Posts from — August 2010

Establishing an active Wellness Committee provides opportunities for both executive management and employee involvement in the wellness program.  The Committee must be a team of workers and managers who formally meet to plan activities to promote healthier employee lifestyles.

Typical Functions of a Health Promotion Committee -

o  Evaluating needs and interests

o  Brainstorming wellness program ideas

o  Planning activities

o  Developing communication plans

o  Marketing health promotion programs to coworkers

o  Serving as champions of the Wellness Programs

o  Helping with investigation

Your Health Promotion Committee must be representative of all levels of the corporation.  Consider all areas of the workforce â.” multiple sites, shift staff members, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.

It is also crucial that you consider who’ll chair or co-chair the Health Promotion Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support a wellness manager or occupational health professional, even on a part-time or contractual basis.  Click here for more information on the advantages of a health professional.

Depending on your organization size and resources, when you already have a organization Safety Committee you could want to consider making it the Safety and Health Promotion Committee.  You can request volunteers or invite personnel to participate.

The number of Health Promotion Committee members depends on the size of your company; nevertheless, you need enough members to get the work done and yet not too many to keep it manageable, typically a minimum of 4 members and maximum of 12 to 15 members.

It’s crucial that you include skeptics of wellness as well and not just those workforce already practicing healthy life choices.

Depending on your workplace, consider representatives from the following areas -

o  Worker representatives from a cross section of different departments,

o  Upper management ,

o  Health and safety specialist(s),

o  Human resources professional(s),

o  Benefits staff or someone from finance,

o  Your staff member assistance program (EAP) provider (if applicable), Click here for more information on EAPs

o  Medical or occupational health staff (if applicable).

Establish an effective Wellness Committee!  the Wellness Committee ought to meet regularly with a planned agenda and action items.  Successful Wellness Committees have a shared mission, vision and goals.

Members need to believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated, that their work is important, benefits the company and peers, and they’re recognized for their contributions. Refer to the NC Workplace Programs section for examples of what other businesses have implemented.

As with any wellness program, the two crucial elements for the success of your wellness program are senior management support and worker involvement. Senior management sets the vision and provides the resources from which action plans flow.

Genuine support from upper management also lends credibility to the wellness program. It’s key that upper management be visible supporters and role models for your Wellness Program.

Workers need to be involved on a few levels so that they feel ownership of the wellness program. Workers are the wellness program stakeholders!

All employees should have an opportunity to provide input and feedback through needs and interest surveys and health promotion program investigation tools.  The information accumulated should be used to plan health promotion programs that target those needs and interests to ensure participation, buy-in, and support.

There are a few methods to identify staff member needs and interests such as -

o  Conducting Staff Member Focus Groups

o  Discussing Wellness Interests During Department Meetings

o  Distributing and Summarizing a Needs and Interest Survey

o  Including an Opportunity to Provide Suggestions on Each Evaluation Tool

Any one or combination of a few techniques will ensure that the health promotion program meets what staff members want.  Click here for a sample Needs and Interest Survey.

Step 3 provides additional information on deciding wellness program needs.  But first, establishing a Wellness Committee can help you involve senior management and personnel, determine need, and plan your wellness program.

Wellness Program Step 1 – Be certain to set the Foundation -

Build Support Among All Levels of the Organization

A key to a successful Health Promotion Program requires management commitment and worker involvement.

Wellness Program Step 2 –  Form a Wellness Committee

An active Health Promotion Committee ensures worker involvement, provides buy-in, upper management support, and maintains a crew that is ready to take action to integrate wellness programs.

Health Promotion Program Step 3 –  Gather Data to Identify Key Needs and Expectations

The next crucial component is to base the Wellness Program on the needs and interests of your corporation and its staff.

Health Promotion Program Step 4 –  Establish Objectives and Goals

Objectives and goals are the road maps to guide you where your program needs to go.   These are the foundation for planning and assessing  activities to ensure that your wellness program is going to meet your unique needs.

Health Promotion Program Step 5 – Create a Detailed Action Plan

There is no such thing as over planning!  the best of intentions can get lost, overstepped, or forgotten without adequate planning, and then it’d be all for naught.

Wellness Program Step 6 – Pick and Implement a Plan

Armed with the needs assessment information, a Health Promotion Committee, and goals and goals, it is now time to put your plan into action!

Health Promotion Program Step 7 –  Monitor and Evaluate Your Health Promotion Program

Examination is a necessary step to keep a health promotion program on target, in addition to to ensure that the health promotion program is reaching its objectives or achieving the desired results.

Summary

These Seven Steps outline considerations for a comprehensive approach to establish an effective health promotion program. Are you able to implement components of wellness activities without following these steps?

Certainly, but you may not have the sustainability or ability to obtain desired outcomes.  Following the Seven Steps does not have to be complicated or burdensome.  A very simple approach can achieve a successful health promotion program!

As a result, to ensure a successful health promotion program consider the key components as you plan your health promotion program or improve your current health promotion program -

o  Upper Management Support and Staff Member Involvement

o  Active Wellness Committee

o  Wellness Program is Based on Worker Needs and Interests

o  Objectives and Goals are Established

o  Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources and Budget

o  Wellness Program Implementation and Internal Marketing and Advertising

o  Investigation of Wellness Program Outcomes

The wellness program design choices depend on the objectives and desired outcomes of your wellness program. If your goal is to help workers change behavior, reduce risk factors, or save healthcare dollars 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, aren’t interchangeable for obtaining the same results, and thus should not be confused.

For  instance, scheduling activities like an staff member wellness fair or lunchtime education sessions, or having brochures available do not ordinarily result in behavior change, but may increase awareness on a topic.

When the goal is behavior change then a different design is required, like Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs and Organizational Support.  The outline below describes the wellness design levels with a brief explanation.

