Wellness Library

A critical first step in organizing your company’s wellness program is the formation of a Workplace Wellness Program Committee. The focus of the Workplace Wellness Program Committee is to plan, encourage, and start the program. The Workplace Wellness Program Committee establishes continuity, motivation, and broad ownership of the program as well as provides an great vehicle for communication.

So who ought to be on the Worksite Wellness Program Committee? Consider appointing the following people/departments to your Worksite Wellness Program Committee:

• Upper Management within your company
• Union representatives
• Human Resources (HR) department
• Employee Assistance Program
• Information technology
• Communications
• Health and safety department
• workers interested in health and wellbeing

Building a successful Company Wellness Program requires employee time as well as money. Some larger corporations may invest 20 hours per week for three to six months preparing all the steps prior to initiating a Company Wellness Program.

Anywhere from 4 to ten people meeting monthly equals a Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee. A mission statement for the Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee should be developed by the second meeting. This way, everyone knows what the Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee is working toward.

Once a wellness program has been established, the committee’s size and meeting schedule may change. Still, no fewer than 4 members must meet at least quarterly so the group – and the wellness program – does not fade away.

Support from senior staff is critical to building a efficacious wellness program! Visible senior staff support is one of the most vital factors in the success of a workplace Workplace Health Promotion Program. Management executives are responsible for making sure that the organization meets its objectives. They can provide additional assistance by supporting you to link your Workplace Health Promotion Program objectives to organization outcomes, thereby positioning Workplace Health Promotion Program as a fundamental part of the organization.

It is significant to create support and excitement for the program from all echelons of the business including upper management, mid-level management, and grass-root workers.

The challenge for any Worksite Wellness Program coordinator is convincing management about the potential value of Worksite Wellness Program to the business and conceptualizing how Worksite Wellness Program initiatives can influence the business in a meaningful manner. The American Journal of Health Promotion is a great resource to support you with obtaining convincing information on the advantages of a Worksite Wellness Program.

Workplace Wellness Program reinforcement from management can come in a myriad of different ways:

• Involvement in the wellness program planning process
• Distribution of funding for the wellness program
• Support for time given to the wellness program
• Participation in wellness programs
• Leadership by management, such as the distribution of a letter of reinforcement for the program.
• Flexibility of employee schedules to accommodate wellness activities

The first step in beginning your wellness/Worksite Wellness Program is to know your business and how Worksite Wellness Program will fit into the current structure. By researching your organization’s history with similar programs and eliciting feedback from co-workers, you can find the best solution for your business.

Employee Health Promotion Program: Research Questions

• Find out if Workplace Health Promotion Program has been done in the past. If so, what worked and what did not?
• Was it widely accepted?
• Was programming thriving? Why or why not?
• What does your organization hope to gain from implementing a Company Health Promotion Program?

Answers to these questions will help you begin the process of creating a culture of wellness within your business. It is imperative that you evaluate the environment before starting a program.

The costs of medical care have been rising more than ten percent each year for several years. A substantial amount of the money spent in the medical care system treats costly illnesses and diseases.

• Approximately 95 percent of the $1.4 trillion that we spend as a nation on health goes to direct medical services, while about 5 percent is allocated to preventing disease and promoting health.
• Potentially, 50 percent to 70 percent of all diseases are avoidable as they are associated with modifiable health risks.
• In an effort to optimize employee health, lower preventable medical utilization and enhance work achievement, and in turn reduced medical expenditures and improve employee satisfaction and retention, many organizations are developing, or are interested in developing, Worksite Wellness Programs for workers.

The benefits of workplace wellness are well documented. Greater than 120 research studies repeatedly show themes such as improvements in health outcomes coupled with high returns on investment (ROI). Some primary findings include the following:

• Savings of $3.48 in reduced medical costs per dollar invested.
• Savings of $5.82 in decrease absenteeism expenditures per dollar invested.
• ROIs of at least $3 to $8 per dollar invested within five years of program implementation.
• Lifestyle behavior change programs: $3 to $6 return on investment within 2 to 5 years.
• Self care, decision support programs: $2 to $3 ROI within a year.
• Disease Management (DM) programs: $7 to $10 ROI within a year.

By offering health improvement programs, businesses are not only offering an additional service for staff members, but they are also gaining fiscally. Furthermore, the effect of a health improvement program goes beyond decreased medical cost and ROI. A health improvement program can affect work rate, absenteeism, morale, recruitment success, turnover, and medical costs.

