Posts from — May 2009

Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs are learning sessions planned and organized by you to meet specific goals. Come up with a topic and select a speaker. Choose a site for the “Lunch and Learn” session, usually a lunchroom or break room. Depending on your budget and objectives, staff members have the potential to brown bag the lunch or you might provide the meal. Meetings have the potential to be mandatory or elective, your choice.
Experience tells us the most success will be seen if these Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs are elective and if the employer provides lunch.
Goals for Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs

Education on a specific health issue. You may want to choose one of your group’s top diagnoses. Examples are:
• Diabetes – diabetes prevention and care by a certified diabetic educator
• Cardiovascular disease – cardiovascular health (individual counseling sessions with a dietician)
• Hypertension
• Hyperlipidemia
• Flu and pneumonia
• Breast cancer – breast health or breast self-exam sessions can be taught by a trained instructor

Education on medical insurance benefits:
• Diabetes – what are the covered benefits, where to purchase diabetic supplies, support groups for workers with diabetes.
• Workplace Wellness Program Benefits
• Well baby/child care.

Education on the effect of enrolling in your health plan or local health department’s health education programs or disease management programs. Example programs:
• Diabetes
• Respiratory
• Low-Back Pain
• Cardiovascular
• Tobacco use

Community Resource Speakers for Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs
• Local health plan office
• Local heart association
• Local cancer society
• Pharmacies – many pharmacists are available to speak on pharmacy-related concerns.
• Prescription Drug Corporations – numerous corporations have standard presentations developed for employers that are offered free of charge to use at your own direction. Some examples are:
   • Know Your Numbers (elevated blood lipids) – Pfizer
   • Respiratory Wellness (flu and pneumonia) – Pfizer
   • Men’s and Women’s Health – Pfizer
• Local gyms/personal trainers/YMCA – can discuss walking safety, benefits of walking, swimming and aerobics.
• Yoga and/or Pilates instructors
• Running, cycling club representatives
• Local hospital nutritionists
• Stamp Out Smoking – Tobacco Coalition representatives

Topics for Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs

• Cycling – benefits and opportunities for cycling
• Nutrition and health (Heart Healthy lunch for all attendees)
• Heart health
• Women’s health issues
• How to recognize the signs and symptoms of heart attack and stroke
• National Employee Fitness Day within the office setting – Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness representatives can reward event
• Exercise tolerance and healthy heart problems
• Beginning an exercise program – include the effect of seeing the doctor before beginning of any new exercise program
• Self-defense
• Domestic abuse
• Safety in general
• Exercise safety
• Walking/running benefits and safety tips Tobacco dangers and avoidance

Conducting an Employee Fitness Challenge at your workplace is a fun and exciting way to raise awareness among staff members about the significance of beginning and sustaining an physical activity program. It is a concentrated effort in which to engage them in physical exercise for a specific time period that, hopefully, will help them start a healthy habit that will last a lifetime.
Still, it is important to take part in wellness year-round. This section provides a comprehensive list of Worksite Wellness Program ideas that have been implemented within wellness programs.
All ideas presented in this section have been thriving for one or both of the entities. Each exercise/idea has the potential to be used as a stand-alone event, even if you don’t conduct a fitness contest, or has the potential to be held in conjunction with your Employee Fitness Contest.
You may want to choose some of the ideas you believe will work for your staff members or think of others and begin your initiative to establish a better state of health.

Research studies have repeatedly shown that accross the board Corporate Wellness Programs, or Corporate Wellness Programs, can reduce medical care and insurance expenditures, cut down on absenteeism, and improve success and work rate. Other benefits shown in research studies include improved ability to attract and retain key personnel, greater employee allegiance, and improved public conception of the organization.

Health Care and Insurance expenditures

A number of research studies offer evidence of reduced medical and insurance costs for participants in Workplace Health Promotion Programs, particularly wellness programs involving physical activity.

For $30 per person, the Bank of America implemented a Worksite Wellness Program for retirees using a risk assessment questionnaire, self-care books and other mailed materials. Insurance claims were reduced an average of $164 per year in this group while they increased $15 for the control group. Since they were able to document significant changes in risk behavior, they anticipate greater savings in future years.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks participants claim $300 less per case for a one-year savings of $700,000. Savings for conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle are $722 per case.

Coca Cola stated a reduction in health care|medical|medical care|healthcare} claims with an exercise program alone, saving $500 per employee per year for the workers (60%) who joined their HealthWorks physical activity program. Prudential Insurance Business reports that the business’s major medical expenditures dropped from $574 to $312 for each colleague in its wellness program.

