Short Summary
What is Holistic Occupational Stress Therapy (HOST)?
HOST is the deployment of Holistic Therapies to treat Occupational Stress. Aromatherapy, Reflexology, Acupuncture, and Therapeutic Massage are some of the modalities classified under Holistic Therapies. Holistic Therapies provide a preventative, non-invasive, non-chemical, uplifting alternative method of treating stress and other ailments continuously in an occupational setting.
A person under severe stress will carry the burden of that stress into all aspects of their lives. It impacts negatively on their personal situation as well as on their work and relationships and ultimately on their health. It is not something that can be left at home.
In the workplace people are placed under considerable amounts of stress. Stress has been directly related to the cause of illness, which leads to absenteeism.
What service does InEssence provide?
Employers in industry today have as their primary objectives the following:
- Job satisfaction for their workers
- Increased productivity
- Reduced turnover of staff
- Reduced absenteeism
- Organizational commitment
It is preferable for employers to manage stress in a natural and cost effective way, utilizing HOST in order to improve the working environment, maintain a good level of productivity, while positively affecting revenue.
Workplace programs are recognized by an increasingly large number of companies for their value in improving health and well-being of their employees, increasing morale, loyalty and productivity at work.
HOST can successfully be incorporated into a company’s existing Wellness Initiative and also link with the Occupational Health Services on site.
With facilities available at on site Occupational Health Clinics, where employees can be treated by medically trained massage therapists and aroma therapists, using HOST to manage stress, treat muscular complaints and certain indicated injuries at work (IODs), the employee’s chances of a swift and smooth recovery are increased, sick leave is reduced and thus productivity and profitability are increased.
Which health aspects does HOST address?
- Promoting muscle relaxation.
- Increasing lymphatic circulation thereby reducing inflammation and purifying blood.
- Breaking up scar tissue and adhesions.
- Promoting blood flow through the muscles.
- Promoting the draining of sinus fluids.
- Therapy has a positive influence on the psychological effects of pain. Therapeutic touch stimulates the secretion of endorphins in the brain that triggers a feel good response in the person being treated.
- Indirectly promoting the clearing of arteries.
- Normalizing blood pressure.
- Stimulation of the body’s natural regenerative processes.
- The toning up of organs and tissues.
- When we treat the effects of stress, anxiety, and depression we are in effect combating heart disease.
- It boosts and stimulates the immune system.
- It helps a person to feel good about him/herself.
- It creates a sense of pleasure and well-being.
- It inhibits the sympathetic nervous system while promoting the parasympathetic nervous system, which restores the body into a harmonious state.
- It has a positive impact on short-term memory loss.
Benefits Of HOST Treatment
There are certain diseases and conditions that can be successfully addressed and managed through the application of HOST on a regular basis.
- Stress
- Short-Term Memory Loss
- Headaches
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Sleep Disturbances
- Temperomandibular Joint Syndrome
- Pre-Menstrual Syndrome
- Muscular Pain
- Hypertension
Why do EMPLOYERS need to implement HOST?
To demonstrate the impact stress has on the workforce we used a figure of a 1000 employees to exhibit the 2006 statistical figures for South Africa:
| Affected % | Affected employees | |
| Total number of employees | 100% | 1000 |
| Illness caused or made worse by stress | 23% | 230 |
| Moderately stressed employees | 40-45% | 425 |
| Severely stressed employees | 15-20% | 175 |
This table indicates that a staggering 600 employees per 1000 are manifesting symptoms of stress and 230 per 1000 employees suffer from illness caused by exposure to stress. For any employer this indicates a loss in revenue because stress impacts on productivity, sick leave, and indirectly on turnover of staff.
Again working on a rate of 23% stress related sick leave the following effect could be demonstrated:
| 23% stress related sick leave | 1 Day sick leave | 3 Days sick leave |
| Once a year | 230 work days lost | 690 work days lost |
| Twice a year | 460 work days lost | 1380 work days lost |
| Three times a year | 690 work days lost | 2070 work days lost |
Figures released by Afrox show that in South Africa 13.4 million working days are lost annually due to stress, anxiety and depression and that absenteeism costs South Africa R12 billion annually.
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