Meri Kirihimete!

A Special Message from Janet Brothers

This time of year, I like to take every opportunity to reflect and indulge in a deep sense of gratitude for you, our loyal customers, your staff, and our own people, who are all vigorous in their efforts to provide professional, friendly, and excellent service. 

Here at Life Care, the leadership team feels fortunate that we have continued to find real star quality staff who help us help you and your staff to lead your best and healthiest lives, even during some challenging times recently. That’s not to say we wouldn’t still love for the New Zealand government to open the borders and welcome in many more of those much-needed skilled, enthusiastic, and experienced professionals!

We love what we do here, and I’ve enjoyed reading the many appreciative, often heartfelt emails, receiving phone calls, and spot-checking survey responses we get from you and your staff that reaffirms for our health consultants, trainers, salespeople, and administrative teams, the positive and empowering impact we have on the lives of those around us.

Each message especially solidifies for our “on the ground people”, our health consultants, they’re doing a great job, they’re in the right job, and only with their help can Life Care achieve what we have set out to do…

Empower kiwis to live well and save lives.

With the world returning to a ‘kinda’ new normal, we can all finally look forward to, and enjoy, a proper break and come back with a renewed energy we may have missed out on in the last couple of years! Life Care is certainly looking forward to the work we have ahead of us, and we trust that what we plan over the next five years will better serve the working Tangata in our country.

Have a fantastic break!

Everyone at Life Care looks forward to working with you again in 2023.

Kindest wishes, Janet

Life Care Consultants is open until midday Friday, 23rd December 2022
and we return to service on Monday, 16th January 2023
We will have skeleton staff available to accommodate customers who remain operational during this period. 

A Touch of Island Tradition with Pai Fala
From our very own Internal Account Manager, Josephine Faalupega

Ingredients

• Butter – 250 g
• White sugar – 1¾ cups
• Eggs – 4 yolks
• Plain flour – 3 cups
• Pineapple pieces in syrup – 425 g
• Pineapple crushed in syrup – 425 g
• Water – 4 cups
• Milk – 2 cups
• Custard powder – 3/4 cup
• Thickened cream – 250 g
• Peaches in juice – 1 can

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C. Grease the base and sides of a large Pyrex lasagne dish generously with butter.
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar then stir in the egg yolks and mix well.
3. Stir in the flour one cup at a time, then knead the mixture in the bowl with your hands until it comes together. Turn it out onto the bench and knead lightly to a smooth dough that doesn’t stick to your hands.
4. Break the dough into pieces and starting at the rim of the dish, press the dough onto the sides and then the base until covered. Use a can from your pantry to roll over the base and sides to smooth them. Prick all over with a fork. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
5. Place the pineapple pieces in a sieve and crush lightly with a masher to make smaller chunks. Add the crushed pineapple and leave to the drain.
6. In a large saucepan, heat the water, 1 cup of milk, and the sugar. Stir and bring to a boil.
7. In a small mixing bowl, combine the custard powder and the remaining cup of milk and mix until smooth.
8. When the liquid has boiled, reduce the heat, and whisk in the custard mixture, stirring continuously until it starts to thicken. Add the drained pineapple and stir. Simmer, stirring until the mixture is a thick, dolloping consistency. Pour into the baked case. Once cooled, chill in the fridge until set.

To serve: Stir the Thickened Cream lightly in its bottle, then dollop it on top of the chilled pie and spread with a spatula. Use a fork to make swirls in the cream and decorate with canned peaches and seasonal fruit.

Cook’s tip: Toppings can include fresh seasonal fruit or canned fruit, toasted coconut, or chopped nuts (optional).

Spotlight on Mental Health in the Workplace, it’s no longer an elephant in the room

Recently the WHO and US Surgeon General released documents outlining and reframing mental health in the workplace. There are many reasons which have brought this need for rethinking and adjusting workplace awareness of mental health to the fore, and perhaps without the pandemic, we may not have seen this action for another five or more years. However, it couldn’t have come at a more suitable time. Read more here.

In his introduction to “The U.S. Surgeon General’s Framework for Mental Health & Wellbeing in the Workplace”, released in October 2022, Vivek H. Murthy, Surgeon General of the United States notes; “Today, more and more workers are worried about making ends meet, dealing with chronic stress, and struggling to balance the demands of both work and personal lives. The toll on their mental health is growing. The pandemic also sparked a reckoning among many workers who no longer feel that sacrificing their health, family, and communities for work is an acceptable trade-off. Organizations are also increasingly aware of another trade-off: When the mental health of workers suffers, so does workplace productivity, creativity, and retention.”

The full report can be downloaded here: Workplace Mental Health & Well-Being — Current Priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General (hhs.gov)

Until now, Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) have been the sole workplace benefit offered to respond to mental health when it “spills over” into the workplace and what many businesses and (EAP) service providers have seen is that for over three decades, EAP hasn’t gained more traction or engagement beyond an average 12% mark. This is not to say these programmes are a failure, in fact, EAPs are very successful, they just seem to have reached the proverbial ceiling. They are also mostly reactive programmes and reliant on an employee making contact when something the employee can’t control, understand or comprehend, happens.
This brings us to a natural evolution, an opportunity to embrace change and offer new, fresh, and improved solutions.

Life Care has been exploring and discovering new programmes, solutions, and technological advances that are all focused on mental well-being at work. We are also eager to include at least one of these solutions in our product suite soon. We look forward to sharing this with you once we are confident and certain we have a robust service to offer that will be human and tangible and will empower you, your staff, and the wider community.

Our Courses and Services

Life Care Consultants provide extensive training programmes in first aid, wellness, fire safety and much more, as well as health and injury services. All our programmes can be designed and delivered at your place or ours and tailored for your particular industry or organisation.

Get in touch with the team

If you are interested in seeing how we can help your staff, please contact our team on 0800 493 559 or email us info@lifecare.co.nz

Please note that any articles presented in this newsletter are for educational purposes only. Before making changes to your diet or exercise, you should always consult a Doctor.