Decreased Absenteeism

Absenteeism has been determined to be impacted by wellness programs. The evidence indicates a significant reduction in absenteeism and resultant dollars saved as a result of employee exercise program.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks program lowered absent days .8 percent to save $2 million in one year. FitWorks participants also spent 3.3 days less on short-term disability for an additional savings of $4.7 million.

Focusing Worksite Health Promotion Program efforts on high-risk employees has the potential to lead to better results. A national manufacturing business reports a decline of 12.2% in illness days for these employees.

A two-year study by The DuPont Corporation of the effect of its all-inclusive Company Health Promotion Program on absences among workers reports that blue-collar workers at intervention sites had a 14% decline in disability days vs. 5.8% decline for controls. There were a total of 11,726 fewer net disability days.

Enhanced Performance, Productivity and Morale

A number of employers with Employee Health Promotion Programs report documented improvement in job attitude, work performance, energy level, and/or overall morale among program participants–all critical factors in enhancing work rate.

A Johnson & Johnson study reported that employee attitude changes were greater at Worksite Health Promotion Program intervention sites with significant beneficial attitude changes noted in the categories of company commitment, supervision, on the job conditions, job competence/security, and pay/benefits.

In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Organization experimental group realized a 4 percent increase in productiveness after starting a employer fitness program, compared to the control group. Further, 47 percent of program participants published that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their co-employees, and generally enjoyed their work more.

Swedish investigators observed that mental performance was significantly better in physically fit staff members than in non-fit staff members. Fit staff members committed 27% fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, as compared with the performance of non-fit staff members.

The Bottom Line

The following sample of Corporate Health Promotion Programs wellness program results have been stated by individual employers:

Business: Dollars Saved/Dollars Spent

• Bank of America (Fries): $5.96/$1
• PacBell: $3.10/$1
• Wisconsin School District Insurance Group: $4.47/$1
• Prudential Insurance: $2.90/$1
• Bank of America (Leigh): $4.73/$1
• General Mills: $3.50/$1

Summary

There is strong evidence that a sizable portion of the billions of dollars currently invested by employers on health-related costs is preventable by means of Workplace Wellness Programs. Well-planned, accross the board Workplace Wellness Programs (Workplace Wellness Programs and Workplace Wellness Programs) have been demonstrated to be cost-effective, particularly when the Workplace Wellness Programs is matched to the health issues of the specific employee.

Free Workplace Health Promotion Programs and Low Cost Health Management Alternatives

Develop a no cost Employee Health Promotion Program or run a thriving health management program in the workplace for little or no cost to your employer. The advantages of workplace wellness and learning how to start a health management program at work are numerous. The articles on health management have generated a variety of questions, mostly from wellness providers but also from corporations trying to start their own wellness workplace programs. There are a number of things to do to start a thriving health management program at work.

Recommendations for Starting a Free or Low Cost Worksite Wellness Program

Prior to starting an inexpensive or free wellness program for your organization, learn more about what employees desire. Survey employees to learn more about their wellness problems. Keep the survey confidential to safeguard employees’ identities. Typically the most popular workplace wellness subject matters are tobacco cessation, weight loss problems and heart and blood lipid health.

Look for Workplace Wellness Program Freebies

Look for who will come in for free to talk to employees and look into partnerships with outside agents involved with workplace wellness. For example, contact a local branch of a well-known weight loss company and ask if someone has the potential to come in and talk to employees. Seek agencies that are willing to come in and talk about issues related to wellness at no cost to employees, in exchange for something from you.

Find Company Health Promotion Program Partnerships

Working with a weight loss business to set up a speaking engagement for employees is an excellent opportunity to explore a potential wellness partnership. The weight loss business may say that if 10 employees join the program, they will hold regular meetings at business headquarters for the people who joined. The weight loss group also might offer business employees a discount if multiple people join the program.

Nonprofits an Untapped Health Leadership Resource

There are also plenty of nonprofit agencies who would be thrilled to visit a corporation to discuss health management. But it’s up to you to offer them something in return. For example, if the MS Society came in and talked about the signs of MS, the corporation might offer to organize an MS walk (in keeping with corporation health management goals/objectives, right?), or an auction with employee and corporation-donated items where the proceeds go to MS. The people at the nonprofit agencies would be glad to open a dialog with your corporation and to talk about what they would want in return for a speaking engagement. In a myriad of cases, they won’t need anything at all for a first meeting.

