Wellness Assessments

Creating a Workplace Wellness Program need not be expensive, but will require the commitment of some financial resources. If possible, include the Workplace Wellness Program in your organization’s annual business plan and budget as you do for other efforts important to your organization’s success. 

How much to budget for the Workplace Wellness Program? 

There is no one-size-fits-all formula for beginning a Workplace Wellness Program that results in improved employee health. Organizations differ in how much money they need and how much they can make available for the Workplace Wellness Program. Consider the following common expenses in developing an adequate Workplace Wellness Program budget:

 

      • Workplace Wellness Program staffing costs (either internal salaries or consultant fees)

      • Workplace Wellness Program data collection costs (including health risk assessment costs, if relevant)

      • Workplace Wellness Program incentives for healthy behaviors (such as discounts on premiums for non-smokers)

      • Costs of Workplace Wellness Program Strategies to be started (such as costs of covering tobacco quit medications or costs of subsidizing healthy foods in the cafeteria or vending machines)

      • Workplace Wellness Program administrative and communications expenses 

In times of tight finances, be prepared to justify your requested Workplace Wellness Program budget. Arm yourself with data on potential short- and long-term outcomes of the proposed Workplace Wellness Program Strategies. Itemize the Workplace Wellness Program expenses of past initiatives and share projected expenses for initiatives planned for the upcoming year. 

Sustaining Workplace Wellness Program Funding 

A dedicated Workplace Wellness Program line item in your organization’s budget makes it more likely to be regarded as a need, rather than as a “nice-to-have” amenity that could be cut when funds run low. 

One of the best Strategies for ensuring continued financial support for the Workplace Wellness Program is frequent communication to upper management, including: 

      • How many staff members have you reached through the Workplace Wellness Program? Has morale increased? Have health risks decreased, e.g., fewer staff members using tobacco, more staff members active?

      • How well are you managing the Workplace Wellness Program resources you’ve been given? Where and how has your budget been spent? Keep track of the staff time required for each initiative and be able to present the numbers at any time.

      • Anecdotal Workplace Wellness Program success stories from staff members. Don’t underestimate the power of a good story to put a human face on your success. 

Additional sources of Workplace Wellness Program Funding 

If required, have the individuals responsible for beginning a Workplace Wellness Program look for ways to supplement available internal funds. Are there grants or other funding available that can help support your Workplace Wellness Program ? What community Workplace Wellness Program resources could you use to meet some of your needs?

Locating an individual to guide your organization in beginning a Workplace Wellness Program 

Without a qualified Workplace Wellness Program coordinator to guide and manage your organization’s creation of a culture of health, efforts can be scattered and momentum can stall. While it’s essential that the creation of a culture of health be someone’s priority, not all organizations need a full-time coordinator.  There are a number of ways to capture the time of a qualified coordinator. 

Be careful not to confuse Workplace Wellness Program skills with fitness skills. You are not looking for a personal trainer or a nutritionist to run your Workplace Wellness Program. The following are good indications that an individual may be qualified to be a Workplace Wellness Program coordinator: 

      • knowledge of community health, population health and worksite Workplace Wellness Programs

      • competent working with and understanding aggregate data, preferably Workplace Wellness Program data

      • competent managing projects, including developing timelines and facilitating meetings

      • competent in strategic planning, including defining goals and related objectives

      • ability to understand, and use the findings of, journal articles on effective Workplace Wellness Program Strategies. 

What will a Workplace Wellness Program coordinator do? 

The Workplace Wellness Program coordinator is responsible for guiding a process that creates workplace facilities, policies and practices that promote health. The individual may do some of all of the following for your Workplace Wellness Program: 

      • act as a liaison between upper management and the Workplace Wellness Program employee advisory workgroup

      • interpret health-related data on your Workplace Wellness Program

      • create and manage work plans and budgets for implementation of selected Workplace Wellness Program Strategies

      • facilitate Health Promotion Committee meetings

      • guide your organization in establishing measurable objectives for the Workplace Wellness Program

      • recommend effective Workplace Wellness Program Strategies, using the evidence in the health behavior literature and national and/or recommended best practices

      • document and report short-term and long-term progress on Workplace Wellness Program Strategies and objectives. 

Where can we find a qualified Workplace Wellness Program coordinator? 

Explore the following when looking for a Workplace Wellness Program coordinator: 

      • Existing staff: Are there individuals on staff who have the background, or are interested in gaining the skills, to support as a Workplace Wellness Program coordinator? Is it possible to dedicate a portion of someone’s time (e.g., .5 FTE) to the position of coordinating your organization’s Workplace Wellness Program Strategies? If possible, budget enough to cover not only salary but also continued learning, journal subscriptions and membership fees for this Workplace Wellness Program position.

      • New staff – Can you hire an individual to be your organization’s Workplace Wellness Program coordinator? Would it need to be a full-time position, or would part-time be sufficient?

      • Workplace Wellness Program Consultation – Various organizations (e.g., health plans, benefit consultants and public health departments) provide Workplace Wellness Program consultation on building a culture of health within a workplace. 

