Posts from — February 2009

As with any program, the two most important components for the effectiveness of your wellness program are upper management support & employee involvement.  Senior Leadership sets the vision and arranges the resources from which action plans flow.  Genuine support from senior personnel also lends credibility to the wellness program.  It is key that upper management be visible supporters and role models for your Company Wellness Program.

workers need to be involved on several echelons so that they feel ownership of the wellness program.  Staff Members are the program stakeholders!  All workers must have an opportunity to support input and feedback through needs & interest surveys and program assessment tools.  The information gathered must be used to plan programs that target those needs and interests to ensure participation, buy-in, and reinforcement.

There are several methods to identify employee needs and interests such as:

• Directing Employee Focus Groups
• Discovering Wellness Interests During Department gatherings
• Distributing and Summarizing a Needs & Interest Survey
• (Including|Allowing for|Making sure to include} a Chance to Give Suggestions on Each Evaluation Tool  

Any one or combination of several techniques will ensure that the wellness program meets what employees want.

Step 3 supports additional information on determining wellness program needs.  But first, implementing a Workplace Wellness Program Committee can help you involve senior staff & workers, determine need, and plan your wellness program.

A key to a successful Company Wellness Program requires management responsibility and employee involvement.

Corporate Health Promotion Program Step 2: Create a Corporate Health Promotion Program Committee

An active Corporate Wellness Program Committee ensures employee involvement, provides buy-in, management reinforcement, and maintains a crew that is prepared to take action to integrate wellness programs.

Workplace Health Promotion Program Step 3: Gather Data to Ascertain Key Needs and Expectations

The next critical step is to base the Workplace Wellness Program on the needs and interests of your business and its employees.

Worksite Wellness Program Step 4: Create Goals and Objectives

Goals and objectives constitute the maps to guide you where your program needs to go.   These are the foundation for planning and evaluating activities to ensure that your wellness program will meet your special needs.

Worksite Health Promotion Program Step 5: Establish a Detailed Action Plan

There is no such thing as too much planning!  The best of intentions can get lost, overstepped, or forgotten in the absence ofadequate planning, and then it would be all for naught.

Workplace Wellness Program Step 6: Select and Start a Plan

Now that you have the needs assessment data, a Worksite Wellness Program Committee, goals/objectives it’s now time to put your plan into action!

Workplace Health Promotion Program Step 7: Oversee and Evaluate Your Workplace Health Promotion Program

Evaluation is a critical step to keep a program on target, as well as to see that the program is reaching its objectives and goals or achieving the desired results.

In Summary

These Seven Steps outline considerations for a accross the board approach to establishing an effective wellness program.  Are you able to start components of wellness activities without following these steps?  Certainly, but you may lack the sustainability or ability to bring about desired outcomes.  Following the Seven Steps does not have to be difficult or burdensome.  A very simple approach can achieve a successful wellness program!

Therefore, to ensure a successful wellness program consider the key components as you plan your program or improve your current program:

• Upper Management Support & Employee Involvement
• Active Corporate Health Promotion Program Committee
• Corporate Health Promotion Program is Based on Employee Needs & Interests
• Employee Wellness Program Goals and Objectives are Determined
• Detailed Workplace Health Promotion Program Action Plan Based on Resources & Budget
• Workplace Health Promotion Program Implementation & Internal Marketing
• Assessment of Company Wellness Program Outcomes

The program design options depend on the objectives and goals and desired outcomes of your program.  If your objective is to help staff members modify behavior, lower risk factors, or save healthcare money then your wellness program would be designed to accomplish those outcomes and a budget would be necessary to support that design.  

There are different wellness program design levels depending on desired outcomes and budgets.  Each level has advantages and disadvantages.  The intentions or results are quite different, are not interchangeable in terms of obtaining similar results, and therefore ought not be confused.  For example, scheduling activities such as an employee health & wellness fair or lunchtime education sessions, or having pamphlets available do not usually result in behavior change, but may expand awareness on a topic.  If the objective is behavior change then a different design is necessary, such as Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs and Company Support.  The outline below describes the wellness design levels with a brief explanation.

