Programs and policies that promote increased exercise, smoking avoidance and cessation, and healthful food selections are several examples.  

Dimensions of Wellness

Wellness is more than physical fitness.  In addition to physical fitness, the dimensions of optimal health include

• Spiritual Wellness

• Emotional Wellness

• Social Wellness

• Intellectual Wellness

These dimensions are often depicted as a “life wheel” with examples of health components that include –

• fitness,
• nutrition,
• purpose in life,
• financial planning,
• social connections and support systems,
• stress management,
• mind-body health,
• career planning and
• continued learning.  

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

Why Corporate Wellness?

Workers spend a excellent deal of time on the job, and the reality is that our traditional work-week is increasing.  Truly, the average American now works about 47 hours per week.  

Plus, technologies such as modems, laptops, cellular phones, voice and email have blurred the work-life boundary.  These realities cut down on the amount of time that the typical individual is able to devote to wellness pursuits, and yet staff members are expected to be at top performance when at work.

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

What’s the Link between Wellness and the Workplace?

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

In corporation 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 businesses.  

Truly, a corporate wellness literature review posted in Wellness Practitioner Journal found –  

• 19 studies found a 28.3 percent reduction in sick leave

• 16 studies demonstrated a 5.6 – 1 return on investment

• 23 showed a 26.1% reduction in health care costs

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

There is little doubt that a comprehensive wellness program targeted to meet a corporation’s specific needs can save money by decling absenteeism, lowering healthcare expenditures, decling staff member turnover, and increasing productivity.

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

The Wellness Program management world is evolving rapidly. Each month, there are new research findings that support the premise that Wellness Programs and disease management have a long-term impact on health care costs.

Many big businesses that began Wellness Programs three to five years ago are showing savings in health, disability, and staff members compensation costs. Small to mid-size businesses are watching all this and wondering where to start with wellness.

Getting  senior management support and budget approval is among the challenges at the starting of a Wellness Program. This is the case because Wellness Programs may be expensive, averaging $150-300 per worker per year in large corporations.

Most of the savings are not realized for a number of years. This long-term investing is hard for companies on the move.

The key to success for Wellness Programs is to take a strategic approach. Here are ten steps to consider when starting a Wellness Program.

1. Begin with  senior level management. Without  senior level management support, a wellness strategy can fall flat. Begin with the health of your executive team and discover your wellness champions at the top of the organization.

2. Analyze the problem. Look at your healthcare claims and analyze the trends. Which conditions are driving your medical, disability, and workers’ compensation claims and which are modifiable? What’s worked and what hasn’t as a result far? What is the long-term impact of doing nothing?

3. Hold an initial wellness meeting. Invite your key stakeholders both inside and outside the corporation. Ask your broker to facilitate the meeting and invite key health vendors including health, disability, Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP), fitness, and occupational nursing.

Review claims and utilization data and identify key areas of concern. Look at current offerings and see how they can be tailored to the needs of the population.

4. Consider both healthy and unhealthy employees. Since 85% of claims are generally attributed to 15% of claimants, it is essential to reach those with the most expensive conditions while also reaching individuals  who are at risk for developing avoidable illnesses in the future.

Voluntary wellness programs like lunchtime wellness workshops miss many of the people  who need them most. Consider programs that are population-wide or target intact workgroups. Wellness incentives help but don’t motivate everybody.

5. Be certain to set short-term goals for the wellness programs. Be certain to set some realistic short-term goals based on your key areas of concern. Are there any plan design changes that could have an immediate impact on spending? Are there some programmatic actions that could have immediate results?

6. Find out what workers are thinking. Hold some focus groups to determine where individuals  are with wellness. What’s working? What isn’t? How much interest do individuals  have in the Wellness Programs? What obstacles and barriers are workers experiencing when they try to change behavior?

7. Make certain you’ve a high-impact Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Your first wellness dollars should go into upgrading your Employee Assistance Program (EAP). A highly utilized Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide a foundation for all of your future wellness activities.

A good Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP) is a trusted link to the hearts and minds of staff members. at no additional cost, the Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP) can provide needed follow-up coaching and personal attention for staff members who are working on modifiable health behaviors or involved in disease management (DM) programs.

Nutritionists, fitness, pregnancy, and stress management professionals are all part of a high-value Worker Assistance Program (EAP).

8. Make certain to set three to five year goals for healthcare savings and measure them. Get help from your broker and insurance carrier help you on long-term goals for your health, disability, and staff members compensation plans.

