National Women's Health Week serves as a reminder to prioritize women's wellness as a major component of overall employee health. The workplace presents an opportunity to do just that, as over 46% of the workforce is female. Here, we discuss key ways to boost women's health at work - and how empowering women really means empowering all.
1. Personalization
To move the needle on women's health, organizations need to provide employee wellness programs with content that is relevant, such as stress management, self-care, group or team challenges, information on topics that are personally meaningful, and more. Ideally, this content is informed by health risk assessment data to create an opportunity for women to connect, participate, and benefit.
Using health data to inform programming that is geared toward specific needs boosts engagement and makes programming more effective by creating relevancy. A thoughtfully constructed wellness plan can help female employees create healthy habits to avoid burnout and facilitate success in their professional roles.
2. Flexible Work Arrangements
Offering policies such as flexible work hours and hybrid or remote work allow women, who take on the majority of domestic responsibilities, to fulfill both their work responsibilities and those related to their personal lives. After all, more than 75% of caregivers (for children, aging relatives, etc.) are female. Offering flexible work arrangements may simply be the right thing to do, and in many cases, it makes business sense too: ambitious female workers are looking for a flexible work structure, and will quit if their needs aren’t met in an appropriate and sustainable way.
Responsibilities for loved ones at home remain a top priority for many employees outside of working hours. Workers with others depending on them, whether they be children, spouse, aging parents, multigenerational households and others they take care of may not have time for a well-being program that takes them away from their home responsibilities. Wellness challenges and content must integrate into their lives and work, and support them as they focus on their top priorities.
3. Variety and Options
Full employee health program access for remote and hybrid workers is essential to ensure that those who may not physically be in the office are also included. When it comes to reaching remote, hybrid, and flex-time workers, the key is fully digital programming. When all aspects of a wellness platform are available online, fully remote and hybrid employees can participate. Offering a complete range of options including mental health, social support, and physical health needs, helps boost whole-workforce health.
4. Workplace Culture
It’s now common knowledge that workplace wellness programs promote healthier, happier employees. But often a major approach to this type of workplace culture is overlooked: programs and policies that support women's health and their unique needs. This type of inclusive programming can help in many of the same areas related to overall wellness. In fact, a holistic approach to improving population health and well-being, such as in comprehensive workplace wellness programs, can be an effective avenue for implementing women's health programming.
Conclusion
Employers are in a position to make a lasting impact on women's health. Personalized, data-driven employee wellness programs are an effective avenue to support women at work, and therefore improve the culture and well-being of entire organizations. Options like mental health support, self-care, stress management, physical activity, and more can move the needle on women's health and well-being.
About CoreHealth Technologies
CoreHealth by Carebook is a total well-being company trusted by global companies to power their health and wellness programs. Our wellness portals help maximize health, engagement, and productivity for over 3.5 million employees worldwide. We believe people are the driving force of organizations and supporting them to make behavior changes to improve employee health is in everyone’s best interest. With the most flexibility, customizations, and integrations of any software in its class, CoreHealth’s all-in-one wellness platform helps achieve great wellness outcomes.
From simple to sophisticated, it's up to you. For more information, visit the CoreHealth website.