Gathering Data and Evaluating Company Wellness Program Results

Gathering data and analyzing results of a Employee Health Promotion Program is able to be tricky because of HIPPA laws. Still, if at least ten workers joined the weight loss program, or 20 people take part daily in the all-new “Let’s Walk a Mile at Lunch” program, that sort of progress is able to speak strongly to senior staff. And, employer successes will potentially give senior staff more incentive to provide money for additional health management and Employee Health Promotion Programs in the future.

Small corporation wellness programs are catching on. A well-designed wellness program is able to stimulate productivity, boost morale and vitality, cut stress, lower absenteeism, and control preventable medical care expenditures within a corporation. The beauty of it is that you’re simply helping workers to make smart choices so the expenditures of launching a wellness program are minimal in comparison to the benefits.

Employee health is a major concern for small corporation owners. In a small corporation, even a few sick employees can disrupt the flow of the workplace and bring the operation to a standstill.

Instead of sitting back and hoping for the best, some small employer owners are taking the matter of employee health into their own hands by launching Workplace Health Promotion Programs. Here’s how they work.

Overview of Company Wellness Programs

Employee wellness programs are programs initiated by the organization to better the overall health of their work force and to help individual staff members overcome specific health-related hurdles. These programs can be provided in a variety of formats: In mandatory employee training meetings, as voluntary sessions, or through a third-party provider offering a wide-range of EAPs.

In every case, however, the corporation foots the bill for the programs because an investment in employee health is a corporation expenditure that directly impacts the corporation’s bottom line.

Why offer Corporate Wellness Programs?

Apart from the obvious concern for the health of your staff members, there are several other reasons why Employee Wellness Programs make sense for small organizations. From the get-go, your organization will profit from the diminished level of absenteeism that goes hand in hand with a healthy workforce.

Workplace Wellness Programs will also lower the number of injuries that occur in the workplace, not just from accidents, but also from repetitive motion and other recurring sources. Since even a minor blip in worker attendance has the potential to have a large influence on a small company, a more reliable workforce will finally translate into a smoother work cycle and a more robust bottom line.

Worksite Health Promotion Program Features

Worksite Wellness Programs are able to cover a broad range of health-related issues. Based on your staff members’ needs, it’s completely up to you to determine the kind of programming you wish to offer. Nonetheless, most Worksite Wellness Programs offer some at least some programs in the following areas:

• Nutrition. Diet can significantly effect an employee’s ability to do their job effectively. Nutritional programs educate employees about diet options and equip them to make healthy dietary choices.
• Physical Fitness. In addition to diet, exercise is an valuable factor in a healthy lifestyle. Workplace Wellness Programs commonly provide workers with opportunities to incorporate exercise into their daily lives.
• Tobacco Cessation. Statistics prove that tobacco users tend to fall ill more frequently than their non-smoking peers. Since sick employees disrupt the workplace, smoking cessation programs are a no-brainer for both employers and employees.
• Physiological Testing. Many employers offer physiological as a regular part of their wellness programs. Cholesterol tests, Blood Pressure (BP) screenings, and other simple exams are able to offer early warning signs for more serious concerns.
• Stress Management. Stress itself takes a toll on employees. Still, stress is also linked to other health concerns such as depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Workplace Health Promotion Programs that help employees deal with stress improve not only the mental health of your employees, but their physical health as well.

Create a Organization Corporate Wellness Program for Your Workers Today

The advantages to starting a workplace health & wellness program are many.

A few corporate wellbeing and health tips to get staff members started on the path to a healthier lifestyle:

1. Look around, and determine if workers lead a healthy lifestyle before initiating an Corporate Wellness Program. How many workers run outside at lunch for a tobacco break? Would a tobacco cessation program help? How frequently do the junk food-laden snack machines must be replenished? Is anyone working out or taking advantage of local walking trails as part of their healthy living goals and objectives? The answers to these questions will give companies a clearer idea of the Corporate Wellness Program that’s right for them.

2. Survey employees to determine 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 organizations because employees don’t have the time or energy to stay on top of health and wellbeing problems at work or when they leave the office to go home.

3. Give Corporate Wellness Programs a large kick-off with a healthy living “fair.” Provide staff members no cost flu shots, Blood Pressure checks, cholesterol 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. Businesses keep their staff members hopping during the week. Give staff members a chance to amp up their healthy lifestyle on the employer dime. A corporate wellness and health program is an additional benefit that staff members receive for working for the employer!

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 wellbeing and health employee “winners.” And, advocate a healthier lifestyle by sponsoring workers who want to enter a local 5K for charity race, run a marathon or play a sport.

