Health And Wellness In The WorkplaceHealth And Wellness In The Workplace

Research studies have repeatedly established that all-inclusive Corporate Wellness Programs, or Corporate Wellness Programs, are able to decrease healthcare and insurance costs, decrease absenteeism, and better success and productiveness. Other benefits established in research studies include improved ability to attract and retain key personnel, greater employee allegiance, and improved public perception of the company.

Healthcare and Insurance costs

A number of studies support evidence of decreased medical and insurance costs for participants in Company Wellness Programs, especially wellness programs involving exercise.

For $30 per person, the Bank of America implemented a Employee Health Promotion Program for retirees using a risk assessment questionnaire, self-care books and other mailed materials. Insurance claims were reduced an average of $164 per year in this group while they increased $15 for the control group. Since they were able to document significant changes in risk behavior, they anticipate greater savings in future years.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks participants claim $300 less per case for a one-year savings of $700,000. Savings for conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle are $722 per case.

Coca Cola reported a decrease in medical care|medical|medical care|healthcare} claims with an physical activity program alone, saving $500 per employee per year for the workers (60%) who joined their HealthWorks physical activity program. Prudential Insurance Company reports that the corporation’s major medical costs dropped from $574 to $312 for each colleague in its wellness program.

Decreased Absenteeism

Rates of Absenteeism has been demonstrated to be impacted by wellness programs. The evidence indicates a significant reduction in absenteeism and resultant dollars saved as a result of employee exercise program.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks program lowered absent days .8 percent to save $2 million in one year. FitWorks members also spent 3.3 days less on STD for an additional savings of $4.7 million.

Focusing Company Wellness Program efforts on elevated-risk employees is able to lead a better outcome. A national manufacturing corporation reports a decline of 12.2 percent in illness days for these employees.

A 2-year study by The DuPont Corporation of the significance of its accross the board Company Health Promotion Program on absences among workers reports that blue-collar workers at intervention sites had a 14% decline in disability days vs. 5.8% decline for controls. There were a total of 11,726 fewer net disability days.

Enhanced Performance, Productivity and Morale

A number of employers with Employee Wellness Programs report documented improvement in job attitude, work performance, energy level, and/or overall morale among program participants–all essential factors in enhancing productiveness.

A Johnson & Johnson study observed that employee attitude changes were greater at Corporate Health Promotion Program intervention sites with significant positive attitude changes noted in the categories of business commitment, supervision, working conditions, job competence/security, and pay/benefits.

In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Business experimental group realized a 4 percent growth in work rate after starting a employer fitness program, compared to the control group. Further, 47 percent of program participants reported that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their co-workers, and generally enjoyed their work more.

Swedish investigators found that mental performance was significantly better in physically fit staff members than in non-fit staff members. Fit staff members committed 27 percent fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, as compared with the performance of non-fit staff members.

The Bottom Line

The following sample of Corporate Health Promotion Programs wellness program results have been published by individual employers:

Business: Dollars Saved/Dollars Spent

• Bank of America (Fries): $5.96/$1
• PacBell: $3.10/$1
• Wisconsin School District Insurance Group: $4.47/$1
• Prudential Insurance: $2.90/$1
• Bank of America (Leigh): $4.73/$1
• General Mills: $3.50/$1

Summary

There is strong evidence that a large portion of the billions of dollars currently spent by employers on health-related expenditures is avoidable by means of Employee Health Promotion Programs. Well-planned, accross the board Employee Health Promotion Programs (Employee Health Promotion Programs and Employee Health Promotion Programs) have been determined to be cost-effective, particularly when the Employee Health Promotion Programs is matched to the health problems of the specific employee.