Dementia Study Says Don’t Rule Out 10,000 Steps/Day
2-minute read The 10,000 steps/day physical activity mantra has been called into question in recent years. A landmark study, however, links 10,000 steps/day to a sharply lower dementia risk. And it suggests that walking speed may be at least as important as daily step count. This gives well-being leaders yet another good reason to promote walking programs. […]
Brain Health: From Waning to Gaining
4-minute read Young adults assume brain health isn’t relevant to them; older folks are convinced it’s too late to do anything about it. Neither is correct. Both beliefs are rooted in a misconception: equating brain health with prevention of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, or other kinds of impaired thinking, learning, and memory known as cognitive decline. […]
Financial Well-Being: Not Fun and Games (Except When It Is)
2-minute read What can well-being program leaders do to help employees stave off financial stress? A lot, as it turns out. When HES set out to create a gamified financial well-being challenge, it embraced a unique vision: Leverage fun to empower and educate participants Emphasize knowledge and personal development Avoid common, manipulative techniques like scaring […]
What You Need to Know Before You Hire Your Next Wellness Vendor
3-minute read Hiring a service provider is every bit as important — maybe more so — than hiring a new employee. Yet we often run into potential clients who have had a bad experience with another vendor and so are naturally skeptical that we can or will do what we say we can do — […]
Top 10 Must-Reads for Well-Being Pros: 2022 Edition
4-minute read This year’s selections share common themes of hope, growth, and possibility. We hope you’ll find something that sparks curiosity as well as ideas. Happy reading! All We Can Save — Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis (2020). We unravel as one or we regenerate as one. Editors Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and […]
The Why of Wellness
6-minute read There’s a lot of talk lately about discovering your why, which I guess is similar to your purpose. For wellness professionals, this quest may prompt another: What’s the why of employee well-being? Time was, wellness programs were advocated with the promise of squashing healthcare costs. Then we heard they’d reduce absenteeism. And presenteeism. […]
Green Exercise Elevates Mental Health
5-minute read Leprechauns and rainbows may spark the imagination, but nature’s beauty captivates the senses. Simply enjoying greenery and scenery — from shamrocks to lush pine forests and sparkling blue lakes — is renewing and refreshing, but the rewards go much deeper. Being in natural environments — taking in the sights, sounds, smells, and sensations […]
Top 10 Podcasts Not Just for Well-Being Pros — 2021 Edition
2-minute read We typically recommend health and wellness titles; this year has been anything but ordinary, so we’re doing something different here, too. These podcasts invite you — and those you serve — to take a break from the news… glimpse other aspects of life, feel more connected, and find inspiration: Duolingo. Tickle your brain […]
Workplace Wellness in a Post-COVID World
3-minute read In a normal year we would post our workplace well-being predictions for the new year about now… drawing on interactions with hundreds of clients and thousands of participants. But the last 9 months have been like no other 3 quarters in the last century, and the next 9 don’t appear any more predictable. […]
A Vote for Climate and Health
2-minute read Before COVID-19 swept the world, few Americans had heard about the 1918 pandemic (aka Spanish Flu). 100 years from now our grandchildren’s children will similarly view the current pandemic as a footnote in history. Of exponentially greater significance is the climate crisis; there will be no vaccine for a world on fire. And […]