Health and Wellness Leads : Worksite Health Promotion Program Ideas

Want some wellness program ideas and wellness policy ideas to get you started? Or maybe you want to jump start or improve upon your current wellness program? The list below provides ‘best practices’ that are able to help meet any wellness program budget! The Workplace Wellness Program ideas are divided into topic areas.

General Wellness Progam Ideas

• Administer an Employee Needs & Interest Survey
• Organize a Employee Health Promotion Program Committee
• Identify medical plans that cover costs for weight management and smoking cessation
• Remove co-pay or reimburse for preventive health care visits
• Display brochures on a variety of wellness issues for workers to take
• Create a wellness resource center or library with videos, books, magazines, DVD’s on a variety of issues of interest to employees
• Identify workers who are mentors or champions for healthy activities and ask them to present or to list as a contact for other workers
• Establish and reward periodic or regular educational sessions.
• Establish monthly educational sessions on the national health observance topic
• Display a Wellness Bulletin Board & update it monthly
• Put up messages from national health observances during the month
• Provide healthy tips in newsletters, paycheck stuffers, bulletin boards, etc.
• Organize a benefits fair
• Offer organization fitness and healthy eating challenges
• Organize employer wellness fairs or other onsite events

Nutrition Programs

• Offer free, healthy snacks for employees (fruit, nuts, popcorn)
• Provide healthy meal choices in cafeterias and at business programs
• Give information to staff members about the nutritional content of food served in the cafeteria
• Organize a fresh fruit “snack basket” in the breakroom or cafeteria
• Stock vending machines with healthier options
• Subsidize healthy foods in the cafeteria or snack machines (10¡ apples may be more appealing than $1.00 candy bars)
• Begin a weekly or monthly healthy lunch club
• Give handouts available on a variety of healthy eating issues
• Include nutrition articles in business newsletters
• Schedule a healthy food tasting contest Free
• Schedule educational sessions at lunchtime-time on a variety of diet issues of interest
• Organize an employee healthy meal cookbook. Either sell the cookbook and use profits for programs, or purchase a cookbook for all workers

Weight Loss Programs / Weight Management Programs

• Offer flexible work schedules so that employees are able to participate in weight-loss programs
• Subsidize registration expenditures for weight-management programs
• Offer a support group to help workers who are trying to lose weight
• Locate registered dieticians near your worksite as a resource for staff members who want information on healthy eating, meal planning or weight control
• Provide individual counseling for staff members trying to lose weight
• Offer workplace fitness and weight-management programs through your local hospital, Weight Watchers, TOPS or local, registered dietician
• Schedule an educational session on diet myths and healthy eating

Physical Activity Programs

• Provide flexible work schedules to encourage exercise
• Create a fitness space with aerobic equipment, and weights
• Create accessible walking paths, trails, and/or bike routes
• Encourage workers to walk more by parking farther away from the entrance
• Design a gym with aerobic equipment, weights, aerobic classes, fitness professionals
• Have walking meetings
• Make the stairwells more appealing (carpet, fresh paint, artwork, posters)
• Provide reduced gym membership fees to all staff members
• Provide facilities for staff members to secure bikes
• Schedule 5 – 10 minute stretch breaks during the day
• Partially fund health club membership for employees who participate a minimal number of days per week (ex., 3 days per week)
• Support lunchtime walking/running clubs or business sports team
• Encourage stairwell use and rewards and incentives
• Install a basketball hoop outside
• Promote & support area walks or fitness programs
• Promote walking during breaks and other off-time periods
• Give periodic fitness incentive programs to encourage exercise
• Provide educational sessions on fitness activities

Smoking Cessation Programs / Tobacco Cessation Programs

• Establish a tobacco-free grounds
• Establish a tobacco-free workplace
• Encourage the use of 1-800-QUIT-NOW, North Carolina’s no cost Tobacco Use Quitline. Or check www.QuitlineNC.com
• Reimburse staff members for tobacco replacement products
• Partially fund the expense of smoking cessation sessions
• Offer brochures and information on health effects from tobacco use and tobacco cessation
• Schedule awareness sessions to arouse workers to try to quit tobacco use
• Provide workplace tobacco cessation classes

Employee Health Screening

• Discount health insurance premiums or decrease co-payments for workers who participate in screenings and who participate in managing their risk factors
• Install Blood Pressure (BP) monitoring equipment
• Offer flu shots for employees and family members
• Offer Health Risk Assessments to all workers, including counseling and follow-up
• Provide periodic Blood Pressure screenings and follow-up
• Offer periodic screenings for blood lipids, blood sugar, body composition, etc.

Stress Management Programs / Work Life Balance Programs

• Provide flexible schedules for family/work life balance
• Offer and reward an EAP
• Give information on substance abuse prevention
• Offer brochures and information on stress management and mental health
• Offer pamphlets and information on work life balance, such as financial planning, childcare, parenting, elder care, etc.
• Provide supervisor and manager training on communication, relationship building, company stressors, etc.
• Review organization policies and work schedules to identify organization stressors
• Evaluate the Employee Assistance Program(EAP) to be sure it is meeting the needs of the workers and business
• Have educational sessions on stress management and work life balance
• Schedule seminars on relaxation, stress management, and work life balance issues