An outside Workplace Wellness Program consultant can advise an internal Workplace Wellness Program coordinator and your Health Promotion Committee on establishing priorities and selecting Strategies. Or, you can contract with a Workplace Wellness Program consultant to be your coordinator. If you select the latter approach, you’ll want to contract with the individual for sufficient hours to carry out all of the responsibilities associated with coordinating an effective strategy.

Strong and visible upper management support for the Workplace Wellness Program encourages health and is essential to securing required Workplace Wellness Program resources (staff, time, and money) and implementing recommended changes. 

1. Identify a Workplace Wellness Program champion 

      In a small organization, there may be a single leader who is the clear choice to champion the Workplace Wellness Program. In a larger organization, look for an executive with the authority to sway others in the highest levels of the organization regarding the Workplace Wellness Program. The Workplace Wellness Program champion need not be the fittest member of upper management. Rather, look for a Workplace Wellness Program leader with the disposition to be a visible and vocal supporter of workplace policies that encourage healthy behaviors. Organizations with multiple sites can consider whether it would be useful to have an executive Workplace Wellness Program champion at each site. 

2. Find existing Workplace Wellness Program allies 

      There may already be a number of individuals within your organization who recognize the value of a Workplace Wellness Program. Think about who those individuals are in your organization; consider areas such as occupational safety, union representatives, risk management, health officers, and human resources when looking for a Workplace Wellness Program ally. Secure their stated support for the Workplace Wellness Program. Workplace Wellness Program support could include contributions of staff time or expertise, financial resources, agreement to endorse/support policy and environmental changes, or agreement to participate in, and voice their support for, changes in the workplace that will help to build a culture of health. 

3. Build a business case for the Workplace Wellness Program 

      There is a reason that more and more employers are finding a way to promote the health of the employees via a Workplace Wellness Program and policies: A Workplace Wellness Program makes good business sense. staff members with healthy behaviors, on average, are more productive when at work (higher presenteeism)1 and incur lower medical care costs than staff members with less healthy behaviors.2,3  As a result it would be foolish not to have a Workplace Wellness Program. 

4. When developing a Workplace Wellness Program use what you know about leadership styles and the decision-making process within your organization 

      Every organization is different. Build upper management support for the Workplace Wellness Program in the way that makes the most sense for your organization. Think about the following as you plan how to approach upper management for Workplace Wellness Program support: 

            • What are the current priorities and pressures facing executives? How could a Workplace Wellness Program and a healthier workforce support those priorities?

            • How do the leaders prefer to receive data: written documents? verbal presentations?

            • What kinds of Workplace Wellness Program information are likely to sway decisions? Do they want data and Workplace Wellness Program statistics specific to your organization, or are state or national data sufficient? Are the leaders more influenced by internal factors or by what competitors are doing?

            • Who would the leaders see as a credible messenger for this Workplace Wellness Program information? Does someone from the risk management area carry more clout than someone from the human resources area?

            • How do decisions really get made in your organization? Informal committee meetings? Formal or informal meetings between executives? Plan accordingly and you improve the odds that the Workplace Wellness Program will become a reality. 

5. Maintain Workplace Wellness Program support once you have it 

      Once you have appropriate Workplace Wellness Program support, ensure that you keep it by regularly updating the leaders on the health of the employees and progress toward beginning a culture that encourages health. Ask upper management how frequently they want to receive Workplace Wellness Program progress reports. 

Source Information:

      1 Bunn, JOEM, 2006, 48:10.

      2 Foldes, Bland, An et al. Modifiable Health Risks and Short-Term Health Care Costs. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota internal research, submitted for publication.

      3 Anderson, 2000, American Journal of Health Promotion, 15:1.

The workplace setting is a effective, but frequently overlooked, element in managing staff member health.  Here we will identify some of the best-practices in beginning a Workplace Wellness Program that supports your organization’s employee health strategy and allows staff members to take charge of their own health.  For example, a Workplace Wellness Program that includes a tobacco-free workplace policy improves the likelihood that staff members will try to quit smoking and will quit using tobacco successfully. Similarly, a Workplace Wellness Program that includes discounting healthy foods in your cafeteria and vending machines helps increase staff members’ consumption of healthy foods which supports your investment in disease management programs for staff members with diabetes, heart disease or hypertension. The following will guide you through the ten key steps in beginning a Workplace Wellness Program and workplace setting that encourages staff member health. 

In an era of rising medical care costs and fervent competition, employers have a vested interest in the health of their staff members.  Research has found that, on average, staff members with healthy behaviors (such as not using tobacco or being active for 30 minutes a day) incur lower medical care expenses, are absent from work less frequently, and are more productive when at work (higher presenteeism) than staff members with unhealthy behaviors. 

