Online Wellness Programs

The Wellness Committee ought to set out a plan for the entire year that outlines accomplishing objectives and objectives, in addition to provides details for advertising and investigating  the program.

The plan is the detailed map of what types of programs will be offered, when and where they’ll be scheduled, how they’ll be marketed and evaluated, and what the budget is.  

It is important to plan your wellness activities based on your goals and goals, in addition to the budget since different strategies will yield different outcomes.  For example, when your objective is to increase awareness on a topic, then distributing  handouts or scheduling a one-time education session might  be appropriate.  

Notwithstanding, if your goal is to change behavior, then different strategies could  be necessary, such as ongoing weekly sessions and support groups.  Click here to link to Program Design Options for additional ideas.

Wellness Program Advertising and Marketing

This is the time to plan your marketing and advertising strategies!  How can you market the wellness program and ongoing activities?  No matter how you decide to, market often, keep it fresh, and remind employees again and again!  

Consider having an overall kickoff activity to let everyone know about the wellness program.  Upper Management ought to provide the introduction or invitation so that all workers are aware of their support and leadership in the program.

Possible marketing methods -

• Sending email messages, including reminders

• Posting flyers,

• Displaying bulletin board postings,

• Writing articles,

• Sending letters or

• Sending special invitations.  

Other Wellness Program Considerations -

• is the program promoted to all workers or to a specific target audience?

• Do you’ve a program champion (someone who is connected with different groups in the organization, and well respected) who can help in your promotion efforts?

• If your advertising and marketing efforts do not seem to be working, do you have a way to revisit and adjust your strategy?

• How will you determine success and evaluate your program?  and how will you collect the information needed to evaluate your program?  

Topics most often included in Wellness Programs -

• Nutrition

• Physical Activity/Exercise

• Tobacco Use Cessation

• Bone Health

• Heart Health

• Healthy Back

• Stress Reduction

• Chronic Disease Awareness and Prevention

• Self-care; Wise Health Care Consumer

• Screening Services (Body Mass Index, blood pressure, bone density, cholesterol, glucose, posture, vision, and other…)

• Ergonomic Assessments

• Wellness Fairs

• Kids/family Events

• Others topics that employees have interest in  

The topics and type of Wellness Program planned depend on the needs and interest, overall goal and resources available.  

Program Design Choices include awareness programs such as  handouts and/or education sessions, behavior change or modification programs such as tobacco use cessation and weight loss classes, and environmental or organizational support such as no tobacco use policies or healthy selections in vending machines.  

The programs planned also depend on the demographics of your workforce.  When you have a young, healthful workforce, you may want to focus the wellness attention on keeping staff members healthful and not need to screen for illness.  

Instead you could want to focus on healthy lifestyle behavior like exercise and good nutrition to prevent the begin of illness.  Click here for additional information on strategies for keeping workers well, identifying illness early, or returning workers to work who already have a chronic illness.

It is also important to consider, and plan how you’ll evaluate the success of your wellness program.  The system needs to be established for tracking certain data and recording events depending on the program objectives and desired outcomes.  

Step 7 discusses program evaluation in more detail.   and Step 6 will launch your program!

A Wellness Program without objectives and objectives is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you will not know where you are going, how to get there, what you want to do once you have arrived, or even whether or not you have arrived!  

The trip might end up ok, or it might end up disastrously.  Yet, with a little thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a successful experience.  Clear goals and goals are needed to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!

Wellness program goals and goals are different from one company to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources.  Nevertheless, well thought out goals based on your corporation’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a successful wellness program!

Wellness Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Wellness Program. the mission statement is the overall expression of what the Wellness Committee wants to accomplish by implementing a wellness program.  

It’s important to consider how your Wellness Program fits in with the company mission statement, contributes to the overall mission and supports the company bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the company operations.  

Here are some examples of Wellness Program mission statements -  

At XYZ Company, maintaining an environment that supports worker health and safety is our underlying value.  It is the mission of the Wellness Program to assist in developing wellness services that fosters and upholds that value.

It is the mission of the XYZ Wellness Committee to foster healthier lifestyle choices to reduce health risk factors, improve overall wellness, and maintain a productive, active work force.

