6 strategies to help employees manage their blood pressure
Take a look around your workplace. Statistically speaking, about half of the people you see are living, knowingly or unknowingly, with high blood pressure.
Also known as hypertension, high blood pressure happens when the force of blood pushing against the walls of blood vessels is too high. High blood pressure is known as a silent killer because there often aren’t obvious symptoms. And left untreated, high blood pressure can lead to serious problems such as heart attack and stroke.
The American Heart Association shares the following guidelines for blood pressure readings:
As an employer, helping your employees maintain a normal blood pressure should be a priority. Not only because you care about the health and well-being of your workers, but because high blood pressure can impact your bottom line. That’s because hypertension costs employers about $518 per employee annually.
Here are six ways employers can help prevent or control high blood pressure at the workplace.
1. Provide educational resources
Help employees understand the importance of regular blood pressure checks by sharing helpful resources from credible sources like the American Heart Association.
2. Encourage routine checkups
Most health plans cover free annual checkups, so encourage your employees to take advantage of this and get their blood pressure checked by their doctor each year.
In addition, many Washington National products include wellness benefits that can pay your employees direct cash benefits just for getting a checkup!
If an employee has high blood pressure, they can work with their doctor to determine a plan to lower their numbers through lifestyle changes or medication.
Related: Q&A: What is critical illness insurance?
3. Run onsite blood pressure screening clinics
Despite your encouragement to visit the doctor, studies show as many as one in four Americans miss routine checkups. Between work and home life, many people simply feel too busy to make it a priority—so bring routine screenings to them.
Hire a local health care provider to run an onsite biometric screening clinic at your workplace. This will give your employees easy and convenient access to important screenings.
4. Consider an at-home screening service as a benefit offering
Another way to encourage regular blood pressure checks is to offer your employees an at-home biometric screening service as one of your benefits.
Search online for available services that utilize home blood pressure monitors and blood pressure tracking apps to help employees track their blood pressure, receive insights, and get virtual care from the comfort of home.
This is an especially excellent option for employees who may struggle with whitecoat hypertension.
5. Support healthy habits
Exercising and eating right are two of the best ways to keep blood pressure in check, so help support these healthy habits through an onsite gym and healthy lunch options. If those aren’t feasible, consider providing wellness stipends or discounts for local gyms.
6. Foster a low-stress work environment
Did you know that 83% of U.S. workers say they suffer from daily work-related stress—and that stress can cause elevated blood pressure?
Take a hard look at your company culture and consider if it’s causing your employees more stress in their lives. Foster a culture of positive work-life balance that helps alleviate burnout, and provide mental health benefits that help employees get help if they need it.
Related: 5 wellness program initiatives to consider in 2024
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Contact Washington National to learn how our voluntary benefits can help support the health and wellbeing of your employees.