Caring for vision and eye health is essential for completing everyday tasks and chores. However, poor eye health and conditions like vision impairment can harm productivity and workplace morale.
A study on the importance of investing in eye health highlighted that vision impairment affects 2.2 billion people as of 2023. Poor vision also costs businesses and governments. For example, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates a funding gap of $14.3 billion to address preventable vision loss. Meanwhile, people who are blind or have moderate or severe visual impairments results in approximately 30.2% productivity loss.
To help counter this growing eye health problem, researchers emphasize that investing in eye health can yield substantial returns. Vision is essential for different societal activities like work, education, and daily life. Improving vision can significantly impact productivity, learning, and household income.
Fortunately, there are different ways that employers and businesses can invest in employees' well being and health, not only for boosting productivity but to improve workplace morale and foster a positive company culture that prioritizes eye health.
Eye health and insurance
One of the best ways to invest in employee eye health is to ensure that your company's health insurance provider covers vision care. A study on the risk factors affecting eye care services found that being part of the low socioeconomic status class tends to lead to limited access to healthcare and a lack of knowledge regarding health-related issues, including eye health.
Researchers highlight that this includes access to health insurance, meaning that individuals from lower socioeconomic classes are often limited in their eye doctors and medical care options. In contrast, people in higher socioeconomic groups have a greater awareness of the importance of eye health thanks to improved access to health care.
Certain plans will cover different vision care concerns depending on the insurance provider. Some of the most common inclusions in a vision insurance plan include eye exams, eyewear, and other preventative care. Some insurance plans may include partial or full coverage for corrective surgeries like laser vision correction (LASIK), so it's best to ask your provider for more details.
Eyewear offerings
Aside from insurance coverage for vision and eye health, employers can also provide employees with eyewear. This is more commonly seen in workplaces that involve or have risks of eye injuries among employees, such as labor involving dangerous machinery and other technical tasks.
However, cubicle offices and desk-based employees can also highly benefit from protective or vision-corrective eyewear, especially in this digital age.
Nowadays, companies can provide employees with high-quality prescription eyeglasses for vision correction or gift cards for discounted or reduced purchases from reputable brands. Ray-Ban, for example, offers corporate gift options in the form of digital and physical gift cards and customized frames if you want a fun, stylish, and cohesive look in the workplace.
If you decide to provide employees with eyewear, it can help to pair the benefit with an insurance plan that covers routine eye exams. According to the CDC, about 11 million Americans require vision correction. At the same time, prescriptions can improve or worsen depending on daily screen time and other factors, which means employees may not be wearing the right prescription glasses at times. This can heavily impact their vision and cause headaches or dizziness after long work hours.
Promote eye health awareness
Finally, stepping up and taking the initiative to communicate the importance of eye health awareness can go a long way in investing in employee eye health. Sometimes, employees may not be wholly aware of their health benefits including vision or eye health coverage. Communicating this can be a friendly reminder and ensure employees stay on top of their eye health.
In a previous post on earning your team's respect, we highlighted the importance of communication for every stage of your work. Taking the time to spread eye health awareness helps normalize discussions. It encourages employees to be more open about potential eye health concerns in the workplace, such as excessive screen time, eye fatigue, or other symptoms.
Another great way to promote eye health awareness is to encourage a healthy work-life balance. You can try enforcing screen time limits to ensure employees take breaks from their computers or smartphones between long working hours. Some workplaces may also encourage physical activities to help offset excessive screentime at the office.
