Why diversity matters in personalisation and health
The risks of stereotyping
For example, even though prostate cancer is twice as likely to kill black men as white men, with one in four black men at risk of developing the disease during their lives, according to Prostate Cancer UK, most organisations are still distributing generic warnings about prostate cancer, populated by images of older white males.
By not including advice and images specifically tailored to all the groups at risk, this sort of literature fails to engage with an audience it really needs to educate and misses an opportunity to make everyone feel like their health is equally valued.
Similarly, education around heart attacks typically describes the symptoms as including a dramatic tightness of the chest, with pain radiating down the arm and shortness of breath, even though when a woman experiences a heart attack, her symptoms may be more subtle. As a result, many women fail to recognise the symptoms when they first suffer a heart attack, with the undiagnosed heart attack being dubbed a ‘silent’ heart attack later on. In reality, it wasn’t silent, or any less detrimental. It was just experienced in a very different way that would have been much less likely to be missed if more inclusive educational materials had been written to be relevant and appealing to both genders.
These are not one-off examples: people of South East Asian origin have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, people of Irish descent are at increased risk of developing dangerously high iron levels (Haemochromatosis) and black women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, found analysis by Cancer Research UK and Public Health England .
Add to that different ways in which people from different age groups and genders want to access wellbeing materials, and the new health needs being presented by the LBGTQ+ community, such as the extent to which employers should help to pay for transgender operations, or fertility treatment, and there are numerous practical reasons for encouraging employers to think about how best to manage the health of an increasingly diverse workforce.
Boosting diversity
In addition to preventing costly and debilitating health issues, inclusive wellbeing strategies also have a significant role to play in boosting diversity, by making individuals feel more included, understood and accepted.
This is important because without the right support in place, many people are at risk of leaving the workplace altogether. A report by the Government Equalities Office, the effects of menopause transition on women’s economic participation in the UK (2017), highlights the extent to which women affected by the menopause feel at risk of ridicule and gendered ageism, causing one in four menopausal women to consider quitting work because of their experiences.
This makes health a new frontier in diversity and inclusion at work.
One in four people are struggling with mental health issues, yet research shows that employees experiencing poor mental health issues feel more stigmatised by this than almost anything else. Those surveyed said they felt more comfortable talking about seven other diversity indicators, including their race, age, physical health and religious belief. Just one in 10 (11 per cent) of the people surveyed said they felt able to disclose a mental health issue to his or her line manager, found the Mental Health at Work (2017) report.
Offering personalised wellbeing in a diverse workforce
Only by supporting the wellbeing of all individuals can we hope to create a truly inclusive culture that supports and sustains the health of a diverse workforce.
Employers who are serious about their diversity and inclusion credentials must therefore take a step back from offering broad wellbeing strategies, and start considering how they can use a personalised approach to wellbeing to create a culture that engages everyone to thrive.
In an ideal world, all wellbeing materials and initiatives would be completely personalised, effectively talking to an audience of one, with a package of support that was so compelling and individually relevant that he or she wouldn’t be able to ignore it.
Understanding demographics to tailor health messages
Until then, employers need to think about how best to begin this journey, if not to an individual level then by better understanding workforce demographics so that wellbeing initiatives can be tailored towards groups of individuals in much more compelling ways. At the very least, these should take into account health concerns faced by different genders, various age groups, people from different ethnic backgrounds and people affected by specific health concerns that remain taboo, such as mental health issues, the menopause, HIV and cancer.
Additional pathways might include a transgender pathway for individuals starting medical treatment, who might be in need of counselling therapies and surgical procedures. And millennial pathways to support younger individuals, who are at greatest risk of loneliness, increasing their propensity to developing mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression. In turn this can lead to them adopting dangerous coping mechanisms, such as self-harming, putting them at increased risk of suicide, according to statistics compiled by mental health charity Mind.
Older workers would benefit from initiatives designed to help an ageing workforce identify and manage chronic diseases earlier, with free health checks and screening. Meanwhile, sandwich generation employees may benefit from resilience training and work/life coaching to keep stress levels down.
Ultimately, we want to create a culture of health in which employees can thrive and reach their personal and professional goals.
The author is Dr Wolfgang Seidl, head of health management consulting EMEA at Mercer.
This article was provided by Mercer.
Mercer is sponsoring REBA’s Innovation Day, taking place on 22 November at County Hall, London.