• Source: Rees, C., and Finch, R. (2004). Health Improvement: A comprehensive guide to designing, implementing and evaluating worksite programs. National Business Group on Health, 1 (1), 1-7.

According to the American Journal of Health Promotion, “Health promotion is the science and art of helping people shift their lifestyle to move toward a state of ideal health. Optimal health is defined as a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual health. Lifestyle change can be facilitated through a combination of efforts to enhance awareness, shift behavior, and set up environments that support great health practices. Of the three, supportive environments will probably have the greatest impact in producing lasting change.”

Company Health Promotion Program: Action Steps

The process of assembling a Employee Health Promotion Program involves:

• Identifying the current health status of your workers
• Determining the appropriate programs and interventions to offer
• Promoting and implementing the programs
• Building in motivational incentives and rewards
• Measuring the effect
• Revising programs based on assessment outcomes

It may even include beginning policies and procedures that support employee participation in wellness activities at your workplace (such as flextime).

Steps to Starting a Corporate Wellness Program

• Conduct an employer assessment
• Obtain senior staff reinforcement
• Establish a Workplace Wellness Program Committee
• Get employee input
• Establish goals
• Design and implement program activities
• Identify incentives/rewards
• Assess outcomes

One of the ways the government plans to improve the nation’s health is through accross the board Corporate Health Promotion Programs. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, these programs may help workers live healthier lifestyles by creating supportive work environments and offering awareness, education and behavior modification programs. In fact, one of the objectives of Healthy People 2010, a set of health objectives for the nation to achieve by the year 2010, is to increase the proportion of workers that participate in a accross the board Corporate Health Promotion Program at their worksite to 75 percent.

5 Ways to Review and Improve Your workers’ Health

Emotional health is a state of wellness that comes from understanding and acknowledging our emotions and finding appropriate ways to express them. As staff members, we frequently bring emotional concerns from our childhood or current family life into the workplace because we haven’t dealt with them effectively outside of work. This can seriously damage workplace relationships and lead to poor achievement and detrimental feelings all around.

Many tools and techniques exist for helping us better our emotional health. Some of the most common are given below, with real-life case histories illustrating their use. If an unpleasant mood or feeling persists over a length of time, do not hesitate to seek out a qualified professional. Employee Wellness Programs usually have professional support already in place as part of their services.

1. Health Coaching / Health Counseling:
One of the hallmarks of emotional health is the willingness to ask for help when we need it. Confidential professional help, the coaching and counseling given by employee assistance or wellness programs, can offer an external source of strength and insight for “working out” emotionally-based problems rather than “working them in” to your work.

2. Self-help Groups:
Self-help groups are designed to aid people in emotional situations in which they feel alone. The purpose of these groups is twofold: to allow people to safely feel and express their emotions, and to help break their isolation at work and/or in society at large and reintegrate them into society with the reinforcement of a peer group.

The classic self-help group is Alcoholics Anonymous, but thanks to technology, it’s possible to join with others that have common health challenges, no matter how unique the situation. People are taking advantage of tele-conference groups and social websites, such as sparkpeople.com and revolutionhealth.com. Workplace Health Promotion Programs often have such groups available through online or phone support. Progressive corporate wellness provider Exan Wellness, for example, offers teleconference cell groups and moderated wellness forums for interacting with others in a supportive, confidential and anonymous environment. People with shared challenges get together and discuss the emotional challenges they are facing at work or in other areas of their lives and work through change together.

3. Journaling: Journaling is frequently recommended by counsellors as a way to help identify and process emotions. People record their emotions in writing as they experience them, in whatever form they wish. By helping the writer gain greater emotional clarity, journaling can help in making more emotionally informed decisions. In much the same way, letter writing enables people to identify and process the emotions they feel in relation to others. The letter need not be sent or its contents shared: it simply supports a place for the expression of feelings.

An 18-year-old “army brat,” Brent has always done well at school, academically and athletically. But in his last year of high school, something seems to have happened to him. He has lost all interest in school, becoming moody and withdrawn.

Brent describes to his guidance counselor all the times he had to move when he was growing up. Each move wrenched him from his friends and forced him to play the role of the “new kid on the block.” The counselor suggests that Brent write letters to the friends he has missed over the years telling them how he felt. Finally, he has a chance to say a proper goodbye.

