Posts from — November 2008

Health and Wellness Fair activities put the spotlight on Corporate Health Promotion Programs

A Health and Wellness Fair is a brilliant way to shake your employees out of the doldrums and into better awareness of their health and wellness. A Health and Wellness Fair brings your organization together to discuss Corporate Health Promotion Programs, examine Medical Insurance and “cafeteria” plans, explore health savings accounts, publicize Wellness Program Programs and share success stories and challenges.

Some common Health and Wellness Fair desired outcomes include:

better awareness of the health services and resources available to employees, both from their organization and from local, state, regional and national health services;
increased motivation for improving health behavior
increased participation in Corporate Health Promotion Programs, commuter and carshare programs and health savings accounts
better awareness of individual health status through Health Screening and Biometric Testings, Health and Wellness Fair activities, displays, handouts, and demonstrations, and
better information on what employees are seeking from their organization’s health management initiatives, and which employees are interested in participating.

Planning a Health and Wellness Fair

Planning a Health and Wellness Fair is a lot like beginning an Wellness Program on a smaller scale. Just like an Corporate Health Promotion Program, your Health and Wellness Fair will need publicity, logistical planning, programming, targeted goals, in-house marketing and of course, executive approval. Festive touches like free food, kid-friendly activities, live music, art displays, talent shows and other community-minded fun will help cement the appeal of your Health and Wellness Fair and ensure that the Health and Wellness Fair becomes a welcomed, annual event.

You can find some Health and Wellness Fair planning tips at the Family and Consumer Sciences site of Texas A&M University. These Health and Wellness Fair tips are aimed more at community and non-profit organizers, but you can discover many useful Health and Wellness Fair ideas at the site.

Health and Wellness Fairs and Wellness Program Recruitment

Many Wellness Program planners find that Health and Wellness Fairs are the primary reason why employees sign up for walking Corporate Health Promotion Programs, health savings accounts and other pro-Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

Don’t forget - not only do employees value these programs highly, but the increased energy and decreased sick leave associated with Corporate Health Promotion Programs also saves your business money. The Wellness Program Statistics are clear - healthier businesses work harder and pay less in Medical Insurance premiums.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs: The Grand Slam

Corporate Health Promotion Programs are as close to a grand slam proposition as you’ll find, according to the majority of researchers and Wellness Program experts.

But if you have skeptics in your organization who are questioning the time and cost of beginning an Corporate Health Promotion Program, you may be wary too. Aren’t employee Corporate Health Promotion Programs subject to the adage “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”?

Corporate Health Promotion Programs Don’t Have To Be Costly

Fortunately, employee Corporate Health Promotion Programs don’t require a big investment. Like any other company project, mismanagement and “death by committee” can inflate the cost of Corporate Health Promotion Programs, but it’s hard to spend too much time and money on them. After all, Corporate Health Promotion Programs are mostly informational in nature. Flyers, e-mails, maps, and Wellness Program Health and Wellness Fairs can only cost so much. There’s no expensive, specialized Wellness Program machinery.

Wellness Program statistics on successful programs are particularly persuasive. Unlike many cost-saving measures, Corporate Health Promotion Programs actually add to employee satisfaction - but they also reduce Medical Insurance premiums and employee absenteeism.

What are some common Corporate Health Promotion Programs?

Corporate Health Promotion Programs run the gamut, depending on your workplace demographic, from physical activity for health patients to nutritional initiatives that encourage workers to replace unhealthy snack foods with healthy fare like dried fruit and shelled nuts.

Following are some examples of Corporate Health Promotion Programs:

ergonomic safety
cardiovascular disease education and testing
employee safety
Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals
walking Corporate Health Promotion Programs
drug testing

Maintaining Wellness Program during Cold Season can be a challenge for any business. The average adult can get up to four colds in one year, and hundreds of thousands are hospitalized every year for flu complications. From December to March, there are more employees out of the office due to illness, and others who barely made it to the office and can hardly think over their constant coughing and sneezing.

Corporate Health Promotion Program: Prevention is the Key

Prevention is the key to maintaining good health in the workplace and increasing overall Corporate Health Promotion Program. Fighting infection after the cold and flu epidemics hit is a losing battle and can best be combated with early action, such as implementing a Wellness Program Program in the office for good health all year long.

