Category — Health and Wellness

High rates of worker turnover and the costs of sick days are increasingly taking bites into corporate profits.  The high cost of recruitment programs only adds to the challenges that these problems in total cost the typical company.

A lot of corporations are locating the solution to these challenges by increasing job satisfaction, team building, and the implementation of health promotion programs that yield a reduction in these costs.

It has become increasingly clear to most managers that a well designed health promotion program with a strong nutritional and fitness lifestyle emphasis will directly meet this need.

Management’s objectives for a productive wellness program must be viewed through the perspective of increased employee productivity, lowered absenteeism due to health related causes, improved employee morale, lowered utilisation of business subsidised health benefits, enhanced team cohesion and effectiveness and a decrease in turnover due to lack of job satisfaction.

It is apparent that an improvement in any of these areas will have a positive impact on the financial status of any organisation.

The benefits from an personnel point of view can be seen in improved health, increased energy levels, reduced body fat, a more youthful fit body, an increased ability to handle job related stress, greater feelings of confidence and morale and more social connections at work contributing to greater feelings of satisfaction with their work and worksite.

To be most productive a wellness program needs to achieve both managements and personnel goals, and this could be accomplished through a wellness program that will provide the individual staff member with an awareness of their current physical condition and attitudes to fitness and wellness, and the benefits of attaining a fitter, healthier lifestyle, and a plan that will allow them to achieve the necessary changes to their physical condition that could be applied about their life and work.

The Bottom Line – Health Promotion Programs

Reduced Absenteeism – Dupont lowered absenteeism by 47.5% over six years for the participants of their employee exercise initiative, (Health Behaviour, March 1992).

Decreased Health Care Costs – Steel case showed a reduction in medical claim costs of 55 percent for corporate exercise initiative participants over non-participants over a six year period – an average of $478.61 for participants versus non-participants who averaged $868.88, (The Am. Journal of Wellness, Sept/Oct, 1991).

Decreased Turnover – Turnover among fitness program participants at the Canadian Life Assurance Corporation was 32.4 percent lower over a seven year period compared with non-participants (Canadian Journal of Public Health, Jan/Feb, 1988).

Positive Return on Investment – Blue Cross / Blue Shield  of Indiana found that its staff fitness initiative had a 250% return on investment; $2.51 for every $1 invested over a five year period (American Journal of Wellness, March, April, 1991).

The Partnership for Prevention was formed to encourage Fortune 1000 organizations to consider making workforce health a CEO issue and adopt strategies to promote prevention and wellness.

After several years of double-digit rate increases for health insurance, organizations are realizing that one of the best ways to slow the cost increases is to have staff members take more responsibility for both costs and health options.

A majority of corporations surveyed feel that the best way for decreasing costs is financial incentives to encourage staff to adopt healthier life choices.

Almost 100 percent of businesss surveyed say that health costs are going to be a critical or significant concern over the next five years, according to a recent survey by United Benefit Advisors.

More corporations are adopting higher deductible healthcare programs with HRA’s or HSA’S, wellness programs, and broader disease management programs to control ever-increasing health care costs.

Failure to deal with these issues may be disastrous for an employer. Wayne Sensor, CEO of Alegent Health lately stated, “I think that we’ve built a health care machinery we can’t afford. I think we are choking the economic engine of America.”

In his October 2005 newsletter, Dr. Andrew Weil stated, “I think rising health- care costs are becoming the major economic issue in our nation”. Obesity costs California organizations billions of dollars each year.

Projected costs for 2005 may reach 28 billion dollars for direct and indirect health costs, employee’s compensation, and lost productivity. California has experienced one of the fastest growing rates of obesity of any state.

As reported by California Health and Human Services Secretary Kim Belshe, “The obesity epidemic is more than a public health crisis, it’s an economic crisis.” What’s frightening is that most people do not even realize that they are obese, which is defined as only 20 percent above normal weight.

