Wellness Program Blog

A listing of potential wellness topics and ideas not previously mentioned follows. Take some time to “think tank and brainstorm” new ideas with your own internal worker Health Promotion Committee.

Nutrition Category

• Low-fat campaign/food groups

• Team salad bars

• Vending machine changes

• Diet analysis by a nutritionist

• Produce on parade

• Consuming disorder support group

• Restaurant education

Physical Activity/Exercise Category

• “Elevoiders” – stair climbing

• Poker walk

• Mall walking program

• Facilities – showers, bicycle lockers, exercise space, etc.

• Team treks

• Walk-a-block trails

• Recreational tournaments

• How-to-select equipment talks

• Running maps

• Bicycling maps

• Deskercises (mini stretches for desk jockeys)

• Fit-over-forty club

• Tennis shoe Tuesday

• Walk 100 miles in 100 days

• Walking “buddies”

• NW Trek!

Miscellaneous Category

• House calls

• Meet your benefits providers

• Dental health

• Fire safety

• Ergonomic assessments

• Self-help learning

• CPR/first aid course

• Hearing test

• Hand washing campaign

• Cancer screenings

• Back class

• Passports to health

• Vision screenings

Stress Management Category

• Comedy hour

• Stress Pest

• Humor newsletter

• Money management seminars

• Time management seminars

• Relaxation class

• Better sleep campaign

• Relaxation room

Other departments within an organization will likely focus on related areas of staff member safety and injury prevention. Wellness activities are a natural partner to many other HR, staff member motivation, and safety programs.

Body mechanics, ergonomics, and safe working practices are three areas which might  be coordinated together.

• Soft Tissue Sprains and Strains –  This injury category continues to remain the number one financial loss for workers’ compensation. Many medical insurance dollars are also spent on back pain, other sprains, and strains. Health Promotion and safety efforts can focus on –

• Warm up stretches before starting work or periodic stretching during work. These can do much to prevent soft tissue injury. Provide training to work groups so they could begin a stretching program. These groups can then continue their own.

• The wellness committee might consider contracting a fitness expert to come in and conduct stretching “refreshers” for employee groups throughout the year.

• Provide body mechanics training on an annual basis or more frequently when possible. These training sessions should focus on work related tasks and safety, in addition to feature a segment on home tasks and body safety.

• Partner with your corporation’s workers’ compensation carrier to assist in providing body mechanics training, job safety analysis, and other preventive services which may help personnel work safer, smarter, and avoid injury.

• Implement a safety concerns suggestion box. Make certain to encourage personnel to report safety and/or injury concerns. Make certain to help senior management to establish policy to recognize and reward personnel who offer safety suggestions, provide tips, and solution ideas.

• A periodic presentation featuring a local medical provider addressing such topics as safe body mechanics, recovering from a back injury, appropriate spine care, etc.

• Partner with executive management and supervisor teams to recognize and reward work groups who are successful with safety and injury prevention.

• The ergonomics of an employees’ workstation/work place design is important and applicable to every group.

• Give ergonomic training opportunities to interested personnel volunteers. These individuals can then assist other personnel to assess their work areas for safety, comfort, and injury prevention.

• It is often more effective to have an observer evaluate staff for helpful and friendly comfort suggestions rather than it’s for person to assess themselves.

• One suggestion is to have staff remind one another about correct posture, to take breaks, to stop and do quick mini stretches, etc.

• Take before and after photos of work areas as changes are made. This will help to demonstrate how small adjustment changes can often make large comfort changes.

• Partner with the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier to help develop ergonomic policies and practices and to provide worker training.

Tying wellness activities into holiday themes is a strategy widely used to develop interest and participation. However, be aware that offering holiday activities in the workplace can develop issues.

Your worksite may have policies and guidelines already in place about issues like appropriate decorations themes, work time, etc. Make certain to check with senior level management regarding all guidelines and policies.

Do not forget to include and acknowledge the holiday celebrations of the various cultures or groups represented in your workforce. It’s ordinarily safer to use graphics, themes, and wording that aren’t specific to one culture, as others may feel left out.

In truth, acknowledging diverse holidays, if done respectfully, can help familiarize your workforce with values and practices of different cultures and ethnic groups.

Several topical ideas for holiday themes include –

• Health Promotion committee members distribute “healthful heart valentines” to each staff member for Valentine’s Day.