Introduction to Worksite Health Promotion Programs

The last ten years has brought major changes in business attitudes toward Company Wellness Programs. Interest in self-help and self-care programs has increased as growth in medical care costs have encroached substantially into profits. Changes in the business structures of medical care facilities, in particular the growth of the for-profit medical care sector, and the need to contain costs are changing the ways in which purchasers of medical care plans are viewing their own efforts toward provision of worksite medical care programs and facilities. Projections for the next decade indicate that worksite health programs will continue to become valuable factors in the provision of medical care, including prevention activities, for both government and private industry. In companies with existing Company Wellness Programs, administrative rationale for sponsoring these activities ranged from improving employee health (28%) to improving employee morale (9.7%). Programs include interventions associated with safety, health risk assessment, tobacco cessation, Blood Pressure (BP) control, nutrition programs and stress management. Benefits cited range from improved health and work rate to decreasing medical care costs.

Demographics of the U.S. Workforce
• 110 million American citizens composed the civilian labor force in 1981; by the year 2000 the civilian labor force is predicted to be nearly 140 million.
• 44% of the 1984 labor force was female; ten% was Black.
• The median age of the workforce is 32 years and is expected to increase to 32 years by 2030.
• 57.9 percent of all workers work in businesses with between 2 and 500 workers; 45 percent work in businesses with fewer than 100 workers. An additional 7.5 million American citizens are self-employed and 3 million are farmers.
• 18% of all wage and salaried workers in 1985 were union members.
• 45% of all staff members are employed in offices.

Prevalence of Corporate Health Promotion Programs Activities

Based on a 1985 survey, almost 66 percent of worksites with 50 or more employees had Corporate Health Promotion Programs activities in 1985.  The frequency of workplace-based activities by selected categories in 1985 was:

Activity

Smoking Control       35.6 percent
Health Risk Assessment    29.5%
Back Care             28.6 percent
Stress Management       26.6%
Exercise             22.1%
Off the Job Accidents    19.8 percent
Nutrition             16.8 percent
Blood Pressure (BP) Control    16.5%
Weight Control          14.7%

Job Site size is the strongest indicator of program prevalence.

Most staff members believe the advantages of their Workplace Wellness Programs activities outweigh the expenditures, even though few formal evaluations exist.

The most usually given reason for starting programs and perceived advance from programs is improved employee health.

At most worksites with activities (85.4%), all workers are eligible to participate. 30% of worksites with activities offer them to organization dependents, and an equal percent offer them to retirees.

When worksites seek outside program assistance, they turn to voluntary, not-for-profit employers (57.1%), private for-profit providers-consultants (50%), local hospitals (44%), and insurance employers (43%).

Smoking Cessation Programs

Smoking related health issues cost American businesses $26 billion per year in lost work rate and $7 to $8 billion in tobacco-related medical expenditures.

Staff Members who smoke are 50% more likely to be hospitalized than non-smokers, have 2 times as a myriad of job-related accidents as non-smokers and have absenteeism rates approximately 50% higher than non-smokers.

People who used tobacco an average of one or more packs of cigarettes per day had 118% higher health care expenditures than people that do not use tobacco.

76 percent of current tobacco users and 80 percent of former tobacco users and non-smokers feel that companies must restrict smoking to certain areas.

In 1985, 65% of smokers, 85% of nonsmokers and 78% of former smokers, felt that smokers should refrain from smoking in the presence of nonsmokers.

In 1986, 17 states had laws regulating smoking in offices or workplaces either in government-controlled offices or offices of private employees.

Examples of smoking cessation intervention program used by corporations include:

• offering people that do not use tobacco a discount of health and life insurance;
• paying full or partial fees for tobacco cessation programs;
• providing cessation programs on corporation or shared time;
• providing cash payments to quitters after 6 of 12 smoke-free months;
• participating in national quit smoking days; and
• adopting a smoke-free company policy and setting deadlines for implementing the policy.

Physical Fitness Programs

An active 55-year-old man has the potential to lead as vigorous a lifestyle as a sedentary 35-year-old.

Differences in work-related exercise has been shown to give a two- to three-fold difference in cardiovascular deaths between active staff members and their more sedentary counterparts.

In addition to improving strength, balance, and flexibility, exercise programs are able to lower the probability of back injuries among certain occupational groups.

93 million workdays in the United States are lost each year as the result of back problems.

Research findings support the notion that worksite physical activity programs improve fitness and help reduce other health risks, although results related to improved productivity are weak due to lack of methods for accurately quantifying productivity.