Awareness Programs:  At this level a business makes health information available and accessible to staff members.  This type of program can include brochures on a variety of topics, wellness articles in newsletters, bulletin board displays, e-mail health messages, etc.   Also, most wellness fairs are designed as awareness programs with vendors offering information and offering health screenings to staff members.  

Awareness programs are cheap and do not require extensive employee or organization time commitments.  Nonetheless, these programs do not usually result in behavior modification.  Growing awareness isn’t usually sufficient to generate lifestyle changes for most American citizens, unless used to arouse staff members to register for a program being provided at the organization or area on the topic.  An example of this would be offering information on the deleterious effects of smoking and inviting staff members who use tobacco to register for a smoking cessation class.

Education Programs:  Educational programs frequently offer more information on a topic and can also provide time for questions & answers, but are similar to awareness programs.  An example is lunch-n-learn sessions on a health related topic.  These cost the corporation a little more than awareness programs; however, they are still inexpensive and do not require much time for planning or attending a session.  Again, expanding awareness and providing information may not lead to the desired behavior change unless ongoing backing or incentives are also planned.

Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs:  These programs are designed as 4 to 12 weekly sessions or seminars to provide wellbeing and health education, address barriers and provide opportunities to practice the desired skills.  Behavior change programs therefore require additional company resources, cost more, and also require additional employee commitment, time and effort.  The results are often the desired beneficial lifestyle change, which if sustained can lead to potential cost savings.  

Examples are tobacco cessation classes, weight loss and weight management meetings, or an ongoing fitness program.

Environmental and Business Support:  Environmental reinforcement is frequently considered the highest and most important level to include when beginning your wellness program in order to support and maintain healthy lifestyles.  These types of design options include policy changes such as:

• Creating a smoke-free workplace
• Designating a walking path,
• Securing worksite fitness centers,
• Ensuring healthy vending machines choices,
• Offering healthy meal choices in the cafeteria, and/or
• Establishing flex-time policies.  

Other examples include subsidizing healthy vending machines or cafeteria choices; reimbursing gym or weight loss and weight management program memberships; or providing insurance incentives/rewards for healthy behaviors.

Ideally, the wellness program design would include some of each of these options.  The more integrated the approach, the more successful the outcome will be.  For example, a company can have smoking cessation information available; can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of smoking and how to quit; can implement an onsite tobacco cessation program, supply self quit smoking kits, or support staff members to go to a community program; and/or on an environmental reinforcement level can establish a smoke-free workplace and grounds, offer lower medical insurance for non-smokers, or support pharmacological quit smoking aids for free.

Corporate Wellness Program: Components for Success

There are several main components that need to be considered to see to the effectiveness of your Employee Health Promotion Program or Employee Health Promotion Program.  These include:  

• Senior Leadership Backing & Employee Participation
• Active Workplace Wellness Program Committee
• Program is Based on Employee Needs & Interests
• Goals and Objectives are Established
• Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources & Budget
• Program Implementation & Internal Marketing
• Assessment of Outcomes and Program

Major advantages of healthy workers include:

• Reduced Medical Care expenditures
• Diminished Injuries
• Lowered Rates of Absenteeism
• Increased Morale and Loyalty
• Increased Productivity
• Reduced Use of Medical Care Benefits
• Diminished Workers’ Comp/Disability
• Positive Image in Community
• Reduced Turnover
• Better recruitment for competent staff members

What is NOT Having a Worksite Health Promotion Program Costing Your Company?  

Consider the health risk factors that are increasing chronic diseases for adults:

• 59 percent of adults are overweight or obese
• More than 60 percent of Americans do not exercise regularly
• More than 75 percent of American citizens do not consume the minimum recommendations for fruits and vegetables
• Heart disease is the most common cause of death and the leading cause of death in smokers
• 26 percent of workers reported they were often or very often burned out or stressed by their occupation  

Health Care expenses are Increasing:  Health Care expenditures are at a record level of $1.7 trillion with no signs of leveling out, let alone decreasing.  The average cost of annual medical care spending is over $5,000 per person and including dependents almost $10,000.  Recent data shows that medical care related expenses now cost North Carolina businesses thousands of dollars per employee, each year.