Keeping the Office Germ-free During Cold Season

The typical office is the perfect breeding grounds for influenza or the cold virus. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says that there are higher chances for the spread of infection during winter because people spend more time indoors. In an office, this risk is raised by cubicles, bringing many people into a close space. On-Site Health Screening and Biometric Testings conducted regularly as part of an overall health management program will increase the chances of Wellness Program year round, and especially during Cold Season.

Education Can Increase Wellness Program During Cold Season

Educating employees about various ways to stay healthy during Cold Season may help prevent the spread of any sickness to the entire office. Hand washing is a crucial component in maximizing Corporate Health Promotion Program, as bacteria collects on keyboards, mouses, around the water cooler and next to the community coffee pot. As employees shake hands, infection may be passed, multiplying the chance of getting a cold or coming down with the flu. Hand washing and anti-bacterial cleaners for surfaces can help reduce the spread of sickness.

Wellness Program is possible during Cold Season. With Corporate Health Promotion Program, your office can reach one step closer to immunity from sickness during Cold Season.

Wellness Program Study Shows Millions Lost Due to Illness

Wellness Program was shown to be a huge economic boon for businesses in a recently-released joint report by  the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Nearly three million productive employees in labor markets worldwide add up to a lot of money. The Wellness Program research study estimates that China will lose $558 billion, India $237 billion, and Russia $303 billion in national income from 2005 to 2015 due to only three chronic diseases: heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Lack of Wellness Program A “Huge Expense”

The U.S. Center for Disease Control also reports that chronic disease accounts for approximately 75 percent of yearly employee health care costs in the U.S., which constitutes a huge expense for businesses. And the Public Health Foundation of India estimates that its country will lose 18 million potentially productive years of life by 2030, a statistic no nation can afford, let alone a developing one.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs the Answer

A sustainable solution to these challenges cannot be solved by medical benefits alone. Workplace commitments to Wellness Program are also crucial. Companies are advised to implement workplace Health Screening and Biometric Testings for their employees, as well as look into a comprehensive health management program. These and other precautions are good secret weapons against the economic pitfall of unhealthy employees.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs - Staff Engagement Strategies

Corporate Health Promotion Programs without staff engagement are of no use to a business. How do you get employees to enroll in Corporate Health Promotion Programs - and stay engaged in the programs?

The materials for these programs discuss the benefits to employees and corporations. Wellness Program statistics show that there are tangible benefits to a business for offering such programs. Corporate Health Promotion Programs actually do save lives by getting workers to take their health seriously, increase productivity, decrease absenteeism and more.

However, St. Louis, Missouri-based Maritz Inc., the world’s largest incentive business, has applied their own invigorating twist to health management by providing gift rewards to employees who participate in Corporate Health Promotion Programs. The wellness incentive program is Maritz’s own Exclusively Yours® plan. Health management participants earn points, which can be then redeemed for merchandise, electronics, restaurant vouchers and travel, much like a frequent-flier program.

Enrollment incentives in Corporate Health Promotion Programs?

Undoubtably businesses that don’t work in the incentives industry will be tempted to cry foul about using such a rich carrot to incentivize health program enrollments. Not every business can throw that kind of money at health management resources - and not every business has the built-in savings as a business that specializes in providing incentive programs.

For certain rich incentives like Maritz’s will break through the glaze that appears over many employees’ eyes when they’re encouraged to do something new, different or difficult. For many employees uncomfortable with health management and physical activity, “new, different and difficult” would apply to Corporate Health Promotion Programs. So where does that leave corporations who are unwilling or unable to provide incentives for health management program enrollment?

Successful Corporate Health Promotion Programs motivate employees - before and after signup

Wellness Program administrators should keep the long-term view in mind when trying to get employees to take that imperative first step. Even the best incentives can fail in the face of faltering organization, badly-designed Corporate Health Promotion Programs and wavering support. Make sure to run good Wellness surveys before you build your Corporate Health Promotion Programs so employee input and needs are being met by your Corporate Health Promotion Programs. The goal is positive outcomes, not high enrollment numbers.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs cannot survive managerial apathy. If executive and managerial participation is widespread and heartfelt, employees will follow their leadership. The potential rewards and Wellness benefits are clearly worth reaping, for both your organization and your co-workers.

