Workplace Wellness Programs start and end with individual health. Individuals, after all, are able to make decisions about maintaining and / or improving their health and wellbeing. Employee Workplace Wellness Programs must therefore provide the tools and resources required to assist and motivate individuals to actively participate in the program.
Individual health is only one part of beginning staff member Workplace Wellness Programs. Below you’ll find some things to assist you in your efforts to create a healthy atmosphere for you and your coworkers.
Encouraging Your Employer to Create an Workplace Wellness Program
This is the first step in beginning a Workplace Wellness Program. In recent times more and more employers are beginning to see the value of promoting and supporting the health of their staff members. Partnership for Prevention, a nonprofit organization, has released a sourcebook called “Healthy Workforce 2010″ (http://www.wellnessproposals.com/pdfs/tool_kits/healthy_workforce_2010.pdf). This sourcebook is an excellent resource containing information on:
• Benefits of Workplace Wellness Programs
• Suggestions on where to start
• Tools like surveys and assessment forms
These resources are for both employers and staff members to guide the development and determine the effectiveness of their new Workplace Wellness Program. Make available it to your employer as a place to start or read it yourself and present your ideas.
Participating in Workplace Wellness Programs
Once you have an staff member Workplace Wellness Program established, taking part fully in all aspects of the program is important. Many of us know that we need to more actively engage in Workplace Wellness Programs to improve our health, yet have difficulty finding and taking the time to do so. These simple steps can jumpstart your participation in an staff member Workplace Wellness Program:
• Examine the offerings that interest you and that you need for health improvement.
• Schedule time to go to the presentation or service.
• Actively following through with recommendations from the program.
• Make a decision now to improve your health. You will feel better today and tomorrow and the next day for actively moving towards wellness.
Here is a list of potential Workplace Wellness Programs that might be available to you at work:
• ergonomic evaluations and ergonomic training classes
• lactation rooms and classes
• prenatal education program
• nap rooms for relaxation
• stress management programs
• fitness facilities
• chair massage
• healthy eating education
• onsite primary medical care services
• child care facility or resources and referral service
• smoking cessation programs parenting classes
• elder care resource and referral service
• cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose screening programs
• flu vaccination
• weight management programs
• medical care consumerism programs
• work/life programs
• health coaching
• mobile mammography
More information to follow in my next posting about Employee Workplace Wellness Programs
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