Work Place Job Environment Wellness:  creative health and happiness - new dimensions for living

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Coffee Breaks for Physical Health  | Mental Wellness  | Exercise on the job |

On wellness and health in the work place  Regular short breaks for stretching helps prevent repetitive-strain-injuries (RSI's)

For an increasing number of people who spend hours working with a keyboard-mouse-computer, or many types of assembly line work, regular stretching exercises are often prescribed by massage therapists / physiotherapists to relieve and help treat chronic tension and muscle spasms (in the neck-back-arms) from keyboarding -- which in turn often contributes to neck problems and carpal tunnel syndrome and other repetitive stress injuries for office and assembly line workers

The following graphic features Anjolico the wireless cat, a cartoon character created by Tony Yau, BFA, MVA in Hong Kong. Anjolico is regularly featured in both print and web publications dealing with the job market and the work place humor. Here we have Anjolico encouraging regular "shoulder-roll exercises" as part of a program of injury prevention for office workers.  We see the animated worker rotating his shoulders from front to back.

We recommend you consult your doctor, physiotherapist or registered neuromuscular massage therapist for help with repetitive stress injuries.  Drugs and surgery are not necessarily the only way to deal with problems.

Do you find it hard to get enough "exercise" to keep "trim"?  Below we see Anjolico walking more in the course of normal work in an office environment.  How many of you remember Canada's "Participaction" health and fitness promotion campaign?

If possible get outside during your coffee break and enjoy the sunshine as a way of appreciating what we have.

Anjolico also has been used to help children learn about fire safety and public health (good hygiene practices) during the 2002-2003 SARS Health Problems in Hong Kong an Asia. We will share samples of those comics in future feature web pages - as we look on wellness and safety issues for families with young children.

Other web sites about workplace health · safety · wellness

• Canada www.worksafebc.com "the Workers' Compensation Board of BC web site, provides health and safety information for the employers and workers of British Columbia." (04.06.12 website quote)
• USA www.cdc.gov/niosh/homepage.html "NIOSH Home Page - National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.... Providing national and world leadership to prevent work-related illnesses and injuries." (04.06.12 website quote)
• Information Sheets
  • http://www.physiotherapy.ca/informationsheets.htm fr. Facts to go from Canadian Physiotherapy Association (CPA)
  • Repetitive Strain Injury www.physiotherapy.ca/pdfs/RepetitiveStrain.pdf
    "RSI affects about 2.3 million Canadians every year.  Learn the signs and symptoms of RSI and some simple prevention techniques."

    "A major occupational hazard  Repetitive strain injury [emphasis added] (RSI) is a blanket term used to describe more than 20 disorders of the musculoskeletal system, including carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis and bursitis. RSI can affect anyone involved in work that requires frequent repetitive motion of their arms or hands. Its more likely to happen if these movements are combined with awkward posture and/or excessive force in work or leisure activities. For example, office workers on computers, musicians, labourers and assembly line workers may all experience symptoms of RSI at some point in their career.

    RSI is one of today's major occupational hazards, affecting approximately 2.3 million Canadians1 annually. Many of these injuries can be prevented with improved work habits and posture (ergonomics). Ergonomics is an applied science directed at the design and arrangement of work tools and equipment to ensure products and environments are comfortable, safe and efficient for people to use." [for the rest of this very useful article click on link above, for the 212k pdf file] [website quote 04.06.12]
    
    
    

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• Canada, www.massagetherapy.bc.ca Registered Massage Therapists of B.C. web site
• USA www.amtamassage.org "The American Massage Therapy Association® represents more than 48,000 massage therapists in 27 countries. AMTA works to establish massage therapy as integral to the maintenance of good health and complementary to other therapeutic processes; to advance the profession through ethics and standards, certification, school accreditation, continuing education, professional publications, legislative efforts, public education, and fostering the development of members. " [quote website 04.06.12]
• www.hkin.educ.ubc.ca/School University of British Columbia, School of Human Kinetics
• www.bcak.bc.ca BC Association of Kinesiologists
• www.ccupeka.ca Canadian Council of University Physical Education and Kinesiology Administrators
• www.educ.uvic.ca/phed University of Victoria School of Physical Education
• www.fas.sfu.ca/kin Simon Fraser University School of Kinesiology [warning this page begins with large FLASH file]
• www.twu.ca/academics/structure/humankinetics.asp Trinity Western University School of Human Kinetics

About Us - OnWellness.info

This web site is project of a group of health care and health promotion professionals.  The site has a volunteer reference group, including:  a medical doctor, nurse, long-term-care facility director, music therapy, social work and rehabilitation consultants and lawyers

The providers of this web sites information reference materials, including links to other resources on the Internet's Web, or organizations / agencies / facilities - do not accept responsibility for the accuracy - dependability of the information sources.  By use of this site you as the viewer must make your own informed decision as to the information given and or linked to or referred to. 

If you do not wish to accept responsibility for being a consumer of the information or references on this site, please do not go further into the site.

Thank you for visiting this "work in process"
On behalf of the participating professionals that are contributing to this web site's development

Yoying Orosa,
Music Therapy and Social Work Consultant
OnWellness Inc. Vancouver, BC
consultus@onwellness.info
2004.05.19

Credits

Visit www.jobmarket.com.hk/coffee_corner/Coffee_anjolico.cfm to see Anjolico cartoon as a regular feature of this Job Market web site.

The photo collage-banner at the top of this page is intended to give viewers an idea of the conceptualization behind this web project.  The concepts of "health and wellness / well-being" include KNOWLEDGE, having access to reference information; COMMUNICATION, through various medium (as in music therapy); and SECURITY, the sense of safety provided by social-political structures and systems to help experience one's well-being e.g. private and public personal-care / long term care facilities.

For more information about Tony Yau's work as a cartoonist and commercial graphic designer, go to www.metrotown.info/china-hongkong/job-market/

The provenance of the photos on this page include:

• Photo of music therapists at work in a residential long term care facility in downtown Vancouver, BC, collection of Y.Orosa, Music Therapy and Social Work Consultant, recently returned from London, UK work with the British health care system.
• Book shelf photo from Public Library, Reference Department, section on introductory texts on traditional and alternative medicine, drug dictionaries, treatment guides, taken by N.Chan
• Cartoon character, Anjolico the wireless cat, is provided by Tony Yau, B.F.A, M.V.A, graphic designer and illustrator, with training from York University in Toronto and the University of Alberta in Visual Arts... This cartoon character is a regular feature in a number of China web sites as well as Hong Kong print newspapers e.g. the Sing Tao