Health Wellness ProgramHealth and Wellness Programs and Wellness Program Consulting

Incentives encourage workforce to adopt positive behaviors or maintain an existing positive behavior that may potentially help the employee stay healthful and live longer. Adopting positive health behavior is fundamentally what wellness is about.

Incentives may be used to elevate participation rates, help person complete a Health Promotion Program, or help person change or adhere to healthy behaviors.

Providing incentives and rewards will send an important message to the staff members that your corporation is committed to assisting them with improving their health. It also plays a meaningful role in motivating individuals to participate.

Tips on how to choose appropriate incentives –

• Identify through an staff member survey what incentives they value.

• Identify what incentives the organization can provide in addition to what the budget will allow.

• Ensure that every participant who achieves a goal receives some recognition.

• Prevent offering incentives for the “best” or the “most.”

• Prevent using food as a reward.

• Use incentives to promote your Wellness Program, through logos and branding.

When developing a comprehensive Health Promotion Program, make sure that it consists of a variety of awareness, lifestyle change, supportive environment programs, policies and activities that target risk behaviors, and the needs and interests of the workers.

It’ll be imperative that you review and revise existing policies governing such areas as smoking sections and the staff cafeteria.

Tips on designing a Health Promotion Program –

• Create activities based on your plan objectives addressing the specific needs of your employees. Focus on those topics that are of greatest interest to your employees and the greatest needs of your company, in that order. Prevent topics with narrow appeal.

• Keep it simple. Design the Health Promotion Program so it is easy for the participants to understand and track.

• Integrate a combination of activities to include awareness, educational, and behavior elements.

• Pick activities in which every worker can participate.

Suggestions for your Health Promotion Program –

• Challenges. Activities that focus on practicing a desired behavior that continues for 4-8 weeks and focuses on specific topics (like physical activity, nutrition, or stress management).

• Learning experiences. This includes seminars, videos, and classes.

• Behavior changes (like smoking cessation). You might or might not offer interventions at the worksite. Nonetheless, you should encourage person to make lifestyle changes that they want to make even without an external incentive.

• Education on disease management. for  instance, support and education groups for diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.

• Learing new skills. for example, CPR and first aid.

• Preventive screenings like blood pressure, cholesterol, and vision.

Develop goals and objectives

Goals are general guidelines that explain what you want to achieve. Goals define strategies or steps to take to attain the identified goal.

A wellness program should have a “destination”. Use the results of your surveys and your wellness committee’s mission statement as guides. Consider these ideas –  

• Focus on making health information and learning resources readily available to workforce

• Focus on group activities so workforce can work together to support and encourage healthier lifestyles

• Develop a health promotion program that is visible to both workforce and to your clients

• Focus on written policies and guidelines

• Make sure to set objectives for your wellness program.

Review Guidelines for Writing Objectives.

Wellness Program Objectives Should be

Specific – A goal is specific when it provides a description of what will be accomplished. It’ll state exactly what the business intends to accomplish.

It should be written so that it may be easily and clearly communicated. A specific goal will make it easier for those writing goals and action plans to address the following questions –  

• Who’s to be involved?

• What is to be accomplished?

• Where’s it to be done?

• When’s it to be done?

Measurable – A goal is measurable when it’s quantifiable.  To determine when your goal is measurable, ask questions like – Exactly how much? Exactly how many? Exactly how will I know when it’s accomplished?

Attainable – You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Objectives that might have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable.

Realistic – Realistic, means “do-able.” the goal needs to be realistic for your business and where the business is at the moment.

A goal to take out all the high fat items in the vending machine might not be realistic for your business right now; a better goal would be to substitute some of the chips, candy bars and pies for pretzels, yogurt and dried fruit.

Timely – Lastly, a goal must have a timeframe –  for next week, in three months, by age 35. It must have a beginning and ending point. It should also have some intermediate points at which progress could be assessed.

Limiting the time in which a goal must be accomplished assists to focus effort toward its achievement. If you don’t set a time, the commitment is too vague. It tends not to happen because you feel you can start at any time. Without a time limit, there’s no urgency to start taking action now.

Successful health promotion programs are designed to meet the needs and interests of the employees. Ask employees what they’re interested in, and what needs they have.

Individuals  are more willing to participate and support wellness efforts if they are involved in the decision-making process. Review the sample worker survey provided below.

Staff Member Interest Survey – can be edited (http – //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/worksite_wellness/company_tools/employee_interest_survey.doc)

When developing a recent survey, keep the following hints in mind –

• Ask mainly closed form questions, especially if you’ll be sending the survey to a big number of workforce. Closed form questions provide specific choices and are easy to tabulate.

• Invite comments, suggestions and recommendations, or ask open-ended questions after the survey. Open-ended items are more challenging to summarize.