Workplace Wellness Program: Obtaining Leadership Support 

Workplace Wellness Program support from the highest level of upper management is essential to your success in beginning a culture of health within your workplace. Look for Workplace Wellness Program support from a leader who is respected by and can sway other leaders. (It’s not necessary that he or she be the fittest executive within your organization just that they directly support the Workplace Wellness Program.) You will be relying on this culture-of-health champion to advocate for changes that you recommend and to ensure the organization allocates adequate Workplace Wellness Program resources (staff, time, and money) to maintain and improve the workplace policies, physical setting, and social norms. 

Secure Workplace Wellness Program Staff and Financing 

Starting and maintaining a Workplace Wellness Program within your organization needs to be someone’s priority. However, unless your organization is quite large, you likely don’t need to hire a full-time staff person for the Workplace Wellness Program.  There are a number of ways to find an individual with the required skills to guide and support your organization’s Workplace Wellness Program.     

 

Creating facilities and Workplace Wellness Program policies, such as those allowing staff members to be physically active during the workday, does not need to be expensive, but it does require adequate and sustained funding.  If possible, include the creation of a workplace setting that supports the Workplace Wellness Program as a permanent part of the operating budget; that helps to ensure it’s an ongoing priority for your organization. 

Worker Involvement in the Workplace Wellness Program 

Pulling together a representative group of staff members to advise your organization’s Workplace Wellness Program ensures that improvements in workplace facilities, policies and practices address the true needs and barriers of all groups of staff members.   In addition, these staff members can support as the front-line Workplace Wellness Program supporters of policies and practices with their peers. 

Create a Workplace Wellness Program Vision and “Brand” 

A Workplace Wellness Program vision and a brand are effective first steps in bringing a Workplace Wellness Program from an idea to a reality. What would you like your workplace environment to look like five years from now? A succinct Workplace Wellness Program vision statement summarizes for all (staff members and leaders alike) the reasons for beginning a Workplace Wellness Program. It also reminds everyone of the link between staff member health and your organization’s ability to achieve its overall mission.   

Branding your organization’s Workplace Wellness Program sends a message to staff members that the organization’s commitment and support of healthy behaviors is important and is here to stay. Choose a Workplace Wellness Program name and logo that resonate with staff members. Then use that brand on all Workplace Wellness Program communications with staff members about the policies, facilities and programs your organization offers to promote healthy behaviors. 

Determine Your Existing Workplace Wellness Program Situation 

Exactly how your organization creates a Workplace Wellness Program that encourages healthy eating, physical activity, and reduces tobacco use will depend on the unique characteristics of your organization and employee population.  

Determine how the current workplace facilities, policies, and unwritten norms support — or discourage — healthy behaviors. 

Gather information on the health and health-related behaviors of your employee population.  The most common method is by using a validated health risk assessment. If you don’t have data specific to your staff members, you can estimate the prevalence of different health risks and behaviors within your employee population using state or national data.  Note: Information on staff members’ health interests alone is not sufficient; but can be a useful supplement to health risk data and might help you set priorities. 

Establish Workplace Wellness Program Goals and Priorities 

Use what you’ve discovered about the health of the employees and about your current workplace setting to determine your organization’s Workplace Wellness Program priorities. From those Workplace Wellness Program priorities, define clear and measurable Workplace Wellness Program objectives for improving the health of the employees and your organization’s culture. Well written objectives will provide the basis for planning and for measuring your progress. 

Choose Workplace Wellness Program Strategies 

Focus your organization’s Workplace Wellness Program resources (time, energy and money) on procedures that are most likely to produce results:  an increase in healthy eating, an increase in physical activity, and a reduction in tobacco use. There’s no need to guess at what might work. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reviewed thousands of studies and has identified the Workplace Wellness Program approaches most likely to result in significant, lasting, and widespread improvements in health behaviors. Those Workplace Wellness Program procedures are included in the physical activity, tobacco, and healthy eating sections of this website.

The formula for Workplace Wellness Program success is to make the healthier choices the easier choices. 

Implement Workplace Wellness Program Strategies 

Once you’ve chosen your Workplace Wellness Program Strategies, it can be useful to arrange the work on a timeline.  The “right” amount of time for implementing each Workplace Wellness Program strategy depends on the staff time, budget, and business demands of your organization.  Work plans keep your efforts moving and help to ensure that plans to create a Workplace Wellness Program stay on track even if there are changes in staffing or other challenges. 

Communicate and Educate About the Workplace Wellness Program 

Ensure staff members are aware of the Workplace Wellness Program opportunities you’ve provided.   Planning your Workplace Wellness Program communications allows you to communicate regularly with staff members without overwhelming them at any one time. 

Monitor and Report Your Workplace Wellness Program Results 

At the same time that you plan your Workplace Wellness Program Strategies, think about how you’ll measure success.  It’s much easier to gather information – or to create systems for collecting information — before you implement a Workplace Wellness Program strategy rather than as an afterthought.   Keep in mind that you’re likely to see improvements in staff member morale and/or behaviors before you see decreases in absenteeism or medical care claims. 

