Company Health and Wellness : Employee Health Promotion Program Ideas

Want some wellness program ideas and wellness policy ideas to get you started? Or perhaps you want to jump start or improve upon your current wellness program? The list below provides ‘best practices’ that are able to help meet any wellness program budget! The Corporate Health Promotion Program ideas are divided into topic areas.

General Wellness Progam Ideas

• Administer an Employee Needs & Interest Survey
• Create a Company Health Promotion Program Committee
• Identify medical programs that cover expenditures for weight management and tobacco cessation
• Remove co-pay or reimburse for preventive health care visits
• Display brochures on a variety of wellness topics for workers to take
• Organize a wellness resource center or library with videos, books, magazines, DVD’s on a variety of topics of interest to employees
• Identify workers who are mentors or champions for healthy activities and ask them to present or to list as a contact for other workers
• Create and reward periodic or regular educational sessions.
• Create monthly educational sessions on the national health observance topic
• Put up a Wellness Bulletin Board & update it monthly
• Post messages from national health observances during the month
• Offer healthy tips in newsletters, paycheck stuffers, bulletin boards, etc.
• Organize a benefits fair
• Offer employer fitness and healthy eating challenges
• Offer business health fairs or other onsite programs

Nutrition Programs

• Provide free, healthy snacks for workers (fruit, nuts, popcorn)
• Provide healthy meal choices in cafeterias and at organization events
• Provide information to workers about the nutritional content of food served in the cafeteria
• Establish a fresh fruit “snack basket” in the breakroom or cafeteria
• Stock snack machines with healthier options
• Subsidize healthy foods in the cafeteria or snack machines (10¡ apples may be more appealing than $1.00 candy bars)
• Start a weekly or monthly healthy lunch club
• Provide handouts available on a variety of healthy eating subject matters
• Include diet articles in business newsletters
• Provide a healthy food tasting contest Free
• Provide educational sessions during lunch-time on a variety of nutrition topics of interest
• Sponsor an employee healthy diet cookbook. Either sell the cookbook and use profits for programs, or purchase a cookbook for all staff members

Weight Loss Programs / Weight Management Programs

• Offer flexible work schedules so that workers can take part in weight-loss programs
• Partially fund registration costs for weight-management programs
• Form a support group to help staff members who are trying to lose weight
• Arrange for registered dieticians near your workplace as a resource for employees who want information on healthy eating, meal planning or weight management
• Offer individual counseling for workers trying to lose weight
• Provide workplace fitness and weight-management programs through your local hospital, Weight Watchers, TOPS or local, registered dietician
• Schedule an educational session on diet myths and healthy eating

Physical Activity Programs

• Consider offering flexible work schedules to encourage physical activity
• Develop a fitness space with aerobic equipment, and weights
• Establish accessible walking paths, trails, and/or bike routes
• Encourage workers to walk more by parking farther away from the entrance
• Create a gym with aerobic equipment, weights, aerobic classes, fitness professionals
• Have walking meetings
• Make the stairwells more appealing (carpet, fresh paint, artwork, posters)
• Offer reduced gym membership fees to all employees
• Give facilities for employees to secure bikes
• Have 5 – 10 minute stretch breaks during the day
• Subsidize fitness center membership for employees who take part a minimal number of days per week (ex., 3 days per week)
• Support lunchtime walking/running clubs or business sports team
• Urge stairwell use and incentives and rewards
• Install a basketball hoop outside
• Urge & support community walks or fitness events
• Promote walking during breaks and other off-time periods
• Offer periodic fitness incentive programs to encourage exercise
• Schedule educational sessions on fitness activities

Smoking Cessation Programs / Tobacco Cessation Programs

• Organize a smoke-free grounds
• Establish a tobacco-free workplace
• Encourage the use of 1-800-QUIT-NOW, North Carolina’s no cost Tobacco Use Quitline. Or check www.QuitlineNC.com
• Fully reimburse (or partially reimburse) for tobacco replacement products
• Partially fund the expense of smoking cessation workshops
• Give pamphlets and information on health effects from tobacco use and smoking cessation
• Have awareness sessions to motivate workers to try to quit tobacco use
• Schedule workplace tobacco cessation courses

Employee Health Screening

• Discount medical insurance premiums or cut co-payments for staff members who take part in screenings and who take part in managing their risk factors
• Install Blood Pressure monitoring equipment
• Offer flu shots for workers and family members
• Provide Health Risk Assessments to all employees, including counseling and follow-up
• Provide periodic Blood Pressure screenings and follow-up
• Offer periodic screenings for cholesterol, blood glucose, body composition, etc.

Stress Management Programs / Work Life Balance Programs

• Allow flexible schedules for family/work life balance
• Provide and reward an Employee Assistance Program(EAP)
• Provide information on substance abuse prevention
• Provide pamphlets and information on stress management and mental health
• Provide brochures and information on work life balance, such as financial planning, childcare, parenting, elder care, etc.
• Offer supervisor and manager training on communication, relationship building, corporation stressors, etc.
• Assess business policies and work schedules to identify business stressors
• Evaluate the Employee Assistance Program to be sure it is meeting the needs of the workers and company
• Provide educational sessions on stress management and work life balance
• Provide workshops on relaxation, stress management, and work life balance subject matters