Global Benefits Vision: What is IEBA’s mission in the global employee-benefits industry historically and what is it today? Norman Dreger: IEBA is the world’s leading association providing education, information and professional development opportunities in the constantly evolving world of International Employee Benefits, with more than 800 members worldwide. In addition to the development of the International Diploma and the Certified Practitioner Accreditation, our objectives include facilitating the exchange of information between

Medical robots are helping doctors and other professionals save time, lower costs and shorten patient recovery times, but patients may not be ready. Our research into human perceptions of automated health care finds that people are wary of getting their health care from an automated system, but that they can adjust to the idea – especially if it saves them money.

There are people who show incredible resistance to extremes of temperature. Think of Buddhist monks who can calmly withstand being draped in freezing towels or the so-called “Iceman” Wim Hof, who can remain submerged in ice water for long periods of time without trouble. These people tend to be viewed as superhuman or special in some way. If they truly are, then their feats are simply entertaining but irrelevant vaudevillian acts. What if they’re not freaks, though, but have trained their brains and bodies with selfmodification techniques that give them cold resistance? Could anyone do the same?

Companies offer all sorts of benefits and extras to attract the most favored workers, from health care and stock options to free food. But all those perks come at a price: your freedom. There’s a reason labor historians call these perks “welfare capitalism,” a term that originated to describe company towns and their subsidized housing, free classes and recreational activities. Like government welfare, offering any benefits that people come to rely on is also a convenient vehicle to mold their behavior.

Taking a walk on a wooded path, spending an afternoon in a public park, harvesting your backyard garden and even looking at beautiful pictures of Hawaii can all make us feel good. Certainly, for many of us, it’s beneficial to have time outside in natural environments. Being cooped up inside can feel unnatural and increase our desire to get outside. The renowned biologist E.O. Wilson created a theory called the biophilia hypothesis, where he stated that people have an innate relationship to nature.

We know we should eat less junk food, such as crisps, industrially made pizzas and sugar-sweetened drinks, because of their high calorie content. These “ultraprocessed” foods, as they are now called by nutritionists, are high in sugar and fat, but is that the only reason they cause weight gain? An important new trial from the U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) shows there’s a lot more at work here than calories alone.

An Interview with IEBA’s New Chairman Norman Dreger – R&D: Ultra-Processed Food Causes Weight Gain – R&D: A Walk on The Beach for Good Health – R&D: Perks Are Used to Control Your Life – R&D: Brain Over Body: How Psychology Influences Physiology – R&D: Robotic Health Care Is Coming to A Hospital Near You –

Fulfilling the diversity of employee needs: are cafeteria-style benefits plans the future? The Legal Profession Has A Mental Health Problem The Opioid Crisis Is Not About Pain Using Painkillers for Emotional Relief Feel Like Time Is Flying? How to Slow It Down Out of Shape? How to Start Exercising Simple Steps to Keep You Safe from Malaria Parkinson’s: Four Unusual Signs You May Be at Risk

Opioid-related deaths have been rising over recent years in North America and globally. New data released by the Public Health Agency of Canada reveals that more than 10,300 Canadians died as a result of an apparent opioid-related overdose between January 2016 and September 2018.

Set in a fictional firm in New York, the TV series Suits glamorises the life of lawyers working in a modern corporate firm. One of the main characters, Harvey Specter, dresses impeccably in an expensive designer suit and expects others around him to do the same. The lawyers in the firm are hugely ambitious, work late into the night (we rarely see them away from the office) and demand excellence in everything they do. For these professionals, work is life. This is, we are led to believe, what a lawyer’s life could be like.

A cultural shift in the workplace towards satisfying individual employee needs means attracting and retaining talented staff now requires a deeper understanding of the personal resources employees need to flourish. Conceptualizing benefits as resources may help explain how many leading organizations are enjoying enhanced employee wellbeing, engagement and increased productivity through transitioning to cafeteria-style benefits plans.

Do you move around a lot during your sleep? Or have you lost your sense of smell? New insights into Parkinson’s disease suggest that these might be the early signs of changes in the brain that mean you are at greater risk of developing Parkinson’s.

Every death from malaria is a tragedy. But many infections can be prevented. This is particularly true for holidaymakers, travellers, or people visiting their families in malaria endemic areas. All they need to do is follow some very simple rules. Malaria is a complicated disease – I should know, after studying it for more than 30 years – but the solutions to avoiding and treating it can be as simple as “ABCD”. If the basics of prevention are followed, a great deal of unnecessary illness and mortality can be avoided.

