LONDON & NASHVILLE, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gallup, the global polling organization, and Healthways (NASDAQ: HWAY), the worldwide leader in well-being improvement, today jointly revealed new data showing that chronic conditions, such as obesity, diabetes and cancer are costing the UK economy 21.6 billion pounds a year in lost productivity. Insights into the overall well-being of Britons from the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (WBI) will be unveiled during an event Thursday at London’s Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
The Gallup-Healthways data is based on 8,866 surveys of UK residents, of which 3,908 are employed full-time (45% of the adult population). The data also showed:
- Workers with normal weight and with no disease burden report fewer than four unhealthy days per year and less than 1.5 missed days of work per year due to poor health.
- Obese or overweight workers with a burden of three or more diseases report 60 unhealthy days per year and over 18 missed work days per year due to poor health.
“The implication of the chronic disease burden of the UK’s workforce is at alarming levels,” said Ben Leedle, president and CEO of Healthways. “The Gallup-Healthways data is shining new light on the powerful correlation between well-being and productivity. Employers who recognize the importance of improving well-being at the workplace are most likely to gain a competitive advantage.”
Gallup and Healthways released the initial results from the Well-Being Index tracking in the UK in April 2011, revealing that 25 percent of the population of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales is obese and another 31 percent is overweight. Additionally, fewer than half of those surveyed exercise regularly. These initial results, coupled with the findings released today, are particularly pertinent to UK business leaders who can now draw direct links between a healthy work environment and an organization’s bottom line.
“Since the initial launch of the Well-Being Index earlier this year, the size of our database has significantly increased, allowing us to conduct rigorous, scientific research of a greater segment of the United Kingdom,” said Dan Witters, a principal at Gallup. “We’ve been able to look at some extremely fine cuts of data, which have revealed a critical issue within the working population -- the struggle with obesity and chronic disease and its effects on the nation’s economy. The WBI data provides a clearer understanding of the scale of the problem, which will allow business and government leaders to better determine ways to tackle it.”
The WBI includes more than 50 questions measuring residents’ physical, emotional, social and financial health. The daily surveys are conducted via land line and mobile phones using a random-digit-dial sampling methodology. A minimum of 1,000 surveys are completed each month. Discussions on this topic from the event “Are Chronic Diseases Killing Our Competitiveness?” to be held at the RSA today can be found at http://www.thersa.org/events/audio-and-past-events/2011/are-chronic-diseases-killing-our-competitiveness.
Speakers from Gallup and Healthways will be featured, as well as academic expert Professor Cary Cooper CBE, Distinguished Professor of Organisational Psychology and Health at Lancaster University Management School, and Deborah Jamieson, Cross Government Head of Health, Work and Well-Being Strategy Unit.
About Gallup
Gallup has studied human nature and behavior for more than 70 years. Gallup's reputation for delivering relevant, timely and visionary research on what people around the world think and feel is the cornerstone of the organization. Gallup employs many of the world's leading scientists in management, economics, psychology and sociology, and our consultants assist leaders in identifying and monitoring behavioral economic indicators worldwide. Gallup consultants help organizations, cities, and countries solve the world's foremost problems with advanced research and analysis.
About Healthways
Healthways is the leading provider of specialized, comprehensive solutions to help millions of people maintain or improve their health and well-being and, as a result, reduce overall costs. Healthways' Well-Being Improvement Solution is designed to keep healthy people healthy, reduce health-related risks and optimize care for those with chronic illness. Our proven, evidence-based approach provides highly specific and personalized interventions for each individual in a population, irrespective of age or health status, and is delivered to consumers by phone, mail, internet and face-to-face interactions, both domestically and internationally. Across the U.S., Healthways also provides a fully accredited complementary and alternative Health Provider Network and a national Fitness Center Network, offering convenient access to individuals who seek health services outside of, and in conjunction with, the traditional health care system. For more information, please visit www.healthways.com.
About the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index in the UK
In the UK, the WBI’s frequency and breadth will add timely, comprehensive and globally comparable data to the national debate on well-being. The accumulated data add to the world’s largest well-being reference data base providing comprehensive insights for examining overall well-being, what drives well-being and what policy decisions can have the most profound effect on improving well-being.
The WBI in the UK will provide consistent intelligence based on ongoing measurement of UK residents’ life evaluation, emotional and physical health, healthy behaviors, work environments and access to basic necessities. Leaders interested in advancing well-being in the UK can use these data to continuously monitor and analyze metrics known to correlate with real-world economic outcomes and translate findings into effective policies and action plans.
Methodology
Gallup interviews adults throughout the United Kingdom including England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, by telephone for the WBI. UK Survey respondents are asked a series of questions associated with well-being across a range of income and health status conditions. The results are reported in monthly averages. For monthly data, the maximum margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.
In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls. Interviews are conducted by live (not automated) interviewers through dual-frame random-digit-dial sampling (which includes landlines as well as mobile phone sampling to reach those in mobile-only and mobile-mostly households). Respondents are selected randomly.