Report both your Workplace Wellness Program successes in building a healthy workplace environment (such as complete implementation of a policy that provides staff members time for walking during the workday), and Workplace Wellness Program successes in getting staff members to take charge of their health (an increase in the number of staff members who contacted the stop-smoking program, or an increase in the number of fruit-cups purchased from the cafeteria following a promotion and price-cut).

 

What Are Workplace Wellness Programs? 

Workplace Wellness Programs are designed to promote and support employee health and wellness through education and awareness programs primarily based at the worksite. The program is a win-win in that staff members benefit from learning and staying well, and the employer has increased loyalty and less absenteeism. 

As employers become more aware of the importance of employee health on productivity, there is increased interest in encouraging and supporting healthy lifestyle choices. Employer costs for Workplace Wellness Programs can rapidly be offset with fewer work-related injuries, improved attendance, less turnover, and increased morale. 

Types of Workplace Wellness Programs 

Workplace Wellness Programs: Lunchtime Wellness Presentations 

The easiest Workplace Wellness Programs are one’s where the employer arranges to have quarterly seminars during lunchtime on topics such as stress management, nutrition, and exercise. A local mental health clinic, hospital, or the Employee Assistance Program (Employee Assistance Program) may provide these. This type of corporate health and Workplace Wellness Program is usually arranged through HR, the health department, or the safety manager. Participation is generally voluntary. 

Before selecting topics for wellness presentations, it is a good idea to do some type of staff member polling to see what topics people are interested in. This can be as simple as an e-mail to all staff asking for suggestions or as formal as having an outside group come in to conduct interviews and design a complete corporate health and Workplace Wellness Program. 

Workplace Wellness Programs: Health Risk Assessments 

An employer can provide comprehensive Health Risk Assessments for staff members. Health Risk Assessments are detailed questionnaires that covers all areas of behavior (seatbelt use, smoking, alcohol use, frequency of exercise, family history of disease and illness, etc.). This is usually done in conjunction with employee health screening for things like cholesterol and blood sugar screening. 

Once the Health Risk Assessments are scored, the results are shared with staff members along with suggestions for changes. The employer is able to get aggregate statistics that will show trends that he or she may want to address. For example, if a lot of people have high blood pressure, the employer may consider an educational seminar, biweekly onsite blood pressure readings, and low-salt, low-fat selections in the cafeteria or snack machines as interventions to include in the corporate health and Workplace Wellness Program. 

If the Health Risk Assessments show that there is a “trend” toward not wearing seatbelts, perhaps having the State police come in and give a presentation about what occurs in an accident when you don’t have a seatbelt on would change some behavior. 

Workplace Wellness Programs: smoking Cessation 

smoking cessation programs are very popular elements of Workplace Wellness Programs. Often, the local chapter of the American Cancer Society or American Lung Association will come in to run a group. Another option is for staff members to attend a smoking cessation group in the community. Costs for the smoking cessation group can be offset by the employer after staff members complete the program. 

Workplace Wellness Programs: Stress Management 

Stress is a major area of concern for employers. Stressed out workers get sick more frequently, make more errors, and generally do not perform up to capacity. As a result, Workplace Wellness Programs frequently take steps to address employee stress. There are many ways to address stress within your Workplace Wellness Programs, and the beauty of these ideas is that everyone can benefit from them. 

Certainly, stress management seminars are educational and informative and should be included in any corporate health and Workplace Wellness Program. 

Workplace Wellness Programs and Work/Life Programs 

Many employers offer a work/life program that offers assistance with things from finding day care for a child or elderly parent and information on obscure college scholarship funds to information on which PC to buy and where to find someone to walk your dog. These programs fit into Workplace Wellness Programs because they help your staff members handle many of the things that are taking up work time and increasing stress. 

Workplace Wellness Programs and Employee Assistance Programs 

An Employee Assistance Programs are integral parts of effective Workplace Wellness Programs. By helping staff members address personal/mental health problems and concerns, an Employee Assistance Program can go a long way toward improving overall health and productivity. Representatives from your Employee Assistance Program can also work closely with you to design Workplace Wellness Programs that are integrated and effective. 

Time Management and Workplace Wellness Programs 

Time is one of our most precious commodities, and anything you can do as an employer to help your staff members manage their time is going to be welcome. Although not traditionally thought to be part of Workplace Wellness Programs, providing flextime and telecommuting are two ways to decrease stress and increase productivity. 

These programs take thought and planning and are not appropriate for all staff members or all positions; however, in many workplaces, they are underused. Either your HR manager or an outside consultant can help you design a program. If you belong to a business group or Chamber of Commerce, you may find assistance there. Also, talk to colleagues who are doing this in their companies to see how it is working. 

The Culture of Wellness 

Worker wellness has to be part of your company culture, not just something you throw in as an afterthought. It isn’t a Band-Aid, but rather a thoughtful piece of your business strategy. For example, if productivity is down due to smoking breaks, providing smoking cessation classes can help. But it’s also important to establish a no smoking policy. 

When staff members feel valued, they are more loyal and tend to work harder. They take pride in their work and talk about what a great company they work for. A healthy workforce is a productive workforce.

