CAM program reduces employees’ stress risk
Annual savings estimated at nearly $95,000
Involvement with CAM (complementary and alternative medicine) is not just something occupational health professionals should be aware of because many employees are using alternative therapies. It also offers real-world strategies that can improve the health of their overall employee populations.
This has been dramatically demonstrated in a four-year program at Quaker Foods and Beverages in Chicago. Its Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR) has achieved a reduction in "at risk for stress" among repeat health risk appraisal (HRA) participants from 61% to 56%. At the same time, the health & wellness staff estimates annual savings of $94,900.
Among the other results of the program:
• The mean number of physical complaints was 16.13 before the program, and 8.92 after the program;
• Percentile scores for depression dropped from 76 pre-program to 46 post-program, and for anxiety from 66 pre-program to 38 post-program;
• The Quality of Life Index scores were 22.6 post-program, compared with 20.1 pre-program.
A clear need
"We had done a lot of traditional stress reduction programs in the past," observes Joan Cantwell, RN, MA, COHN-S, manager of health & wellness for Quaker Foods and Beverages. "But we were looking for something where employees could actually build a skill in stress management."
The need was clear: Quaker’s own stress-related statistics showed $1,064,700 in annual avoidable direct health care costs and $1,504,000 in annual avoidable indirect costs, for a total of $2,568,700 in avoidable costs. The answer came from Cantwell’s own personal experience. "I took a program in the community because I wanted to learn yoga," she recalls. In fact, she got more than she bargained for.
The person who offered the program, Chris Coniak, MD, had trained at the University of Massachusetts with Jon Kabat-Zinn, author of Full Catastrophe Living. "He had had tremendous success with people with pain," Cantwell says. "His research found that it helped participants not only with chronic problems, but also for general well-being and wellness. They showed decreased hospital days."
Cantwell enjoyed the program so much she worked with Croniak to adapt the program to the Quaker Oats worksite. The program consists of eight weekly one-hour classes. What is referred to as the "formal practice" involves breath and body awareness exercises, sitting and walking meditation, and yoga. Participants learn to meditate and learn moment-to moment, nonjudgmental awareness. There is also some gentle walking. Then they are given homework, which includes reading a copy of Full Catastrophe Living, as well as a number of assignments. "You practice the skills you have learned at home for 40-45 minutes," says Cantwell. There are audiocassettes that lead participants through meditation, breathing, and yoga exercises.
Mindfulness, in addition to the moment-to-moment nonjudgmental awareness, consists of getting off autopilot — the kind of state we are in when we drive a car for 10 or 20 minutes, arrive at our destination and don’t really know how we got there. It involves staying present to your own experience, rather than prejudging, suppressing, or distorting it. In addition, mindfulness entails choiceless awareness and a quality of attention, focus, and awareness that can be cultivated through meditation, yoga and body awareness exercises.
Through these exercises, a set of skills is developed. They include:
- concentration;
- energy;
- focus;
- nonreactivity in the midst of change (i.e., steadiness).
These skills in turn enable the worker to function more effectively in times of stress. "Say you’re in a meeting or facing a stressful deadline," Cantwell explains. "Instead of worrying, you focus on what’s in the present moment, which breaks the stress cycle, and you just do what you need to do. It can affect your presentations, how you interact with people, and by extension, even your lifestyle like becoming more aware of your eating habits."
This is what is referred to as "informal practice," or applying the learned skills to daily activities, events, communications, interactions, diet, and other lifestyle behaviors. "Informal practice is the skill that comes out of the program," says Cantwell. "You use it almost intuitively to break the stress cycle."
Through the formal practice you develop skills of being able to focus, to live in the present moment, to reduce stress, and to become much more aware of your surroundings. "By extension, that affects productivity and safety," says Cantwell. "In a manufacturing plant, for example, you will be more focused and productive in the worksite."
Not as simple as it sounds
It sounds simple, really: a few breathing exercises, some yoga, and voila, goodbye stress. But it’s really anything but simple, Cantwell insists. "First, it requires a lot of commitment," she says. "This includes the [HRA] baseline screening and then the follow-ups." In addition, the graduate groups continue to meet monthly. What’s more, she says, "We’re asking people to do something that’s almost counter-intuitive. We’re asking them to be still, to slow down, in a world that’s asking just the opposite — to go faster and faster."
It may also be counter-intuitive because it is derived from the Eastern mind-body-spirit model, she suggests. "But once they do it, they’re more in touch with their lives," Cantwell notes. "Often people [in our society] use numbing behaviors like workaholism or alcoholism. Mindfulness asks you to relate differently to the stress in your life. For the majority of us, it can be scary and uncomfortable."
Over time, however, it’s like any other exercise. "Once you build the skills, you start to automatically relate differently to stress," she concludes.
[For more information, contact: Joan Cantwell, RN, MA, COHN-S, Manager, Health & Wellness, Quaker Foods and Beverages, Chicago, IL. Telephone: (312) 222-8548.]
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