• Include a brief explanatory cover letter with the survey with the signature of the company president. Make certain to include a statement about confidentiality and anonymity.

• Ask a group of representative workers to review the survey before it is distributed. Find out if the questions are going to be understood by workers and will not be objected to.

• Include demographic information at the beginning, or end of the survey (gender, age, shift, site, department, etc.).

• Conduct a random drawing for a valued incentive item for all those who returned the survey. This could increase the response rate.

One rule to consider concerning surveys is if you have fewer than 500 personnel, everyone should receive one.  The advantage of everyone receiving a recent survey could be significant. If you have over 500 personnel, a sample of the work population from each department will suffice.

The higher the response, the more exact and reliable the results. A minimum response of 40% to 50% is considered valuable.

A vital first step in organizing your company’s wellness program is the formation of a wellness committee.  The focus of the wellness committee is to plan, promote, and implement the wellness program.

The committee establishes continuity, motivation, and wide ownership of the health promotion program as well as provides an excellent car for communication.

So who must be on the committee? Consider appointing the following people /departments to your committee –

• executive management within your business

• Union representatives

• Human resources  department

• Staff Member assistance program

• Information technology

• Communications

• Health and safety department

• Employees interested in wellness

Building a successful health promotion program requires staff time in addition to money. Some larger businesses may spend 20 hours per week for three to six months preparing all the steps before launching a health promotion program.

Anywhere from 4 to 10 individuals  meeting monthly is equivalent to a wellness committee. A mission statement for the committee must be developed by the second meeting. This way, everyone knows what the committee is working toward.

Once a wellness program has been established, the committee’s size and meeting schedule may change. Still, no fewer than 4 members should meet at least quarterly so the group – and the wellness program – does not fade away.

Support from senior level management is essential to building a successful health promotion program! Visible senior level management support is one of the most critical factors in the success of a worksite Health Promotion Program.

Senior level management executives are responsible for making sure that the organization meets its goals. They can provide additional assistance by helping you to link your Wellness Program goals to organization outcomes, thereby positioning Wellness Program as a fundamental part of the organization.

It’s important to create support and excitement for the health promotion program from all levels of the organization including senior level management, mid-level management, and grass-root personnel.

The challenge for any Health Promotion Program coordinator is convincing upper management about the potential value of Health Promotion Program to the company and conceptualizing how wellness programs can impact the company in a meaningful manner.

The American Journal of Health Promotion is a excellent resource to assist you with obtaining convincing information on the advantages of a Health Promotion Program.

Wellness Program support from upper management can come in many different ways –

• Involvement in the planning process

• Distribution of funding for the wellness program

• Support for time given to the wellness program

• Participation in wellness events

• Leadership by management, like the distribution of a letter of support for the health promotion program.

• Download a sample letter requesting upper management support. (http – //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/workplace_wellness/company_tools/sr_mgt_support.doc)

• Flexibility of staff member schedules to accommodate wellness activities

The first step in developing your wellness/Wellness Program is to understand your corporation and how Wellness Program will fit into the current structure.

By researching your company’s history with similar wellness programs and eliciting feedback from coworkers, you are able to find the best solution for your company.

Wellness Program –  Research Questions

• Find out when Health Promotion Program has been done in the past. When so, what worked and what did not?

• Was it widely accepted?

• Was wellness programming successful? Why or why not?

• What does your organization hope to gain from implementing a Health Promotion Program?

Answers to these questions will help you start the process of creating a culture of wellness within your organization. It is imperative that you assess the environment before starting a wellness program.

The costs of health care have been rising more than 10% yearly for several years. A substantial amount of the money spent in the health care system treats costly diseases and diseases.

• Approximately 95 percent of the $1.4 trillion that we spend as a nation on health goes to direct medical services, while about 5 percent is allocated to preventing illness and promoting health.

• Potentially, 50 percent to 70 percent of all diseases are preventable as they’re associated with modifiable health risks.

• In an effort to optimize worker health, reduce avoidable health care utilization and enhance work performance, and in turn lower health care costs and improve worker satisfaction and retention, many organizations are developing, or are interested in developing, Wellness Programs for employees.

The advantages of company wellness are well documented. More than 120 scientific research studies repeatedly show themes like improvements in health outcomes coupled with high ROI. Some major findings include the following –

• Savings of $3.48 in decreased healthcare costs per dollar invested.

• Savings of $5.82 in decrease absenteeism costs per dollar invested.

• Return On Investments of at least $3 to $8 per dollar invested within five years of wellness program implementation.

• Lifestyle behavior modification programs –  $3 to $6 Return On Investment (ROI) within 2 to 5 years.

• Self care, decision support health promotion programs –  $2 to $3 ROI within a year.

