Healthy work-life balance can benefit the heart, research shows
BOSTON - New research shows a healthy work-life balance can benefit the heart.
Researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Penn State University implemented workplace interventions designed to improve work-life balance at an IT company and a long-term care company.
For example, supervisors were given direction on how to show support for employees' personal and family lives and workers were allowed greater control over their schedules and duties.
They found that employees who were over 45 and had risk factors for heart disease who were exposed to these workplace interventions had a significant drop in their cardiovascular risk, without any negative impact on their productivity. They said the impact is likely greater for low- and middle-wage workers who traditionally have less control over their schedule and more demanding jobs.