Posts from — December 2008

Corporate Health Promotion Programs at the company level are beneficial, right? Wellness statistics clearly show that such Corporate Health Promotion Programs are not only cost-effective to the organization but can assist the employee in developing a healthier lifestyle. With the increasing cost of health care, Corporate Health Promotion Programs simply make sense. So where does the problem come in? Let’s examine the topic from both perspectives.

Corporate Health Promotion Programs: The Good

• A sampling of return on investment (ROI) for Corporate Health Promotion Programs: Bank of America: 600 percent; General Motors:370 percent; Pepsico: 300 percent; Citibank: 465 percent; and the Washoe County School District leading the pack at a whopping 1,560%. (Campbell,J., Wellness Improvement Experts, www.wellnessimprovementexperts.com, Albuquerque, New Mexico.)
• Companies with Corporate Health Promotion Programs have realized a 28 percent reduction in sick leave, a 26 percent reduction in adjunctive health care costs and a 30 percent reduction in disability and workers compensation costs. (Health Affairs, Volume 21, No.2, March, 2002.)
• The Washoe county School District in Northern Nevada realized a $15.60 return on investment (ROI) for every dollar spent due to a 20 percent reduction in rates of absence. (Hardy,A. (2005). At the Top Of The Class. WELCOA’s Absolute Advantage Magazine, 5(1), 14-20.)
• Corporate Health Promotion Programs provide the structure, encouragement, incentives and ongoing support that many individuals need in order to make lifestyle changes.
• Employees also realize returns on their efforts. FiServ, a financial services technology organization, gave workers who filled out a health risk assessment a significant discount on their medical insurance premium. (Holland, Kelley, The New York Times, July 22, 2007.)

Corporate Health Promotion Programs: The Bad

The flip side of the argument centers on basic human rights. Do we want/need our employer to tell us to eat our veggies or lose 30 pounds? Some organizations are doing just that and at least one lawsuit has resulted because of it.
• Three hundred organizations have requested assistance from a national employment and labor law firm to institute more aggressive Corporate Health Promotion Programs.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)
• Clarian Health, based in Indianapolis, Will begin reducing employee paychecks by $10.00 for every employee who has a Body Mass Index (BMI) of greater than 29.9 because not enough workers were utilizing their wellness services.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)
• Scott Rodrigues filed a suit against his prospective employer, Scotts Miracle-Gro, because he believed the organization’s antismoking policy violated his civil rights. The organization has a policy against hiring workers who smoke and Mr. Rodrigues’drug screen was positive for nicotine.(Holland, Kelley, The New York Times,July 22,2007.)
• employee advocates are concerned that health discrimination may not be covered under the Americans with Disabilities Act.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

Penalizing workers by hitting them where it hurts the most, in their pocketbook, does not appear to be a favorable approach to molding human behavior.
Such tactics may result in increased resentments and retaliation, primarily in the form of rates of absence and presenteeism (decreased productivity on the job.) Voluntary, incentive-based programs, such as the one in the Washoe County School District, can and do produce results. A positive attitude on the part of management along with an opportunity for workers to have a stake in the decision-making may yield the greatest dividends to both employer and employee.The motivation and resolve needed to change unhealthy lifestyle habits can best be derived from the basic tenets of encouragement, respect and support.

For well over a decade, research studies have been showing the effectiveness of Corporate Health Promotion Programs. For every dollar spent on Corporate Health Promotion Programs, the returns have been cost savings of between $2.30 and $10.10 in the areas of decreased rates of absence, fewer sick days, decreased WSIB/WCB claims, lowered health and insurance costs, and improvements to employee performance and productivity.

Statistics do show that Corporate Health Promotion Programs increase employee morale, improve the ability to attract and retain key people, all while having more alert and productive workers. Some Wellness Program return on investment (ROI) statistics of note:

• Canada Life Insurance reported a return of $3.43 on Corporate Health Promotion Program, and an overall Wellness Program return on investment (ROI) of $6.85 on each company dollar invested on decreased turnover (32.4 percent lower), productivity gains and decreased medical claims,
• DuPont’s Wellness Program pilot sites saw a saving of 11,726 disability days and a return of U.S. $2.05 for every dollar invested by the end of the second year,
• The Canadian government’s Wellness Program return on investment (ROI) was $1.95-$3.75 per employee per dollar spent (as found by Dr. Roy Shephard),
• Municipal workers in Toronto, missed 3.35 fewer days in the first six months of their Wellness Program than workers not enrolled in the program,
• British Columbia Hydro workers enrolled in a Wellness Program had a turnover rate of just 3.5 percent compared with a Business average of 10.3 percent,
• Johnson & Johnson estimated an average saving of U.S. $224.66 per employee per year for the four years examined after the program introduction, with the bulk of the savings being in the third and fourth years,
• Pacific Bell found that overall rates of absence decreased after beginning a Corporate Health Promotion Program,
• Coca Cola report saving $500 every year per employee after beginning a Corporate Health Promotion Program, with only 60 percent of their workers participating,
• Coors Brewing Co. found that for every dollar spent on their Wellness Program they saw a $5.50 return, and the workers who participated decreased their absentee rate by 18 percent, and
• Prudential Insurance Company found that the benefits costs for workers participating in their program were $312, as opposed to $574 for non-members