A very small proportion of worksites have on-Site physical fitness facilities.

The majority of workers sponsored exercise program involve skills training such as aerobic dance, low impact aerobics, weight training, preand post-natal exercise classes, and walking/jogging groups.

Some employers subsidize employee participation in community “Ys,” health clubs or other community programs if no onsite facilities are available.

Job Site fitness programs may lower expenditures to employers by decreasing employee health care claims and expenditures.

People whose weekly physical activity was equivalent to climbing less than five flights of stairs or walking less than a half mile, spent 114 percent more on health claims than those who ascended at least 15 flights of stairs or walked 1 1/2 miles weekly.

Health Care expenditures for obese people are roughly 11% higher than those for thin people.

Nutrition and Weight Control

One-third of America population is obese to the extent of decreasing their life expectancy.

Improvements in eating habits have the potential to lower the risk of somber health problems such as elevated Blood Pressure (BP) and cholesterol levels and is instrumental in the control of non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

The workplace offers several advantages for nutrition education; support and impact of co-workers and management, availability of a daily eating situation, and opportunities for follow-up and monitoring.

Job Site nutrition programs are able to be grouped in 6 broad categories:

• cafeteria programs;
• multi-component programs;
• weight management programs;
• blood lipid reduction programs;
• programs for pregnant and lactating women; and
• other diet education topics.

Men are less likely to take part in weight-loss programs than are female staff members.

Stress Management

Estimates suggest that 50 percent to 80 percent of physician visits can be attributed to psychosomatic or stress-related origins.

Company pays many of the expenditures related to employee stress, both directly in the form of medical expenditures and in decreased productiveness.

Job factors which are associated with stress include:

• not allowing staff members to participate in decisions about the work process;
• positions which require more or less skill than the employee has;
• changes in work demands;
• lack of clarity about expectations and standards; and
• conflict with co-workers or supervisors.

Most worksite stress management programs are implemented as a result of requests from workers.

Stress management programs focus on three types of skills: relaxation skills, coping skills, and interpersonal skills.

Job Site stress management programs are often delivered in one of three formats:

• workshops conducted by trained professionals;
• self-learning tools; and
• personal teaching to support  with self-assessment, planning for changes, learning new skills and responding to life crises.

The two major techniques used in workplace stress management programs are:

• teaching people to decrease the detrimental physical effects of stress; and
• teaching people to recognize and control sources of stress at work and in personal life.

Safety Belt Usage

Motor vehicle accidents are the largest single cause of lost work time and on-the-job fatalities of U.S. business.

Motor vehicle accidents account for 27 percent of all work-related deaths and 45 million days of lost work annually.

More than 36 percent of the 11,300 accidental work deaths in 1983 involved motor vehicles.

Workers who regularly fail to use seat belts may spend up to 54% more days in the hospital.

Traffic accidents caused about 3 times as many days of restricted activity as any other kind of disability.

Motor vehicle crashes cost $15.2 billion in lost productiveness, 88 percent of which is attributed to losses from workforce activities and future earnings.

In corporate settings where safety belt policies, requiring use of belts by those riding in a corporation vehicle or using a private vehicle for corporation business, have been enforced, 60% to 90% use has been reported.

Incentive programs, accompanied by education and use requirement restrictions have resulted in 40% to 70% initial usage rates.

Factors influencing the sources of workplace safety belt programs include:

• active responsibility on the part of upper management;
• clearly defined and well enforced policy of needed belt use on the job;
• positive incentives/rewards; and
• ongoing education and training programs.

Case Studies of Workplace Wellness Programs

Based on an extensive assessment of its inclusive employee Workplace Wellness Program, LIVE FOR LIFE, Johnson & Johnson reported the break-even point for the program occurs in year 3 and by year 5 they have a net benefit of $316 per employee. Their year 9 projected benefit is $677 per employee.

employees at four Johnson & Johnson employers who were exposed to the Worksite Wellness Program expanding their daily energy expenditure in vigorous exercise by 104 percent compared to an increase of 33 percent among employees at employers that were offered only an yearly health screen.

Members in the United Methodist Publishing House’s Company Wellness Program submitted more claims (1.14 per participating employee and .82 for the control in 1984, 1.44 and 1.3 respectively in 1985), but the average cost per claim was less for participants ($316 for participants and $567 for control, in 1984, $262 and $602 respectively in 1985, $270 and $566 respectively in the first four months of 1986).