Wellness might be the fatal flaw in your Corporate Health Promotion Program. Is Wellness part of your strategy? Does workplace wellness stop when your employees leave the office?

Wellness Continuity

If employees don’t have the tools to pursue health and wellness on a Personal level, then it becomes easy for them to “fall off the wagon” and slide back into a unealthy lifestyles. If you have a walking program, for example, it should encourage employees to build walking routes near their homes, perhaps with the cooperation of the neighborhood association or coworkers who live in the neighborhood.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs: Always on Your Mind

Your Wellness Program coordinator should have “vacation wellbeing” as part of their job description. In other words, you don’t want a Wellness Program to stop at the boundaries of the workplace campus. Instead, integrate Personal health and wellness with your Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

This benefits your Corporate Health Promotion Programs in a couple of ways:

it lowers the chance that the employee will come back to the office feeling unfit, overwhelmed and unable to resume their Corporate Health Promotion Programs; and
it shows that their organization is just as invested in their Personal health and wellness as they are

Like a marathon, Personal health and wellness is a long-term venture and it’s difficult for anyone to do in isolation. Simply put, it’s easier to maintain your health when you know others are depending on you and watching your Personal performance. It’s easier to maintain to an exercise program when you have a jogging partner who wakes you up when you oversleep, or spots you when you’re lifting weights.

Similarly, it’s easier to maintain to your Wellness Program when you know your organization is supporting you and wishing you the best.

Don’t Dictate Personal Health

Just as Wellness surveys serve a vital function in building a Corporate Health Promotion Program, it’s imperative that you involve employees in designing an off-site wellness strategy. No one enjoys being told what to do, but everyone enjoys having assistance in tacking tough problems. Make it clear that employees are in charge of their own health and wellness. Your role as their health management partner is to support, advise, counsel, provide resources and information.

Of course, don’t forget that part of Personal health and wellness responsibility is to provide good health risk assessment baselines so employees can proceed safely on the road to better physical fitness.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs: An Attainable Goal

Was Wellness on your corporation’s new year’s resolutions list? Here we are a little over midway into the third month of 2008, the time when resolutions start to falter if they haven’t lost momentum completely. Has your Worksite’s wellness resolution fallen by the wayside? If so, there are still ways to get back on track.

One Wellness tip comes to us from the YMCA of Greater Des Moines, reported from the Jersey Shore. Rod Shirk, the YMCA’s chief financial officer, participated in the organization’s first executive Corporate Health Promotion Program, which registered his cholesterol as higher than normal. That prompted him to get a physical, which showed high levels of a prostate-specific antigen that often indicates prostate cancer. The outcome? His doctors caught a life-threatening illness just in time.

Thanks Corporate Health Promotion Program.

So of course, Shirk is a huge proponent of Corporate Health Promotion Programs. He says, “For us here at the YMCA, if we are telling people to be healthy, we had better set a good example for our employees.”

Wellness Decreases Health Care Costs

Though cases like Shirk’s dramatic cancer save are the most desirable effect of Corporate Health Promotion Programs, it isn’t the initial draw for corporations. They do it to reduce health care costs, and there’s no doubt that Corporate Health Promotion Programs do just that. Wellness Program Statistics show that Corporate Health Promotion Programs return anywhere from $2.30 to $10.10 per dollar spent on wellness. “Health care costs should go down as people think about changing their diets and getting more active,” Shirk says.

The Wellness Program savings aren’t just in the Medical Insurance department. Human resource departments report that Corporate Health Promotion Programs also reduce absenteeism and increase productivity.

Still, businesses have been loath to invest that elusive Wellness dollar despite the well-documented returns. A Principal Financial Group and Harris Interactive survey found that only 10% of small- to medium-size corporations have made workplace Health Screening and Biometric Testings - like the one that saved Shirk’s life - available to their employees.

Is It Necessary to Incent Corporations to Initiate Corporate Health Promotion Programs?

Wellness incentives may seem like an effective way to get employees excited about Wellness Program - but is it wise?