Most Illnesses Can Be Prevented:  Although it sounds unrealistic, experts suggest that avoidable illness makes up 60 percent – 70 percent of the entire burden of illness in the U.S..   In North Carolina, it is estimated that more than 53 percent of all deaths are avoidable, and that 2/3 of all avoidable deaths are due to tobacco use, a sedentary lifestyle, and poor nourishment.

Stress Levels are Rising:  As corporation resources dwindle and employers adopt less-costly work practices, the effects of absenteeism and lost productivity have an increased influence.  In a new nationwide poll, 78% of American citizens described their jobs as stressful, and most felt that stress levels have worsened over The previous decade.  In addition, high levels of corporation stress have the potential to negatively affect a corporation by rising injuries, absenteeism, and health care expenditures while decreasing productivity.  Simple solutions such as stress management education, flexible work schedules, quality social interaction, and increased participation in corporation decision-making have the potential to better stress levels in the workplace.

What is the Upfront Cost and Time Investment for a Corporate Wellness Program?

The cost depends on the type of Corporate Wellness Program implemented.  There are several options to promote employee health with pros and cons of each.  The program design depends on the objectives of the wellness program, the company resources, and the area resources available.  

Improving nutrition, building physical activity levels, managing stress or approaching work life balance concerns, and lowering/eliminating tobacco use, are primary strategies for preventing many of the most common preventable chronic diseases. The possibilities of how your corporation addresses these concerns are endless and can range from building employee awareness, which may include purchasing a few brochures on a variety of topics, and calculating walking distances around your facility, to establishing corporation reinforcement such as funding a full-time occupational health consultant or building an onsite fitness center.  

When well-planned and based on your goals/objectives, any of these programs can help you succeed.  Refer below to Workplace Health Promotion Program Design Options for additional ideas.

A Corporate Wellness Program is a comprehensive program to assist and support workers in establishing healthier lifestyles.  This can include growing employee awareness on health subject matters, scheduling behavior modification programs, and/or establishing business policies that support health-related objectives.  Programs and policies that encourage increased physical activity, tobacco use prevention and cessation, and healthy diet selections are a few examples.  

Dimensions of Wellness

Wellness is much more than fitness alone.  In addition to physical fitness, the scope of optimal health include:

   • Spiritual Dimension of Wellness,
   • Emotional Wellness,
   • Social Wellness,
   • Intellectual Wellness

These dimensions are often illustrated as a “life wheel” with examples of health components that include fitness, nutrition, purpose in life, monetary planning, social wellbeing & reinforcement systems, stress management, mind-body health, career planning and ongoing learning.   The key behind personal health is keeping the “life wheel” in allignment.  A inclusive workplace wellness program addresses most, if not all, of these dimensions.

Why Worksite Wellness Programs?

workers invest a great deal of time on the job, and the fact of the matter is that our traditional work-week is increasing.  In fact, the typical American now works about 47 hours a week.  Additionally, items such as modems, laptop computers, cell phones, voice and email have confused the work-life boundary.  These realities diminish the amount of time that the average worker is able to devote to wellness and health pursuits, and yet workers are expected to be at top performance when at work.

A new study from the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses saw that workplace wellness or Company Wellness Programs are successful in supporting workers to make positive health changes due to several factors such as convenience, environmental reinforcement, and co-worker or social acceptance.  

What’s the Link between Wellness and the Workplace?

Programs and policies that promote healthy behaviors have the potential to make a big difference on employee wellness AND have an influence on the business’s bottom line.  Studies have shown that for each dollar invested by employers in Corporate Wellness Programs/wellness programs, there were savings between $1.49 to $4.91 with a median savings of $3.14*.  In business terms, that’s more than a 3:1 minimum ROI – a number that is tough to ignore, and a best practice that must draw serious consideration from employers.  In fact, a Corporate Wellness Program literature review posted in Health Promotion Practitioner Journal observed:

   • 19 studies saw a 28.3 percent decrease in sick leave
   • 16 studies demonstrated a 5.6:1 ROI
   • 23 showed a 26.1 percent reduction in healthcare costs
   • 4 observed a 30 percent reduction in direct healthcare and workers’ compensation claims

There is little doubt that a all-inclusive wellness program designed to meet an enterprise’s specific needs can save money by lowering absenteeism, decreasing healthcare costs, decreasing employee turnover, and expanding productivity.

• The United States Department of Health & Human Services, 2003