4. Review Your Emotional Wellness: Companies that seek to boost employees’ interpersonal skills, or emotional intelligence in the worksite are more successful, according to ground-breaking journalist Daniel Goleman. And emotional intelligence is the buzzword in workplaces these days. Some Workplace Wellness Programs have information about emotional intelligence, or emotional health assessments. Seek out more information about emotional intelligence for better corporate wellness.

5. Friendships/Support Systems: Friendships allow people to feel supported in their emotional journeys. At the same time, they give people an opportunity to foster their empathetic skills. These skills are also significant for worksite health. When we are empathic with fellow staff members, we help them resolve detrimental or unhealthy emotions. New friendships are made through hobbies, classes, clubs, or even through internet based groups. Many people are finding emotional satisfaction by establishing relationships through Facebook and other social websites.

Sometimes workplace stress that is not dealt with in a healthy manner can be brought home. A 36-year-old mother of three, Sarah, wants to be a great wife, a great mother, and a success at her job. One day, drained after a long day at work, she shouted at her rambunctious children and threatened to hit her youngest son. Her behavior horrified her. To make matters worse, she believes she is a failure at her job as well as at motherhood. She watches with jealousy as younger co-workers advance much more rapidly up the corporate ladder despite having less experience than she has.

On the advice of a counselor, she decides to take time out for herself and take a course for amateur painters. It doesn’t take long before she strikes up a friendship with a single mom in the class. She once led a life very similar to Sarah’s before managing to achieve a better balance between work and family. Her new friend becomes a much-necessitated sounding board for Sarah and offers her perspectives on her life that she hadn’t considered before.

25% Jump in Employer Interest in Employee Health and Wellness

Job Site wellness for their employees, corporations are discovering, is wonderful for the health of their corporations as well. Worksite Health Promotion Programs help to cut the expenditures associated with poor employee health, which include absenteeism, loss of work rate and poor work quality.

A current Hewitt Associates survey of over 500 U.S. companies indicated a important paradigm shift in how companies view health benefits for their workers. Of those surveyed this year, 88 percent are committed to instituting long-term healthcare assistance programs (over the next 3-5 years) for their workers, with the goal of boosting the health and work rate of their workforce. This represents a 25 percent rise in interest in Company Health Promotion Programs over 2007.

A strong offering of Corporate Wellness Programs to meet the demand has resulted. Health assistance providers have broadened their programs with tools that address general lifestyle factors, physical, social and psychological health factors. Programs look to predict chronic conditions in their employees and give them the tools and the information to prevent it. Businesses also demand a way to measure the success of their health care spending.

“Self-care is our motive,” says Vic Lebouthillier, president of progressive health and wellness provider Exan Wellness.”We really believe giving employees tools to help them manage their own health, and promoting the benefits, while giving people resources to reach out for help is the key to successful lifestyle modification. Corporations are also telling us they need a cost-effective way to deliver Worksite Wellness Programs. The type of program we have developed over years delivers the highest healthcare return on investment.”

Combining workplace wellness promotions, web-based assessments and health trackers, web-based health information, telephone conferences and self-help groups, and access to a wide variety of health professionals, is behind the success of the Exan program. “Having web-based statistics about workers’ health also makes it easier to track the bottom line – return on investment” says Vic Lebouthillier.

“Employers are moving beyond their traditional role as a provider of medical care benefits to develop holistic programs that pinpoint the specific health needs of their employee populations, drive employee behavior modification and eliminate barriers to healthcare,” says Jim Winkler, leader of Hewitt’s health management consulting practice.

Still, in a separate survey of 30,000 workers, 74 percent said that, although they felt their company had an obligation to help them be aware of how to use their health benefits program, only 12 percent felt the company had any right to tell them how to be healthy. Based on these results, employers need to drive home the fact that improved health is better for their workers as well as the company. It’s a win-win situation.

Employers and employees did find common ground when it came to future medical care. Both surveys indicate that 95% of employees know that their taking care of their health today will impact future healthcare payments. A similar percentage also know the significant of early detection and prevention when it comes to saving on healthcare costs.

Cost is significant for most organizations as well. Over 80 percent of those surveyed made cost mitigation a priority for 2008, but those cuts did not involve shifting responsibility for medical care onto employees. Although 64 percent of organizations have shifted expenditures to their employees, only 17 percent plan  to do so in the next 3-5 years. Similarly with health reimbursement accounts, 20 percent now offer these, but only about 5 percent plan  to use them in 2008.

