muysqms.info

Good mental health is fundamental to maintaining good physical health. And you want your employees to experience total worker health, correct?The fact that the mind and the body cannot be separated results in an inseparable relationship between physical and mental health. Despite the fact that the connections are striking, integration of the two fields in worksite wellness programming still has not occurred in any meaningful way. Worksite wellness practitioners need to better understand the connections between physical and mental health so they can intervene more effectively with employees to improve the outcomes in both areas.It is important to address the integration of physical and mental health for the following reasons:• The individual employee’s mental health status or the presence of a mental illness such as depression or anxiety can affect an individual’s ability to undertake health promoting behaviors that address their physical health status. It is therefore critical that individuals have a better understanding of the integral link between all aspects of their health.• Chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, or cancer can have a profound impact on an individual’s mental health.• An individual’s mental health status affects an individual’s ability to participate in their treatment and recovery from a chronic disease.• Family members and caregivers of people with chronic diseases are also affected psychologically thereby potentially resulting in their neglecting their own health.Integrating all aspects of health within a worksite wellness program requires partnerships and integration at multiple levels. Integration and partnerships allow the partners to leverage their strengths and resources and to work on common goals. Integration needs to occur at the program level, the policy level, between vendors and potentially between the employer and community based resources.The elements necessary to support integration include:• Making the business case through the collection, analysis, and dissemination of data on the interrelationships between all aspects of employee health. The data should also show how integration and partnerships can better advance the employer’s core mission and objectives.• Developing a champion at every level within the organization. While integration requires leadership and motivation from the top, it is best to have a champion at each level to initiate, implement, and sustain the integration.• Forming an integration management working team to sustain the integration effort. The integration effort cannot be sustained if it is only the work of just a couple of people.• Developing integrated interventions that are based on identified needs or gaps where positive outcomes and early wins can be achieved. Early on, look for interventions that are simple, targeted, and within the scope of the missions, resources, infrastructures, processes of the partners’ existing program initiatives.• Monitor, measure and evaluate integrated initiatives by establishing goals, measures and collecting the appropriate data. Evaluation could include process, output and outcome types of evaluation strategies. They could include assessing improvements in access to and satisfaction with care, services, or programming, determining the effect of policy changes on outcomes or services, and making the case for cost-benefit and/or cost-effectiveness.Programming is one of the key areas where integration can and should be implemented. The four levels we see for physical health programming can also be applied to other health areas as well. These are: awareness, education, lifestyle change and policy/environmental change.The traditional core physical health programming topics have included physical activity, nutrition, sleep and stress management. These four core programming areas also have implications for mental health as well. This makes the leap to integrated programming real easy. Prevention and self-care activities are also areas where integration can be applied.Good mental health is fundamental to maintaining good physical health. Ultimately, there is no health without mental health. A worksite wellness program is a necessary and ideal venue to support program integration.

An ongoing debate exists in the marketing industry that begs the following question: Is it more important to devise a marketing strategy or to execute actions to achieve your goal?There are good arguments all the way around this debate, but when it comes down to it, the answer is really… neither. You simply can’t be successful without either one.The problem, however, is that many companies, consultants, and marketers do a lot of “theory” and talking, without taking it beyond that. They can sit around and discuss all the latest marketing tactics and even try to put them in place, but in the end, it’s all for naught if they don’t develop a solid strategy and execution steps to make it work for their business.It’s like school-you can sit in a classroom and learn all the information and theory that is taught to you, but what good is it unless you can apply it in real life? We all know this, but as marketers, we forget that it works the same way. Understanding theory is helpful, but you need to know how to develop a strategy and execute that strategy to actually see results.From Marketing Theory to Strategy & Execution
Successful marketing is really a 3-part process that involves following sound marketing theories, creating a detailed strategy, and executing that strategy. Let’s look at each of these steps in more detail.Follow Sound Marketing Theory
