What To Expect From A Healthcare Screening At Work

Since COVID became a part of our daily lives, it has become much more commonplace for employers to offer healthcare screenings of different kinds in the workplace. A number of companies did this before COVID as well, mostly corporate companies, and there are several reasons that they chose to be this generous with their employee’s time and their own money. A workplace healthcare screening test will cover more than just checking for COVID; the doctor or nurse doing the test will ask you some questions and probably also run a number of reasonably non-invasive tests on you. It might feel a little strange or daunting, but there are benefits of healthcare screening at work for both you and your place of work. Let’s take a look at what you can expect and why these healthcare screenings are so important.

What To Expect

When you arrive for your screening, the doctor or nurse will ask you to fill out some paperwork and ask you several questions to get some basic background information on your medical history. These questions will likely include:

• Do you drink alcohol? If so, how much and how often?
• Do you exercise every day? If not daily, how often and for how long?
• Are you a smoker? If so, for how long and how many cigarettes do you smoke daily?
• What does your diet consist of?
• Do you have a history of any diseases or conditions in your family?
• Do you have any pre-existing physical conditions?
• Do you currently take chronic medications?
• Do you have any mental health conditions?

If you have any pre-existing physical or mental conditions, the doctor or nurse will likely ask you to elaborate on those and your history with them.

There are a number of tests that you might have in any workplace healthcare screening. These might include:

• Blood tests to note any anomalies
• Blood pressure reading
• PCR swab testing and antibody testing
• Reflex tests
• Basic eye exam
• Basic oral exam
• Recording the patient’s weight

If your healthcare screening is solely a “talk therapy” one, you might be asked a different set of questions.

• Are you currently going through any life changes, traumas, or big adjustments?
• Are you addicted to any substances, or is there a history of substance abuse in your family?
• Do you suffer from depression or anxiety?
• Do you have any disabilities or chronic pain?
• How would you rate your level of self-esteem?
• How would you rate your stress levels?

Remember that you and your doctor or nurse have doctor/patient confidentiality, whatever your answers to these questions. The information you share during your screening stays between you and them. They may refer you to your local general practitioner or to a hospital for treatment if they deem it necessary.

Why Are Workplace Healthcare Screenings important?

Employer Benefits

Your employers benefit in many ways from making sure that your health is in check, especially as the world is moving on from the COVID pandemic. If you are constantly taking sick days to stay at home and get better, the productivity in your workplace, at least surrounding your position, will not be as high as it can be. If they help you to keep an eye on your health and take preventative measures rather than curative ones, they are not only treating you well as an employee and looking after you, but they are also ensuring that their workforce is as well, both physically and mentally, as possible. Employees being mentally and physically present at work is essential to creating a high-performing workplace culture.

Employee Benefits

Getting a yearly health screening at work (or more often if your employer is monitoring specifically for COVID) saves you money. In a world where private healthcare can be incredibly expensive, your employer is helping to lighten that load for you. That is more important than ever when the NHS is overloaded and treatment waiting times are increasing at an exponential rate. If you are aware of what is happening inside your body, you can treat it accordingly.

Employee culture also benefits a lot from checkups like this. If you, as an employee, know that you are valued, you will perform well.

Wrap Up

These healthcare screenings that you get at work might take up a little of your time, but in the long run, they can do you a lot of good. Offer them your full attention and provide as much detailed information as possible for the best and most precise results.