Regular exercise does in fact reduce people’s mental-health burden, according to a study published in The Lancet Psychiatry. The study examined the relationship between exercise and mental health to better understand the influence of exercise type, frequency, duration and intensity on people’s mental-health outcomes. It collected data from 1,237,194 Americans aged 18 years or older […]
Manulife Financial Corp. is rolling out its Vitality health and wellness app to all its group benefits plan members after initially launching it with its own employees. The Vitality program, which connects with wearable devices, including smartwatches, fitness bracelets and smartphones, is designed to encourage users to make healthy choices and rewards them with gift […]
No matter the size of a business, nothing affects the bottom line more than declining employee productivity. Employees can be the best and brightest parts of an organization, but if they’re sitting sedentary at their desk for eight hours a day with no stimulation, even the sharpest minds become sluggish and productivity plummets. Left unchecked, this can decline into a […]
Lululemon Athletica Inc.’s benefits program manager discusses engaging young employees with retirement savings, yoga benefits and riding his motorcycle to Whistler. Q. What top challenges do you face in your role? A. I look after our retirement savings program, so the challenge we have is based on our demographics. All of our retail employees are fairly […]
A new year typically brings a renewed focus on health and wellness both at the personal level, via goals or resolutions, and at the corporate level through benefits and wellness programming. Here are five fitness and health trends to watch for 2019. 1. Faster, focused workouts The No. 1 excuse for not working out continues to be lack […]
Starting in 2019, Etsy Inc. employees will be allowed to trade in up to 14 weeks of parental leave for a cash payment to help with childcare or other family-friendly support as they return to the workplace. The e-commerce company is also introducing access to back-up childcare services, extending paid family leave to all global staff and is providing the option […]
Manulife Financial Corp. is making its Vitality health and wellness platform available to Canadian group benefits plan members next year. The platform, which connects with wearable devices such as smartwatches and fitness bracelets, is designed to help users make healthy choices and then rewards them with discounts and gift cards for doing so. “We believe this program will help […]
Workplace wellness programs that encourage employees to take charge of their own weight may have a detrimental effect on those with obesity, according to research published in the academic journal Frontiers in Psychology. The study, by researchers at the Netherlands’ University of Groningen and Britain’s Leeds Beckett University, found these types of programs can potentially result in increased […]
More than a quarter (26 per cent) of Canadians say the financial cost of exercise can be prohibitive or necessitates compromising their budget, according to a new survey by the Desjardins Group. The survey, which polled about 3,000 Canadians between the ages of 18 and 75, found 24 per cent of respondents rate their physical […]
Getting his daily exercise in at his workplace’s fitness centre did more than help Citigroup Inc. employee Jag Singh shrink his waist by a full pant size. It also helped bring a sense of clarity and freshness to his workday. “That’s really what’s changed for me,” said Singh, who works as a senior application programmer […]