This helps and encourages corporations to understand the importance of maintaining a healthy employees, not only for the welfare of its employees, but as well as the welfare of the company bottom line … then, yes, it could be necessary.

Tax Breaks as Wellness incentives

In 2007, two senators decided to band together to create the “Healthy Workforce Act.” This act is designed to encourage corporations to keep employees healthy and prevent disease. The senators believed that having a country focused on “well care” versus “sick care” would decrease the overall costs of health care for everyone. They decided to start with America’s employees.

The legislation, introduced by Iowa Senator Tom Harkin and Oregon Senator Gordon Smith, notes that businesses would receive a Wellness incentive - a fifty percent tax credit - if they provide to their employees a Wellness Program that meets the following criteria:

1) A health awareness and education component, which could include Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals and Health Screening and Biometric Testings.
2) A behavioral change component – such as counseling, seminars, or self-help materials to empower employees to lead healthier lifestyles.
3) A supportive environment component – including providing meaningful incentives to taking part in employees, such as a reduction in health premiums or allowing employees to engage in walking Corporate Health Promotion Programs during the workday.
4) The creation of an employee engagement committee – which would tailor the Wellness Program to the needs of the employees at a particular business.

If this law gets passed, many corporations will be scrambling to provide Corporate Health Promotion Programs in hopes of receiving the Wellness incentives.

Workplace Obesity: The Facts

Workplace obesity has become one of the fastest growing health care problems in America. It is well known that America is considered one of the, if not “the”, heaviest nations in the world. This is largely in part due to fast food, un-healthy snacks and a very sedentary lifestyle. However, what many people are not aware of is that the rate of obesity in our country has doubled in the last 30 years and this weighs heavily on a corporation’s bottom line.

According to a new report from The Conference Board, Weights and Measures: What organizations Should Know about Obesity, obese employees cost private corporations an estimated $45 billion each year. Following are some of the report’s findings:

Obesity is associated with a 36% increase in spending on health care, more than smoking or problem drinking.
34% of adult United States citizens fit the definition of “obese”
Obesity related health problems are costing U.S. businesses millions of dollars each year in medical expenditures and work loss.

Workplace Obesity: How corporations Can Help

With the increase in obesity and organization costs associated with it, it is more and more imperative to develop a way to assist employees with their healthy living choices. Corporate Health Promotion Programs can help corporations help their employees. By offering assistance with Health Screening and Biometric Testing, Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals and by conducting Wellness Program surveys; Corporate Health Promotion Programs allow the organization non-invasive ways to communicate their concerns about their employee’s health.

We suggest establishing a Walking Wellness Program to assist your employees in meeting their weight-loss goals. Walking Wellness is a program designed to get your employees away from their desk and get them outside for a little physical activity. Keep it fun by having contests, setting up weight-loss teams and having organized healthy picnics.

What is a Wellness Program Proposal?

You probably have seen the term many times and wondered what exactly does it mean. A Wellness Program Proposal is a proposal put together by a wellness consultant that makes suggestions for what type of Corporate Health Promotion Programs you should choose, what tools you will need to accomplish your corporation’s wellness goals, and costs associated with it.

Wellness Program Proposals Assist Human Resource Departments

A Wellness Program Proposal is a great thing to have in hand when HR Departments go to upper management to request funding for a Corporate Health Promotion Program. It will provide necessary stats and trends, background information, and costs that will enable the HR Department to fully present their case. Upper management will appreciate the preparedness and the research that has gone into your wellness request.

Wellness Program Proposals Lead to Better Corporate Health Promotion Programs

A well thought out Wellness Program Proposal can lead to a better Corporate Health Promotion Program, because the building blocks will already be in place. Wellness Program Proposals will guarantee that your corporation gets the proper Wellness Program established. Corporate Health Promotion Programs can vary greatly, but when your employees ask, you can tell them that they generally include the following:

Walking programs which provides employees with incentives to take their walking breaks at their workplace.
Company teams, worksite yoga classes and massage therapists at the workplace.
Nutrition advice, weight-loss and healthy cooking classes, stress management sessions, and either a Wellness Program resources column in the employee newsletter or a wellness newsletter.
Stairwell initiatives to show how stair-walking can improve health.