Establish program metrics that’ll help you to measure ROI. Go beyond participation rates, completion rates and program satisfaction. Measure changes in readiness, changes in behavior, and changes in risk factors. Establish rigorous methods to measure health care savings over the long term.

9. Be certain to set goals for organizational health. Consider the more intangible benefits of a wellness program and quantify them whenever possible. Include staff member turnover rates, cost of new hires, staff member morale, benefit satisfaction data, and employer of choice issues in establishing goals. Establish ways to measure success in these areas.

10. Add specifics to your short and long-term plan. Include a program strategy, a communication strategy, and an incentive strategy that’ll fit with your corporate culture. Focus on integration of related components along a health continuum with communications that are focused, simple, and human.

Establish a budget that includes key components such as consumer education, wellness, health risk (assessment|appraisal}s, and regular biometric screens.

The worksite organizational culture and environment are powerful influences on behavior and this needs to be put to use as a means of helping workers to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Benefits to Wellness Programs include –  

• Weight reduction

• Improved fitness

• Increased stamina

• Lower levels of stress

• Increased well-being, self-image and self-esteem

Businesss can also benefit from Wellness Programs. According to recent research, businesss’ benefits are –

• Enhanced recruitment and retention of healthy staff members

• Reduced healthcare costs

• Lowered rates of illness and injuries

• Decreased staff member absenteeism

• Improved employee relations and morale

• Increased productivity

A USA  Department of Health and Human Services report revealed that at worksites with exercise programs as components of their Wellness Programs have –

• Decreased health care costs by 20 to 55 percent

• Lowered short-term sick leave by six to 32%

• Increased productivity by two to 52 percent

Thanks to modern medicine, life expectancy for Americans has continually increased. How much we enjoy these additional years, nevertheless, depends greatly on how we have lived our lives.

When our quality of life is to remain high so that we can fully enjoy these additional years, we must practice good consuming habits, be active and refrain from using tobacco products.

Further, stress, distractions and the pressures of the job can take its toll on the worker, which makes it important that a wellness program is implemented.

Today, all across America, Canada, Europe and Asia, top corporate Wellness Programs are being used to help improve employee conditions at work and reduce the cost of employee healthcare.

Some of the top Wellness Programs currently in use today include –

Wellness Programs – Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s (HRAs)

Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal} is a top Wellness Program currently in use globally. Organizations 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 organization into determining how much air quality within an office room affects the users and then help the assessment team to come up with the measures necessary to correct the problem.

An HRA can also evaluate the level of exposure workers have to certain dangerous or dangerous materials and practices.

Wellness Programs – Immunizations.

This is not always practiced in every country since there are regions where government sponsored immunization shots are available. Notwithstanding, it has also become an important component of the top Wellness Programs in many organizations in North America.

Immunization shots, like those used to combat flu, for example, are offered to workers for free.

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) consist of a broad variety of services. It can range from providing educational resources to employees regarding health issues to sponsoring health services and medical care. In many corporations, medical and insurance have also become a staple part of their benefits system.

Weight Management Programs

This is another wellness program that organizations use, especially those that offer in-house commissary or cafeteria services. Instead of serving richer, high-calorie fare, cafeterias offer choices for a healthier diet, typically in the form of low-calorie foods and sugar substitutes.

Staff Member Wellness Newsletters – Health Education Programs

One of the top Wellness Programs that organizations can begin is a self-powered tool using a newsletter to promote wellness, coupled with a visible campaign.

The campaign may  be done periodically and focus on a specific topic, like smoking hazards, cancer, stress, carpal tunnel syndrome, safety in the workplace, etc.

The newsletter in itself could be an effective means to deliver information to staff members or members of an organization but it’s far from perfect. Some staff members, for instance, might not read the newsletter in its entirety or even pay attention to it.

If the issues outlined in the newsletter are promoted through an active and highly visible campaign, it’ll be easier to maximize positive results.

Physical Fitness and Fitness Plans

Another top wellness program for organizations is one that involves physical activities. Companies often sponsor exercise-related events such as marathons and company sports programs to encourage staff members to remain fit or lose excess weight. In mid- to large-sized organizations, businesses might even pay for gym memberships or in-house exercise facilities.

Wellness Program Incentives.

Some of the top Wellness Programs implemented by companies involve incentive rewards. This involves company-sponsored programs that reward workers for achieving specific wellness 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 points (for bigger rewards) to specific gifts. In several cases, cash might also be used.

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

Wellness Programs – Group Activities

In many organizations, businesses take benefit of coworker pressure for encourage workers to participate in Wellness Programs. This is currently one of the favorite staff member Wellness Programs currently in use today and growing in popularity.