Marketing theory is the science of marketing. It’s the “rules” and guidelines we follow. It’s the methods we use to form our strategies.Marketing theory can lead to strong marketing strategies, but too often, we get stuck on the former. We might feel as though we are getting things done by talking and learning about various types of marketing theory, but in essence, we are just spinning our wheels.Mike Roach, CEO of CGI, was quoted as saying, “Strategy without execution is a hallucination!” If that is true, then marketing theory without strategy and execution is psychosis. It’ll get you nowhere.Create a Detailed Marketing Strategy
According to strategy-business.com, a strategy is “the series of choices you make on where to play and how to win to maximize long-term value. Execution is producing results in the context of those choices.”Your marketing strategy is your map. It’s like a light shining in the darkness, guiding every decision you make. Without it, you’re driving in the dark without headlights, expecting to find your destination and not crash in the process.Your strategy shines a light on the road ahead, making it clear when you could veer off a path and driving you forward in the right direction. With it, you’re able to work your way around your obstacles, follow your objectives, and illuminate the choices that will get you to your goal efficiently.According to the Small Business Association, only about 50% of small businesses succeed within the first 5 years. It’s not that businesses don’t have some sort of plan in place; the problem is that most small businesses don’t have a clue how to map out a plan that will lead them to success.They don’t have a strategy that is based on sound evidence, data, and experience. Instead, they read a lot of marketing theory and try a lot of different things.That is not the same thing as having a strategy.Without a sound strategy, companies struggle to keep up with their competition, they miss opportunities that would lead to better results, and they win fewer customers.Execute Your Marketing Strategy
Execution is what seals the deal. Without it, no strategy will be realized, which is why it’s crazy that so many companies create a business plan and then file it away in a binder on a dusty shelf.We know that we can’t get anywhere in business or life if we don’t take action, so too often we find ourselves spinning our wheels moving from idea to idea. We’re taking action, but it has no real strategy behind it.When we skip over strategy and start executing based upon abstract marketing theory, we’re shooting in the dark hoping we hit something, but we rarely hit the thing we want to hit. Unfortunately, that’s what too many companies are doing.We should use marketing theory to inform our decisions and help us plan our strategy, and when we do that, our execution will be solid.Why Companies Struggle with Marketing Strategy & Execution
There are so many reasons why it’s easy for companies to struggle with strategy and execution…Where to Start?
Right off the bat, it can be downright scary to figure out where to start when it comes to drawing up a strategy and executing it to success. Digital marketing has become more and more complicated as new technologies and opportunities keep cropping up.With so many options, how can companies choose? How do you know which marketing ideas to subscribe to and which ones to ignore? Just because one marketing theory works for one company or even thousands of companies doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for another company.How to Maneuver the Marketing Paradox of Consistency & Change?
The fact that marketing is ever changing makes it that much more difficult to execute a sound strategy. How do you know where to place your time, money, and energy? And what if you put all that effort into 1 or 2 marketing tactics and then they lose their effectiveness?How do you create something concrete that is ever changing? How do you know when to be flexible and change your marketing plan versus when to stay steadfast? After all, remaining consistent is essential when it comes to digital marketing, but so is changing with the times. It’s a paradox that can be difficult to maneuver.How to Know (Not Just Guess at) Who Your Customers Are?
Most companies don’t spend enough time discovering who exactly their customers are to be able to draft a marketing strategy that will lead them to success. It takes customer data, assessments, feedback, and a lot of investigation to really get to know your customer, but knowing how to compile all of that information can be overwhelming.Since different marketing tactics should be used for different customers, knowing this is essential, but too many companies guess at who their customer is rather than knowing them in depth.How to Bring It into the Everyday Details?
Understanding how to integrate your business plan into daily work is not as easy as it might seem. As a result, decisions are often made without the consultation of the marketing strategy, and that means they are not likely to be in alignment with the strategy.Methods need to be put in place for sharing the company’s marketing strategy with all team members and keeping them on the same page. This ensures the company’s message and interactions are carried out consistently. Expectations and follow-through need to be set up so that there is no duplication, which only leads to wasted time and money. Every decision should be made with the strategy in mind.How to Not Let Everything Else Get in the Way?