Staff members breathe life and value into your organization.  Within the modern worksite there are increasing instances of stress, anxiety, obesity, depression, and heart disease.  The modern worksite has become increasingly physical fitness-free.

Technological advances have lessened the need to “walk” at work.  Moving a mouse has the same level of physical exertion as pressing the buttons on a remote control.  Emails, the fax, and the internet have meant that it is possible to run a organization without having to leave the chair.  The “advances” affect physical and mental health in a disastrous manner ultimately affecting your organization’s profit.

A sedentary lifestyle is a recipe for disaster - heart disease, chronic back pain, repetitive stress disorder, and low employee self-esteem are symptomatic of a work environment in which the only physical fitness available is surfing the net.  Business morale will invariably suffer if an physical fitness policy is not endorsed and put in place.

Regular physical fitness can significantly improve workplace health.  Instances of absenteeism and staff turnover, low staff morale and decreased productivity can be alleviated with a Wellness Program that energizes and motivates tired workers.  Boredom, repetitive motion injuries and workplace tiredness can only be combated with physical and mental stimulation.

Studies show, workers who are physically active on a regular basis record less sick days each year and are more energetic, dynamic, and industrious.  Investing in the health of your staff pays dividends through increased productivity and goodwill.  Physically active workers are happy workers.

• Reducing medical insurance and compensation costs through decreased need for medical services
• Improving productivity
• Reducing rates of absence
• Improving morale
• Reducing stress

On top of improving the health of your staff, a broad-based Wellness Program shows your workers you care about their well-being.

Golds Gym Corporate Health Promotion Programs is committed to creating a healthy, active workforce, offering employers with training incentives for workers at our state-of-the-art facilities. Golds Gym Employee Wellness also provides training services and facility design at your office location.

Incorporating all aspects of fitness training (strength, core, cardiovascular, flexibility), performing broad-based fitness assessments, designing personalized fitness programs, and dynamic group training programs.  We take pride in our talented, professional workers who provide innovative and effective Corporate Health Promotion Programs for diverse workforces.

Golds Gym Corporate Health Promotion Program’s workers reach beyond the walls of the fitness center to motivate, educate, and encourage workers to embrace and maintain healthy active lifestyles.  Applying practical experience the Golds Gym Wellness Program delivers dynamic cost-effective Wellness Program that help workers work happier, harder, and healthier.

To motivate your workers to exercise, eat better, and lose weight, you could invest heavily in equipment, facilities, and staffing to develop onsite Corporate Health Promotion Programs for workers, thereby hopefully creating a healthier, more productive workforce.  However, the problem with company fitness facilities is that workers spend one quarter of their lives at work and typically are not motivated enough to come in early or stay late to do an exercise program.

Golds Gym Corporate Health Promotion Programs provides attractive discounts for organizations to train at our professionally coordinated facilities.  When your organization becomes a member of our Corporate Health Promotion Program, your workers are eligible for savings off of our regular training rates.  No matter what size of organization you keep, we have a Wellness Program to keep it healthy, happy, and working strong.

• Coca Cola reported saving $500 per employee every year after beginning a Wellness Program with only 60 percent of their workers participating.
• Pacific Bell found that overall rates of absence decreased after beginning a Corporate Health Promotion Program.
• Coors Brewing Company found that for every dollar spent on their Wellness Program they saw a $5.50 return and the workers who participated decreased their absentee rate by 18%.
• Prudential Insurance Company found that the benefits costs for workers participating in their program were $312 as opposed to $574 for non-members (American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, 2004).

To learn more about Gold’s Gym Corporate Health Promotion Programs contact us at (336) 725-8624.

Flu Shot Facts & Myths

Myth: The flu isn’t a serious disease.
Fact: Influenza (flu) is a serious disease of the nose, throat, and lungs, and it can lead to pneumonia. Annually about 200,000 people in the U.S. are hospitalized and about 36,000 people die because of the flu. Most who die are 65 years and older. But small children less than 2 years old are as likely as those over 65 to have to go to the hospital because of the flu.