Even the best and most innovative employers are experiencing the impact worker well-being on their organizations’ performance.  The bad news is that many of these employers are unaware of the extent to which less-than-optimal staff member health and well-being is impacting workforce capacity and performance.  The goods news is that there is an increasing body of research and practice than can help employers mitigate this frequently unseen issue and create significant opportunities for improved workforce attraction, retention and performance!  This article focuses on how organizational leaders can improve physical and financial staff member wellness in the workplace. 

The Problems of Chronic Disease 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60% of deaths in 2005 could be attributed to chronic disease (cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes).1  The largest attributing factors to the chronic diseases include smoking, physical activity, and diet.2  The costs of these diseases are staggering.  For example, if there were a 10% reduction in mortality from heart disease and cancer, it could save the US $10.4 trillion annually.3  Further the WHO projects that over 80% of the US population will be either considered overweight or obese by the year 2015. 

The Problems of Financial Distress and Dissatisfaction 

As hard as it may be to fathom, a 2004 study found that 67% of U.S. Workers are dealing with Personal Financial Issues.4 In another study, it was found that these issues can exist in all segments of any workforce, regardless of income, education, or position level.5 Couple these facts with our workforce reality: 

    * The workforce is aging and demand for professionals in many industries continues to exceed the supply – and will for the foreseeable future.

    * Due to the shortages of quality personnel the stress on our current workforce is increasing.

    * With these workforce shortages, most employers cannot continue to pay spiraling market prices for professionals.

    * Lastly, those personality attributes that make many professionals great caregivers or service-providers also tend to make them less apt to focus on matters of personal financial management. 

The ROI 

There are significant reasons why employers should employ Strategies to implement Workplace Wellness Programs for their staff members: 

    * Improve Productivity including reductions in medical care and workers compensation claims, absenteeism, and presenteesism;

    * Lower employer paid medical care and re-insurances premiums; and

    * Improve staff member, physicians and patient satisfaction; and

    * Improve staff retention and productivity. 

A recent Towers Perrin case study6 found that a ten percentage point improvement on staff member engagement was linked to a 4.6 percentage point improvement on customer satisfaction and revenue growth and labor cost improvements equal to a 2.8% impact on controllable margin.   

What all this shows is that providing Workplace Wellness Programs and incentives is more than just “the right thing to do.”  Rather, there is a profound business case.  As workforce capacity and engagement increase, a bottom-up cultural change takes place in your organization.  These changes drive improvements in customer satisfaction, productivity, absenteeism, and presenteesism – all of which drive improvements in profitability. 

The Course of Change 

As an employer, you can have a tremendous impact on the health of the community.  Here are a few suggestions on how you can engage your staff members (possibly include flowchart): 

 1. Define the Plan – Determine if you have the internal resource availability and knowledge to develop a formal Workplace Wellness Program.  Many organizations, due to confidentiality legal and other reasons, pick to engage outside partners to manage these processes.

 2. Communication – Once you have developed the plan, communicate the plan to all staff members – using multiple media and approaches.

 3. Lead by Example –Begin Workplace Wellness Programs at the top (walk the walk).  Provide yourselves the opportunity to go through a health risk assessment and a financial assessment.  If you can, communicate your results and your action steps to staff.

 4. Develop incentives for Staff Participation – Here are a couple of financial incentives you can provide staff that are low cost and optimally have a return on investment (ROI): 

       1. Pay staff members to take a risk assessment

       2. Lower employee contributions to health plan for those with reduced risk of chronic disease and correspondingly increase employee contribution to health plan for those with increased risk of chronic disease 

 5. Make available Personal Risk Assessment Counseling – Make available resources that can meet one on one with each staff member to understand their health risks and opportunities

 6. Eliminate Trans-Fat from Your Dietary Offerings – If you have onsite food facilities, and haven’t been required by legislative statute, you should eliminate trans-fatty oils from the staff member and customer meals

 7. Eliminate Smoking Areas for Employees – More and more organizations, including large cities, are now banning smoking on their facilities.

 8. Make available Proper Monitoring Programs – Probably the hardest part of the plan, the ongoing monitoring is critical.  Some organizations are large enough to own or build wellness centers – but even then, many staff members feel uncomfortable in using them.  Typically the users of wellness centers are those least in need.  The good news is that there are many external and internet-based tools and options that are available today.

 9. Encourage Other Local Businesses to Make available Workplace Wellness Programs.  In some cases (e.g. hospitals), there are options where this can even generate revenue and/or deepen relationships with the communities you support. 

Legal Concerns 

When thinking about a Workplace Wellness Program, one must take into account certain requirements under ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and the Public Health Service Act (PHSA). All three laws were amended by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to provide for improved portability and continuity of health coverage. HIPAA also added Code section 9802, ERISA section 702 and PHSA section 2702, each of which prohibits discrimination in health coverage based on health status. 

To be a bona fide Workplace Wellness Program, the plan must satisfy the following requirements: 

    * An individual’s total incentive must be limited. A limit of 10 percent to 20 percent of the total cost of employee-only coverage may be appropriate, according to the DOL.