There’s a excellent need for more education on weight and resulting illnesses, and the workplace is an ideal venue. Health Promotion education and programs can lead to a meaningful return on investment and, if structured properly, can produce leads to a very short period of time.

Despite the fact that many corporations have attempted some form of wellness program in the past, results from those efforts have been disappointing.

In many cases, the healthier personnel participated for incentives, such as fitness center memberships, but those who needed it most didn’t take benefit of the wellness program in a meaningful way.

Companies are looking at ways to encourage more workers to purchase into the wellness movement.

A recent webinar hosted by Human Resource (HR) Executive Magazine and presented by Carlson Advertising Group titled, “Healthier Employees; Healthier Bottom Line –  Engaging Staff Members is the Missing Link in Managing Health Care Costs,” drove this point home.

This session provided actionable advice on how businesses are achieving higher impact with their wellness investments by focusing on employee engagement. It also highlighted how you can create an Economic Engagement Model to forecast the potential impact for your organization.

Employers can simply no longer ignore the issue of their employee’s unhealthful lifestyles and must take action to engage them in a meaningful wellness program to reduce healthcare costs, absenteeism and lost productivity.

Workers also benefit as they derive better health and greater satisfaction in both their personal and specialist lives.  The alternative is being caught in a non-competitive position and severely impacting the bottom-line of the company.

A listing of potential wellness topics and ideas not previously mentioned follows. Take some time to “think tank and brainstorm” new ideas with your own internal employee Health Promotion Committee.

Nutrition Category

o  Low-fat campaign/food groups

o  Team salad bars

o  Vending machine changes

o  Diet analysis by a nutritionist

o  Produce on parade

o  Consuming disorder support group

o  Restaurant education

Physical Activity/Exercise Category

o  ”Elevoiders” – stair climbing

o  Poker walk

o  Mall walking program

o  Facilities â.” showers, bicycle lockers, exercise space, etc.

o  Team treks

o  Walk-a-block trails

o  Recreational tournaments

o  How-to-select equipment talks

o  Running maps

o  Bicycling maps

o  Deskercises (mini stretches for desk jockeys)

o  Fit-over-forty club

o  Tennis shoe Tuesday

o  Walk 100 miles in 100 days

o  Walking “buddies”

o  NW Trek!

Miscellaneous Category

o  House calls

o  Meet your benefits providers

o  Dental health

o  Fire safety

o  Ergonomic assessments

o  Self-help learning

o  CPR/first aid course

o  Hearing test

o  Hand washing campaign

o  Cancer screenings

o  Back class

o  Passports to health

o  Vision screenings

Stress Management Category

o  Comedy hour

o  Stress Pest

o  Humor newsletter

o  Money management seminars

o  Time management seminars

o  Relaxation class

o  Better sleep campaign

o  Relaxation room

Other departments within an organization will likely focus on related areas of employee safety and injury prevention. Health Promotion activities are a natural partner to many other human resource (HR), employee motivation, and safety programs.

Body mechanics, ergonomics, and safe working practices are three areas which may  be coordinated together.

o  Soft Tissue Sprains and Strains –  This injury category continues to remain the number one financial loss for workers’ compensation. A lot of medical insurance dollars are also spent on back pain, other sprains, and strains. Wellness and safety efforts can focus on -

o  Warm up stretches before beginning work or periodic stretching during work. These can do much to prevent soft tissue injury. Provide training to work groups so they could start a stretching program. These groups can then continue their own.

o  The wellness committee might consider contracting a fitness expert to come in and conduct stretching “refreshers” for staff member groups throughout the year.

o  Offer body mechanics training on an annual basis or more frequently when possible. These training sessions should focus on work related tasks and safety, as well as feature a segment on home tasks and body safety.

o  Partner with your business’s workers’ compensation carrier to assist in providing body mechanics training, job safety analysis, and other preventive services which may help workers work safer, smarter, and avoid injury.