These survey results indicate corporations are getting more proactive in supporting their staff members to shift behaviors and take ownership of their own health futures. This is obviously good for the wellbeing of staff members, but also for the wellbeing of the corporations they work for. Almost half the corporations surveyed were convinced that changing health behaviors was key to improved productivity and decrease absentee rates. Over 60 percent intend  to institute programs that help staff members modify and/or sustain a healthier lifestyle. Almost of these corporations will also use data and measurements to be sure their health care strategies meet their health care objectives?

It is obvious to virtually every American (especially those of us in business) that healthcare costs are skyrocketing out of control. No one doubts that either the market will solve the problem OR the government will impose one on us. Managed care has failed from either a cost containment or quality of care perspective. Businesses have reached the point where the expense of offering health insurance is almost as burdensome as government regulation. It’s time for some new thinking on healthcare and its effect on business and vice versa. “Corporate wellness” as an operational perspective instead of merely window dressing is one way to deal effectively with rising healthcare costs.

The Insurance Problem

The first step in fixing the concern is to realize that an employee’s health is their own responsibility. Expecting corporations to offer unlimited health insurance coverage is simply unrealistic and unreasonable. It’s time for corporations (on a broad scale) to reconsider their role in providing health insurance coverage. Instead of providing complete coverage for all workers through group plans, corporations should start to shift the burden of health coverage to those covered.

Here’s the approach. Provide catastrophic medical insurance as a group benefit to all employees with a large enough deductible (say $5000 per employee) to make the cost affordable for the organization. Then, allow employees to buy their own medical insurance policies (based on their own needs) and pay for them through payroll deduction with pre-tax earnings. There are numerous insurance companies that sell individual plans on this basis. Everybody wins. Staff Members can tailor their coverage to their own needs and circumstances using their own doctors. Corporations win by stopping the endless cycle of rising costs and ever-changing plans. And when individuals become responsible for the cost of their own insurance, they become more attentive to their own health. Besides, if an employee is interested in working for you ONLY because your organization offers great insurance benefits aren’t they telling you they’re going to cost you more money in the future?

Design a “Wellness Culture”

Our current “sickness culture” perpetuates the health care crisis and hastens the demise of market-based solutions. By sickness culture, I mean our focus on health concerns instead of on having a healthy worksite and performance culture.

So, what would a “wellness culture” look like? First, rather than paid sick days, staff members might be rewarded at year’s end with an attendance bonus. Employees would be reimbursed for successful completion of tobacco cessation and weight-loss programs. Organizations would invest in corporate memberships at local health clubs so every employee can take part. Employees would be offered in-house wellness programs on a variety of issues ranging from ergonomics to stress management. Finally, corporations would commit to hiring and retaining healthy staff members. Simply put, healthy staff members cost less and are more advantageous than unhealthy ones. Applicants ought to be screened for health habits and practices that limit their productivity and improve the likelihood of future expense. While this may seem harsh, it rewards those staff members whose personal lifestyle and habits ensure the best Return on Investment by the business committing to hire, train and pay them.

Be open to “alternative and complementary” approaches

Research studies published in primary medical care journals reveal that individuals who use “alternative and complementary” health modalities (including chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga and massage) are generally healthier, better educated, take fewer medications and miss fewer days from work than the average American. Since these individuals look for ways to stay healthy without drugs and surgery, they end up being a net benefit in terms of attendance and work rate. Old prejudices in this area must be discarded in order for businesses to better work rate and boost profitability

Conclusion

Medical Care costs are growing at a staggering pace. Managed care is an abysmal failure. Organizations are buckling under the pressure of providing health coverage to their workers. American competitiveness in the market is sagging. These times call for extraordinary solutions. It’s time for American corporations to consider some out-of-the-box solutions to the medical care crisis. Employer wellness is an approach that is timely, achievable and reasonable given the alternatives. All options should be considered while we still have a chance.

Research spanning more than a decade has consistently shown Company Health Promotion Programs to be monetarily effective and that every dollar invested on a corporate wellness program can return $2.30 and $10.10 by lowering absenteeism, sick day usage and by lowering insurance expenditures. Additionally it is noted that there are marked improvements in employee success and productivity in corporations that start a Company Health Promotion Program.