    * The program must be reasonably designed to promote good health or prevent disease.

    * The incentive must be available to all similarly situated individuals. The program must allow any individual for whom it is unreasonably difficult because of a health condition to meet the Workplace Wellness Program standard (or for whom it is medically inadvisable to attempt to meet the Workplace Wellness Program standard) an opportunity to satisfy a reasonable alternative standard. 

1 2005 Preventing chronic disease:  A vital investment. World Health Organization

2 2007 Working Towards Wellness:  Accelerating the prevention of chronic disease.  World Economic Forum

3 2007 The Value of Health and Longevity.  Kevin M. Murphy and Robert H. Topal, University of Chicago

4 2004 Employer/Employee Equation Research on Worker Types, Preferences and Engagement Issues – Concours Group, Age Wave and Harris Poll

5 1997 Neal E. Cutler, Ph.D

6 2003 Talent Report: New Realities in Today’s Workforce – Towers Perrin

Workplace Wellness Programs that support staff members and the setting that they work in have been shown to be a good return on investment (ROI). Workplace Wellness Programs can be extensive and sometimes expensive. However, there are ways for small employers to make positive changes at little or no cost. 

Workplace Wellness Program: Weight Management/Physical Fitness Activities 

   1. Provide access to on- and off- worksite gyms and recreational programs before, during, and after work hours.

   2. Make available and encourage participation in after work recreation or leagues.

   3. Make available cash incentives or reduced insurance costs for participation in physical activity and/or weight management or maintenance programs.

   4. Make available shower and/or changing facilities onsite.

   5. Make available outdoor exercise areas such as fields and trails for staff member use.

   6. Make available bicycle racks in safe, convenient, and accessible locations.

   7. Make available onsite fitness opportunities, such as group classes or personal training.

   8. Make available an onsite exercise facility.

   9. Set up programs that have strong social support systems and incentives, such as:

      o Buddy or team physical activity objectives

      o Programs that involve workers and family

      o Programs to encourage physical activity, such as pedometer walking challenges

      o Explore discounted or subsidized memberships at local health clubs, recreation centers, or YMCAs

  10. Make available flexible work hours to allow for physical activity during the day.

  11. Support physical activity breaks during the workday, such as stretching or walking.

  12. Host walk-and-talk meetings.

  13. Map out onsite trails or nearby walking routes and destinations.

  14. Have staff members map out their own biking or walking route to and from work.

  15. Post motivational signs at elevators and escalators to encourage stair usage.

  16. Make available exercise/physical fitness messages and information to staff members.

  17. Make available or support recreation leagues and other physical activity events onsite or in the community.

  18. Create staff member activity clubs such as walking or bicycling clubs.

  19. Make available onsite child care facilities to facilitate physical activity.

  20. Sponsor a bike to work day and reward staff members who participate.

  21. Set up a box and solicit fitness and health tips. 

Workplace Wellness Program: General Health Education Activities 

   1. Have a current policy outlining the requirements and functions of a comprehensive workplace Workplace Wellness Program.

   2. Have a wellness plan in place that addresses the purpose, nature, duration, resources required, participants in, and expected results of a workplace Workplace Wellness Program.

   3. Orient staff members to the Workplace Wellness Program and give them copies of the physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use policies.

   4. Promote and encourage staff member participation in the physical activity/fitness and nutrition education/weight management program.

   5. Make available health education information to staff members.

   6. Have a committee that meets at least once a month to oversee the Workplace Wellness Program.

   7. Make available regular health education presentations on various physical activity, nutrition, and wellness-related topics. Ask voluntary health associations, medical care providers, and/or public health agencies to offer onsite education classes.

   8. Host a health fair as a kick-off event or as a celebration for completion of a wellness campaign.

   9. Designate specific areas to support staff members such as diabetics and nursing mothers.

  10. Conduct preventive wellness screenings for blood pressure, body composition, blood cholesterol, and diabetes.

  11. Make available confidential health risk appraisals.

  12. Make available onsite weight management/maintenance programs for staff members.

  13. Add weight management/maintenance, nutrition, and physical activity counseling as a member benefit in medical insurance contracts. 

Workplace Wellness Program: Tobacco Cessation 

   1. Establish a company policy prohibiting tobacco use anywhere on the property.

   2. Make available prompts/posters to support no tobacco use policy.

   3. Policy supporting participation in smoking cessation programs during duty time (flex-time).

   4. Make available counseling through an individual, group, or telephone counseling program onsite.

   5. Make available counseling through a health plan sponsored individual, group, or telephone counseling program.

   6. Make available cessation medications through medical insurance.

Workplace Wellness Programs that support staff members and the setting that they work in have been shown to be a good return on investment (ROI). Workplace Wellness Programs can be extensive and sometimes expensive. However, there are ways for small employers to make positive changes at little or no cost. 

Workplace Wellness Program: Nutrition Activities 

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption 

   1. Make available healthy eating reminders and prompts to staff members via multiple means (i.e. e-mail, posters, payroll stuffers, etc.).

