A year and a half into the COVID-19 pandemic and months into the rollout of the vaccines to counter the diseases, more working Filipinos have become less anxious of going out to attend to their necessities.
Respondents of the 2021 PhilCare Wellness Index: The Philippine Roadmap to the Next Normal said they are more comfortable to go to the hospital now compared to the start of the pandemic.
For this year’s study, a total of 1,500 respondents nationwide were asked to rate themselves from a five-point scale through a nationwide telephone survey from September 4-20, 2021.
With regard to degrees of agreement, scores ranging from 1-1.80 represented “strongly agree,” 1.81-2.60 as “agree,” 2.61-3.40 as “neither,” 3.41-4.20 as “disagree,” and 4.21-5 as “strongly disagree.”
A total of 505 working Filipinos were also interviewed for the 2020 PhilCare CQ Wellness Index.
Interestingly, workers have also become more comfortable in going to the supermarket, with the score jumping from 2.85 (“neither”) to 2.46 (“agree”).
While working Filipinos “strongly agree” about washing hands properly, with a score of 1.43, this was significantly lower than the 1.15 score for the same behavior last year.
The same goes for disinfecting items bought outside before bringing them into the house, which also declined from 1.49 to 1.67.
“With the study, we get a better picture of how Filipino workers have adjusted after more than a year into the pandemic and how going through the new normal affects their health and wellness,” said Dr. Fernando Paragas, lead researcher of the 2021 PhilCare Wellness Index and a professor at the College of Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines-Diliman.
The Philippine Roadmap To The Next Normal is the fourth PhilCare Wellness Index national survey since it was first done in 2014.
“We found it very important to conduct this very relevant study at a time when people are raring to return to their workplaces while conducting them in a safe manner since the virus. At the end of the day, we want to help the economy and our fellow Filipinos move past our current situation into a healthier and safer next normal,” said Dr. Enrique Ona, Chairman of the 2021 PhilCare Wellness Index and former Health Secretary.
PhilCare President and CEO Jaeger Tanco said the study was undertaken to determine the state of health and wellness of employed Filipino workers who are at the center of concerted efforts to reopen the economy and reinvigorate business and industry.
“People obviously play a very key role in the effort of businesses – and the country in general – to recover from the effects of the pandemic. This study was developed and implemented with the goal of finding out how prepared employees are as they navigate the transition between the COVID-19 new normal and the prospective next normal,” he said.
“Understanding the employees gives a very clear guide on how we can all get back on our feet,” he added.
The respondents were randomly selected from Metro Manila and over 60 provinces across the country, who are currently employed mostly in the services sector (81.9%), followed by those in the industrial (16%) and agricultural sectors (2.1%).
Services and sales workers comprised the biggest group of respondents (45.9%), followed by technicians and associate professionals (15.8%), and professionals (14.7%).
Almost two-thirds of respondents (64.5%) worked for the private sector, while another 10.4% worked for the government. The rest worked as either employer in their own family-operated farm or business (7.9%), self-employed without any paid employee (7.5%), worked for a private household (6.6%), worked with pay in their own family-operated farm or business (2.1%), or worked with pay in the same business set-up (1%).
Only 7.6% of respondents said they do not want to be vaccinated.
In addition, half (49.1%) have not been vaccinated, with 34.7% expressing willingness to get a shot and 14.4% having a vaccination schedule already at the time the survey was done.
A quarter of respondents (26.2%) have been fully-vaccinated, while one in five (17.1%) have gotten their first of two shots.
Compared to pre-pandemic days, Filipino workers now see healthcare as among the top three things they value in their workplace, alongside good salary and financial stability of the company.
Having a healthcare program in the office ranks third with a score of 1.46, with salary as first (1.43) and financial stability of employer (1.45). Healthcare even ranks higher than the usual worker values, such as appreciation among peers, good relationship with colleagues, work-home balance, having a good boss, career growth, and skills training.
Around six out of ten respondents (56.9%) said that having a healthcare program in the office is “much more important” now than before the pandemic.
This ranks fourth compared to those who said the same for salary (62%), financial stability of their employer (58.1%), and appreciation for their work (57.4%).
“The pandemic brought us to our senses in many ways, but in the end, it’s all about going back to basics – taking care of the human person’s basic needs, including health. This is why I believe that employers should view spending for healthcare as an investment rather than an expense. After all, having good health is a basic right,” said Dr. Ona.
“As for workers, they should understand that achieving good health in the workplace is a partnership with their respective employers. It is, in fact, a personal responsibility, which means they still must practice proper nutrition, exercise, and avoid vices as much as possible,” he added.
“For this year’s study, we wanted to bring attention to our workers and their health and well-being. Our employees are the lifeblood of our companies, which power the economy. Simply said, taking care of our workforce is also taking care of our economy,” said PhilCare chairman Monico Jacob.
“In our desire to become a more responsible HMO amid this continuing health crisis, we intend to launch new programs and services that would enable employers to address the needs of their employees to keep their enterprises going. In fact, we have already launched services catering to mental health concerns since many of these came out during the pandemic,” Tanco said.