Healthy businesses enjoy enhanced employee morale and an improved ability to attract and retain key people. Additionally, employees are more alert and constructive. For instance, Coca Cola reports that they save an estimated $500 a year per employee once they implemented a fitness program in which 60 percent of their employees participate. Coors Brewing Business published that employees who participated in their Workplace Health Promotion Programs reduced their absentee rate by 18%.

workers enjoy their share of benefits from Corporate Health Promotion Programs too. A healthy lifestyle affects every part of a person’s life, including their work environment. Corporate Health Promotion Programs result in fewer injuries, less human error and a work environment that is more harmonious and relaxed. Additionally, workers who work at a employer that implements a Corporate Health Promotion Program know that their employer is concerned about their wellbeing and health. Staff Members frequently report a decline in their stress levels due to Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

As workers feel better, more relaxed, more valued and more human to their organization; they enjoy an increase in productiveness. This growth in productiveness, while advantageous to the organization, is also important to the employee as it increases their own sense of self worth and confidence levels. Workers who feel successful and who feel that they accomplish objectives are overriding happier and in a better frame of mind.

The benefits of Employee Health Promotion Programs, both tangible and intangible, are evident. It is a wise move for a business to start a Employee Health Promotion Program, particularly when they incorporate some form of mental health aspect into it. This also has social benefits as domestic violence and child abuse is established to be lowered in areas where wellness programs are implemented. These days, a business can almost not afford to have some sort of wellness program to offer to their employees.

Some of the top wellness programs currently in use today include:

Health Risk Assessments or HRAs

Health Risk Assessment is a top corporate wellness program currently in use globally. Corporations that implement it determine the safety and health issues of staff members by the assessment of appropriateness of the facilities and equipment against the needs of the staff members.

It can, for example, guide the organization into determining how the air quality within an office room impacts the users and then help the assessment group to come up with the measures necessary to correct the issue. An HRA can also evaluate the level of exposure workers have to certain hazardous or dangerous materials and practices.

Immunizations

This isn’t always practiced in every country since there are regions where government sponsored immunization shots are available. Nonetheless, it has also become an valuable component of the top Worksite Health Promotion Programs in numerous employers in North America.

Immunization shots, such as those used to combat flu, for example, are provided to workers for free.

Employee Assistance Program

EAPs consist of a wide variety of services. It can range from offering educational resources to staff members regarding health concerns to sponsoring health services and health care. In numerous employers, medical and insurance have also become a staple part of their benefits system.

In-house nutrition drives

This is another wellness program that corporations use, especially those that offer in-house commissary or cafeteria services. Instead of serving richer, high-calorie fare, cafeterias offer options for a healthier diet, usually in the form of low-calorie foods and sugar substitutes.

In-house employee wellness newsletter and campaign drives

One of the top wellness programs that companies can start is a self-powered tool using a newsletter to reward wellness, coupled with a visible campaign. The campaign may be done periodically and focus on a specific topic, such as smoking hazards, cancer, stress, carpal tunnel syndrome, safety in the worksite, etc.

The employee wellness newsletter in itself can be an effective means to deliver information to workers or participants of a corporation but it is far from perfect. Some workers, for example, may not read the newsletter entirely or even pay attention to it. If the issues outlined in the newsletter are promoted through an active and highly visible campaign, it will be easier to maximize beneficial results.

Exercise and physical activity drives

Another top wellness program for corporations is one that involves physical activities. Employers frequently sponsor exercise-related events such as marathons and company sports programs to advocate staff members to remain fit or lose excess weight. In mid- to large-sized corporations, corporations may even pay for gym memberships or in-house exercise facilities.

Incentives and Rewards

Some of the top wellness programs implemented by corporations involve Rewards and Incentives. This involves organization-sponsored programs that reward employees for achieving specific wellness-related goals and objectives. Participation in health campaigns and signing up for wellness programs are two of the most generally rewarded schemes. Rewards can range from special recognitions to over time acquired points (for bigger rewards) to specific gifts. In a few cases, cash may also be used.

Nonetheless, incentive systems have had mixed reactions and levels of success. But it continues to be one of the top choices among employers who are willing to modify it in order to fit their unique needs.

Peer Pressure

In many businesses, businesses take advantage of peer pressure in order to promote staff members to take part in wellness programs. This is currently one of the favorite Company Wellness Programs currently in use today and growing in popularity. Peer pressure is often leveraged to help encourage competitions referring to workplace wellness and to persuade staff members to be active in corporation-sponsored wellbeing and health fairs.