o  Implement a safety concerns suggestion box. Be certain to encourage employees to report safety and/or injury concerns. Be certain to help executive management to establish policy to recognize and reward employees who offer safety suggestions, provide tips, and solution ideas.

o  A periodic presentation featuring a local medical provider addressing such topics as safe body mechanics, recovering from a back injury, appropriate spine care, etc.

o  Partner with senior management and supervisor teams to recognize and reward work groups who are successful with safety and injury prevention.

o  The ergonomics of an employees’ workstation/work place design is important and applicable to every group.

o  Make available ergonomic training opportunities to interested workforce volunteers. These individuals can then assist other workforce to assess their work areas for safety, comfort, and injury prevention.

o  It’s often more effective to have an observer evaluate workforce for helpful and friendly comfort suggestions rather than it’s for individuals to assess themselves.

o  One suggestion is to have workforce remind one another about correct posture, to take breaks, to stop and do quick mini stretches, etc.

o  Take before and after photos of work areas as changes are made. This will help to demonstrate how small adjustment changes can often make large comfort changes.

o  Partner with the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier to help develop ergonomic policies and practices and to provide worker training.

Tying wellness activities into holiday themes is a strategy commonly used to develop interest and participation. However, be aware that offering holiday activities in the worksite can develop issues.

Your worksite might have policies and guidelines already in place about issues such as appropriate decorations themes, work time, etc. Make certain to check with executive management regarding all guidelines and policies.

Remember to include and acknowledge the holiday celebrations of the various cultures or groups represented in your workforce. It is ordinarily safer to use graphics, themes, and wording that aren’t specific to one culture, as others might feel left out.

In fact, acknowledging diverse holidays, when done respectfully, can help familiarize your workforce with values and practices of different cultures and ethnic groups.

Several topical ideas for holiday themes include -

o  Wellness committee members distribute “healthy heart valentines” to each worker for Valentine’s Day.

o  Thanksgiving “turkey trot”. Employees who exercise three times a week for at least one-half hour between November 1 and 15 are entered into a drawing for a free turkey (can be purchased at the local supermarket or donated).

o  Chinese New Year tai chi demonstration. Consider a follow-up workplace introductory tai chi class offering.

o  Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/etc. holiday food potluck. Members of different cultural or ethnic groups bring in a dish reflective of their holiday traditions.

Each individuals can say a few words about the origin and tradition behind the food. In this holiday theme, food doesn’t have to be low fat or namely healthy, since the purpose is enhancing cultural diversity, not counting calories.

Pre/Post Holiday Weigh In

Holiday weight gain can be a big health challenge. This wellness activity is fun, low-key, and helps employees monitor their weight during the holiday season.

o  Participants weigh-in with a “trusted” confident before Thanksgiving.  The weigh-ins may  be conducted on the honor system, but weight must be recorded on a weight-tracking card. You may invite a local nurse or Weight Watchers representative to monitor weigh-ins.

o  Staff Members set an individual goal of maintaining their weight from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.

o  Weight cards are stored in a secure file location.

o  Give weekly weight control hints. These ought to be posted next to the wellness bulletin board, sent via email, or provided in brochure form.

o  Or, alternate the weekly hints with healthful recipe options.

o  Remind personnel of the necessity to continue exercise during the busy holiday season.

o  Weigh everyone the first work day following New Year’s Day. Record the weight on the tracking card.

o  Employees that have maintained their weight or that have lost weight receive a prize and award certificate.

o  Staff Members who gained weight receive a certificate of completion and an invitation to continue participation in a related health weight wellness activity.

National health observance campaigns can lighten workload and effort. A lot of of these well-developed observances have kits and materials which can either be downloaded for free or purchased inexpensively.