The United Methodist Publishing House attributes some of the lower than projected use in medical costs for 1985 ($902,116 projected with actual costs $142,884) to the Worksite Wellness Program although the results are not conclusive.

In 1985, the Adolph Coors Employer conducted a phone interview of a random sample of its 10,000 workers to determine changes in health practices since the introduction of an employee Employee Wellness Program 4 years earlier. The sample of 495 workers was stratified to match the corporation profile in terms of age, sex and job description. The survey reported that 65% of respondents started working out in The previous 4 years, 37% had improved their diets, 20% were regular users of the wellness center, 9% had stopped smoking as the result of the corporation’s smoking cessation program and regular participants of the wellness center miss an average of 1.96 workdays each year because of illness or injury compared to 3.08 days for non-participating workers.

The Coors Employer also saw a cost savings from a cardiac rehabilitation program that was implemented in 1981. In 1980 workers were out of work 7.2 months after a heart attack or bypass operation. In 1984, cardiac patients were out an average 1.9 months saving $152,000 in lost work time and in 1985 cardiac patients missed an average of 2.6 months, saving $125,000 that year.

Company Fitness Programs Plans Improve Employee Health and Wellness

Instituting a Company Health Promotion Program improves the health of employees, decreases employee absenteeism and saves the business money, too. Learn more about initiating an Company Health Promotion Program in the office.

Benefits of Company Wellness Programs

• A organization cost of $100-$150 per employee each year to participate in an Company Wellness Program can save corporations $300 to $450 for each employee every year, according to Ron Goetzel, Director, Cornell University Institute for Health and Productivity Studies. The savings have the potential to take a few years to actualize, says Goetzel, and are seen in decreased health expenditures.
• The Wellness Councils of America stated a $24 return for every $1 spent on a Worksite Wellness Program for small companies.
• According to a 2005 survey by The Art of Health Promotion, companies who invested in Worksite Wellness Programs realized a 30 percent decrease in healthcare and absenteeism expenditures in less than four years.

A efficacious Worksite Health Promotion Program begins with Senior Leadership. Corporation owners should lead by example, taking part in their corporation’s fitness program and working closely with a wellness coach. Senior Leadership should make sure staff members are well cognizant of their wellness efforts, displaying weight loss results or smoking cessation results on corporation intranet or bulletin boards for everyone to see.

Corporate Wellness Programs that Truly Work

• Urge staff members to kick start their own wellness programs by visiting their doctor. A complete physical must include information about blood glucose, cholesterol levels and general health.
• Target specific health-related issues in a corporate exercise program. Information about how to fight obesity, smoking, alcoholism and drug abuse ought to be at the forefront of an Workplace Wellness Program, along with related conditions.
• Hire a wellness coach to instruct workers on how to lead a healthy lifestyle.
• Reward workers for taking part in organization wellness plans. Let workers accrue health and wellness points that they can redeem for prizes. Make the prizes healthy, too- a no cost massage, private training session with the organization’s wellness coach or health meal gift certificate encourages even healthier lifestyle choices.
• Acknowledge employee health and wellbeing leaders in corporation newsletters, in posted bulletins and on the corporation intranet.

Company Health Promotion Programs Provide Big Results

For corporation owners who want to increase employee participation in a Workplace Wellness Program, consider Johnson & Johnson’s approach. Faced with only 26% of employees participating in their employee health & wellness program, Johnson & Johnson offered employees a $500 discount on health insurance expenditures if they completed a health risk profile. The number of employees participating in the Johnson & Johnson corporation exercise program jumped after they offered the incentive — to more than 93%.

Ron Goetzel encourages those looking to pitch a corporate fitness program to Senior Leadership to use basic facts about the advantages of Workplace Wellness Programs as part of their argument. Keep it simple, and share results from other company’s employee wellness plan success stories.

Five reasons to have a wellness program

1.   America spends more dollars on medical care than any other nation yet we are not the world’s healthiest
   • Largely sedentary
   • Tobacco use is still popular
   • Stress is at epidemic levels (WHO)
   • Alcohol continues to take its toll on Americans

2.   Much of the illness in The U.S. is avoidable
   • Tobacco and alcohol are leading causes of death
   • As much as 70% of the cost of medical care is driven by avoidable illness

3.   Health Care expenditures continue to rise
   • Healthcare premiums continue to rise and to be passed on to the employee
   • Healthcare expenses are usually the number one benefit cost to most employers

4.   The workplace is an ideal setting to address health and well being
   • Most Americans work
   • Poor health habits take a toll on U.S. Employers
   • Employers have a vested interest in health related concerns.

