Posts from — July 2009

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 start it determine the safety and health concerns of workers by the assessment of appropriateness of the facilities and equipment against the needs of the workers.

It can, for example, guide the corporation 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 significant to correct the concern. 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. However, it has also become an valuable component of the top Employee Health Promotion Programs in a myriad of businesses in North America.

Immunization shots, such as those used to combat flu, for example, are offered to employees for no cost.

Employee Assistance Program(EAP)

Employee Assistance Program(EAP)s consist of a wide variety of services. It can range from providing educational resources to workers regarding health problems to sponsoring health services and healthcare. In many organizations, medical and insurance have also become a staple part of their benefits system.

In-house diet drives

This is another wellness program that organizations use, particularly 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 organizations can implement 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 risks, 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 organization but it is far from perfect. Some workers, for example, may not read the newsletter entirely or even pay attention to it. If the concerns outlined in the newsletter are promoted through an active and highly visible campaign, it will be easier to maximize positive results.

Exercise and physical activity drives

Another top wellness program for corporations is one that involves physical activities. Businesses frequently sponsor exercise-related events such as marathons and company sports programs to encourage workers 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/Rewards

Some of the top wellness programs implemented by companies involve Incentives and Rewards. This involves employer-sponsored programs that reward staff members for achieving specific wellness-related goals and objectives. Participation in health campaigns and signing up for wellness programs are two of the most commonly 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.

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

Peer Pressure

In countless employers, employers take advantage of peer pressure in order to promote employees to participate in wellness programs. This is currently one of the favorite Corporate Health Promotion Programs currently in use today and growing in popularity. Peer pressure is frequently leveraged to help encourage competitions referring to worksite wellness and to persuade employees to be active in organization-sponsored health fairs.

Wellness is a great concept. It brings happiness into health and encourages a truly holistic approach to life. Wikipedia defines wellness as a healthy balance of the mind-body and spirit that results in an overall feeling of wellbeing. It sounds like exactly what every one is looking for. But when you start to talk about corporate wellness, or worksite wellness, all life goes out of the concept. Total solutions, disease management and health screening do not inspire visions of enjoying life and living it to the full. They start from the assumption that sickness is here to stay and needs to be discovered, managed and controlled but can never be healed.

The wellness industry is growing phenomenally fast. Wellness guru, Paul Zane Pilzer, has labeled it the next trillion dollar industry. But wellness has two different faces. On the one hand there are the small businesses – people working from home or in small centers selling all kinds of wellness products and services at a speed of growth that is escalating rapidly. On the other hand corporate wellness is also exploding but in a very different direction.

The baby boomers who are driving the popular wellness revolution have been described as the first generation to refuse to accept the inevitability of death. They are actively looking for ways to prevent aging, stay healthy into old age and enjoy themselves more than ever before after retirement. This is a radical departure from current notions of old age, which are often dominated by pictures of sickness, frailty and suffering.

The businesses have been largely forced to take on wellness. This is partly through legislative pressure, with a myriad of countries introducing laws to make businesses liable for stress-related sickness in their staff members. It is also fiscally motivated, as research has repeatedly shown the enormous costs of absenteeism (and increasingly of presenteeism as well).

Whereas the baby boomers are actively looking for new solutions and new lifestyles the organizations are struggling to organize largely traditional and mainstream health systems, such as doctors, nurses, insurance and screening systems. The concern is that the traditional health system does not have solutions for the concerns that people are handling.

Nobody ever went to see a doctor to get happy, because a doctor doesn’t have any clue how to make people happy. And numerous stress-related health problems are described as chronic diseases, which means that they last for a very long time – or maybe for the rest of your life – because there is no medical cure. Counseling is a common offering in employers for emotional problems, but whilst it may provide a useful pressure valve it is not a powerful treatment for stress, unhappiness or depression.

Imagine walking into a company where the workers are happy, healthy, full of inspiration, fit, love working, have meaningful family lives, active social lives, and enjoyable relationships at work and in their community. That kind of company would be a pleasure to work in and bound to be successful because people would be working to their optimum capacity.

So can we set up a system of true wellness that will serve the development of the businesses and their workers and will pay for itself because of the advantages that both sides will gain?

First of all we have to face the fact that we can’t place all the responsibility into the hands of the current health system. Absenteeism, stress, depression, the very roots of the wellness revolution, have not been solved by the current system. If they had been we wouldn’t have this revolution, we would all be much more well. So we need to look elsewhere for solutions.

We also cannot rely on makeshift feel-good wellness offerings, such as the on-Site massage group which visits the office once a month or the wellness day that raises awareness for a modest amount of while but leaves most people unaffected. They are easy to organize but have little or no real significance on employee wellness.

