As Vice President, Marketing, of Logisens, I’m charged with communicating the Logisens vision, which is:

To that end, my postings to this blog will focus largely on thought leaders in the worlds of health, wellness and human productivity as they relate to the Logisens mission.

It’s been possible to measure the reactions of our bodies to stress under laboratory conditions for decades. We can measure heart rate variability, gland activity, brain activity, muscle tension and many other reactions that reflect stressful situations. Could we take these measurements in an office setting, while people work? Who would feel comfortable, in those circumstances, giving a blood sample every 15 minutes, or having electrodes glued to their scalp or clipped onto their fingers.

Individual Pessimism Regarding Personal Stress Management

In my last article, Shortfall in Mental Wellness Efforts Costs Companies Millions, I reported on a guest editorial in American Health & Drug Benefits by Dr. Alberto Colombi. Dr. Colombi is the Corporate Medical Director for PPG Industries and a frequent speaker on the national circuit of health related conferences and symposiums. You’ll find some startling facts that I’ve culled from his work in my posting, as well as a link to his complete editorial. I referred to his article in that post and this one with his permission.

My interest in his work was raised by his presentation at NIOSH last September in Washington, DC. A number of his slides discussed his findings from the extensive health risk assessment data gathered by Dr. Colombi and his staff over the years.

One slide in particular stood out like a red flag.

While companies are increasing efforts toward prevention and management of physical disease among employees to lower healthcare costs and improve productivity, wellness programs lag in addressing the costly issues of stress and depression in the workplace.

It’s my job to find and talk to the Innovator companies and organizations out there about their health and human productivity efforts. By capitalized “Innovator” I mean those companies that want to be “the first” with new technology and have the manpower and wherewithal to accomplish that goal. It is no surprise that I find those Innovators among high tech companies, and I occasionally find one in what might be considered more ‘rust-belt’ types of companies.

In 2006, Springfield, the hometown of the Simpsons television show, was voted the Fattest City in America. Reveling in the designation, Homer shouted, “Take that, Milwaukee.”

Today, April 9, 2008, I attended the 1st Annual Progress Report and Celebration Event for Well City Milwaukee. Milwaukee hopes to be certified with the Wellness Councils of America as a Well City* by the end of 2009. This event marked the first anniversary of the start of that effort.