Monthly health themes, week Iong events, and nationally recognized days of the year are also good ways to have fun while participating in larger events. Health observances are tied to almost every aspect of wellness and health. Things to consider -

o  National observances present opportunities to work with other community agencies and businesses to coordinate larger events and celebrations.

o  A wellness message is more likely to stick with individuals if the information is presented at work, in local supermarkets, and on television.

o  National Employee Fitness Day/Week (April) is a good place to begin.

o  A word of advice – do not go overboard in attempting to tie a health promotion program into these national observances, as there are so many. Pick one to three events annually and stick with these.

Develop and promote events well ensuring that employees will come to expect and anticipate these wellness programs each year. It’s best to do a few wellnesss well than many promotions poorly.

A lot of staff members enjoy team related activities. These activities generally take place on an worker’s time away from work and participation is totally voluntary in nature.

Even though the sports team isn’t part of an employee’s regular work duties, if the team or activity is associated with the business, the business may be held liable in the event of an employee injury.

When the activity brings with it a risk of injury, it’s necessary to address the possible risk and liability issues with the correct organization department. In addition talk with your organization’s workers’ compensation carrier and/or legal counsel.

o  Organize summer softball or volleyball teams, a winter ski outing, fall and winter smoke free bowling teams, a spring golf tournament, summer walks, etc.

o  Provide handouts and catalogs from area Parks and Recreation departments and county park organizations so staff can take benefit of community leagues, trips and offerings.

o  Invite an official from one of the above businesses to speak at a company brown bag event, or invite an area Parks and Recreation instructor to provide a demonstration of a new class offering.

Family Friendly Activities

Periodically offer activities which can be taken home and shared with the entire family. Ideas for these include -

o  Television Free Week (usually in April) – Create a chart for the kids to use to record their TV-free participation.

o  Provide a certificate to anyone who’s TV-free for a week.

o  If possible, offer a few prizes (but not video rental certificates, video games or other TV-related items) for related categories, such as less than 5 hours of Television, no video games for a week, etc.

Stress Management

Many simple wellness activities and practices can help staff understand the role stress plays in effecting health, safety, and productivity. It’s necessary to help staff understand simple stress management strategies for reducing stress levels.

o  Stress kit check out. Have stress management tools available for worker use during a scheduled break time. Consider providing relaxation music or programs including player and headphones; mat or blanket to lie on; neck pillow; eye mask; and stress massage rollers.

o  Give a stress management brown bag event at which personnel can try different kinds stress management tools.

o  Make sure to encourage staff members to take 10-minute relaxation/exercise breaks. Post reminders.

o  Give a comfortable employee break area.

o  Designate a “quiet room” for meditation and relaxation, when possible.

o  Be sure to work with Management to keep supervisors informed about the effects of stress in the workplace. Supervisors are often the first step in helping workers find different ways of managing work related stressors.

o  Contact the Staff Member Assistance Provider (EAP) for a variety of stress management information and self-assessments.

o  Make available stress management self-assessments to interested workers. Follow these up with a stress management videotape, a brown bag presentation, or a community guest speaker.

Mental Wellness

Emotions and mental health greatly affect overall health and wellness. Every wellness program should incorporate some services, programs, resources or activities to address mental health issues.

Mental health topics could be sensitive areas for personnel. Hence, it is crucial that you provide information in a variety of ways, worksite presentations being just one possibility.

For example, put domestic violence resource cards in the restrooms to provide useful information in a private establishing that does not embarrass anyone. Other considerations include -

o  When planning to offer an oratory event or presentation a neutral class title will ensure potential participants won’t be put off by the name.

For  instance, “Parenting in 2004″, “Positive Parenting”, or “Parent Univ.” is much more appealing than “Stress and Parenting”.

o  Be certain to allot enough time when hosting EAP/mental health workshops for a question and answer session so participants may ask specific questions.

Always remind participants that individual help is available through the employee assistance program (EAP) also through their health benefits. Give written contact information for your EAP, but do so discretely.

o  The Worker Assistance Program (EAP) is an great partner and resource for wellness programming in these areas.  The EAP can help find ways to address mental health, stress, coping, and other related issues.