Company needs are different than individual needs and many of the new small wellness companies that are springing up simply don’t have the capacity to serve the corporate market. However it is in the best interest of both companies and staff members to find and foster systems of health and wellbeing that really work – that benefit people to be happy, handle stress, love working, and to have sufficient energy to go home at the end of the day and enjoy their family and social life. So far the corporate world has hijacked the concept of wellness and turned it into a modern version of occupational health. It is time to raise the vision and discover how to make truly healthy, happy workplaces where people thrive.

High rates of employee turnover and the costs of sick days are increasingly taking bites into business profits. The high cost of recruitment programs only adds to the challenges that these problems in total cost the average business. Many employers are finding the solution to these challenges by increasing job satisfaction, team building, and the implementation of programs that provide a decline in these costs.

It has become increasingly clear to most managers that a well designed wellness program / exercise program with a strong nutritional and fitness lifestyle emphasis will directly meet this need. Senior Leadership’s goals/objectives for a productive wellness program must be viewed through the perspective of increased employee work rate, diminished absenteeism due to health related causes, improved employee morale, diminished utilisation of organization subsidised health benefits, enhanced team cohesion and effectiveness and a decrease in turnover due to lack of job satisfaction. It is obvious that an improvement in any of these areas will have a positive effect on the monetary status of any organisation.

The benefits from an employees point of view can be seen in improved health, increased energy levels, decreased body fat, a more youthful fit body, an increased ability to handle job related stress, greater feelings of confidence and morale and more social associations at work contributing to greater feelings of satisfaction with their work and worksite.

To be most constructive a wellness program needs to achieve both senior staff’s and employee’s objectives, and this can be accomplished through a program that will provide the individual employee with an awareness of their current physical condition and attitudes to fitness and wellness, and the benefits of attaining a fitter, healthier lifestyle, and a plan that will allow them to achieve the crucial changes to their physical condition that can be applied in the context of their life and work.

The Bottom Line – Worksite Wellness Programs

Diminished Rates of Absenteeism – Dupont reduced absenteeism by 47.5 percent over six years for the participants of their employer fitness program, (Health Behaviour, March 1992).

Reduced Health Care Expenditures – Steel case showed a decrease in healthcare claim expenditures of 55 percent for corporate exercise program participants over non-participants over a six year period – an average of $478.61 for participants vs. non-participants who averaged $868.88, (The Am. Journal of Health Promotion, Sept/Oct, 1991).

Diminished Turnover – Turnover among physical activity program participants at the Canadian Life Assurance Corporation was 32.4 percent lower over a seven year period compared with non-participants (Canadian Journal of Public Health, Jan/Feb, 1988).

Positive Return on Investment – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Indiana saw that its company physical activity program had a 250 percent return on investment; $2.51 for every $1 invested over a five year period (American Journal of Health Promotion, March, April, 1991).

The Partnership for Prevention was formed to advocate Fortune 1000 organizations to consider making workforce health a CEO problem and adopt strategies to promote prevention and wellness. Following several years of double-digit rate increases for medical insurance, organizations are realizing that one of the best ways to slow the cost increases is to have workers take more responsibility for both costs and health choices. A majority of organizations surveyed feel that the best way for decreasing costs is financial incentives to advocate workers to adopt healthier lifestyles.

Nearly 100 percent of corporations surveyed say that health costs will be a vital or valuable concern over the next five years, according to a survey by United Benefit Advisors. More corporations are adopting higher deductible health insurance plans with HRA’s or HSA’S, wellness programs, and expanded disease management programs in order to control ever-increasing healthcare costs.

Failure to deal with these problems could be disastrous for a organization. Wayne Sensor, Chief Executive Officer of Alegent Health recently stated, “I think that we have built a medical machinery we can’t afford. I think we are choking the economic engine of America.” In his October 2005 newsletter, Dr. Andrew Weil stated, “I think rising health- care expenditures are becoming the primary economic issue in our nation”. Obesity expenditures California organizations billions of dollars each year. Projected expenditures for 2005 may reach 28 billion dollars for direct and indirect medical expenditures, worker’s compensation, and lost productiveness. California has experienced one of the fastest growing rates of obesity of any state.

According to California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe, “The obesity epidemic is more than a public health crisis, it is an economic crisis.” What is frightening is that most people do not even realize that they are obese, which is defined as only 20 percent above normal weight. There is a great need for additional education on weight and resulting diseases, and the worksite is an ideal venue. Wellness education and programs can result in a significant return on investment and, if structured properly, can produce results in a very short period of time.

