January has always typically been a month of health and wellness. Millions start the New Year on a new diet and with high hopes to follow a healthier lifestyle. Unfortunately, these good intentions are often short-lived. Old habits are hard to break. However, help is at hand, and it comes in the surprising form of your employers.
With the planned roll-out of a mandatory health insurance scheme for all companies in Dubai at the start of this year, and following recent reports placing Dubai in the top 10 countries in the world for diabetes and other lifestyle diseases such as hypertension, we are seeing a prominent trend emerging in the region to incorporate health and wellness into the workplace. With the objective of promoting healthier living habits and general wellbeing of the workforce, companies are reviewing HR practises and incentives and rethinking their office fit out in Dubai.
We are seeing an increase in the use of natural light in a number of office fit outs in Dubai. This not only saves money on energy bills but is also one component of occupant health affecting productivity and both physical and mental health. The important role that natural light plays in boosting morale and wellbeing among the workforce has resulted in the incorporation of large picture windows and open terraces that enhance natural light in the office and communal areas. This can reduce the number of physical effects such as eye fatigue and headaches.
We are also seeing Green Walls (panels of plants, grown vertically using hydroponics on structures that can be either free-standing or attached to walls) in a number of office fit outs in Dubai. With countless toxins found in our indoor environment, such as formaldehyde, VOCs, trichloroethylene, carbon monoxide and benzene, to name just a few, adding office plants has long been a solution for improving indoor air quality. Green walls do just that but on a much bigger scale. Not only does this improve air quality, it also provides a visual break, which studies suggest stimulates mental alertness.
It is not just the mind and soul that is benefitting from this trend, but also the body. Companies are now actively promoting a healthier lifestyle in the workplace – from the installation of employee gyms to providing advice for employees on nutrition and diet and provision of healthier food options for staff. At Summertown, we run a monthly initiative including free to attend seminars, healthy snacks, and team events such as the recent Dubai Standard Chartered Marathon where more than 40 employees and their family members took part in the 10km and 3km to raise money for charity.
With so much help at hand to support an active lifestyle, it looks like your healthy resolution is here to stay.
