IPC Media has unveiled an online wellbeing education service to help employees lead a healthy lifestyle, and has relaunched its employee assistance programme (EAP).

The website, Wellbeing Works, provides general advice and enables staff to register to receive weekly emails containing health and wellbeing tips tailored to their needs.

To register for the emails, staff must answer a questionnaire about their lifestyle, exercise regime and typical daily food intake.

The media firm has also run a new communications campaign for its EAP to encourage more employees, particularly male staff, to use the 24-hour counselling service.

An email has been sent to all staff directing them to a website about the EAP and an article about the service was included in IPC Media’s employee newsletter in June.

Ashley Bestwick, reward manager, explained: “Being in the media sector, we thought the need for support may be slightly higher than in other organisations. Our usage of the EAP over the 12 months up to mid-2007 was 3%. Of those who used the service, 80% were female. I’d like to see the [overall] usage [of the EAP] up to at least 6%.”

Nick Golding