink water – in between meals is best. Too much water with meals dilutes those precious digestive enzymes, HCl that are critical to digestion & absorption.

Colon cancer is our #2 killer cancer & the most preventable form of cancer. IBS, Leaky Gut are rampant, and unfortunately the majority of medical doctors are lacking in the many lifestyle, naturopathic methods of dealing with these common issues. It is thought that 80% of the population have some form of leaky gut.

Health coaching, corporate coaching, Optimizing digestive health, building our belly brain – goes hand in hand with our cell-being.

Cell-Being   Well-Being   Corporate Being, Employee wellness programs based on your group – Your company is the template!

I had the pleasure of Interviewing Dr. Gershon back in 2011 – please listen, learn enjoy!

Our corporate wellness programs: email Shira@BestinCorporateHealth.com to enrich your people’s lives with health, wellness, happiness, prosperity and Joie de vivre!