Study Found Upping Flexible Working Reduces Heart Problem Risk
Researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that increased workplace flexibility lowers heart issue risks for some.
On 8th November, the American Journal of Public Health released a report showing that scientists studied working environment changes in those with high risks for cardiovascular disease.
Co-author, Orfeu Buxton, professor of biobehavioral health and director of the Sleep, Health & Society Collaboratory at Penn State, said the scientists created the experiment to improve workplace environments gradually.
Buxton said, “The intervention was designed to change the culture of the workplace over time with the intention of reducing conflict between employees’ work and personal lives and ultimately improving their health.”
1,528 employees across two companies participated in the study, where researchers measured statistics for cardiovascular health before the experiment and 12 months later.
In the control and experiment groups, the scientists recorded employees’ body mass index, blood pressure, smoking status, and total cholesterol.
The researchers found that after employers introduced more flexibility, those employees who started with a higher heart disease risk than other employers experienced significantly positive results.
Reportedly, the scientists discovered those with the bigger disease chance had reduced scores afterward. This decrease is the equivalent to scores seen for those 5-10 years younger than the workers.
The workplace changes for the study included measures to decrease conflict between employees’ work and family lives.
Potential Positives For Low-Wage Workers
Lisa Berkman, the study’s co-writer, Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and of Epidemiology at Harvard Chan School, said the findings show that reducing workplace stress is “important” and could be especially so for low-earners. She said, “The study illustrates how working conditions are important social determinants of health.
“When stressful workplace conditions and work-family conflict were mitigated, we saw a reduction in the risk of cardiovascular disease among more vulnerable employees, without any negative impact on their productivity.”
Berkman continued, “These findings could be particularly consequential for low- and middle-wage workers who traditionally have less control over their schedules and job demands and are subject to greater health inequities.”
However, despite the positives for higher-risk workers, the study found no significant improvement in all the employees’ heart problem risk.
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