Written by The coronavirus pandemic has affected our lives in so many ways. For most employees this lockdown has been a time of inactivity, insomnia, back pain and alcohol consumption. Poor sleep and increased fatigue, long and irregular hours has led to a significant increase in musculoskeletal complaints. People are hunching over their laptops in repurposed bedrooms, this mass shift to working from home is causing a lot of people experience neck, shoulder or back pain.
Employers recognize their role in the wellbeing of their staff, even when working from home. Here are a number of steps they can take to improve employee wellbeing.
Provide guidance
Employers can provide guidance to the employees to help them set up their home ‘office’ in a safe and ergonomic way and that employees are mobile and take exercise.
Support for online workouts
Current choices of online workouts have never been this diverse, motivational and quite often free. However not all videos are created equal. Some are purely videos to watch and follow, others are apps that provide more interaction and features. A playlist of these videos can be created and shared with employees.
Telehealth support
There are clearly employees who continue to need orthopedic care during this pandemic and it is important that they are provided the right physical and emotional support at this painful, difficult time. Such employees can be provided telehealth based physical therapy and mental health support when possible.
We know that the ramp up back to “normal” will be slow, gradual, and deliberate and we are committed to continue to care for our clients and members while focusing on the safety of our staff.