Justine Alley is a co-owner of a veterinarian clinic, so she is unfortunately familiar with long hours, high pressure and stress. “I knew I needed to do more to look after myself, but I didn’t really know how to do it,” Justine explains. After joining AIA Vitality, Justine found it simple and fun to prioritise her health. “With AIA Vitality, it gave me small things to work on, so it was totally achievable, and you get rewarded for doing it.”
Beating burnout with AIA Vitality
There’s a high burnout rate in the veterinary industry, and the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened these pressures. “I’ve burnt out maybe four or five times in my career, and I just thought, I can’t do this anymore,” explains Justine. Linking her Garmin watch to AIA Vitality has helped Justine identify moments when she is stressed. “It has made me more mindful of what my body is doing,” says Justine. “It warns me of my stress levels – and so often it’s correct.” Justine uses these notifications as reminders to find small solutions, such as going for a walk outside or doing mindfulness exercises to lower her stress. “It’s really helped me break the pattern of just pushing through,” says Justine. AIA Vitality has also encouraged Justine to focus on getting more sleep. “Before AIA Vitality, I was shocking at getting enough sleep. I went from having four to five hours some nights to consistently getting seven a night.” Justine continues, “this programme has really helped me practise something every day rather than waiting for that point where I’m exhausted – it’s essentially helping me try and prevent burnout from happening in the first place.”
Healthy competition with herself
“I’m a competitive person, not so much against other people, but with myself,” explains Justine. “I just had to get as many points as possible to progress my AIA Vitality status, so I found myself doing all the proactive health checks to gain points.” The first time Justine took her AIA Vitality Health Check, a process that checks body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, total cholesterol and blood glucose levels, she unfortunately failed. Justine didn’t take this as defeat but used it as motivation instead. “The tests were good for me in a way. I knew I could only get better, so I made passing the test the following year my goal.” Justine took her first step by engaging an AIA Vitality nutrition consultant via Mission Nutrition who guided her on adopting healthy lifestyle habits. “I’ve since lost 16 kgs simply through eating well and getting more sleep – and I didn’t have to really think about it.” Justine also achieved her goal of passing the AIA Vitality Health Check the following year.
Justine’s new focus (and strategy of maintaining her AIA Vitality status) is to increase her activity. She plans on reaching her daily steps, which she likes to do with her newly adopted dog, and she’s looking for other activities that will increase her heart rate. “Making points makes it more exciting for me,” Justine explains. “And new things are added so I don’t lose enthusiasm.”
Leading the way
“Typically, vets and vet nurses don’t prioritise themselves. But as an owner of a practice, I try to lead by example and always encourage our team to take care of their wellbeing,” says Justine. “At the beginning of the lockdowns, we were thinking of ways to help our staff look after themselves, so we decided to buy the whole team Garmin watches and AIA health insurance cover to gain access to AIA Vitality.” Justine’s aim was to help people measure their sleep and stress levels so they could become more mindful of their wellbeing. “Many staff members have since fully embraced the programme – one ensures they make enough points to get 50% off Forme spa vouchers, while another staff member uses their Airpoints to buy plants at Mitre 10,” jests Justine.
Justine isn’t just leading the way by encouraging the wellbeing of her staff, she also shares her rewards for the betterment of others. “My goal is to try and get my points up every week so that I can donate my rewards to the Mental Health Foundation,” says Justine. “Looking after my health can also be my way of giving back, and I really like that.”
