5 Advantages of Digital Wellness For Employees And Workplace Wellness

Health professionals and researchers use the term digital well-being to describe human interaction with technology. With additional features and inclusion for mental and physical health, digital well-being is designed to elevate the way of living and endorse proactiveness or fitness into an individual's life.

Technology's relationship with humans has accelerated over the years. They made it convenient for the wellness enthusiast generation to infuse a better lifestyle and compatibility into their routines.

Comprehensive healthcare solutions are a necessity for a diverse and modern workforce. Digital wellness makes it possible for everyone to enjoy a quality lifestyle. Tweaking overall health and well-being also allows employees to manage fitness hand-in-hand with work.

Pros and Cons Of Digital Wellness

Digital platforms kept us connected mainly during the worst of COVID-19 scenarios. But due to our excessive reliance, it also became the cause for stress and anxiety.

A study at Duke University shows a significant correlation between increased mental health issues and the overuse of technology. Technology is also known for affecting sleep patterns, reducing attention spans, and adversely affecting self-regulation.

Related: Social Media Detox: All You Need To Know

Technology is not neutral.
– Tamsin Rose

Here are some pros and cons of the digital wellness you need to know:

5 benefits of Digital Wellness that enhance Employee Well-being and Workplace Wellness

We believe that the possibilities for Apple Watch are enormous, and that's been reinforced in just the first few weeks since it became available to customers. For example, doctors and researchers at leading hospitals in the US and Europe are already putting Apple Watch to work in improving patients' lives.
– Tim Cook, CEO, Apple

Google Consumer Survey, 2019 says, Americans have taken steps to improve their digital well-being in the past year, and more than 80% of them said this had a positive impact on their overall sense of well-being.

Digital health and wellness services in 2019 were estimated to have a worth of over 106 billion USD. And due to the global pandemic, it is expected to increase up to 28.5% more by 2026.

Digital wellness has changed employees' lifestyles and brought ease to organizational workflow. Here are 5 major benefits of digital wellness;

1. All-in-one Healthcare and Wellness solutions

Digital advancement has made things a lot easier, like keeping track of one's mental and physical health.

It allows them to prioritize sustainable and inclusive health measures like wellness, care, post-care approaches, diagnosis, etc.

For employees today, corporate wellness programs are benign. Wearables and smartphone applications give instant insights into their health and wellness metrics, along with nutrition trackers for daily food or water intakes, fitness activities, sleep, mindfulness, etc., while sitting on the office desk.

Using a workplace healthcare portal to its full abilities is a great strategy for dealing with employees' mental, behavioral or physical conditions.

Related: Employee Wellness Apps: The Way Forward For Employee Health

2. Helping employees to maintain a Work-life Balance

According to a statistics, only 23% of companies believe they are promoting work-life balance. And, therefore employers need to take steps to prioritize employees' health and wellness to prevent such problems from fleeting with COVID-19.

When you can balance work, life becomes less complicated. For example, workflow automation software provides an advanced platform enabling flexible working tools to improve organizational work, simplify complex tasks and activities, and make jobs easier.

Thanks to technology and its well-being measures that boosted productivity.
Even though normal lives were on halt due to the pandemic, organizations were fully functioning. Technology has helped organizations create an in-office culture while everyone can work from home.

Digital wellness is changing lives and beyond. And enhances employee productivity, determination and ensures a stable work-life balance.

3. Keep employees accountable for their Health and Fitness

Digital wellness can be empowering and positive for corporate well-being. It has revolutionized employees' way of life by allowing quick solutions, consultations, calming methods, etc. Its improvised service also benefits diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of illnesses reducing the cost and time.

Through lifestyle apps, employees also know more about diet and nutrition, exercises, adopting healthy habits like reading, mindfulness meditation, etc. A healthy lifestyle mainly implies living stress-free and an active life allowing employees to lead a healthy living.

It helps employees maintain a daily routine and make better choices to lead happy lives. Here are a few digital wellness apps you can try for your well-being;

1. Headspace
2. Calm
3. Yoga Studio: Mind & Body
4. Clue
5. Vantage Fit

4. Boosting Engagement

A healthy employee always tends to perform better at work.

PwC data said that, wearable technology would fill lives by 2020 in the wellness industry, companies that will evolve digitally to take care of their employees for better engagement and productivity.

Fitness trackers like Fitbit or Apple smartwatches are the most used digital devices by employers for workplace wellness.

For example, Vantage Fit provides features to keep employee health on track. The users can synchronize the app with their wearable devices for a more personalized experience. Vantage Fit activity tracker allows employees to track activities like mindfulness meditation, yoga, hiking, etc. It ensures employees' a healthy lifestyle with fitness challenges and contests. The participants are also rewarded with incentives for also achieving the targets.

Moreover, today's workforce looks forward to working in organizations that provide wellness assurance. Healthy employees also help sustain a healthy business.

Read: Step Tracker: Meaning, Mechanism, Accuracy, Advantages, FAQ

5. Reinforcing employees Mental and Behavioral health

Understanding mental and behavioral health is as crucial as physical fitness today.

According to data, 71% of adults reported at least one symptom of stress, depression, overwhelmed feelings, or anxiety. Most importantly, employees suffering from depression spend the highest health care costs during and after their health risk assessment.

Negative emotions can be challenging. If an employee has mental health issues, it becomes hard to control their conditions in such cases. Besides, it can hamper performance and productivity, leading to absenteeism.

The digital health apps can be used as a regular check-in tool. It can help employees cultivate positive emotions and positive thinking. Also, help understand their moods, how to control or deal with negative thinking.

Some wellness apps also provide cognitive behavioral therapy and techniques to fight against mental and Behavioral health conditions.

Bottom Line

The importance of digital wellness has become significant for corporate wellness. Lack of physical activity can slow down one’s intellectual wellness. And, therefore, employers today must prioritize employees’ overall well-being through actionable measures to curb the rising mental and behavioral health conditions.

Empowered employees remain more committed to their work. And, digital wellness helps manage robust corporate health policies by encouraging employees to be fit and engaged throughout.