Smoking Cessation

Use of tobacco cessation assistance is a worthwhile wellness activity. Use of tobacco is often a difficult habit to overcome. Company health promotion activities to support “smoke-free” living include -

o  Use American Lung Association resource. These include the Freedom From Use of tobacco group and/or video-tutorial. There is also a follow-up video “A Lifetime of Freedom From Use of tobacco”.

o  Reward person that have successfully quit use of tobacco for six months with an appropriate “kicked the habit” certificate and some type of incentive gift.

o  Make available “cold turkey” sandwiches to smokers who pledge to quit during the Excellent American Smokeout.

o  Start a “quitting or thinking about it” support group to assist and encourage person attempting to stop smoking.

Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Addictions

When a substance abuse policy isn’t in place in your worksite, advocate that one be developed. Request a knowledgeable Health Promotion Committee member be included in the policy development process.

When such a policy is already in place make certain Health Promotion Committee members are aware about the policy and have a thorough understanding of it. From time to time, remind workers of wellness resources and programs available.

o  Invite AA, NA, AI-Anon, and other groups to meet in a corporation building and/or publicize community meetings.

o  Serve non-alcoholic drinks whenever alcohol is served, and make certain food is always served along with alcoholic beverages.

o  Give easily accessible information about counseling, referral, and treatment programs available in the community. Put this information in an area where it could be viewed without embarrassment.

o  When conducting wellness programs include information about responsible alcohol use on stress/weight control, nutrition, physical fitness, smoking, and accident prevention.

o  Issues like co-dependence and the difficulty of helping a substance abuser can also be addressed. Provide this information as part of the wellness program by providing informational materials, brown bag sessions, EAP information, etc.

o  The Worker Assistance Program provider is an great resource for substance abuse health promotion programming and or staff member assistance.

o  Other addictions, such as problem gambling, food addiction, shopping, Internet addiction, etc., may be problematic and can reach the point of affecting a person’s life and work. Provide information, video review, or employee assistance sessions addressing these topics.

o  A Wellness Committee member may gain personal information regarding an staff member problem. Don’t forget to keep all staff member information totally confidential.

Interest in increasing exercise ranks nearly as high as weight control in worker interest and need. Ideas for increasing worker awareness and participation in physical activities follow -

o  Fitness classes in the workplace – Onsite exercise can be much more convenient for workers. However, on-site classes require logistical planning and coordination with attention to details.

On-Site courses are usually more feasible for bigger businesss.  As part of the steps in planning and assessment, speak with other wellness programs offering workplace classes. Ask what their experience has been like.

Talk to potential vendors in the area as well. Find out what it’d take to offer an onsite fitness class. YMCA’s, gyms, and community recreation programs are excellent resources for this kind of discussion.

It is also feasible to offer a “mini” introductory worksite class series. A mini series might consist of an introduction to a new physical activity area. Staff Members are then expected to make the transition to home or community based wellness programs.

o  Nerf Olympics –  Nerf games are fun (and entertaining) activities that encourage movement, flexibility, stress reduction, and typically are a good laugh. When planning such an activity consider setting up a “challenge” stations with various activities.

Ideas for activities include hula hoop contests, Nerf basketball free throws, Nerf football tosses, Frisbee “golf”, jump rope, etc.  The Health Promotion Team will lay out the course.

Each participant goes through the stations and gets a “gold” medal (you can buy these at party stores and toy stores inexpensively) for completing all of the stations (no matter how badly they perform).

Begin each participant at intervals authorizing for smooth running, but expect high difficulty stations to be backed up. This delay can add to the fun and creates a “keystone cops” scenario.