Wellness Program Goals

The objectives and objectives further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, management expectations and staff member interests, examples of objectives can include -  

The goal(s) of XYZ Wellness Program in year XXXX is to -   (one or more of the following examples)

• Reduce absenteeism by one day per staff member

• Lower musculoskeletal injuries by 10%

• Decrease unnecessary emergency room visits

• Decrease or contain health care costs

• Improve dietary habits of employees

• Reduce health risk factors  

Wellness Program Objectives

Specific Wellness Program goals help meet your long-term goals and vision.  Both short term and long term goals should be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and mission.  

In addition to objectives for the expected participant outcomes, process objectives should also be developed for the program process itself.  For  instance, process objectives may include how many staff members you want to participate in the programs, how many sessions on a topic will be offered, the type of wellness sessions that will be implemented, etc.

Goals need to be easily measurable within a set time frame.  Try using the SMART formula to create both your long and short-term goals and goals -

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)

• Measurable (one result that may be observed or evaluated),

• Attainable (but also challenging),

• Realistic (do you’ve the resources to achieve?), and

• Time specific (within 3 months - up to 5 years)  

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  For  instance, an objective for a weight loss program that has an overall goal of improving healthful eating and promoting a healthful weight is that -  

Participants (who) will lose an average of .5 - 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) after the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per participant (attainable and realistic).

Or -  

Participants (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier consuming change at the end of the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of an objective for coaching employees with elevated cholesterol may  be -  

To reduce the sum cholesterol (specific what) of high risk staff members with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions offered at the worksite (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic and time specific when) to lower the risk factor for heart disease (why).  

And one last example of a process objective for a smoking cessation program with an overall goal to assist participants in committing to quit for life -  

By the end of the 4-week smoking cessation program, 10% of the participants will have quit smoking.  Each participant will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process objective) and 10% of those who quit will still be smoke free after one year.

You’ve now completed Steps 1 through 4, including establishing your Wellness Committee.  It’s now time to plan your wellness activities!

Before you begin planning your Wellness Program you need to know where you are now and then decide where you want to go.  Completing a thorough needs assessment is critical to the success of your wellness program for two reasons -  

• First it ensures that your program activities will be targeted to meet your corporation’s specific needs so that outcomes could be achieved.  

• Secondly the needs assessment provides the information you’ll need to evaluate the effectiveness of your wellness program.

It’s often tempting to rush the assessment - specifically when time is limited or those with experience already have an idea of needs.  Do not give in to this temptation!  

It is critical to understand what your company needs are, what management expects, and what employees want as well as expect, before you create a program.  

Consider and gather data on -

• Demographic Information

• Health Risk Factors

• Medical Claims

• Injury Rates and Causes

• Workers’ Compensation Claims

• Short and Long Term Disability Claims

• Absenteeism

• Culture Audits

• Staff Member perceived needs and health risks

• Management expectations or desired outcomes

There are many ways to assess this information.  Although some of data collecting process may  be time eating, remember that it is notwithstanding essential to plan programs that target specific issues.  

This information will be vital to set goals and for investigating  program success.  How else can you know when outcomes have been achieved?

Options to help gather the wellness program information -

• Confidential Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s with a Business Group Summary Report click here for more information on Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s or Assessments

• Health Screenings such as cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar click here for more information on biometric testings.

• Worker Needs and Interest Surveys

• Suggestion boxes placed around the organization

• Focus Groups or hosting a luncheon meeting as a focus group

• Sending out a confidential email questionnaire

• Review records and databases including OSHA logs, first aid reports, insurance costs  

Once your needs assessment is complete, the Wellness Committee can review the results and start planning and prioritizing program options.  

Planning ought to be based on objectives and identified outcomes, Step 4 of the seven step process!

Establishing an active Wellness Committee provides opportunities for both management and staff member involvement in the program.  The Committee must be a team of workers and managers who formally meet to plan activities to promote healthier staff member lifestyles.

Typical Functions of a Wellness Committee -

• Investigating needs and interests

• Brainstorming program ideas

• Planning activities

• Developing communication plans

• Promoting programs to colleagues

• Serving as champions of the Wellness Programs

• Helping with evaluation  

Your Wellness Committee must be representative of all levels of the company.  Consider all areas of the workforce - multiple sites, shift staff members, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.  

It’s also important to consider who’ll chair or co-chair the Wellness Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support a wellness manager or occupational health expert, even on a part-time or contractual basis.  Click here for more information on the advantages of a health expert.  