Although a myriad of companies have attempted some form of wellness program in the past, results from those efforts have been disappointing. In many cases, the healthier workers participated for rewards and incentives, such as gym memberships, but those who needed it most did not take advantage of the program in a meaningful way. Businesses are looking at ways to promote more workers to buy into the wellness movement.

A new webinar hosted by Human Resource Executive Magazine and presented by Carlson Marketing Group titled, “Healthier workers; Healthier Bottom Line: Engaging workers is the Missing Link in Managing Healthcare Costs,” drove this point home. This session provided actionable advice on how employers are achieving higher impact with their wellness investments by focusing on employee engagement. It also highlighted how you can create an Economic Engagement Model to forecast the potential effect for your company.

Employers can simply no longer ignore the concern of their employee’s unhealthy lifestyles and must take action to engage them in a meaningful wellness program to reduce health costs, absenteeism and lost productivity. staff members also profit as they derive better health and greater satisfaction in both their personal and professional lives. The alternative is being caught in a non-competitive position and severely impacting the bottom-line of the business.

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

Nutrition Category
• Low-fat campaign/food groups
• Team salad bars
• Vending machine changes
• Diet analysis by a nutritionist
• Produce on parade
• Eating disorder support group
• Restaurant education

Physical Activity/Exercise Category
• “Elevoiders” – stair climbing
• Poker walk
• Mall walking program
• Facilities – showers, bike lockers, exercise space, etc.
• Team treks
• Walk-a-block trails
• Recreational tournaments
• How-to-find equipment talks
• Running maps
• Biking 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 courses
• Time management courses
• Relaxation class
• Better sleep campaign
• Relaxation room

Other departments within a business will likely focus on related areas of employee safety and injury prevention. Wellness activities are a natural partner to many other human resource, employee motivation, and safety programs. Body mechanics, ergonomics, and safe on the job practices are three areas which may be coordinated together.
• Soft Tissue Sprains & Strains: This injury category continues to remain the number one monetary loss for workers’ compensation. Many healthcare insurance dollars are also invested on back pain, other sprains, and strains. Wellness and safety efforts can focus on:
• Warm up stretches before beginning work or periodic stretching during work. These can do much to prevent soft tissue injury. Give training to work groups so they may start a stretching program. These groups can then continue on their own.
• The Corporate Wellness Program Committee might consider contracting a fitness professional to come in and conduct stretching “refreshers” for employee groups throughout the year.
• Provide body mechanics training on an annual basis or more frequently if possible. These training sessions should focus on work related tasks and safety, as well as feature a segment on home tasks and body safety.
• Partner with your employer’s workers’ compensation carrier to help  in offering body mechanics training, job safety analysis, and other preventative services which can help employees work safer, smarter, and avert injury.
• Launch a safety issues suggestion box. Encourage workers to report safety and/or injury issues. Help upper management to establish policy to recognize and reward workers who offer safety suggestions, support tips, and solution ideas.
• A periodic presentation featuring a local medical provider approaching such subject matters as safe body mechanics, recovering from a back injury, appropriate spine care, etc.
• Partner with upper management and supervisor teams to recognize and reward work groups who are efficacious with safety and injury prevention.
• The ergonomics of an employees’ workstation/work place design is valuable and applicable to every group.
• Provide ergonomic training opportunities to interested workers volunteers. These individuals can then help  other workers to assess their work areas for safety, comfort, and injury prevention.
• It is often more effective to have an observer evaluate workers for helpful and friendly comfort suggestions rather than it is for individuals to evaluate themselves.
• One suggestion is to have employees 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 corroborate how small adjustment changes can often make large comfort changes.
• Partner with the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier to help advance ergonomic policies and practices and to provide employee training.

Tying wellness activities into holiday themes is a strategy generally used to create interest and participation. Nonetheless, be aware that offering holiday activities in the worksite can create concerns. Your worksite may have policies and guidelines already in place about concerns such as appropriate decorations themes, work time, etc. Be sure to check with management regarding all guidelines and policies.

Remember to include and acknowledge the holiday celebrations of the various cultures or groups represented in your workforce. It is generally safer to use graphics, themes, and wording that are not specific to one culture, as others might feel left out. In fact, acknowledging diverse holidays, if done respectfully, can help familiarize your workforce with values and practices of different cultures and ethnic groups.

