In an ongoing study of Stress in America, The Oxygen Plan Corporation reports 2012 and 2013 findings of the new health metric, the Stress Number®. Stress accounts for almost 8% of all US healthcare spending and for employers, the economic impact is almost $5,000 per employee per year.
Employee stress drains $400 billion a year from U.S. employers–yet many organizations do not fully understand the damage stress causes to their profit margins, employee productivity levels and employee health. In an ongoing study of Stress in America, The Oxygen Plan Corporation reports the 2012 findings of the new health metric – the Stress Number®. To date, over 54,000 respondents have completed the 30 question test to get their home, work and social Stress Number®. The stress test has 30 questions and scoring ranges 0 – 100, whereby a score of 0 means extreme stress (red), to 100, meaning stress free (green).
Key 2012 Findings: “2012 Was Another Stressful Year But Things Got Better”
With over 4,000 respondents completing The Oxygen Plan’s stress test for the survey, the 2012 Stress Number® for home was 49, followed by work and social stress at 54 and 55. Versus 2011, the Stress Number® improved by 1 point for home, work and social – a first in the four years of our survey history. “The 2012 stress test results demonstrate that there is still plenty of stress out there and the Stress Number® is essentially unchanged as compared to 2009 and 2010,” says Dr. Donald E. Williams, board-certified clinical health psychologist (American Board of Professional Psychology/ABPP), and Chief Science Officer, The Oxygen Plan. “Stress continues to be a concern in the lives of people – at work, in their social lives and especially at home. We continue to see each Stress Number® in the yellow in all life phases. Employers should be increasingly alarmed given that stress levels remain unchecked for 3 years running. A company of 10,000 has lost up to $50 million for each of the past 3 years for a total of nearly $150 million. The costs are staggering and should grab the attention of any CEO or CFO, particularly since stress is the #1 modifiable health risk factor.”
Preliminary 2013 Findings: “Trending Toward More Stress”
So far, the 2013 Stress Number® for home, work and social are 2-3 points worse than the 2013 average. Although the change is not statistically significant, it does indicate there is lots of unresolved stress in the country.
The impact of stress in the U.S. workplace is bad news for employers as it manifests in lost productivity, absenteeism, presenteeism, group health expense, employee turnover and disability expenses. “Many organizations invest in resources like EAPs, work-life programs and policies, and health and wellness programs,” said Dr. Williams. “These are essential but reactive initiatives. Many organizations are unaware of their employees’ actual stress levels, how much of their stress is job-related, the root causes of their stress, or that they can be proactive in terms of addressing the very real problems and associated costs.” “Stress diminishes the engagement and effectiveness of a workforce, erodes workers’ physical and emotional health, and drives up medical and insurance costs,” adds Eric Lucas, CEO of The Oxygen Plan Corporation.
“With the Stress Number®, it is now possible to measure, compute, aggregate, report, and trend a stress metric as it relates to personal health or organizational cost,” says Dr. Williams. “Now, we are able to assess stress, calculate the Stress Number®, provide The Oxygen Plan program and re-measure stress for individuals or organizations. The Stress Number® is a significant development in the field of health metrics.” “Because stress in the home or social life impacts employees at work, and vice versa, it’s in employers’ best interest to know the aggregate employee Stress Number® for their organization and get a line of sight into root causes,” adds Lucas.
About The Oxygen Plan Corporation
The Oxygen Plan is a revolutionary health technology company with a game changing approach toward reducing the #1 modifiable risk factor – Stress which accounts for approximately 8% of all health care spending. We deliver innovative online behavior change assessment applications, STRESS NUMBER®, the new health metric for all patient and employee HRAs and fully integrated emotionally intelligent stress reduction programs with a variety of uses in the global consumer, healthcare and business markets. The Oxygen Plan specializes in decoding stress and helping employers lower health care costs, and strengthening employee engagement. For more information visit https://theoxygenplan.com.
Published by Prweb, Mar 11, 2013:
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http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/3/prweb10499993.htm
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