5.   Research validates that Worksite Wellness Programs are able to improve health, save money, and even produce a ROI.
   • Aldana,S.G. (1998). Financial impact of Worksite Wellness Programs and methodological quality of the evidence. The Art of Health Promotion. Vol 2, Number 1.
   • Wilson, M.G. (1996). A all-inclusive review of the effects of Workplace Health Promotion Programs on health related outcomes: An update. The American Journal of health promotion. Vol 10, Number 6.
   • Wilson, M.G. (1996). A all-inclusive review of the effects of Corporate Wellness Programs on health related outcomes: An update. The American Journal of health promotion. Vol 11, Number 2.
   • Chapman, L.S. Proof Positive: An analysis of the cost-effectiveness of worksite wellness. 3rd ed. Seattle: Summex Corporation, 1996.
   • Pelletier, K.R. A review of the health and cost-effective outcomes studies of all-inclusive health promotion and disease prevention programs at the worksite: 1993-1995 Update. The American Journal of Health and Promotion. Vol. 10, Number 5.

   
Key Components of a Workplace Health Promotion Program

Physical Wellness – Focuses on the development, maintenance, or improvement of one’s physical fitness

Sample Physical Corporate Wellness Programs / Workshops
• Annual health assessment
• Regular physical activity
• Smart safety habits

Emotional Wellness – Focuses on all aspects of mental fitness

Sample Emotional Employee Health Promotion Programs / Workshops
• Stress management sessions
• Accepting aging
• Addictive behaviors
• Parenting

Financial Wellness – Focuses on improving the quality of life of staff members by facilitating families and individuals in becoming monetarily stable

Sample Financial Worksite Health Promotion Programs / Workshops
• Financial management
• Savings and Investing
• Credit and Purchasing
• Insurance and Estate Planning

Spiritual Wellness – Focuses on promoting a healthy inner self

Sample Spiritual Worksite Health Promotion Programs / Workshops
• Encourage daily devotional readings
• Provide regular service opportunities
• Give a daily/weekly/monthly chapel (meditation) time during work hours

Nutritional Wellness – Will meet the needs of the employees through group and individual nutritional services

Sample Nutritional Employee Health Promotion Programs / Workshops
• Individual nutritional Assessment
• Individual and group counseling
• Instructional classes
• Weight loss programs

Many employers, as part of their efforts to contain rising medical expenditures, are implementing workplace programs variously described as Worksite Health Promotion Programs, lifestyle programs, health and productivity management, population health management and, simply, wellness programs.

The purpose of this article is to consider whether such programs better health. If so, do they in turn decrease utilization of medical services and decrease medical expenditures?

The popular media have done much to promote the concept of corporation wellness. Last year, In Business: Madison magazine printed a story accompanied by a table reporting an impressive range of returns on investment (ROI):

Return on Investment (Per dollar ROI for lifestyle programs)
• Coors $6.15
• Kennecott $5.78
• Equitable Life $5.52
• Citibank $4.56
• General Mills $3.90
• Travelers $3.40
• Motorola $3.15
• PepsiCo $3.00
• Unum Life $1.81
Source: 2004 T.E. Brennan Corporation, as published

Would these ROIs stand up to thorough empirical analysis of the data? What factors create such disparate returns among these programs? And does the published literature, subject to peer review of scientific methods, support the ROIs published here?

Health and Productivity Leadership

Illness and injury associated with an unhealthy lifestyle or modifiable risk factors is stated to account for at least 25% of employee medical expenditures. The most significant of these risk factors are stress, tobacco use, overweight or obesity, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol use, and poor nutritional habits. Over the past two decades, a variety of groups at the local, state, and national echelons have promoted the concept that health risk reduction and care management programs have the potential to improve employee health, and that workplace health education, health risk management, and benefit counseling should complement standard health insurance benefits.

The intensity of Workplace Wellness Programs range from bulletin board, pamphlet or newsletter information to workplace fitness facilities, health risk reduction classes, and personal lifestyle change coaching.3 Workplace Wellness Programs today often include a health risk assessment (HRA) to evaluate each employee’s modifiable risk factors of disease. Program coordinators then target interventions to those that are at increased risk through personal talks and individual follow-up.

Complete Corporate Wellness Programs may include classes on health risk reduction and job safety, fitness and exercise activities, health club memberships, and reductions in co-payments or premiums for employees who adhere to recommended healthcare screening instructions.