A few topical ideas for holiday themes include:
• Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee members distribute “healthy heart valentines” to each employee for Valentine’s Day.
• Thanksgiving “turkey trot”. Employees 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 grocery store or donated).
• Chinese New Year tai chi demonstration. Consider a follow-up worksite introductory tai chi class offering.
• Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/etc. holiday food potluck. Participants of different cultural or ethnic groups bring in a dish reflective of their holiday traditions. Each person can say a few words about the origin and tradition behind the food. In this holiday theme, food does not have to be be low fat or especially healthy, since the purpose is enhancing cultural diversity, not counting calories.

Pre/Display Holiday Weigh In

Holiday weight gain can be a large health challenge. This wellness program exercise is fun, low-key, and helps employees monitor their weight during the holiday season.
• Members weigh-in with a “trusted” confident prior to Thanksgiving. The weigh-ins may be conducted on the honor system, but weight must be recorded on a weight-tracking card. You might invite a local nurse or Weight Watchers representative to monitor weigh-ins.
• workers set a personal goal of maintaining their weight from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.
• Weight cards are stored in a secure file location.
• Provide weekly weight management hints. These must be posted next to the wellness bulletin board, sent via email, or provided in flyer form.
• Or, alternate the weekly hints with healthy recipe options.
• Remind workers of the necessity to continue physical exercise during the hectic holiday season.
• Weigh everyone 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 no cost or purchased inexpensively. Monthly health themes, week long events, and nationally recognized days of the year are also good ways to have fun while participating in larger events. Health observances are tied to almost every aspect of wellness and health. Things to consider:

• National observances present opportunities to work with other neighborhood agencies and businesses to offer larger events 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 start.
• 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 programs per year and stick with these. Design and promote programs well ensuring that workers will come to expect and anticipate these programs each year. It is best to do a few Employee Health Promotion Programs very well than numerous promotions poorly.

Many staff members enjoy group related activities. These activities usually take place on an employee’s time away from work and participation is completely voluntary in nature. Even though the sports group is not part of an employee’s regular work duties, if the group or exercise is associated with the company, the company might be held liable in the event of an employee injury. If the exercise brings with it a risk of injury, it is essential to address the possible risk and liability problems with the correct company department. Also consult with your organization’s workers’ compensation carrier and/or legal counsel.
• Establish summer softball or volleyball teams, a winter ski outing, fall and winter smoke-free bowling teams, a spring golf tournament, summer walks, etc.
• Give brochures and catalogs from area Parks and Recreation departments and county park companies so employee can take advantage of area leagues, trips and offerings.
• Invite an official from one of the above organizations to speak at a organization brown bag event, or invite an area Parks and Recreation instructor to offer 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:
• TV Free Week (usually in April): Create a chart for the children to use to record their TV-free participation.
• Offer a certificate to anyone who is TV-free for a week.
• If possible, offer a few prizes (but not video rental certificates, video games or other TV-related items) for related categories, such as less than 5 hours of TV, no video games for a week, etc.

Stress Management

Many simple wellness activities and practices can help workers be aware of the role stress plays in effecting health, safety, and productivity. It is crucial to help workers be aware of simple stress management strategies for decreasing stress levels.
• Stress kit check out. Have stress management tools available for employee 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.
• Offer a stress management brown bag event at which employees can try different types stress management tools.
• Urge workers to take 10-minute relaxation/exercise breaks. Display reminders.
• Provide a comfortable employee break area.
• Designate a “quiet room” for meditation and relaxation, if possible.
• Work with Senior Leadership to keep supervisors informed about the effects of stress in the worksite. Supervisors are often the first step in supporting workers find different ways of managing work related stressors.
• Contact the Employee Assistance Provider (EAP) for a variety of stress management information and self-assessments.
• Offer stress management self-assessments to interested workers. Follow these up with a stress management videotape, a brown bag presentation, or a neighborhood guest speaker.

Mental Health and Wellness

Emotions and mental health greatly affect overall health and wellness. Every Worksite Wellness Program ought to incorporate some services, programs, resources or activities to address mental health problems.

Mental health issues can be sensitive areas for employees. Therefore, it is important to support information in a variety of ways, worksite presentations being just one possibility. For example, put domestic violence resource cards in the restrooms to support useful information in a private setting that does not embarrass anyone. Other considerations include:
• When planning to offer an oratory event or presentation a neutral class title will make sure potential participants won’t be put off by the name. For example, “Parenting in 2004″, “Positive Parenting”, or “Parent University” is much more appealing than “Stress and Parenting”.
• Be sure to allot proper time when hosting EAP/mental health sessions for a question and answer session so participants may ask specific questions. Always remind participants that individual help is available through the EAP and also through their health benefits. Provide written contact information for your EAP, but do so discretely.
• The EAP is an great partner and resource for wellness programming in these areas. The EAP can help discover ways to address mental health, stress, coping, and other related issues.