Supportive Work Environment
Employers are in a unique position to create workplaces that promote health and wellness. The Supportive Work Environment section offers practical suggestions on creating workplaces that address wellness and nutrition, and help employees manage their diabetes. Such efforts can help employees reduce and even avoid the risk for serious complications, such as amputations and blindness.
Focus Area
- Wellness: More employers than ever are taking an interest in helping their employees stay healthy. Employee health and wellness programs can reduce health care costs and absenteeism while improving employee morale. Some employers, such as Alkar-RapidPak & Sani-Matic, have introduced strategies that benefit their entire employee population.
- Nutrition: Many employees consume a significant amount of food while at work. Food from employer-sponsored cafeterias, vending machines, and meetings typically are not as nutritious or healthy as items employees prepare at home. Poor nutrition is an underlying factor to many conditions, including heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. Making healthy food available at work is a significant way for employers to promote and encourage good health.
- Environment: There are many ways that employers can help employees who have diabetes—or who are at risk for the disease—from providing a private area for individuals to test blood sugar levels or take insulin, a place to rest if blood sugar levels become abnormal, and regular breaks to eat or drink, take medication or test blood sugar levels. Creating an environment that supports self-management of diabetes can help improve productivity, decrease absenteeism, and promote healthier lifestyles.