   2. Make available appealing, low-cost fruits and vegetables in vending machines and in the cafeteria.

   3. Make available cookbooks, food preparation, and cooking classes for staff members’ families.

   4. Ensure onsite cafeterias follow healthy cooking practices and set nutritional standards for foods served that align with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

   5. Make available healthy foods at meetings, conferences, and catered events.

   6. Use point-of-decision prompts as a marketing technique to promote healthier choices.

   7. Make available healthy cooking demonstrations that teach skills (i.e. fruit and vegetable selection and preparation).

   8. Make available taste-testing opportunities at the workplace.

   9. Make available staff member-led campaigns, demonstrations or programs.

  10. Make available local fruits and vegetables at the workplace (i.e. workplace farmer’s market or community-supported agriculture drop-off point).

  11. Use competitive pricing (price non-nutritious foods in vending machines and cafeterias at higher prices).

  12. Make available protected time and dedicated space away from the work area for breaks and lunch.

  13. Make kitchen equipment available to staff members.

  14. Make available an opportunity for onsite gardening if possible. 

Sweetened Beverage Consumption 

   1. Make water available throughout the day.

   2. Make available appealing, low-cost healthful drink options in vending machines and the cafeteria.

   3. Modify worksite vending contracts to increase the number of healthy options.

   4. Price non-nutritious beverages at a higher cost.

   5. Use point-of-decision prompts to promote healthier choices. 

Portion Control 

   1. Label foods to show serving size and/or nutritional content.

   2. Make available food models, food scales for weighing and pictures to help staff members determine portion size.

   3. Make available appropriate portion sizes at meetings, workplace events and in the cafeteria. 

Breastfeeding 

   1. Support nursing mothers by providing them rooms for expressing milk in a secure and relaxed setting, a refrigerator for storage of breast milk, policies that support breast feeding, and lactation education programs.

   2. Make available flexible scheduling and/or onsite or near-site child care to allow for milk expression during the workday.

   3. Adopt alternative work options (i.e. teleworking, part-time, extended maternity) for breastfeeding mothers returning to work.

   4. Educate personnel on the importance of supporting breastfeeding co-workers. 

Television & Food Advertising 

   1. Place televisionss in non-eating areas of the workplace.

   2. Limit food advertising in the cafeteria (i.e. print and other media).

(Adapted from The Health Promotion First Act prepared by David Anderson, Ph.D., StayWell Health Management) 

Worker Lifestyles Impact Worker Health

•     Approximately 40% of all deaths in the United States are premature (at least 900,000 deaths annually) and are due to unhealthy lifestyle choices such as tobacco use, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, misuse of alcohol and drugs, and accidents. Other contributors to early death include genetic predisposition (30%), social circumstances (15%), poor access to quality health care (10%), and environmental  exposures (5%).

•     Unhealthy lifestyle is the primary contributor to the six leading causes of death in the U.S. – heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, accidents, and diabetes – which collectively account for over 70% of all deaths.

•     People with healthier lifestyles live an average of 6 to 9 years longer,  postpone disability by 9 years and compress disability into fewer years at the end of life.

•     The prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults rose to 30% in 1999-2000, a 33% increase from a decade earlier,  and the prevalence of diabetes also rose by 33% during approximately the same period (1990 to 1998).

•     About two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, 55% do not get enough physical activity,  26% are completely inactive,10 and only 25% eat recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables  If diet/physical activity patterns continue worsening at their current rate, these behaviors will soon surpass tobacco use as contributors to mortality.

•     Among young people, the prevalence of overweight has more than quadrupled in the past 20 years to 16%,  daily participation in high school physical education classes has dropped from 42% in 1991 to 28% in 2003,  more than 60% eat too much saturated fat, and almost 80% do not eat recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables. 

•     Lifestyle diseases disproportionately affect women, racial and ethnic minorities, the poor and seniors:

      •     The prevalence of diabetes among African Americans is about 70% higher than among white Americans, and the prevalence among Hispanics is nearly double that for white Americans.

      •     Women comprise more than half of the people who die each year of cardiovascular disease.

      •     Chronic conditions significantly limit daily activity for 35% of persons over 65 years of age.  

Financial Impact of Lifestyle

•     It is estimated that lifestyle-related chronic diseases account for 70% of the nation’s health care costs,  which translates to over 11% of the entire U.S. gross domestic product.

•     Two comprehensive scientific reviews identified 83 peer-reviewed studies reporting that people with unhealthy habits have higher health costs.

•     Research conservatively estimates that high health risks (high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc) account for at least 25% of total health costs. 

•     Recent research indicates a direct relationship between modifiable lifestyle risks and lower worker productivity, and relevant data suggest that the costs to employers in lost productivity due to poor employee health may be substantially more than the direct health and disability costs.

•     Unhealthy lifestyles frequently lead to chronic disease, many of which cannot be cured and require years or decades of expensive treatments. Below are estimated annual costs of selected unhealthy lifestyles and chronic diseases including obesity,  smoking,  hypertension,  diabetes,  stress,  and inactivity. 