Depending on your corporation size and resources, if you already have a corporation Safety Committee you may want to consider making it the Safety and Wellness Committee.  You can request volunteers or invite staff members to participate.  

The number of Wellness Committee members depends on the size of your company; nonetheless, you need enough members to get the work done and yet not too many to keep it manageable, normally a minimum of 4 members and maximum of 12 to 15 members.  

It’s important to include skeptics of wellness as well and not just those employees already practicing healthful lifestyles.  

Depending on your worksite, consider representatives from the following areas -

• Staff Member representatives from a cross section of different departments,

• Management/leadership,

• Health and safety expert(s),

• Human resources  professional(s),

• Benefits staff or someone from finance,

• Your employee assistance program (EAP) provider (if applicable), Click here for additional information on EAPs

• Medical or occupational health staff (if applicable).

Establish an effective Wellness Committee!  the Wellness Committee should meet regularly with a planned agenda and action items.  Successful Wellness Committees have a shared mission, vision and goals.  

Members need to believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated, that their work is important, benefits the organization and peers, and they are recognized for their contributions. Refer to the NC Workplace Programs section for instances of what other corporations have implemented.

As with any program, the two crucial elements for the success of your wellness program are  upper management support and employee involvement.  Executive management sets the vision and provides the resources from which action plans flow.  

Genuine support from senior personnel also lends credibility to the wellness program.  It is key that  senior level management be visible supporters and role models for your Wellness Program.

Employees need to be involved on a few levels so that they feel ownership of the wellness program.  Employees are the program stakeholders!  

All employees should have an opportunity to provide input and feedback through needs and interest surveys and program evaluation tools.  The information collected should be used to plan programs that target those needs and interests to ensure participation, buy-in, and support.

There are a few methods to identify worker needs and interests such as -

• Conducting Employee Focus Groups

• Discussing Wellness Interests During Department Meetings

• Distributing and Summarizing a Needs and Interest Survey

• Including an Opportunity to Provide Suggestions on Each Analysis Tool  

Any one or combination of a few techniques will ensure that the wellness program meets what staff members want.  Click here for a sample Needs and Interest Survey.

Step 3 provides additional information on deciding wellness program needs.  But first, establishing a Wellness Committee can help you involve management and staff members, determine need, and plan your wellness program.

Wellness Program Step 1 -  Make certain to set the Foundation -  

Build Support Among All Levels of the Organization

A key to a successful Wellness Program requires management commitment and worker involvement.

Wellness Program Step 2 -  Form a Wellness Committee

An active Wellness Committee ensures staff member involvement, provides buy-in, management support, and maintains a crew that is ready to act to integrate wellness programs.

Wellness Program Step 3 -  Gather Data to Identify Key Needs and Expectations

The next critical component is to base the Wellness Program on the needs and interests of your corporation and its workers.

Wellness Program Step 4 -  Establish Goals and Objectives

Goals and goals are the road maps to guide you where your program needs to go.   These are the foundation for planning and assessing  activities to ensure that your wellness program is going to meet your unique needs.

Wellness Program Step 5 -  Create a Detailed Action Plan

There’s no such thing as over planning!  the best of intentions can get lost, overstepped, or forgotten without adequate planning, and then it would be all for naught.

Wellness Program Step 6 -  Pick and Implement a Plan

Armed with the needs assessment information, a Wellness Committee, and objectives and objectives, it’s now time to put your plan into action!

Wellness Program Step 7 -  Monitor and Evaluate Your Wellness Program

Evaluation is a necessary step to keep a program on target, in addition to to ensure that the program is reaching its goals or achieving the desired results.

Summary

These Seven Steps outline considerations for a robust approach to establish an effective wellness program.  Can you implement components of wellness activities without following these steps?  

Definitely, but you could not have the sustainability or ability to obtain desired outcomes.  Following the Seven Steps does not have to be complicated or burdensome.  A very simple approach can achieve a successful wellness program!

Accordingly, to ensure a successful wellness program consider the key components as you plan your program or improve your current program -

• Upper-Level Management Support and Worker Involvement

• Active Wellness Committee

• Program is Based on Worker Needs and Interests

• Objectives and Objectives are Established

• Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources and Budget

• Program Implementation and Internal Marketing

• Examination of Outcomes and Program

The program design options depend on the objectives and desired outcomes of your program.  If your goal is to help staff members change behavior, reduce risk factors, or save healthcare dollars then your wellness program would be designed to accomplish those outcomes and a budget would be necessary to support that design.  

