PATIENT SAFETY
executive health. 37% of adults in the UK say they don’t get enough sleep, with over half (51%) of UK adults regularly sleeping for six hours or less. In its most extreme form, a lack of sleep can manifest itself in short-term or even chronic insomnia. Those suffering from the condition may experience lower energy levels and mood, weight gain, ill-health, impaired work performance and a lower overall quality of life.
Developing healthy sleep habits is crucial to counteracting the potentially harmful effects of executive stress. The use of mobile devices, watching television, drinking caffeinated tea and alcohol are all common ways for today’s business leaders to unwind, yet Dr Fleming identifies these activities as destructive for getting a good night’s sleep. Further aggravating the situation is the hectic pace of life lived by today’s executives, leaving them little time to recognise the warning signs of ill-health. Sleep is one such indicator of overall well-being, of which business leaders must become more aware.
Through recognising the value of sleep, executives can be encouraged to make the necessary changes to prevent the decline of cardiovascular health, mental wellbeing and quality of life.
There is a strong focus on the negative health effects of workplace stress as well. Research has revealed that 12.5 million working days were lost last year due to stress related reasons, accompanied by warnings that working a 10-hour day once a week increases the risk of stroke by a third.1
Protecting employees from the real risks of burn-out
As of next year, burnout will be an officially recognised medical condition by the WHO, underscoring the gravity of this exclusively work-induced syndrome. Dr Fleming pinpoints excessive workloads, inefficient work processes, high clerical burdens, lack of input over schedule and emotionally intense work as the root causes of this condition. Working from these executive- specific indicators enables us to understand the scale of detriment inflicted by workplace stress on overall health. The WHO announcement makes it clear that burnout is something that workers and employees alike should be taking very seriously.
While employers need to take responsibility in helping their employees prevent burnout, employees need to be more aware of the symptoms and take steps to prevent it from coming on. Symptoms of burn-out syndrome include persistent fatigue, emotional exhaustion, reduced engagement, a sense of reduced accomplishment, and depersonalisation, which could mean becoming callous or even treating co-workers as objects rather than fellow humans.
An increasing number of European countries, including Denmark, France,
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Latvia, Portugal and Sweden already have systems in place to compensate those who experience burn-out syndrome. However, most European countries, including the UK, have no such systems. In addition, while monetary compensation acknowledges burn- out as a legitimate cause for concern, it fails to prevent burn-out from happening by tackling the root causes of the syndrome. While it’s clear that these symptoms can negatively impact an individual’s health, burn-out should warrant serious concern from senior management given the risk of losing hard-working employees, either temporarily or permanently, or seeing a significant reduction in employees’ output. The WHO states that burn-out results “from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” Successful management of workplace stress should, therefore, become a priority in fast-paced work environments, where the risks for burn-out are higher than usual. CSJ
Reference
1
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/work- stroke-week-stress-hours-french-office-heart-
health-a8967116.html
About the Doctors
Dr Robert Orford, M.D., Director of the Executive Health Program at Mayo Clinic
Dr Kevin Fleming, Executive Health Program consultant at Mayo Clinic and expert in stress-related conditions
Dr Sihame Benmira, BSc MBBS MBA, specialist in workforce transformation and emergency medicine
Dr Sandeep Kapur, BSc MBBS MACP MRCGP, general practitioner holding over 15 years of experience in primary care
Register now at
www.completingthepicture.com
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