What’s a Health Promotion Program?

A Wellness Program is an organized wellness program to assist and support staff members in establishing healthier lifestyles.  This can include increasing employee awareness on health topics, scheduling behavior modification programs, and/or establishing organization policies that support health-related objectives.

Programs and policies that promote increased physical activity, smoking prevention and cessation, and healthy food selections are several examples.

Wellness Dimensions

Health Promotion is more than fitness.  In addition to fitness, the dimensions of optimal health include

o  Spiritual Dimension of Wellness

o  Emotional Wellness Dimension

o  Social Wellness Dimension

o  Intellectual Wellness Dimension

These Dimensions of Wellness are often depicted as a “life wheel” with examples of health components that include -

o  fitness,

o  nutrition,

o  purpose in life,

o  financial planning,

o  social connections and support systems,

o  stress management,

o  mind-body health,

o  career planning and

o  continued learning.

The key for individual health is keeping the “life wheel” in balance.  A robust health promotion program addresses most, when not all, of these dimensions.

Why Employee Wellness?

Staff Members spend a excellent deal of time on the job, and the reality is that our traditional work-week is increasing. In fact, the typical American now works about 47 hours per week.

Plus, technologies like modems, laptops, cellular phones, voice and email have blurred the work-life boundary.  These realities reduce the amount of time that the average individual can devote to wellness pursuits, and yet employees are expected to be at top performance when at work.

A recent study  by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses found that company wellness or wellness programs are successful in helping staff members make positive health changes due to several factors such as convenience, environmental support, and coworker or social acceptance.

What is the Link between Wellness and the Workplace?

Programs and policies that promote healthful behaviors could make a big difference on employee wellness AND have an impact on the organization’s bottom line.   Studies have shown that for every dollar invested by businesss in corporate wellness/wellness programs, there were savings ranging from $1.49 to $4.91 with a median savings of $3.14*.

In business terms, that’s more than a 3 – 1 minimum return on investment – a number that is hard to ignore, and a best practice that should warrant serious consideration from organizations.

Indeed, a employee wellness literature review posted in Wellness Practitioner Journal found -

o  19 studies found a 28.3% reduction in sick time

o  16 studies demonstrated a 5.6 – 1 return on investment

o  23 showed a 26.1 percent reduction in health care costs

o  4 found a 30% reduction in direct medical and workers’ compensation claims

There is little doubt that a comprehensive health promotion program targeted to meet a company’s specific needs can reduce costs by decreasing absenteeism, lowering health care expenditures, decreasing worker turnover, and increasing productivity.

o  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003