There are different wellness program design levels depending on desired outcomes and budgets.  Each level has advantages and disadvantages.  The intentions or results are quite different, are not interchangeable as for obtaining the same results, and accordingly should not be confused.  

For example, scheduling activities such as an employee wellness fair or lunchtime education sessions, or having  pamphlets available don’t typically result in behavior change, but may increase awareness on a topic.  

If the goal is behavior change then a different design is required, such as Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs and Organizational Support.  The outline below describes the wellness design levels with a brief explanation.

Awareness Programs -   at this level a company makes medical information available and accessible to employees.  This kind of program can include  handouts on a selection of topics, wellness articles in newsletters, bulletin board displays, e-mail health messages, etc.  

Also, most health fairs are designed as awareness programs with providers providing information and providing health screenings to staff members.  

Awareness programs are affordable and do not require robust employee or business time commitments.  However, these programs do not generally lead to healthier behavior change.  

Increasing awareness isn’t typically enough to generate lifestyle changes for most person, unless used to motivate staff members to register for a program being offered at the company or community on the topic.  

An example of this would be providing information on the harmful effects of tobacco use and inviting workers who smoke to register for a tobacco use cessation class.

Education Programs -   Educational programs often provide more information on a topic and can also provide time for questions and answers, but are similar to awareness programs.  An example is lunch-n-learn sessions on a health related topic.  

These cost the business a little more than awareness programs; nevertheless, they’re still low cost and do not require a excellent deal of time for planning or attending a session.  

Again, increasing awareness and providing information may not lead to the desired behavior change unless ongoing support or incentives are also planned.

Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs -   These programs are designed as 4 to 12 weekly sessions or seminars to provide wellness education, address barriers and provide opportunities to practice the desired skills.  

Behavior change programs thus require more corporation resources, cost more, also require more worker commitment, time and effort.  The results are often the desired positive lifestyle change, which if sustained can lead to potential cost savings.  

Examples are tobacco use cessation classes, weight loss and weight management meetings, or an ongoing fitness program.

Environmental and Organizational Support -   Environmental support is often considered the highest and most important level to include when designing your wellness program in order to support and maintain healthy behaviors.  

These kinds of design options include policy changes such as -

• Creating a smoke-free workplace

• Designating a walking path,

• Establishing on-site fitness centers,

• Ensuring healthful vending machine selections,

• Offering healthy food choices in the cafeteria, and/or

• Establishing flex-time policies.  

Other examples include subsidizing healthful vending machines or cafeteria choices; reimbursing health club or weight loss and weight control program memberships; or providing insurance incentives for healthful behaviors.

Ideally, the wellness program design would include some of all of these options.  The more extensive and integrated the approach, the more successful the results will be.  For  instance, a company can -

• have smoking cessation information available;
• can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of use of tobacco and how to quit;
• can start an on-site use of tobacco cessation program,
• supply self quit tobacco use kits, or
• support staff members to attend a community program; and/or
• on an environmental support level can establish a smoke-free workplace and grounds,
• offer lower insurance premiums for non-smokers, or
• provide pharmacological quit smoke aids for free.

Wellness Program -  Components for Success

There are a few key components or elements that ought to be considered to ensure the success of your Wellness Program or wellness program.  These include -  

• Executive Management Support and Worker Involvement

• Active Wellness Committee

• Program is Based on Staff Member Needs and Interests

• Objectives and Objectives are Established

• Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources and Budget

• Program Implementation and Internal Marketing

• Analysis of Outcomes and Program

Major advantages of healthful employees include -

• Lower Health Care Costs

• Decreased Injuries

• Reduced Absenteeism

• Increased Morale and Loyalty

• Higher Productivity

• Lowered Use of Healthcare Benefits

• Lowered Workers’ Compensation / Disability

• Positive Perception in Community

• Reduced Turnover

• Better recruitment for skilled employees

What’s NOT having a Wellness Program costing your company?  