• Thanksgiving “turkey trot”. Staff Members who exercise three times a week for at least one-half hour between November 1 and 15 are entered into a drawing for a free turkey (can be purchased at the local supermarket or donated).

• Chinese New Year tai chi demonstration. Consider a follow-up workplace introductory tai chi class offering.

• Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/etc. holiday food potluck. Members of different cultural or ethnic groups bring in a dish reflective of their holiday traditions.

Each individuals can say a few words about the origin and tradition behind the food. In this holiday theme, food does not have to be low fat or in particular healthful, since the purpose is enhancing cultural diversity, not counting calories.

Pre/Post Holiday Weigh In

Holiday weight gain may be a big health challenge. This wellness activity is fun, low-key, and helps workers monitor their weight during the holiday season.

• Participants weigh-in with a “trusted” confident before Thanksgiving.  The weigh-ins may  be conducted on the honor system, but weight ought to be recorded on a weight-tracking card. You may invite a local nurse or Weight Watchers representative to monitor weigh-ins.

• Employees set an individual goal of maintaining their weight from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.

• Weight cards are stored in a secure file location.

• Give weekly weight control hints. These must be posted next to the wellness bulletin board, sent via email, or provided in handout form.

• Or, alternate the weekly hints with healthy recipe options.

• Remind staff of the necessity to continue exercise during the busy holiday season.

• Weigh everybody the first work day following New Year’s Day. Record the weight on the tracking card.

• Staff Members who have maintained their weight or who have lost weight receive a prize and award certificate.

• Workers who gained weight receive a certificate of completion and an invitation to continue participation in a related health weight wellness activity.

National health observance campaigns can lighten workload and effort. Many of these well-developed observances have kits and materials which can either be downloaded for free or purchased inexpensively.

Monthly health themes, week Iong events, and nationally recognized days of the year are also good ways to have fun while participating in bigger events. Health observances are tied to almost every aspect of wellness and health. Things to consider –

• National observances present opportunities to work with other community agencies and organizations to coordinate larger events and celebrations.

• A wellness message is more likely to stick with people if the information is presented at work, in local supermarkets, and on TV.

• National Worker Fitness Day/Week (April) is a good place to begin.

• A word of advice – do not go overboard in attempting to tie a wellness program into these national observances, as there are so many. Select one to three events annually and stick with these.

Create and promote events well ensuring that employees will come to expect and anticipate these health promotion programs each year. It’s best to do several wellnesss well than many promotions poorly.

A lot of employees enjoy team related activities. These activities usually take place on an staff member’s time away from work and participation is totally voluntary in nature.

Even though the sports team isn’t part of an staff member’s regular work duties, when the team or activity is associated with the employer, the employer could be held liable in the event of an worker injury.

If the activity brings with it a risk of injury, it is necessary to address the possible risk and liability issues with the correct company department. Furthermore talk with your organization’s workers’ compensation carrier and/or legal counsel.

• Organize summer softball or volleyball teams, a winter ski outing, fall and winter smoke free bowling teams, a spring golf tournament, summer walks, etc.

• Provide brochures and catalogs from area Parks and Recreation departments and county park organizations so staff can take benefit of community leagues, trips and offerings.

• Invite an official from one of the above corporations to speak at a organization brown bag event, or invite an area Parks and Recreation instructor to provide a demonstration of a new class offering.

Family Friendly Activities

Periodically offer activities which can be taken home and shared with the entire family. Ideas for these include –

• Television Free Week (usually in April) – Create a chart for the children to use to record their TV-free participation.

• Make available a certificate to whoever who is TV-free for a week.

• When possible, offer several prizes (but not video rental certificates, video games or other TV-related items) for related categories, such as less than 5 hours of Television, no video games for a week, etc.

Stress Management

Many simple wellness activities and practices can help employees understand the role stress plays in effecting health, safety, and productivity. It is necessary to help employees understand simple stress management strategies for reducing stress levels.

• Stress kit check out. Have stress management tools available for staff member use during a scheduled break time. Consider providing relaxation music or programs including player and headphones; mat or blanket to lie on; neck pillow; eye mask; and stress massage rollers.

• Give a stress management brown bag event at which workforce can try different kinds stress management tools.

• Make sure to encourage workforce to take 10-minute relaxation/exercise breaks. Post reminders.

• Give a comfortable worker break area.

• Designate a “quiet room” for meditation and relaxation, if possible.

• Make certain to work with Management to keep supervisors informed about the effects of stress in the workplace. Supervisors are often the first step in assisting workers find different ways of managing work related stressors.

• Contact the Worker Assistance Provider (EAP) for a variety of stress management information and self-assessments.

• Offer stress management self-assessments to interested staff. Follow these up with a stress management videotape, a brown bag presentation, or a community guest speaker.

Mental Wellness

Emotions and psychological health greatly affect overall health and well-being. Every wellness program should incorporate some services, programs, resources or activities to address psychological health issues.

Mental health topics may be sensitive areas for personnel. Consequently, it is important to provide information in a variety of ways, worksite presentations being just one possibility.

For  instance, put domestic violence resource cards in the restrooms to provide useful information in a private setting that doesn’t embarrass whoever. Other considerations include –

• When planning to offer an oratory event or presentation a neutral class title will ensure potential participants won’t be put off by the name.

For  instance, “Parenting in 2004″, “Positive Parenting”, or “Parent University” is much more appealing than “Stress and Parenting”.

• Make sure to allot enough time when hosting EAP/psychological health workshops for a question and answer session so participants may ask specific questions.

Always remind participants that individual help is available through the employee assistance program also through their health benefits. Give written contact information for your EAP, but do so discretely.

• The Worker Assistance Program (EAP) is an great partner and resource for wellness programming in these areas.  The EAP can help find ways to address mental health, stress, coping, and other related issues.

Tobacco use Cessation

Tobacco use cessation assistance is a worthwhile wellness activity. Tobacco use is often a challenging habit to overcome. Employee health promotion activities to support “smoke-free” living include –

• Use American Lung Association resource. These include the Freedom From Smoking group and/or video-tutorial. There is also a follow-up video “A Lifetime of Freedom From Smoking”.

• Reward individuals who have successfully quit use of tobacco for six months with an appropriate “kicked the habit” certificate and some type of incentive gift.

• Provide “cold turkey” sandwiches to smokers who pledge to quit during the Great American Smokeout.

• Begin a “quitting or thinking about it” support group to assist and encourage person attempting to stop smoking.

Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Addictions

If a substance abuse policy is not in place in your workplace, advocate that one be developed. Request a knowledgeable Health Promotion Committee member be included in the policy development process.

When such a policy is already in place be sure Health Promotion Committee members are alert to the policy and have a thorough understanding of it. From time to time, remind staff of wellness resources and programs available.

• Invite AA, NA, AI-Anon, and other groups to meet in a business building and/or publicize community meetings.

• Serve non-alcoholic drinks whenever alcohol is served, and be certain food is always served along with alcoholic beverages.

• Give easily accessible information about counseling, referral, and treatment programs available in the community. Put this information in an area where it may be viewed without embarrassment.

• When conducting wellness programs include information about responsible alcohol use on stress/weight management, nutrition, physical fitness, tobacco use, and accident prevention.

• Issues like co-dependence and the difficulty of assisting a substance abuser can also be addressed. Offer this information as part of the wellness program by providing informational materials, brown bag sessions, employee assistance program (EAP) information, etc.

• The Employee Assistance Program provider is an excellent resource for substance abuse health promotion programming and or worker assistance.

• Other addictions, such as problem gambling, food addiction, shopping, Internet addiction, etc., can be problematic and can reach the point of affecting a person’s life and work. Give information, video review, or employee assistance sessions addressing these topics.

• A Health Promotion Committee member may gain personal information regarding an staff member problem. Remember to keep all staff member information totally confidential.

Interest in increasing exercise ranks almost as high as weight management in employee interest and need. Ideas for increasing employee awareness and participation in physical activities follow –

• Fitness classes in the workplace – Onsite exercise could be much more convenient for personnel. Nonetheless, onsite classes require logistical planning and coordination with attention to details.

Onsite courses are typically more feasible for bigger companys.  As part of the steps in planning and assessment, consult with other health promotion programs offering workplace classes. Ask what their experience has been like.

Speak to potential providers in the area as well. Find out what it would take to offer an onsite fitness class. YMCA’s, gyms, and community recreation programs are good resources for this type of discussion.

It is also feasible to offer a “mini” introductory worksite class series. A mini series might consist of an introduction to a new physical activity area. Employees are then expected to make the transition to home or community based wellness programs.

• Nerf Olympics –  Nerf games are fun (and entertaining) activities that encourage movement, flexibility, stress reduction, and normally are a good laugh. When planning such an activity consider setting up a “challenge” stations with various activities.

Ideas for activities include hula hoop contests, Nerf basketball free throws, Nerf football tosses, Frisbee “golf”, jump rope, etc.  The Wellness Team will lay out the course.

Each participant goes through the stations and gets a “gold” medal (you can purchase these at party stores and toy stores inexpensively) for completing all of the stations (no matter how badly they perform).

Start each participant at intervals permitting for smooth running, but expect high difficulty stations to be backed up. This delay can add to the fun and creates a “keystone cops” scenario.

Nerf Olympics is a good activity to do with an audience, so encourage cheering coworkers.

• Provide incentives to staff who engage in aerobic activity such as walking, running and biking on their own time (see goal establishing health promotion program, offer points toward prizes, etc.).

• Distribute maps of walking/jogging trails located near the workplace. Mark distances in steps and miles. Be sure to encourage employees to walk during lunch and/or break times.

Post a steps accumulated map on a worksite wall where workers can log their steps or miles.

• Be certain to encourage joggers, walkers, and those who enjoying other forms of exercise to form exercise groups to meet before work, at lunch, or after work.

• Promote the use of stairs in lieu of elevators. Place bulletin boards, art contests, etc., in stairwells.

• Sponsor “Bike-to-Work” or Walk-to-Be sure to work week.

• Schedule five-minute desk stretching at the worksite. This can relieve repetitive motion problems in addition to eye and back strain.

• Sponsor a personal challenge activity such as “Climb a Mountain” or “Swim a Sea”. This is an honor system wellness program in which participating employees are awarded minutes, steps, or miles credit for cardiovascular activity (swimming, walking, running, skiing, bicycling, stair stepping, aerobics, etc.).

The object of this type of challenge is to accumulate the equivalent mileage it’d take to reach the top of a famous mountain, span a body of water (swim the Columbia River), or reach a distant city/county.

Try personalizing the challenge as much as possible to individual interests and/or area geographical matches close to the worksite.

• Collect a selection of exercise video or DVD tapes. Staff Members can either review a tape for home use, or offer a group activity video class.

• When it is not possible for staff to leave the building to exercise or workout at lunch, attempt establishing an in-house aerobic walking track for worker use in an unused part of the workplace for lunch, break or after hours use.

An example of how this issue may  be solved is the use of stationary bikes and other small exercise equipment provided for staff by some 911 call centers.

• Sponsor a “Personal Best” Challenge”. Staff Members run, walk, bicycle, etc.  Their own personal best time. Repeat the personal best challenge each quarter to six months. Each time an staff member improves, offer recognition and an appropriate award.

Furthermore, recognize those employees who maintain their personal best in the same way. Be certain to encourage non-participating employees to get involved.

Assist these individuals in picking  an activity that is comfortable and of interest for them, and one in which they are able to succeed and progress.

• When you offer an introductory or other onsite exercise class or activity, be certain the instructor can relate to the audience, and the audience can relate to the instructor.

Have a Health Promotion Committee member attend a current class by the selected instructor class prior to the instructor conducting a class at workplace. In addition, consider the personnel who may  be potentially attending the class.

Sometimes larger and/or older exercise instructors are often better accepted by audiences who are similarly sized and aged.

• Sponsor a themed “virtual” trek. Calculate the mileage for the proposed “trip” ahead of time. Be certain that the distance is appropriate for the number of expected participants and time for the event (six to eight weeks) works well.

For longer events, small teams can accumulate their mileage for the trip. Establish a reporting network. Post a map to track the trip. Chart the progress with stick pins, a magic marker, or a highlighter.

Give a brief humorous fictional narrative of the trip, posting a new one each week. Include as many participants’ names as possible. Alternate posting humorous texts with health tips along the way. Give an incentive at the end of the trip.

Ideas for Physical Activity Themes –

• Swim the Mississippi to the Mardi gras.

• Take a tour to all Oregon counties.

• Take a tour of Oregon from Enterprise to Brookings.

• Run or walk around the world (25,000 miles).

• Tour de France (take all summer)

• Tour de France on a stationary bike (take all winter)

• Indianapolis 500

• Climb Mount Everest (stairs or stair climbers). Target Sir Edmund Hilary’s birthday or the anniversary of the first conquest as a completion date.

• Climb Mount Washington or Mt. Hood. Target President’s Day as a completion date.

• Climb any significant mountain and tie it to any remotely related event.

• Use time in exercise as a measurement for the contest rather than distance. This permits you to treat all forms of aerobic exercise more equitably.

Employees typically enjoy sharing nutritional tips and attempting new foods. Sponsor a “nutrition cook-off” and/or healthy potlucks.

• Nutrition cook-off. Teams of personnel set a menu in advance and bring in prepared foods for an official competition. A nutritionist from the health department or local hospital or community serves as the judge.

Dishes and foods are evaluated based on both health considerations and taste. Following the event, a cookbook of the teams’ recipes could be created and distributed to the entire staff.

• Cholesterol Control or “Down Under” Club. People  with cholesterol over 200 mg.  Are invited to voluntarily participate.  The invitation needs to be extended to all workforce as the Wellness Team won’t have (nor should have) access to individual medical information.

Make available a selection of services to assist in lowering cardiac risks. Gordian Health Solutions offers cholesterol management health programs for employees qualifying by cholesterol score.

If an employee gets cholesterol numbers below 200 in six months, provide an incentive such as a prize to continue progress. Continue to supply information and reminders for continued cholesterol control.

• Label reading contest. Designate a particular food or food category. Workers must find the designated products with the lowest/highest fat content in the supermarket. Give coupons or other prizes for predetermined number of winners or participants.

Or, provide samples of healthier food options based on label information. Show how these compare to less healthy options. Display results of the contest in the worker break room or at an worker brown bag event.

Other Health Promotion Program Nutrition Suggestions –

• Give freshly brewed decaffeinated coffee and herbal tea.

• Sponsor a healthy food “bake-off” once a year.

• Provide sugar and salt substitutes in the lunchroom.

• At meetings, replace sweet rolls and donuts with bran muffins, wholewheat bagels, or fresh fruit. Consider offering other decaffeinated coffee and herbal teas plus no-sugar fruit juices.

• Serve free popcorn in the break area.

• Create a cookbook featuring healthful recipes contributed by staff members.

• Fruit or veggie of the week (or month). Display an “exotic” fruit or vegetable in your lunchroom and see when peers know what it is. Employees can put their name and the name of the item on an index card.

These could be used to conduct a prize drawing after the week from the cards with the correct answer.  To add fun, encourage people  to put down funny answers when in doubt of the real name of the item.

Read some of those names during the prize drawing, and provide a prize for the most creative name. Divide the fruit or vegetable at the drawing and let those interested taste it. Make certain it can be eaten raw.

Unusual food items like star fruit are now readily available in grocery stores work well for this activity as many people have not tried these types of produce.

Weight management is a major area of both worker interest and need. Body Mass Index  is the clinical measure that indicates whether people  are in a healthy weight range or are overweight or obese.    

The Body Mass Index is a measure of a person’s overall height to their overall weight. Height and weight are measured during the worker health screening. A computer mathematical calculation provides the Body Mass Index score.    

Ideas for workplace based weight control programs include –    

• Have Weight Watchers, TOPS, or other reputable weight control groups meet in your worksite or nearby. Offer such groups before/after work or during lunchtime. Employee attendance is normally better if staff members can attend either wholly or partially on work time.

Break times could  be rolled into lunch break times to minimize staff member time away from work duties (with senior level management approval). Staff Members normally pay their own fees for class attendance and supporting materials.

• When the wellness program offers incentives based on participation, award a completion gift when worker has attended a certain number of weight management sessions or activities.

• Supply information regarding community weight management groups.

• Incentives such as cash, tee shirts, plaques, certificates, hours/days off, names on bulletin boards could be given to individuals who write a losing weight contract and meet their goal.

• Start a workplace commitment to offer alternative healthy snacks at employer-sponsored meetings. Healthful snacks like fruit, pretzels, plain popcorn, almonds, and veggies provide demonstration as to the employer’s commitment to health and worker well being.