Coworker pressure is often leveraged to help promote competitions referring to corporate wellness and to persuade staff members to be active in company-sponsored health fairs.

With the rising cost of healthcare, wellness programs simply make sense. So where does the problem come in? Let’s examine the topic from both perspectives.

Wellness Programs –  the Good

• A sampling of corporate returns on investment for wellness programs –  Bank of America –  600%; General Motors – 370%; Pepsico –  300%; Citibank –  465%; and the Washoe County School District leading the pack at a whopping 1,560 percent. (Campbell,J., Wellness Improvement Specialists, www.wellnessimprovementspecialists.com, Albuquerque, New Mexico.)

• Corporations with wellness programs have realized a 28% reduction in sick time, a 26% reduction in adjunctive healthcare costs and a 30% reduction in disability and staff members compensation costs. (Health Affairs, Volume 21, No.2, March, 2002.)

• the Washoe county School District in Northern Nevada realized a $15.60 return on investment for every dollar spent due to a 20 percent reduction in absenteeism. (Hardy,A. (2005). at the Top of the Class. WELCOA’s Absolute Advantage Magazine, 5(1), 14-20.)

• Wellness programs provide the structure, encouragement, incentives and ongoing support that many individuals need to make lifestyle changes.

• Staff Members also realize returns on their efforts. FiServ, a financial services technology company, gave employees who filled out a health risk (assessment|appraisal} a significant discount on their medical insurance premium. (Holland, Kelley, the New York Times, July 22, 2007.)

Wellness Programs –  the Bad

The flip side of the argument centers on basic human rights. Do we want/need our business to tell us to eat our veggies or lose 30 pounds? Some businesses are doing just that and at least one lawsuit has resulted because of it.

• Three hundred companies have requested assistance from a national employment and labor law firm to institute more aggressive wellness programs.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

• Clarian Health, based in Indianapolis, Will begin lowering staff member paychecks by $10.00 for every staff member who has a Body Mass Index (BMI)  of greater than 29.9 because not enough workers were utilizing their wellness services.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

• Scott Rodrigues filed a suit against his prospective employer, Scotts Miracle-Gro, because he believed the corporation’s antitobacco use policy violated his civil rights. the business has a policy against hiring workers who smoke and Mr. Rodrigues’drug screen was positive for nicotine.(Holland, Kelley, the New York Times,July 22,2007.)

• Employee advocates are concerned that health discrimination might not be covered beneath the American Citizens with Disabilities Act.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

Penalizing employees by hitting them hardest where it hurts the most,their pocketbook, doesn’t appear to be a favorable approach to molding human behavior.

Such tactics may result in increased resentments and retaliation, primarily in the form of absenteeism and presenteeism (decreased productivity on the job.) Voluntary, incentive-based programs, such as the one in the Washoe County School District, can and do produce results.

A positive attitude by management along with an opportunity for staff members to have a stake in the decision-making may yield the greatest dividends to both corporation and employee.

The motivation and resolve needed to change unhealthy lifestyle habits can best be derived from the basic tenets of encouragement, respect and support.

• Justifications for having a wellness fair

• Health risk (assessment|appraisal}s

• Be certain to help for high-risk population –  smokers, obese workers

• Early detection of diabetes, heart disease risk factors (high cholesterol, high blood pressure)

Wellness Fair Participation – Identify your audience

• Employees only, whole family, retirees?

• Community involvement? Theme?

Wellness Fair Time Line  

• Make certain to set a date and time Allow 4-6 months of planning time

Health Fair Planning

• Identify health-related screenings, tests, other activities you’ll offer Identify educational literature and other learning opportunities wellness fair will provide Include any “fun” activities, or food/beverage needs for the fair

Wellness Fair Location and Logistics

• Consider location big enough to accommodate the biggest volume of individuals  at “peak time” periods

• Determine how booths/stations will be set up

Wellness Fair Vendors

• Target relevant health/safety-related community and corporate vendors to provide services, educational materials, incentives and giveaways

Wellness Fair Advertising and Marketing

• Determine marketing and advertising tools to be used to inform employees/participants (posters, mailings, e-mail)

• Determine any incentives or giveaways that’ll be included in the fair or used to encourage participation in the fair

Health Fair Scheduling

• Coordinate timing and events with staff and/or volunteers

Health Fair Personnel

• Schedule appropriate professionals Doctor or similar healthcare personnel to provide patient consultation for review of blood draw lab results

• Nurse(s) to administer immunizations

• Administrative/all-purpose individual to facilitate paper work, finger sticks and to provide general assistance

• Pharmacist or pharmacist assistant when appropriate Dietitian for nutritional counseling suggested personnel designated for health fairs

Footnotes

1 the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation via Reuters Health E-Line.

2 Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, (9/11/03)

3 www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/press/archive/lower_cost.htm

4 “Is Stress Nibbling Away at Your Bottom Line?” By Stephen Alper, Nov. 15, 2002.

5 Wellness in the Workplace, Michael P. O’Donnell, page 415.

6 http – //www.bmpcoe.org/bestpractices/internal/dayto/dayto_6.html

• the more substantial the incentives,
• the higher the success rate.

Incentives can range from tokens of achievement, such as t-shirts, water bottles and sports equipment, to more substantial financial awards, such as cash incentives or copay vouchers for the successful completion of a program.

Nationwide Insurance is seeing results from a small incentive program initiated by one of the corporation’s on-site nurses. to encourage lunchtime walking, the worker has informally launched a “shoelace program” modeled after the karate-belt color system.

Staff Members progress through the color scale until they reach “black-lace” status. the reward system has resulted in more staff members making commitments to walk during their lunch hour.

At the high end of the reward spectrum, some companies pay cash to staff members who meet wellness objectives. LuK, Inc. offers staff members $250 for kicking the tobacco habit and remaining smoke free for 12 months.

For logging fitness points that add up to 10 miles a month, workers are eligible for health assessments, which could result in reward amounts of up to $225.

The most effective motivator, as reported by Gordian research, comes through linking participation in wellness programs directly to insurance premiums. Doing so clearly demonstrates to employees the positive effects of wellness on their own healthcare costs.

Often, the first step in linking wellness programming to insurance coverage is lowering deductibles for wellness care or eliminating deductibles altogether. By adding this benefit, businesses can encourage staff members to undertake routine screenings and other procedures to respond to health problems before they become chronic.

Early detection benefits both patient health and business healthcare costs.

Incentivizing wellness program participation with healthcare credits

More frequently, corporations are going beyond increased wellness care coverage and looking to demonstrate the importance of wellness by linking participation to employees’ bottom lines.

Worthington Industries has recently rolled out a program that permits workers to eliminate their portion of the insurance premium by enrolling in a Healthy Options wellness program.

During the first year of the Healthful Options program, workers and their spouses complete Personal Health Assessments and medical screenings to determine their levels of health risks.

Nurses, dietitians and exercise professionals are available to help moderate- and high-risk participants create individual action plans for improved health through the use of educational materials, behavior modification, telephone help from third-party program health coordinators, and formal health management programs.

By completing the assessments, employees earn their full premium credit. Because some plans at Worthington require no staff member contribution, a cash award takes the place of a credit in those cases.  

During year two of the program, the wellness bar is raised slightly. to continue to receive the wellness credit, participants in the moderate- to high-risk category will be required to work at establishing goals with third-party health coordinators.

Year three raises the bar again, requiring participants to show progress in meeting objectives and to continue to work with health coordinators to reach objectives.

After year three, Worthington Industries staff members will be on the wellness track. the business believes that’ll mean a healthier workforce and cost savings for staff members and the business.

The well being of Worthington employees is the foundation of this program, and both employees and the company are expected to benefit from the long-term advantages of the Healthy Choices Wellness Program.

While Worthington has taken a broad approach to wellness, other companies have found success in offering incentives in specific areas. Longaberger, for example, offers a discount on healthcare policies for workers who don’t use tobacco.

A personal employee who does not use tobacco saves $7 per bi-weekly pay. for tobacco-free workers with family coverage whose families are also tobacco-free, the savings increases to $14 per pay.

The next step –  Penalizing harmful behaviors

As it stands, healthcare is the only kind of insurance that doesn’t focus on penalizing for behaviors that put the insured party at risk. With healthcare costs rising so dramatically, that could soon change.

Just as an accident likely raises auto insurance premiums, increasing premiums for those who engage in unhealthful behaviors is a possible next step in companys’ attempts to manage health care costs.

Reports that staff members would support this kind of action are stacking up. One Ohio corporation conducted an informal survey that indicated staff members would consider it a morale boost when health-conscious staff members were relieved of some burden of subsidizing care for staff members who engage in behaviors that negatively affect their health.

Whether or not this kind of program gains popularity, one thing is sure –  the need to control the rise in health care costs is becoming ever more pressing.

Take the first step

No matter what the strategy, from offering workers medical resources to providing incentives for healthy behaviors, businesss have a real opportunity to improve morale and productivity, reduce absenteeism and control healthcare costs through wellness.

The first step is committing to taking one, whatever size effort is appropriate for your organization.  Big strides start with small steps.

As part of an early intervention program, Honda staff members who are feeling pain can receive a massage of the affected area during work time.

Stretching programs are another effective tool in injury prevention. As reported by the Best Practices in Manufacturing Web site, Dayton Parts, Inc. (DPI) in Harrisburg, Pa., conducted research that revealed approximately 80% of all manufacturing injuries occurred within the first two hours of each shift.

After implementing a program that required production workers to stretch for 10 to 15 minutes at the starting of their shifts, they saw a dramatic reduction in injuries.

While the DPI program costs about $75,000 a year to operate, joined with other business programs, it’s assisted bring the annual cost of workers’ compensation from $700,000 to $200,000 per year.6

To help prevent lengthy absences and reduce workers’ compensation claims, Honda instituted a work recovery program. Through the program, employees who have had an injury can work in a adapted job-getting better.

Employees in the program spend their work days receiving physical conditioning to raise overall fitness, physical therapy to restore functionality, health education and nutrition counseling. the program is based on data that shows fewer work days are lost when an worker stays connected to the work environment.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, www.ohiobwc.com, provides a “10-Step Business Plan” as a guide for corporations in providing wellness programs that aim to reduce injuries. the plan includes information on safety and health programs to prevent occurrences of on-the-job accidents, including –

Employee involvement – to ensure the success of any corporation wellness program, employees must participate in the safety and health-management process.

This can be done through safety and health audits, accident evaluations, or by forming safety and health involvement teams, focus groups or committees.

Orientation and training plan – Conduct orientation and training sessions to educate workers on the corporation’s safety policies.

These sessions ought to include procedures for the safe use of machinery and tools, chemical hazards and how to prevent contact or exposure, specific job/task safe practices, and hazard recognition and prevention.

Communication – Open communication keeps workers informed and provides suggestions and feedback on the effectiveness of the corporation’s wellness program.

Through memos, bulletin boards and staff meetings, important health and safety information may be conveyed throughout the organization, keeping all management staff and staff members knowledgeable about the corporation’s safe practices.

The corporation plan also outlines incentives for post-injury procedures, including –

Medical treatment and return-to-work practices – arly return-to-work strategies help injured or ill workers return to work in a timely manner.

Companies should establish a disability management policy to help injured or ill staff members obtain quality medical treatment, making their transition back to work quick and effortless.

Timely notification of claims – Corporations should document workplace injuries immediately after they occur and promptly send that documentation to a claims handler.

Rapidly providing claim information demonstrates care and concern for the injured staff member, avoids delays and confusion with the claim process, and decreases the potential for abuse or needless litigation.

Record keeping – Internal documents ought to be kept to record work-time injuries and to assess the success of the corporation’s safety efforts.

Company audits, surveys and injury or illness reports can all be used to analyze which safety practices and policies have proven successful, and what areas of wellness need improvement.

And professionals predict that estimate is low, because it does not take into account the rapid spread of the flu.

The American Association of Family Physicians’ Web site, www.aafp.org, offers a advised adult immunization schedule developed by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

This schedule, tiered by age and chances of exposure, recommends diphtheria, tetanus, influenza, pneumonococcal, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, measles, mumps and rubella, varicella and meningococcal vaccinations.

Ideas to incorporate avoidance and early detection –  

• Hold a wellness fair and invite organizations that provide screening services for such conditions as blood pressure, blood iron, cholesterol, Body Mass Index (BMI)  and diabetes.

• Offer educational materials about well-baby care and immunizations.

• Choose health care coverage plans that include wellness check-ups and immunizations.

• Offer on-site mammograms for staff members.

• Sponsor onsite flu shots to coincide with flu season.

While stress can’t be eliminated from life, or even from the workplace, coping skills may be created with relative ease. Stress management skills lead to lowered absenteeism and more effective, more productive workers.

Because stress has been proven to contribute to such physical conditions as ulcers, high blood pressure and stroke, stress reduction has a direct impact on bettering physical health.

Studies have shown that heart patients who attend stress management programs have 42 percent lower health care costs. Other studies have documented a 50 percent reduction in medical services use when stress management programs are employed.

Further, Worker Assistance Program (EAP) experts estimate that 20% of any workforce is affected by personal problems that can influence work performance.

Stress reduction tactics to consider –  

• Offer onsite yoga or meditation classes.

• Organize support groups among staff members.

• Sponsor stress management classes during the workday.

• Offer an employee assistance program that includes both counseling and referral.

• Offer onsite counseling for employees with a work-related trauma, like the death of a peer.