 

Workplace Wellness Programs Improve Health and Yield Major Savings

•     Comprehensive scientific reviews identified 378 peer-reviewed studies showing that Workplace Wellness Programs improve health knowledge, health behaviors, and underlying health conditions.

•     Research has demonstrated that lifestyle modification may frequently be more effective and cost-effective than health intervention in decreasing morbidity  and mortality.

•     Several scientific reviews indicate that Workplace Wellness Programs reduce health costs and absenteeism and produce a positive return on investment (ROI).  The most definitive review of financial impact reported that:

      •     18 studies indicated that these programs reduce health costs, and 14 studies indicated that they decrease absenteeism costs.

      •     13 studies that calculated benefit/cost ratios all showed the savings from these programs are much greater than their cost, with health cost savings averaging $3.48 and the absenteeism savings averaging $5.82 per dollar invested in the programs.

•     Medical costs are expected to exceed 16 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 and to grow at 7.2 percent annually through 2015, when health expenditures will account for 20 percent of GDP:

      •     Per capita health costs in the U.S. are the highest in the world and more than double the median for OECD countries,  yet the United States ranks 26th in terms of healthy life expectancy.  

      •     Medicaid is the second largest item in most state budgets, and its portion of the total budgets is increasing each year.

      •     Rising health costs for U.S. employers continue to outpace general inflation, averaging 12 percent per year for the past 10 years.   This trend is causing a tremendous financial hardship on U.S. employers.

1. Senior management involvement in the Workplace Wellness Program- Evidence of enthusiastic commitment and involvement of senior management helps staff members understand their employers’ serious commitment to health.  Employees need to perceive that their senior management, supervisors, and coworkers have positive attitudes toward health since these factors have all been associated with improved employee health status.   Management-related factors have been shown to contribute more to success than the content of the intervention.  

2. Participatory planning – A Workplace Wellness Program should be undertaken in partnership with the workforce.  Employees from all levels of staff should be actively engaged in the health and management aspects of the project as well as all on-going processes of any Workplace Wellness Program.  Planning must also include processes for maintaining communication with all staff and building their commitment to the process.   Creating Workplace Wellness Program steering committees to guide interventions during the planning and delivery of workplace health promotion programming improves worker awareness, participation, and satisfaction. Worker committees can identify perceived staff member interests regarding educational programming, determine work site-specific characteristics that may affect the intervention or influence participation, and suggest the best methods for promotion and delivery of Workplace Wellness Programs and activities.  Ways to maximize staff member input and involvement might include interest surveys, focus groups, and peer counsellors.  

3. Primary focus on staff members’ needs – A Workplace Wellness Program should meet the needs of all staff members, regardless of their current level of health and recognize the needs, preferences, and attitudes of different groups of participants. Program designers should consider the major health risks in the target population, the specific risks within the particular group of staff members, and the organization’s needs.   In other words, interventions should be tailor-made to the characteristics and needs of the recipients.   This means that different programs must be provided at different levels.   Participation and commitment can be increased if a group of workers has the opportunity to address a specific modifiable risk factor of their choice.   

4. Optimal use of on-site resources – Planning and implementation of Workplace Wellness Programs should optimize use of on-site personnel, physical resources, and organizational capabilities.   For example, whenever possible, initiatives should use on-site health and safety, management, work organization, communication, HR, and other specialists.   Well-qualified external leadership may be introduced when in-house expertise is lacking.  

5. Integration – An overall workplace health policy should be developed.  The policies governing the health of the employees must align with the corporate mission, vision, and values, supporting both short- and long-term objectives. These consistent policies must affirm the value of staff member health and a commitment to engage staff members in health enhancement.  Workplace Wellness Program Strategies should be integrated into a company’s regular management practices and eventually should be formally incorporated into the company’s corporate plan  with adequate resources attached to them. 

6. Recognition that a person’s health is determined by an interdependent set of factors – Any Workplace Wellness Program must address multiple components of an individual’s life:

      •     the workplace physical and psychosocial setting;

      •     their personal resources such as social support, sense of empowerment, etc.; and

      •     their lifestyle practices influencing health.   

 

7. Tailoring to the special features of each workplace setting  - Workplace Wellness Programs must be responsive to the unique needs of each workplace’s procedures, organization and culture.   Integrating health behaviors and program participation into the existing corporate culture will normalize program participation. 

8. Workplace Wellness Program Assessment – Project management should flow through needs analysis, establishing priorities, planning, implementation, continuous monitoring, and assessment.   Assessment must include a clearly-defined range of process measures and outcomes  as well as mechanisms for monitoring the impact of non-intervention workplace changes such as plant closure, major workplace re-organization, and new technology on staff health.  

9. Long-term commitment – To sustain the benefits of the Workplace Wellness Program, the worksite must continue the initiative over time, reinforcing risk-reduction behaviours and adapting the programs to ongoing personal, social, economic, and workplace changes.