Myth: The flu shot can cause the flu.
Fact: The flu shot cannot cause the flu. Some people get a little soreness or redness where they get the shot. It goes away in a day or two. Serious problems from the flu shot are very rare.

Myth: The flu shot does not work.
Fact: The majority of of the time the flu shot will prevent the flu. In scientific studies, the effectiveness of the flu shot has ranged from 70 percent to 90 percent when there is a good match between circulating viruses and those in the vaccine. Getting the vaccine is your best protection against this disease.

Myth: The side effects are worse than the flu.
Fact: The worst side effect you’re likely to get from a flu shot is a sore arm. The nasal mist flu vaccine might cause nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat and cough. The risk of a severe allergic reaction is less than 1 in 4 million.

Myth: Only older people need a flu vaccine.
Fact: Adults and children with conditions like asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease need to get a flu shot. Doctors also recommend children 6 months and older get a flu shot every year until their 5th birthday.

Myth: You must get the flu vaccine before December.
Fact: Flu vaccine can be given before or during the flu season. The best time to get vaccinated is October or November. But you can get vaccinated in December or later.

For more information, ask your health care provider or call 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636).  You can also get more information about flu shots by visiting the following Website: www.cdc.gov/flu

Source: The Department of Health and Human ServicesCenters for Disease Control and Prevention

Benefits of Corporate Health Promotion Programs: Easy to Find

Employer’s are learning that Corporate Health Promotion Programs is an effective way to increase productivity, improve employee health, decrease health care costs and reduce rates of absence.

A report published in 2003 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) highlighted how important it is for organizations to incorporate Corporate Health Promotion Programs as part of their company strategy. The report asserts that chronic diseases which are largely preventable place a heavy toll on organization, including lower productivity and higher medical insurance costs.

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that $1.66 trillion was spent on health care in 2003 and it attributes a majority of those costs to chronic diseases and conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and asthma. Sadly, the money allocated for preventing or controlling these conditions is negligible.

In a recently published article, American Cancer Society CEO John Seffrin reported two thirds of cancer deaths in the U.S. could be prevented through lifestyle changes in diet, physical fitness, cancer testing and “especially” tobacco use. A well-designed Corporate Health Promotion Programs initiative serves the best interests of workers and organizations alike.

Benefits of Wellness Progams: ROI

Ron Goetzel, a nationally recognized expert in the field of health management, information analysis and applied research, said in a recently published interview that with an investment of $100 to $150 per employee per year in Corporate Health Promotion Programs, an employer can expect an average return on investment (ROI) of approximately $3 for every $1
invested ($300 to $450 savings per employee per year).  Goetzel says, however, that these returns are not typically realized until two to three years into the Corporate Health Promotion Program.

Benefits of Wellness Progams: Tax Breaks

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has been an outspoken proponent in seeking legislative solutions for a strained health care system.

“As a nation, we have a ‘sick care’ system that is focused on helping people after they get sick, rather than a ‘health care’ system which focuses on keeping healthy people healthy,” he says.

Harkin introduced the Healthy Lifestyle and Prevention (HeLP) America Act of 2004. One of the initiatives under Title II - Healthier Communities and Workplaces, provides tax credits to organizations that offer broad-based programs to promote employee health and grants for small organization.

Benefits of Wellness Progams: Getting Started

Implementing a Corporate Health Promotion Programs can be accomplished with simple, low-cost strategies.

• Offer incentives for participation.
• Create a wellness informational campaign.
• Schedule wellness seminars on diabetes, nutrition, physical fitness and cholesterol.
• Create programs such as fitness, sleep diary, smoking cessation and injury prevention.
• Offer onsite chair massages or simple stretching exercises to do at the desk.
• Alter snack machine options to offer healthier, low-fat snacks and drinks.
• Actively promote employee participation in all Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

A successful Wellness Program can boost organization morale, enhance productivity, reduce organizational conflict, attract superior workers and decrease the rate of employee turnover. The case for establishing a Wellness Program is well worth the effort.

Demographic and technological transformations are changing the nature of work in our society. As these changes occur the broad-based model of Corporate Health Promotion Programs described above will evolve and continue to develop. If current trends continue, the workers of tomorrow will be older, more racially and ethically diverse, increasingly female, and will often be located off-site. In the later case, technological advances are making it possible for more and more experts to conduct their work from their homes. Thus the very character of the worksite will change and so must our efforts to deliver Corporate Health Promotion Programs. As an example, in the future it is likely that a great deal of health education programming will be delivered through personalized interactive multimedia formats, conveniently supplied to any number of workers through telecommunication systems.

As technological innovations increase in the workplace, Wellness Program experts will face new health related challenges. In the past, some have assumed that technology would make workers more efficient, thereby allowing workers to work less, while being more productive. In reality, increases in technological innovation have simply allowed more of us to take our work with us where ever we go and feel guilty for not being increasingly productive.

