On January 27, 2020 WHO Country Office Sri Lanka (WCO-SRL) launched a Model Health Corner. The Corner is WCO-SRL’s most recent initiative in line with the settings approach to provide a healthy workplace.
Hon. Pavithra Wanniarachchi, Minister of Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Medicine, formally opened the Corner followed by a brief presentation on the purpose and rationale of the Corner. Throughout the launch, attendees were able to utilise the services of the corner, including getting their blood pressure and blood sugar tested and measuring their body mass index and percentage of body fat and muscle. Stalls at the event included a healthy cooking demonstration, customised physical activity counseling, and advice on maintaining a balanced diet. Finally, health-friendly snacks and drinks from the ‘Healthy snacks: a guide for meetings and events in Sri Lanka’ were served throughout the event.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and chronic lung disease cause over 80% of deaths in Sri Lanka. More than a quarter of Sri Lankan’s are overweight, and one in four adults consume tobacco. Addressing NCDs requires a lifestyle change, and since individuals in the workforce spend a significant amount of time in the workplace, creating a healthy workplace is vital to our well-being.
Part of WCO-SRL’s commitment to creating a healthy workplace is making facilities available for staff to self-monitor their risk factors for NCDs and providing access to information on preventing NCDs and promoting mental health. The Corner is a space that offers these services. Other measures taken by WCO-SRL include allocating time within work hours for physical activity, adequately equipping the office gymnasium, and supporting regular fitness sessions run by a local renowned fitness group. WCO-SRL promotes healthy meetings, as we tend to spend so much time in meeting rooms. The country office helped develop a video to encourage physical activity during meeting breaks and co-produced a guide to healthy and low-calorie snacks to serve at meetings. Finally, WCO-SRL has adopted a Green Office initiative that includes installing indoor plants that emit oxygen, eliminating single-use plastics in the office, and encouraging staff to reduce, re-use, and recycle.
Individuals who work in a healthy workplace are more likely to adopt a healthy lifestyle since their environment facilitates and encourages the process. Furthermore, these individuals are likely to encourage their friends, family, and community to make similar positive changes. A healthier lifestyle will reduce ones’ risk for the development of NCDs and help individuals manage pre-existing conditions.
WCO-SRL hopes this endeavor will encourage our multisectoral partners working on NCD prevention to take on the concept. The Corner is an example of how small changes to the office can have a big impact on the health and well-being of staff members. WCO-SRL is happy to offer guidance, assistance, and educational materials to any organisation that would like to transform their workplace setting. Below are some examples of ways to create a healthy office.
