appointment such as a physical check-up with their GP. An even greater number of workers, 86 percent, said they would cancel or reschedule a preventative healthcare appointment due to pressures in the workplace.
Zocdoc went on to offer Unsick Days to their employees in 2017 and are continuing to raise awareness about access to preventative care and the importance of work-health balance. Companies across the US are being encouraged to allow their employees to take an Unsick Day. In the United States, insurance offered by employers often has a preventative health component but the Zocdoc survey found that only 25 percent of American workers have accessed their preventative health benefits which means that many companies are spending money on benefits which are not being utilised.
The advantages of Unsick Days extend beyond the financial, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than 100,000 lives per year could be saved if Americans received the recommended clinical preventive care.
The importance of preventative healthcare
Although companies in countries which have a universal health care system such as the United Kingdom wouldn’t see a direct financial benefit, the positive outcomes of preventative health care are well-documented. Australia has highly publicised health check recommendations for newborns and children, the timing and frequency of which various according to the different states and territories. Beyond that, children and adults are encouraged to visit a GP even when feeling healthy for regular check-ups and screening. In addition to screening for disease, consultations are an opportunity to identify risk factors, discuss strategies for maintain a healthy lifestyle, and ensure the patient is up to date with immunisations and booster.
Although most primary health care services promote preventative health checks in Australia, just two percent of total health expenditure is focused on preventative health yet around 32 percent of the burden of disease can be attributed to lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical inactivity, high blood pressure etcetera.
A reluctance to visit a GP for a preventative health check-up due to being too busy at work is a common reason. Another factor is cost with over a quarter of Australians saying they have delayed seeing a GP at least once due to the fees involved. Other common excuses given for not visiting a GP for regular check-ups is that patients are worried about wasting their GP’s time, having to travel to see a doctor, and fears about having to undergo tests.