Consider the health risk factors that are increasing chronic conditions for adults -

• 59 percent of adults are overweight or obese

• More than 60% of American adults do not exercise regularly

• More than 75% of adults don’t consume the minimum recommendations for fruits and vegetables

• Heart illness is the most common cause of death and the leading cause of death in smokers

• 26 percent of employees announced they were often or very often burned out or stressed by their work  

Healthcare Costs are Increasing -   Healthcare costs are at a record high of $1.7 trillion with no signs of holding steady let alone decreasing.  The typical cost of annual health care spending is over $5,000 per individuals and with dependents almost $10,000.  

Recent data shows that health care related expenses now cost North Carolina corporations thousands of dollars per employee, per year.

Most Diseases can be Avoided -   Although it sounds unbelievable, professionals indicate that avoidable illness makes up 60 percent - 70 percent of the entire burden of illness in the U.S.    

In North Carolina, it is estimated that more than 53 percent of all deaths are preventable, and that 2/3 of all preventable deaths are due to tobacco use, physical inactivity, and poor nutrition.

Stress Levels are Increasing -   as company resources become less and businesses adopt leaner work practices, the effects of absenteeism and productivity lost have a greater impact.  

In a recent national poll, 78% of American Citizens described their jobs as stressful, and the majority felt that stress levels have become worse over the last 10 years.  Furthermore, high levels of organizational stress can negatively affect a corporation by increasing injuries, absenteeism, and medical costs while decreasing productivity.  

Simple solutions like stress management education, flexible work schedules, quality social interaction, and increased participation in corporation decision-making can improve stress levels in the workplace.

What’s the Upfront Cost and Time Investment for a Wellness Program?

The cost depends on the type of Wellness Program implemented.  There are several options to promote employee health with advantages and disadvantages of each.  The program design depends on the objectives of the wellness program, the corporation resources, and the community resources available.  

Improving dietary practices, increasing physical activity levels, managing stress or addressing work life balance issues, and reducing/eliminating tobacco use, are main strategies for preventing many of the most common preventable chronic diseases.

The possibilities of how your corporation addresses these issues are endless and can range from increasing staff member awareness, which may include buying a few  pamphlets on a selection of topics, and measuring walking distances around your facility.

Other possibilities include establishing organizational support such as funding a fulltime occupational health professional or building an onsite fitness center.  

When well planned and based on your objectives, any of these programs can help you succeed.  Refer below to Wellness Program Design Options for more ideas.

A Wellness Program is an organized program to assist and support workers in establishing healthier lifestyles.  This can include increasing employee awareness on health topics, scheduling behavior change programs, and/or establishing corporation policies that support health-related goals.  

Programs and policies that promote increased exercise, use of tobacco avoidance and cessation, and healthy food selections are a few examples.  

Dimensions of Wellness

Wellness is more than physical fitness.  In addition to physical fitness, the dimensions of optimal health include

• Spiritual Wellness

• Emotional Wellness

• Social Wellness

• Intellectual Wellness

These dimensions are often depicted as a “life wheel” with examples of health components that include -

• fitness,
• nutrition,
• purpose in life,
• financial planning,
• social connections and support systems,
• stress management,
• mind-body health,
• career planning and
• continued learning.  

The key for individual health is keeping the “life wheel” in balance.  A extensive wellness program addresses most, if not all, of these dimensions.

Why Corporate Wellness?

Staff Members spend a great deal of time on the job, and the truth is that our traditional work-week is increasing.  In fact, the typical American now works about 47 hours per week.  

Plus, technologies such as modems, laptops, cellular phones, voice and email have blurred the work-life boundary.  These realities reduce the amount of time that the average individual can devote to wellness pursuits, and yet workers are expected to be at top performance when at work.

A recent study  by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses found that corporate wellness or wellness programs are successful in assisting employees make positive health changes due to several factors like convenience, environmental support, and peer or social acceptance.  

What’s the Link between Wellness and the Workplace?

Programs and policies that promote healthy behaviors can make a large difference on worker wellness AND have an impact on the corporation’s bottom line.   Studies have shown that for every dollar invested by corporations in corporate wellness/wellness programs, there were savings ranging from $1.49 to $4.91 with a median savings of $3.14*.  

In business terms, that’s more than a 3 - 1 minimum return on investment - a number that is hard to ignore, and a best practice that should warrant serious consideration from companies.  