Awareness Programs –   at this level a organization makes health information available and accessible to workforce.  This type of wellness program can include brochures on a selection of topics, wellness articles in newsletters, bulletin board displays, e-mail health messages, etc.

Moreover, most health fairs are designed as awareness programs with vendors providing information and providing health testings to staff.

Awareness programs are cheap and do not require robust employee or corporation time commitments. Notwithstanding, these wellness programs do not ordinarily lead to healthier behavior change.

Increasing awareness is not normally enough to generate lifestyle changes for most person, unless used to motivate staff members to register for a wellness program being offered at the corporation or community on the topic.

An example of this would be providing information on the harmful effects of use of tobacco and inviting personnel who smoke to register for a use of tobacco cessation class.

Education Programs –   Educational health promotion programs often provide more information on a topic and can also provide time for questions and answers, but are similar to awareness health promotion programs.  An example is lunch-n-learn sessions on a health related topic.

These cost the company a little more than awareness programs; notwithstanding, they are still affordable and do not require a great deal of time for planning or attending a session.

Again, increasing awareness and providing information might not lead to the desired behavior change unless ongoing support or incentives are also planned.

Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs –   These wellness programs are designed as 4 to 12 weekly sessions or seminars to provide wellness education, address barriers and provide opportunities to practice the desired skills.

Behavior change programs consequently require more corporation resources, cost more, and require more staff member commitment, time and effort.  The results are often the desired positive lifestyle change, which when sustained can lead to potential cost savings.

Examples are smoking cessation classes, weight reduction and weight control meetings, or an ongoing fitness program.

Environmental and Organizational Support –   Environmental support is usually considered the highest and most critical level to include when designing your health promotion program in order to support and maintain healthy behaviors.

These types of design choices include policy changes like -

o  Creating a smoke-free workplace

o  Designating a walking path,

o  Establishing onsite fitness centers,

o  Ensuring healthful vending machine selections,

o  Offering healthy food options in the cafeteria, and/or

o  Establishing flex-time policies.

Other examples include subsidizing healthful vending machines or cafeteria choices; reimbursing health and fitness center or weight loss and weight control program memberships; or providing insurance incentives for healthful behaviors.

Ideally, the health promotion program design would include some of all of these choices.  The more robust and integrated the approach, the more successful the results will be.  For  instance, a organization can -

o  have smoking cessation information available;

o  can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of tobacco use and how to quit;

o  can implement an onsite tobacco use cessation program,

o  supply self quit smoking kits, or

o  support workforce to attend a community program; and/or

o  on an environmental support level can establish a smoke-free worksite and grounds,

o  offer lower insurance premiums for non-smokers, or

o  provide pharmacological quit smoke aids for free.

Wellness Program –  Components for Success

There are several key components or elements that should be considered to ensure the success of your Health Promotion Program or wellness program.  These include -

o  Executive Management Support and Employee Involvement

o  Active Health Promotion Committee

o  Program is Based on Employee Needs and Interests

o  Goals and Objectives are Established

o  Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources and Budget

o  Program Implementation and Internal Marketing

o  Analysis of Outcomes and Program

Major benefits of healthy workers include -

o  Lower Health Care Costs

o  Decreased Injuries

o  Reduced Absenteeism

o  Improved Morale and Loyalty

o  Higher Productivity

o  Lowered Use of Health Care Benefits

o  Lowered Workers’ Compensation / Disability

o  Positive Perception in Community

o  Decreased Turnover

o  Better recruitment for skilled employees

What is NOT having a Health Promotion Program costing your company?

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

o  59% of adults are overweight or obese

o  Greater than 60 percent of American adults don’t exercise regularly

o  More than 75% of adults don’t consume the minimum recommendations for fruits and vegetables

o  Heart disease is the most common cause of death and the leading cause of death in smokers

o  26% of employees stated they were often or very often burned out or stressed by their work

Healthcare Costs are Increasing –  Healthcare costs are at a record high of $1.7 trillion with no signs of holding steady let alone decreasing.  The typical cost of annual health care spending is over $5,000 per individuals and with dependents nearly $10,000.

Recent data shows that healthcare related costs now cost North Carolina companies thousands of dollars per worker, per year.

Most Diseases can be Avoided –  Despite the fact that it sounds unbelievable, professionals indicate that avoidable disease makes up 60 percent – 70 percent of the entire burden of disease in the USA

In North Carolina, it is estimated that more than 53% of all deaths are preventable, and that 2/3 of all preventable deaths are because of tobacco use, lack of exercise, and poor nutrition.

Stress Levels are Increasing –   as company resources become less and businesses adopt leaner work practices, the effects of absenteeism and productivity lost have a greater impact.

In a recent national poll, 78% of Americans described their jobs as stressful, and the majority felt that stress levels have become worse over the last 10 years. Moreover, high levels of organizational stress can negatively affect a company by increasing injuries, absenteeism, and health costs while lowering productivity.

Simple solutions such as stress management education, flexible work schedules, quality social interaction, and increased participation in organization decision-making can improve stress levels in the worksite.

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

The fee depends on the kind of Health Promotion Program implemented.  There are a few options to promote worker health with advantages and disadvantages of each.  The wellness program design depends on the goals of the wellness program, the corporation resources, and the community resources available.

Improving dietary practices, increasing exercise levels, managing stress or addressing work life balance issues, and reducing/eliminating tobacco use, are main strategies for preventing many of the most common preventable chronic illnesss.

The possibilities of how your organization addresses these issues are endless and can range from increasing worker awareness, which could include purchasing a few flyers on a selection of topics, and measuring walking distances around your facility.

Other possibilities include establishing organizational support such as funding a fulltime occupational health professional or building an onsite fitness club.

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