Caring For the Whole Employee

Our whole health matters.

Without each piece in place, we can’t be our best selves. Our health is influenced and affected by all components of our lives—where we live, learn, work and play.

Those factors—the social determinants of health—affect a wide range of health and quality-of-life risks and outcomes. They include things like safe housing and local food markets, education and job training, public safety and access to technology.

As we navigate a pandemic, these disparities and social inequities in health care are even more apparent as certain groups become disproportionately affected. For example, homeless families may be at a higher risk of contracting COVID-19 because of crowded living spaces and scarce access to testing, while the elderly and those with heart disease or high blood pressure are more likely to develop more severe symptoms.

With that in mind, Delta Dental of Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana and the American Heart Association have created a guide to help employees perform at their best. The Whole Health Matters Digital HR Playbook is a free online resource that features fresh content every month focused on a particular whole health topic, from health inequities in communities of color to hypertension to oral health diseases.

The Whole Health Matters playbook provides science-backed studies and resources to encourage employees to learn about their whole health, with an emphasis on emotional and mental health as stress increases among workforces. Changes in income, remote schooling and housing additional family members under one roof can all compound stress and lead to fearfulness, worry, loss of sleep and poor health outcomes.

“The collaboration between the American Heart Association and Delta Dental is a great resource for our community and needed now more than ever,” said Laura Vaughn, Metro Detroit executive director of the American Heart Association. “Both organizations are committed to the whole health of our community, which includes connecting mental health to heart health. We are excited about the work that will be done together.”

Bringing these resources to employees opens the door to conversations about health topics that may have been previously seen as taboo or not appropriate in the workplace. But if the past year has taught us anything, it’s that with a healthier workforce comes happier employees, improved morale and increased productivity leading to lower health care costs.

With the Whole Health Matters playbook, companies can protect their most important asset—their employees.

View the playbook at heart.org/en/delta-dental.