Nerf Olympics is a good activity to do with an audience, so encourage cheering peers.

o  Offer incentives to workforce who engage in aerobic activity like walking, running and bicycling on their own time (see goal establishing health promotion program, offer points toward prizes, etc.).

o  Distribute maps of walking/jogging trails located near the worksite. Mark distances in steps and miles. Be sure to encourage workers to walk during lunch and/or break times.

Post a steps collected map on a worksite wall where employees can log their steps or miles.

o  Be certain to encourage joggers, walkers, and those who enjoying other forms of exercise to form fitness groups to meet before work, at lunch, or after work.

o  Promote the use of stairs instead of elevators. Place bulletin boards, art contests, etc., in stairwells.

o  Sponsor “Bike-to-Work” or Walk-to-Be sure to work week.

o  Schedule five-minute desk stretching at the workplace. This can relieve repetitive motion problems in addition to eye and back strain.

o  Sponsor a personal challenge activity like “Climb a Mountain” or “Swim a Sea”. This is an honor system wellness program in which participating personnel are awarded minutes, steps, or miles credit for cardiovascular exercise (swimming, walking, running, skiing, bicycling, stair stepping, group fitness, etc.).

The object of this type of challenge is to accumulate the equivalent mileage it’d take to reach the top of a famous mountain, span a body of water (swim the Columbia River), or reach a distant city/county.

Try personalizing the challenge as much as possible to individual interests and/or area geographical matches close to the workplace.

o  Collect a selection of exercise video or DVD tapes. Workers can either take a look at a tape for home use, or offer a group activity video class.

o  When it isn’t possible for staff to leave the building to exercise or workout at lunch, try establishing an in-house aerobic walking track for staff member use in an unused part of the workplace for lunch, break or after hours use.

An example of how this issue could  be solved is the use of stationary bicycles and other small exercise equipment provided for staff by some 911 call centers.

o  Sponsor a “Personal Best” Challenge”. Workers run, walk, bicycle, etc.  Their own personal best time. Repeat the personal best challenge each quarter to six months. Each time an employee improves, offer recognition and an appropriate award.

Also, recognize those workforce who maintain their personal best in the same way. Be certain to encourage non-participating workforce to get involved.

Assist these person in choosing  an activity that is comfortable and of interest for them, and one in which they are able to succeed and progress.

o  When you offer an introductory or other on-site exercise class or activity, make sure the instructor can relate to the audience, and the audience can relate to the instructor.

Have a Wellness Committee member attend a current class by the selected instructor class before the instructor conducting a class at worksite. Also, consider the employees who could  be potentially attending the class.

Sometimes larger and/or older exercise instructors are often better accepted by audiences who are similarly sized and aged.

o  Sponsor a themed “virtual” trek. Calculate the mileage for the proposed “trip” ahead of time. Be certain that the distance is appropriate for the number of expected participants and time for the event (six to eight weeks) works well.

For longer events, small teams can accumulate their mileage for the trip. Establish a reporting network. Post a map to track the trip. Chart the progress with stick pins, a magic marker, or a highlighter.

Give a brief humorous fictional narrative of the trip, posting a new one each week. Include as many participants’ names as possible. Alternate posting humorous texts with health tips along the way. Give an incentive at the end of the trip.

Ideas for Physical Activity Themes -

o  Swim the Mississippi to the Mardi gras.

o  Take a tour to all Oregon counties.

o  Take a tour of Oregon from Enterprise to Brookings.

o  Run or walk around the world (25,000 miles).

o  Tour de France (take all summer)

o  Tour de France on a stationary bicycle (take all winter)

o  Indianapolis 500

o  Climb Mount Everest (stairs or stair climbers). Target Sir Edmund Hilary’s birthday or the anniversary of the first conquest as a completion date.

o  Climb Mount Washington or Mt. Hood. Target President’s Day as a completion date.

o  Climb any significant mountain and tie it to any remotely related event.

o  Use time in exercise as a measurement for the contest rather than distance. This authorizes you to treat all forms of aerobic activity more equitably.