Dentsply Sirona’s 2019 wellness program aims to equip employees with the information and tools to lead a healthy lifestyle.

People spend a significant portion of their lives at work or doing work-related tasks. By some estimates, people spend 90,000 hours at work over a lifetime. It follows that work and the workplace undoubtedly have an impact on people’s overall health and wellbeing.

Companies therefore have an opportunity to have a positive effect on their workforce by taking steps to help employees lead a healthy lifestyle.

Recognizing that impact and the importance of a healthy lifestyle, Dentsply Sirona revamped its Wellness Program in 2017 with its Corporate Benefits team. To correspond with World Oral Health Day on March 20th, the first quarter is always dedicated to oral health. This year, employees received tips for taking care of teeth with additional information tailored to children and older adults.

In 2018, the FDI World Dental Federation, the organization behind World Oral Health Day, launched its “Say Ahh” campaign aimed at educating people about the connection behind oral health and the overall health of the body. This year, the campaign encourages people to protect their oral health through action. Employees can access a toolkit that can be shared with family and friends.

In the second quarter of 2019, employees have the opportunity to learn some of the benefits related to being present through techniques such as meditation and yoga along with interesting statistics. The third quarter focuses on Physical Health & Wellness. A great example of how MENA Hub employees challenge themselves to better physical health and wellness can be found in the digital version of Spotlight.

The third quarter´s focus provides a good example of how the program was designed to be adapted locally so that offices have the freedom to participate in or develop their own initiatives that best fit the needs of their employees. Employees across the MENA Hub take part in the annual Dubai Fitness Challenge, which drew over a million participants last year. The Challenge includes a corporate competition among hundreds of organizations across the region. In 2018, the Dentsply Sirona team placed 23rd, a significant rise from their 46th place finish the prior year. During the 30-day period, games and challenges were arranged for the employees, including men’s and women’s football, yoga, zumba, darts and a dance contest.

Completing this year’s topic areas, the fourth quarter category – Heart Health – arrives on the heels of World Heart Day (Sept 29, 2019) and aims to educate on living a heart healthy lifestyle and making healthy meal choices with a focus on diabetes prevention.

To share your office’s wellness initiatives in a future edition of Spotlight, please send the Editorial team an email at: corporatecommunications@dentsplysirona.com

Impressions of the Dubai Fitness Challenge 2018: