Wellness Program Blog

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 no cost or purchased inexpensively. Monthly health themes, week long activities, and nationally recognized days of the year are also great ways to have fun while participating in larger activities. 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 employers to create larger activities and celebrations.
• A wellness message is more likely to stick with people if the information is presented at work, in local grocery stores, and on television.
• National Employee Fitness Day/Week (April) is a great 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. Pick one to three activities per year and stick with these. Establish and encourage activities well ensuring that workers will come to expect and anticipate these programs each year. It is best to do a few Company Wellness Programs very well than countless promotions poorly.

Group support and encouragement can be very beneficial in helping workers make healthy changes. Create situations, peer groups, or information avenues where the expertise and experiences of coworkers can be shared with others. Some ideas for offering worksite support for healthy changes include:

• Workers can be asked to voluntarily submit suggestions, advice, and strategies related to particular healthy practices they have successfully implemented in their lives. By way of example, ex-smokers can be asked to submit suggestions about what worked for them when they quit; then those ideas can be shared in newsletters, handouts, classes, etc.
• Topics like weight management, stress management, managing change, increasing exercise, etc. lend themselves to this development of collective wisdom sharing.
• Behavior change support groups, created based on employee interest in making healthy change, can meet on regularly to share ideas, resources, support, etc. Company Wellness Programs can offer some help and facilitation in getting a group going. The group then itself takes charge of keeping the group going. Periodically the wellness program can offer to bring in a presenter on a topic relevant to the group. Be sure to help the group set ground rules that everyone agrees to before the group is left on its own.

Establish a Business Company Wellness for Your Workers Today

The advantages to starting a workplace health and wellness program are abounding.

A few corporate health and wellness tips to get workers started on the path to a healthier lifestyle:

1. Look around, and determine if workers lead a healthy lifestyle before launching an Company Wellness . How many workers dash outside at lunchtime for a tobacco break? Would a smoking cessation program help? How often do the junk food-laden vending machines must be replenished? Is anyone exercising or taking advantage of local walking trails as part of their healthy living objectives? The answers to these questions will give employers a clearer idea of the Company Wellness  that’s right for them.

2. Survey workers to evaluate their healthy lifestyle habits. Are they exercising regularly? Eat three square meals a day? Have regular physicals? Really? Then what planet are they on? Because we would love to visit! A corporate wellness program benefits most employers because workers don’t have the time or energy to stay on top of health and wellness problems at work or when they leave the office to go home.

3. Give Company Wellness Programs a tremendous kick-off with a healthy living “fair.” Provide workers no cost flu shots, Blood Pressure (BP) checks, blood lipid screenings, body/fat ratio assessments, smoking cessation programs and no cost mammograms- and contact the local hospital, because there’s plenty more where this came from. Companies keep their workers hopping during the week. Give workers a chance to amp up their healthy lifestyle on the company dime. A corporate health and wellness program is an additional benefit that workers get for working for the company!

4. Incent to live- offer cash money for workers to lose weight, commit to a smoking cessation program and generally enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Encourage humankind’s innate competitive nature by offering prizes for health and wellness employee “winners.” And, bolster a healthier lifestyle by sponsoring workers who want to enter a local 5K for charity race, run a marathon or play a sport.

Stress continues to drive staff members’ work-related health concerns, which is probably why most respondents (78 percent) in a recent survey claim they would participate in a Employee Health and Wellness Program to help their overall health and wellness.

In a recent study commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. (AAOHN), 500 full-time staff members nationwide were interviewed telephonically.

“Today’s staff members are clearly dealing with a lot of pressures such as the effects of 9/11, an unstable economy, national security threats and work/balance issues. There is a real opportunity for employers to serve as an ally to their staff members by providing them with resources to better manage their physical and emotional health – anything from stress management lunch and learns to nutrition and exercise counseling,” says Deborah V. DiBenedetto, president of AAOHN.

Nearly 80 percent of respondents believe their health would improve if they were offered the right information and tools through a viable Employee Health and Wellness Program.

Topping the list of most interesting Employee Health and Wellness Programs cited by staff members is stress management (85 percent), closely followed by testing initiatives (84 percent), exercise/physical fitness initiatives (84 percent), medical insurance education (81 percent) and disease management lunch and learns (80 percent).

More than half of staff members (61 percent) would prefer to receive health and wellness information from a healthcare consultant or worksite nurse, compared to pamphlets or brochures (18 percent) or human resources staff (15 percent).

Employee Health and Wellness Programs at the corporate level are beneficial, right? Wellness statistics clearly show that such Employee Health and Wellness Programs are not only cost-effective to the organization but can assist the worker in developing a healthier lifestyle. With the rising cost of medical care, Employee Health and Wellness Programs simply make sense. So where does the problem come in? Let’s examine the topic from both perspectives.

Employee Health and Wellness Programs: The Good

• A sampling of return on investment for Employee Health and Wellness Programs: Bank of America: 600%; General Motors:370%; Pepsico: 300%; Citibank: 465%; and the Washoe County School District leading the pack at a whopping 1,560%. (Campbell,J., Wellness Improvement Experts, www.wellnessimprovementexperts.com, Albuquerque, New Mexico.)

• Companies with Employee Health and Wellness Programs have realized a 28 percent reduction in sick leave, a 26 percent reduction in adjunctive healthcare costs and a 30 percent reduction in disability and workers compensation costs. (Health Affairs, Volume 21, No.2, March, 2002.)

• The Washoe county School District in Northern Nevada realized a $15.60 return on investment for every dollar spent due to a 20 percent reduction in rates of absence. (Hardy,A. (2005). At the Top Of The Class. WELCOA’s Absolute Advantage Magazine, 5(1), 14-20.)

• Employee Health and Wellness Programs provide the structure, encouragement, incentives and ongoing support that many individuals need in order to make lifestyle changes.

• Employees also realize returns on their efforts. FiServ, a financial services technology company, gave staff members who filled out a health risk assessment a significant discount on their medical insurance premium. (Holland, Kelley, The New York Times, July 22, 2007.)

Employee Health and Wellness Programs: The Bad

The flip side of the argument centers on basic human rights. Do we want/need our employer to tell us to eat our veggies or lose 30 pounds? Some businesses are doing just that and at least one lawsuit has resulted because of it.

• Three hundred businesses have requested assistance from a national employment and labor law firm to institute more aggressive Employee Health and Wellness Programs.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

• Clarian Health, based in Indianapolis, Will start decreasing worker paychecks by $10.00 for every worker who has a Body Mass Index (BMI) of greater than 29.9 because not enough staff members were utilizing their wellness services.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

• Scott Rodrigues filed a suit against his prospective employer, Scotts Miracle-Gro, because he believed the company’s antismoking policy violated his civil rights. The company has a policy against hiring staff members who smoke and Mr. Rodrigues’drug screen was positive for nicotine.(Holland, Kelley, The New York Times,July 22,2007.)

• worker advocates are concerned that health discrimination may not be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

Penalizing staff members by hitting them hardest where it hurts the most, in their pocketbook, does not appear to be a favorable approach to molding human behavior.

Such tactics may result in increased resentments and retaliation, primarily in the form of rates of absence and presenteeism (decreased productivity on the job.) Voluntary, incentive-based initiatives, such as the one in the Washoe County School District, can and do produce results. A positive attitude on the part of management along with an opportunity for staff members to have a stake in the decision-making may yield the greatest dividends to both employer and worker.The motivation and resolve needed to change unhealthy lifestyle habits can best be derived from the basic tenets of encouragement, respect and support.

A representative Health and Wellness Committee is a cornerstone of a successful Employee Health and Wellness Program, regardless of the size of the business.

Membership of your Health and Wellness Committee

Aim for a committee of a manageable size (no more than 15 members, depending on your business’s size). Your Health and Wellness Committee should represent all employee groups (e.g., full-time and part-time staff members, managers and front-line staff, salary and hourly workers, union representation, Human Resources, marketing or communications, legal, and occupational health/safety).

Here are some additional considerations:

• Health and Wellness Committee members can be selected by leadership or can be selected from among volunteers.

• Determine in advance how long Health and Wellness Committee members will support and how new members will be selected. Balance the need for continuity with the need to bring fresh ideas and energy to your business’s Employee Health and Wellness Program.

• It’s not important, or even desirable, to have your healthiest staff members on the Health and Wellness Committee. Ideal Health and Wellness Committee members are those who best can represent their peers, motivate others and support the implementation of the Employee Health and Wellness Program.

• Consider providing an incentive or recognition to Health and Wellness Committee members. It legitimizes their positions and encourages participation. Some businesss that have implemented stipends have generated enough staff member interest that the selection of Health and Wellness Committee membership becomes a competitive process. The Health and Wellness Committee responsibilities become a formal part of the member’s job accountabilities.

Role of your Health and Wellness Committee

In some businesss the Health and Wellness Committee is responsible for the implementation of the Employee Health and Wellness Program. In other businesss, the Health and Wellness Committee plays an advisory role. In either case, the group members can be asked to:

• Attend regular meetings of the Health and Wellness Committee.

• Help establish a vision and name for the business’s Employee Health and Wellness Program.

• Represent their peers by sharing ideas, needs, concerns and feedback from their work areas and colleagues about proposed Employee Health and Wellness Program Strategies, policies, and programs.

• Make available feedback on the possible barriers to proposed Employee Health and Wellness Program Strategies and offer suggestions for addressing those barriers (e.g., how does a proposed policy fit with the schedules of staff members?).

• Suggest effective Employee Health and Wellness Program communication Strategies and solutions to challenges. For example, what is the best way to communicate with staff members who work the third shift? How will staff members react to a proposed message from leadership?

• Be a voice of support for a culture of health, carrying the message from the Health and Wellness Committee to their work areas and colleagues.

Functioning of your Health and Wellness Committee

Meet. Schedule regular Health and Wellness Committee meetings on paid work time. Your Health and Wellness Committee may want to meet very often at first, then slightly less often as your health improvement strategy is more established. If your Health and Wellness Committee is new, it might be useful to ask members to provide information about themselves and their interests.

Communicate. Set up frequent channels of communication with Health and Wellness Committee members so they are up to date and engaged. An email list is often the easiest way to do this. Encourage communication to flow both ways: from Employee Health and Wellness Program coordinator to members and from members to coordinator.

Check-in. At least once a year, evaluate how effectively the Health and Wellness Committee is functioning. Is the Health and Wellness Committee serving its original purpose? Ask committee members for their feedback. Do they feel like their work is making a difference? Do they feel like their input is valued and taken into account when planning and implementing initiatives? Do they understand their expected Employee Health and Wellness Program roles and responsibilities? Are there members who want to rotate off of the committee? How will new members be selected?