Over half of Canadian employees (55 per cent) struggle with chronic illness or injury and subsequently place a greater burden on the Canadian healthcare system. As this issue becomes prevalent, Canadians look to their employers for assistance in navigating the bureaucratic maze between the private and public healthcare systems. According to the 16th annual edition of The Sanofi Canada Healthcare Survey, nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of employees who have yet to experience the system expect their plan sponsor to provide a high level of support. According to the survey, both plan members (81 per cent) and employers (90 per cent) acknowledge the importance of workplace-based health promotion programs to maintain the sustainability of the public healthcare system over the long-term. As such, provision of public programs in the workplace could be part of the solution to disease prevention and the management of chronic illness. Three-quarters (74 per cent) of employees indicate they would like their workplaces to allow public health programs such as flu shot clinics, disease screenings or health risk assessments to be available on-site during work hours. As well, close to nine in 10 (88 per cent) report that if there were on-site screening for a condition they were personally concerned with, they would be likely to participate. Plan sponsors are increasingly open to public and disease prevention programs in the workplace. Nine in 10 (91 per cent) say they would implement immunization clinics if supported by tax incentives, while a similar number indicate they would offer workplace-based health risk screening (87 per cent) and chronic disease prevention programs (88 per cent) pending increased government or public health support.