Especially for small companies, one thing or another can come up that gets the business owner off track, and unfortunately, when that happens, marketing tends to move to the back burner. Unless time is dedicated to each and every week to working a marketing strategy, forward movement in business is highly unlikely.The Solution
Look, here’s the bad news… For most small businesses, overcoming all of the obstacles that get in the way of creating and executing a sound marketing strategy is not really feasible. Without an in-house marketing team that is skilled and dedicated to marketing planning and execution, it is understandably difficult.But here’s the good news… That’s why most small businesses turn to marketing experts for assistance, and when they do, their business explodes.It is so important to partner with a company that can do more than just talking about marketing theory. Your marketing partner needs to be able to come up with a solid strategy and determine which tactics will best fit that strategy for your unique business.By moving from a marketing theory focus on a strategy/execution focus, you can move past your obstacles and charter the course to success.

Australians are lucky when it comes to health care. When illness or injury strikes, there is no question regarding your access to health care, whether or not you own private health insurance.The Australian government guarantees that everyone is entitled to Medicare to help cover many medical needs; but few people realize what the limits of their Medicare coverage are, and where private health cover fits into the equation.When you don’t have a solid understanding of the difference between what Medicare covers and what your health insurance covers, it’s difficult to make the best decisions for yourself and your family when it comes to planning for the future and protecting your finances if an unexpected illness or injury disrupts your lives. By comparing health plans, you can get a better idea of how much private health coverage actually costs, and what it can do for you.Who needs private health coverage? Doesn’t Medicare cover all of your health insurance needs? What if you’re a young couple or family with no reason to worry about health issues?It’s important to start by understanding how Medicare works, and what coverage it does and does not provide.Medicare was introduced in Australia in 1984 as the country’s public health cover system, guaranteeing access to free or low-cost medical and hospital care for every Australian citizen and permanent resident.The Medicare system offers access to a public hospital and treatment by a hospital appointed physician. While Australians receive excellent care through the Medicare system, there are little to no options when it comes to selecting the hospital in which you will be treated, or even when you will be admitted.Under Australia’s Medicare program, any treatment that does not fall into the “emergency” category is considered to be elective, which places patients on a long public hospital waiting list to be seen.Australians can improve their health care situation by purchasing private health cover to augment Medicare, which you retain even when your private health plan takes effect. When your health insurance strategy includes a private policy in addition to Medicare benefits, you have the option to choose treatment as either a private or public patient in a private or public hospital. The decision is up to you.People with private health coverage earn choice and flexibility when it comes to their own care. Your health insurance allows you to choose the physician or specialist responsible for your treatment, the schedule for admission to the hospital for treatment, and quicker access to any elective surgery you may be having.Your insurance will cover most if not all of those costs that Medicare does not pay, and you can avoid waiting on a public hospital list for the treatment you need.It’s important to check with your insurer and read your policy details before you schedule a hospital stay to be sure your health insurance covers your particular procedure.When it comes to receiving treatment outside of a hospital, Medicare will cover 100 percent of the cost to visit a general practitioner, specialist, or medical center. In fact, your private health plan cannot by law pay for costs incurred when visiting a physician or specialist outside of a hospital.Still, there are plenty of medical services that Medicare does not cover, but your health insurance can, including:- Physiotherapy.
- Chiropractic services.
- Remedial massage.
- Psychology consultations.
- Ambulance.
- Most dental exams and treatments.
- Hearing Aids
- Glasses and contact lenses.
- Podiatry.
- Certain therapies including occupational therapy, speech therapy, and optical therapy.
- Natural therapies like acupuncture and homeopathy.If you or your family needs or wants access to these services, your private health plan can include coverage for the specific treatments you will be seeking.The best way to make realistic decisions regarding your family’s coverage is to first make sure you have a good understanding of Medicare. Determine what coverage your family needs according to your age, lifestyle, and whether or not any preexisting conditions need to be considered. Compare health insurance policies to find the best coverage to fit your needs and your budget.Speak to an insurance consultant and ask for a thorough explanation of all the benefits available to you, both through Medicare and your private health insurance. No one can put a price on the health and financial well-being of their family. Augmenting your Medicare benefits with private health coverage in an excellent way to achieve financial protection and peace of mind.