Powering healthier
workplaces through prevention

Most disease is preventable — yet the focus is often on innovative therapies for chronic, or end-of-life illness, rather than the clinically proven lifestyle interventions which could head off these conditions.

The World Health Organisation estimates that non-communicable diseases — the vast majority of which are preventable chronic illnesses^{1, 2} such as cardiovascular disease, chronic lung disease, cancers and diabetes — account for 71% of deaths globally.³

In the United Kingdom, the figure is 89% and cardiovascular disease alone is responsible for 25% of deaths - a potentially worrying signal for what may lay ahead.⁴

“All sorts of psychological and emotional drivers influence our health and lifestyle choices. External factors such as education, social networks, where we live, where we work, and when we work also have a huge impact.”

Shift work, for example, is associated with an increased risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease,⁵ and studies show shift-workers are more likely to snack or make poor food choices.⁶

“This could also be a reflection of the choices available from workplace canteens and vending machines,” says Petra. “And this highlights the important role employers can play in reducing the burden of preventable disease.”

“There are dozens of links and connections, so positive change in one area will deliver benefits in others — and this snowball effect can build to a significant reduction in our risk of preventable disease,” Petra says.

“The key is to shift health systems away from treating illness, towards strategies which prevent problems and picking them up as quickly as possible when they arise. Central to this is empowering people to take more control of their health — and we can already see this happening.”

One in three adults in the UK now owns a smart watch or tracker¹³ and research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine confirms they do promote physical activity. ¹⁴ With US research showing that Gen Z and Millennials (born after 1982) are the most likely to report behavioural change, this trend is likely to continue.¹⁵