In truth, a corporate wellness literature review posted in Wellness Practitioner Journal found -  

• 19 studies found a 28.3 percent reduction in sick time

• 16 studies demonstrated a 5.6 - 1 return on investment

• 23 showed a 26.1% reduction in health costs

• 4 found a 30% reduction in direct medical and workers’ compensation claims

There is little doubt that a extensive wellness program targeted to meet a corporation’s specific needs can save money by decreasing absenteeism, lowering health care expenditures, decreasing staff member turnover, and increasing productivity.

• United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2003

Ten Steps Toward Strategic Wellness Programs

The Wellness Program management world is evolving quickly. Each month, there are new research findings that support the premise that Wellness Programs and disease management have a long-term impact on healthcare costs.

A lot of big corporations that began Wellness Programs three to five years ago are showing savings in health, disability, and employees compensation costs. Small to mid-size corporations are watching all this and wondering where to begin with wellness.

Getting  senior management support and budget approval is one of the challenges at the beginning of a Wellness Program. This is the case because Wellness Programs can be expensive, averaging $150-300 per staff member per year in large corporations.

Most of the savings are not realized for a number of years. This long-term investing is hard for corporations on the move.

The key to success for Wellness Programs is to take a strategic approach. Here are ten steps to consider when beginning a Wellness Program.

1. Start with  executive management. Without  executive management support, a wellness strategy can fall flat. Start with the health of your executive team and discover your wellness champions at the top of the organization.

2. Analyze the problem. Look at your health care claims and analyze the trends. Which conditions are driving your medical, disability, and workers’ compensation claims and which are modifiable? What’s worked and what has not thus far? What is the long-term impact of doing nothing?

3. Hold an initial wellness meeting. Invite your key stakeholders both inside and outside the corporation. Ask your broker to facilitate the meeting and invite key health providers including health, disability, Worker Assistance Program (EAP), fitness, and occupational nursing.

Review claims and utilization data and identify key areas of concern. Look at current offerings and see how they can be tailored to the needs of the population.

4. Consider both healthy and unhealthy employees. Since 85 percent of claims are normally attributed to 15 percent of claimants, it is essential to reach those with the most costly conditions while also reaching people  who are at risk for developing avoidable illnesses in the future.

Voluntary wellness programs like lunchtime wellness seminars miss many of the individuals  who need them most. Consider programs that are population-wide or target intact workgroups. Wellness incentives help but don’t motivate everyone.

5. Be certain to set short-term objectives for the wellness programs. Be certain to set some realistic short-term objectives based on your key areas of concern. Are there any plan design changes that could’ve an immediate impact on spending? Are there some programmatic actions that could’ve immediate results?

6. Find out what employees are thinking. Hold some focus groups to determine where individuals  are with wellness. What’s working? What isn’t? How much interest do individuals  have in the Wellness Programs? What obstacles and barriers are employees experiencing when they attempt to change behavior?

7. Be sure you’ve a high-impact Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Your first wellness dollars should go into upgrading your Employee Assistance Program (EAP). A highly utilized Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide a foundation for all your future wellness activities.

A good Worker Assistance Program (EAP) is a trusted link to the hearts and minds of employees. at no additional cost, the Worker Assistance Program (EAP) can provide needed follow-up coaching and personal attention for employees who are working on modifiable health behaviors or involved in disease management programs.

Nutritionists, fitness, pregnancy, and stress management specialists are all part of a high-value Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

8. Make sure to set three to five year objectives for healthcare savings and measure them. Get help from your broker and insurance carrier help you on long-term objectives for your health, disability, and employees compensation plans.

Establish program metrics that will help you to measure ROI. Go beyond participation rates, completion rates and program satisfaction. Measure changes in readiness, changes in behavior, and changes in risk factors. Establish rigorous methods to measure healthcare savings over the long term.

9. Be certain to set objectives for organizational health. Consider the more intangible benefits of a wellness program and quantify them whenever possible. Include employee turnover rates, cost of new hires, employee morale, benefit satisfaction data, and corporation of choice issues in setting objectives. Establish ways to measure success in these areas.

10. Add specifics to your short and long-term plan. Include a program strategy, a communication strategy, and an incentive strategy that’ll fit with your corporate culture. Focus on integration of related components along a health continuum with communications that are focused, simple, and human.

Establish a budget that includes key components such as consumer education, wellness, health risk (assessment|appraisal}s, and regular biometric screens.