This trend may absorb increasingly greater amounts of leisure time that is normally devoted to relaxation and recreation. Subsequent increases in fatigue and stress will ensure the continued need for effective Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

When considering the scope of Corporate Health Promotion Programs described in this article, many will think of substantial investments made by large organizations. The reality is that 60 percent of individuals working in the U.S. work for a organization of less than 100 workers (U. S. Bureau of Census, 1988). Due to economy of scale, it has been difficult and expensive for small organization owners to supply adequate health care insurance as well as prevention programming for workers.

Wellness Program experts must understand this challenge and develop the means to overcome these obstacles. The proof is clear that much more could be done to advance the health of our society through the workplace. As change agents, health educators must work to empower organizations and workers through education of the benefits of Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

Businesses do not exist in a vacuum. They are part and parcel of the community in which they are located. Successful corporate administrators are cognizant of the need for positive community relations and should do what is necessary to promote good will. What better way to bridge relationships than by utilizing existing community Wellness Program services and programs whenever possible (e.g., voluntary, private and public health agencies) and offering health related services back to the community. Since the community is also the home of the employee, an effective mode of health promotion is through programming directed at the larger community. Sponsorship of community related health fairs is one example more are listed below.

• Encourages employee/employer involvement in the community
Blood drives
Sponsorship of fund raising for community schools and social services
Community recycling programs
Youth league sports sponsorship
Job training programs
• Media and public relations programs advertising a healthy organization image
• organization newsletters and press releases on health issues to local media
• Environmentally sound use of waste disposal and community resources

At times Corporate Health Promotion Programs have been instituted as public relations vehicles intended to enhance the company image with little concern for improvements in employee health. Companies who are truly committed to enhancing employee health and wellness, are organizations who have worked to include Corporate Health Promotion Programs into the organization’s mission statement. With this commitment, policies and procedures can be written to address short and long term goals of increased employee health, productivity, and morale. These policies and procedures are critical to the establishment of supportive organizational cultures conducive to employee health and wellness.

• Active employee involvement in Wellness Program committees and organization decision making
• Availability of flextime work schedules
• No smoking policy
• Drug use policy and drug testing
• Motor vehicle seat restraints and the use of other protective/safety equipment
• Sexual harassment policy
• Family leave programs
• Consistent and frequent awards and recognition of employee work efforts

The environmental conditions of the worksite can be divided into both physical and psychosocial domains, both of which influence the climate and culture of a worksite. The cultural norms of a workplace have been identified as powerful determinants of worker health and behavior (Baum, 1995). Ultimately, workers benefit most from a healthy, supportive; eustressful workplace community was they feel valued and respected. Since adults spend approximately one third of their waking hours at work, one would hope that workers view work as less of a necessity and more of an enjoyable experience.

The climate of a workplace is also more conducive to enhancing health and human performance when the environment is safe, clean, aesthetically pleasing and ergonomically engineered. While some occupations maybe inherently dangerous (e.g., fire fighter, military personnel) all broad-based Corporate Health Promotion Programs should control exposure to unhealthy conditions including: hazardous chemicals, noise, temperature, radiation and other risky conditions. Program examples include:

• Corporate Health Promotion Programs grounded in supportive cultural change strategies
• Environmental and safety compliance measures
Lighting
Ventilation
Heating
Control of toxic substances
Noise
Universal precautions
• Ergonomically designed workstations
• Sanitary, clean, well maintained worksite
• Recycling promoted programs
• employee & management training in emergency procedures

An employee’s psychological health can never be neglected in a broad-based model of Corporate Health Promotion Programs. Originating out of a need for alcohol abuse initiatives in the workplace, today’s employee assistance programs (EAP) encompass assessment and counseling for substance abuse and dependency, stress related disorders, family conflicts and other personal issues.

Evidence of the need for such programs is wide spread. In a national survey conducted by the Northwestern Life Insurance Company (1992) 46 percent of workers reported that their job was very stressful, 34 percent thought about quitting their jobs because of workplace stress, and 14 percent did leave their job because of stress. Alcohol and substance abuse problems as well as issues of workplace violence and harassment are common areas of concern. For many the only viable treatment solution is the Corporate Health Promotion Program.  Exemplary Corporate Health Promotion Programs will include:

• Personalized assessment of employee concerns
• Assistance in treatment choice
• Emphasis on prevention as well as treatment
• Individual and family counseling programs
• Treatment for addictions:
Drugs
Alcohol
Gambling
• Crisis intervention programs
• Stress management
• Ongoing support groups
• Management and employee training to identify individuals at risk.
• After treatment assistance