Along with this, some employers are restructuring health benefits and encouraging employees’ cost-sensitivity when accessing health care.5 These changes are intended to decrease employees’ need for and utilization of health care, provideing reduced group health care costs. Demonstrated reductions in health care expenditures should then provide employers with a powerful bargaining chip in negotiating lower medical insurance premiums during future terms.

Evidence basis: A range of ROI estimates

The empirical research has produced results as varied as the popular media on ROI. Nonetheless, evidence continues to grow that well-designed and well-resourced Employee Health Promotion Program and disease prevention programs provide multi-faceted payback on investment. Peer-reviewed evaluations and meta analyses show that ROI is achieved through improved worker health, reduced benefit expense, and enhanced productivity.

• Goetzel and colleagues, in their meta-analysis of two dozen articles summarizing economic evaluations of health and work rate management programs, saw an average return of $3.14 per $1 invested in traditional Company Wellness Programs. The return on investment estimates for the individual programs ranged from $1.49 to $13.7,8
• Aldana reviewed 72 articles and concluded that Corporate Wellness Programs achieve an average return on investment of $3.48 when thinking of medical care costs alone, $5.82 per $1 when examining absenteeism, and $4.30 when both outcomes are considered.
• Ozminkowski and collagues conducted a 38 month case study of 23,000 participants in Citibank, N.A.’s health management program and published that within a 2 year period, Citibank realized a return on investment between $4.56 and $4.73.10  Follow-up studies saw improvements in the risk profiles of participants, with the elevated-risk group improving more than the “usual care” group11 as a result of more intensive programming.
• Chapman’s 2004 meta-assessment of 42 different studies, ranking overall validity of the different studies, reports cost-benefit ratios from $2.05-$4.64.

In addition to immediately quantifiable expense reductions, researchers have published a variety of spin-off benefits: greater work rate, intellectual capacity, and reductions in disability12 and absenteeism.9,13,14,15 Such programs may also have beneficial effects on employee perceptions of the company14 and worker morale, even among nonparticipants. 13 These outcomes go beyond savings in direct health care expenditures to provide non-health related ROI.

Tailoring program to maximize return on investment Workplace Health Promotion Programs aim to cut the health risks of staff members at elevated risk while maintaining the health status of those at low risk. A variety of disease management interventions are available to fit the specific risk profiles of various worksites. Insurers and organizations now seek to calibrate their interventions in order to achieve good risk reduction and costeffectiveness.

In 2001, University of Michigan researchers published on stable trends in healthcare costs for over 2 million current and former staff members in an 18 year data set. The mean cost increase per risk factor gained ($350) was found to be more than double the mean cost decrease per eliminated risk factor ($150). In other words, increases in costs when groups of staff members moved from low risk to high risk were much greater than the decreases in costs when groups moved from high risk to low risk. Their conclusion: Programs designed to keep healthy people healthy will likely offer the greatest return on investment.

On the other hand, Pelletier’s meta-analysis16 and other program evaluations18 suggest that individualized risks reduction for high-risk staff members within the context of comprehensive programming is the vital element in achieving positive clinical and cost outcomes in workplace interventions.

Dose-Response?

Several factors might affect the impact of various programs and the ultimate ROI, including cultural and environmental factors, workforce demographics, level of participation and longevity of the program.

Most cost-benefit research studies have been conducted in sizable businesses with more than fifty staff members. But researchers have shown that similar results can be obtained by small businesses with as few as five staff members actively involved in a well-managed program.

Various research studies also suggest that even relatively modest levels of participation have the potential to achieve substantial program impact. Contrary to reports by the popular media that such programs require more than 70% participation, published reports of at least one case showed beneficial ROI with 51% participation.

Length of intervention appears to be a more salient variable: an effect on health care costs generally requires three-to five years of programming.

Future developments

Despite the abundance of beneficial program evaluations, several caveats remain. Negative results are less likely to be reported or published, thus biasing the ROI upward.

Uncertainty persists regarding the specific impact of the various program components. But as these programs take hold, further research and assessment will enable fine-tuning of program investments.

Meanwhile, the preponderance of data and the strength of the published research stand in favor of a beneficial ROI for Company Wellness Programs. Indeed, the organization case for such programs is now well enough defined that some insurance brokers offer discounted rates to organizations that institute or subscribe to wellness programs.

Future questions will focus on how best to combine comprehensive and focused interventions, the intensity of components, and how to calibrate the dose-response model to achieve a target ROI. Here, employers, workers, and researchers will need to collaborate to define mutual objectives and goals in terms of both clinical and expenditure outcomes.