Perhaps your GP has recommended you exercise more, or you’ve had a recent health scare. Maybe your family’s been nagging you to get off the couch or you’ve decided yourself that it’s time to lose some weight.How do you find the motivation, time and resources to get fit, particularly if you haven’t exercised in a while? How do you choose the best type of exercise? And do you need a health check before you start?

Sometimes it seems as if life is passing us by. When we are children, time ambles by, with endless car journeys and summer holidays which seem to last forever. But as adults, time seems to speed up at a frightening rate, with Christmas and birthdays arriving more quickly every year.

Australians are increasingly using prescription or over-the-counter painkillers to ease emotional, rather than physical, pain. Our cultural understanding of pain is changing, and as a result it’s becoming more difficult to distinguish intoxication from relief.

Diverse Approaches to International Employee Benefits – Productivity: a UK Challenge Which Insurers Can Help With – Light Physical Activity Has Health Benefits – Six Questions to Ask to Help Screen For Suicide Risk – How US Policy Is Shifting Toward Nutrition for Better Health – Pancreatic Cancer: Possible Insights into Treatment and Early Detection – Providing Equity Income to Mobile Employees

Equity income is an important part of the compensation and talent management strategy for many companies. The provision of equity income can assist in attracting new talent as well as in motivating and retaining current employees. It allows companies the ability to directly reward employees for business growth over specified periods of time.

When “Jeopardy!” episode 7059 aired on April 30, 2015, the category was “The Human Body,” the price was $2,000, and the clue was “This gland’s main duct, the duct of Wirsung, collects its juices & empties into the duodenum.” The question was “What is the pancreas?” Unbeknownst to Alex Trebek, the show’s beloved host, the cells that line the duct of his pancreas would develop into pancreatic cancer, or pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Trebek announced on March 6, 2019 that he has pancreatic cancer, but that he will fight the disease and keep hosting the show. And in fact, he was back at work March 12.

In 2018, Congress initiated a series of actions that represent a shift away from placing the full responsibility – and blame – on individual people to make their own healthier choices. These actions also show a growing recognition that many stakeholders – including the government – are accountable for a healthier, more equitable food system. This shift in thinking reflects an understanding that government can and should play a role in improving the diet of Americans.

Suicide rates in the United States have increased by 25-30 percent since 1999. This is particularly true for youth ages 12-24, with increases of approximately 30 percent over the same period. In Alachua County, Florida, where I teach and practice at the University of Florida, the base rate for suicides among youth ages 12-17 had been about five per 100,000 for many years, below the base national rate of 13 per 100,000. However, in the year 2017 that rate of completed suicides increased to 27 per 100,000, and for 2018 we are at a pace that will likely equal 2017.

For most people, light physical activity makes up the bulk of their daily physical activity. Yet government guidelines focus almost exclusively on moderate to vigorous-intensity physical activity. The difficulty of measuring a person’s lightintensity physical activity largely explains this disconnect. It is not possible to measure light physical activity with a questionnaire. The amount of light-intensity physical activity a person thinks they have done bears almost no resemblance to what they have actually done. This means it has been difficult to study the effects of light-intensity physical activity on long-term health.

Why talk about productivity? We have a clear business challenge in the UK. Productivity is a major issue for Government and Philip Hammond devoted his first Budget speech as Chancellor of the Exchequer (Minister of Finance) in 2017 to addressing it.1

In the March 2019 issue Retire Vitally Conference Report eHealth & Prevention Programs – Dejan Malesic Work in the ‘Gig Economy’: A Meaningful Relationship? – Geneviève Shanahan, Mark Smith Seeing the Light: Using Light Intake to Boost Workplace Productivity – Hugo Starrsjo, Shira Jeczmien Inside the Ransom Business: Why Kidnapping Rarely Pays – Anja Shortland The Changing Landscape of Employee Benefits in India – WBN Series – Alda Dhingra Talent Management in South Asia – Ruchika Pal Interview – AEIP Secretary General Bruno Gabellieri

I would like to share some insights with you about new innovative healthcare service design and how technological solutions (eHealth) can help address prevention matters.eHealth & prevention programs

The Retire Vitally conference, where participants gathered to discuss best practices pertaining to retiring in good health in the European Union, was held 24 January 2019 at PGGM headquarters in Zeist, the Netherlands. The event was organized by AEIP, TELA (Finland) and PGGM (The Netherlands).

Home to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, South Asia is one of the most dynamic regions in the world, with a population of 1.67 billion people and economic growth of 7.1 percent over the last decade, according to the World Bank. With growth topping 6.9 percent in 2018 and set to accelerate to 7.1 percent this year, South Asia is firming up its position as the world’s fastest-growing region, further extending its lead over East Asia and the Pacific, according to a World Bank regional economic update.