The costly health problem wellness doesn’t address

Most wellness programs are centered around combating costly health conditions like obesity. But the majority of these programs fail to factor in a common problem that can have a disastrous effect on employees’ overall health — and your bottom line.

That common health problem: Sleep quality.

76% have issues

In fact, around 30% of employees reported being unhappy or very unhappy with the quality or quantity of their sleep, according to a recent study by the Virgin Pulse Institute.

Plus, the study found that 76% of workers said they felt tired most days of the week, 40% doze off during the day at least once per month and 15% admit they doze off during the day at least once per week.

On top of the obvious problems a lack of sleep can cause (e.g., productivity/quality of work issues), there are more serious health problems associated with this issue, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes and diabetes.

HR pros can address this issue by talking to their broker and/or wellness vendor about the types of resources available to combat sleep problems.

Available resources

Some examples: information on healthy sleeping habits, guides on getting more restful sleep, online programs geared toward improving sleep habits or sleep-tracking tools.

In addition, flexible scheduling policies can help employees develop better sleep schedules.

The employees who participated in the Virgin Institute study took the following steps to bolster their healthy sleep habits:

• modifying their sleep environments
• altering their exercise routines
• changing eating and drinking habits, and
• working on their thought activity when they found themselves awake in the middle of the night.