• Disease management programs –  $7 to $10 ROI within a year.

By offering health promotion programs, employers are not only providing an additional service for staff, but they are also gaining financially. Further, the impact of a health promotion program goes beyond reduced health care cost and Return On Investment (ROI).

A health promotion program can affect productivity, absenteeism, morale, recruitment success, turnover, and medical care costs.

* Source –  Rees, C., and Finch, R. (2004). Health Improvement –  A robust guide to designing, starting and reviewing wellness programs. National Business Group on Health, 1 (1), 1-7.

According to the American Journal of Wellness, “Wellness is the science and art of helping people  change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health.

Optimal health is defined as a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual health. Lifestyle change can be facilitated through a combination of efforts to enhance awareness, change behavior, and develop environments that support good health practices.

Of the three, supportive environments will probably have the greatest impact in producing lasting change.”

Wellness Program –  Action Steps

The process of building a Health Promotion Program involves –

• Identifying the current health status of your workers

• Determiningthe appropriate health promotion programs and interventions to offer

• Promoting and implementing the wellness programs

• Building in motivational incentives

• Evaluating the impact

• Revising health promotion programs based on examination outcomes

It could even include developing policies and procedures that support staff member participation in wellness activities at your workplace (such as flextime).

Steps to Beginning a Health Promotion Program

• Conduct an organizational assessment

• Obtain upper management support

• Launch a wellness committee

• Obtain staff member input

• Develop objectives and objectives

• Design and implement wellness program activities

• Pick incentives

• Measure outcomes

Among the ways the government plans to improve the nation’s health is through extensive Wellness Programs.

As reported by the USA Department of Health and Human Services, these health promotion programs may help employees live healthier lifestyles by creating supportive work environments and offering awareness, education and behavior change programs.

Truly, one of the goals of Healthy People  2010, a set of health goals for the nation to achieve by the year 2010, is to elevate the proportion of employees that take part in a extensive Wellness Program at their workplace to 75 percent.

5 Ways to Assess and Improve Your Employees’ Health

Emotional health is a state of wellness that comes from understanding and acknowledging our emotions and finding appropriate ways to express them.

As personnel, we often bring emotional problems from our childhood or current family life into the worksite because we haven’t dealt with them effectively outside of work.

This can seriously damage workplace relationships and lead to poor performance and negative feelings all around.

A lot of tools and techniques exist for helping us improve our emotional health. Some of the most common are given below, with real-life case histories illustrating their use.

When an unpleasant mood or feeling persists over a length of time, do not hesitate to seek out a certified expert. Health promotion programs generally have expert support already in place as part of their services.

1. Wellness Coaching –

Among the hallmarks of emotional health is the willingness to ask for help when we need it.

Confidential professional help, the coaching and counseling provided by worker assistance or health promotion programs, can provide an external source of strength and insight for “working out” emotionally-based problems instead of “working them in” to your job.

2. Self-help Groups –

Self-help groups are designed to aid people  in emotional situations in which they feel alone.  The purpose of these groups is twofold –  to allow people  to safely feel and express their emotions, and to help break their isolation at work and/or in society at big and reintegrate them into society with the support of a colleague group.

The classic self-help group is Alcoholics Anonymous, but thanks to technology, it is possible to connect with others that have common health challenges, no matter how unique the situation.

People  are taking advantage of tele-conference groups and social web sites, like sparkpeople .com and revolutionhealth.com. Health promotion programs often have such groups available through online or telephone support. Progressive corporate wellness provider

Exan Wellness, for instance, offers teleconference cell groups and moderated wellness forums for interacting with others in a supportive, confidential and unknown environment.

People  with shared challenges get together and discuss the emotional challenges they’re facing at work or in other areas of their lives and work through change together.

3. Journaling –  Journaling is often recommended by counsellors as a way to help identify and process emotions. People  record their emotions in writing as they experience them, in no matter what form they wish.

By helping the writer gain greater emotional clarity, journaling can help in making more emotionally informed decisions. In much the same way, letter writing empowers people  to identify and process the emotions they feel about others.

The letter doesn’t have to be sent or its contents shared –  it simply provides a place for the expression of feelings.

An 18-year-old “army brat,” Brent has always done well at school, academically and athletically. But in his last year of high school, something seems to have happened to him. He’s lost all interest in school, becoming moody and withdrawn.

Brent describes to his guidance counselor all the times he’d to move when he was growing up. Each move wrenched him from his friends and forced him to play the role of the “new kid on the block.”

The counselor suggests that Brent write letters to the friends he’s missed over the years telling them how he felt. Finally, he’s a chance to say a proper goodbye.

4. Assess Your Emotional Health – Businesses that seek to boost employees’ interpersonal skills, or emotional intelligence in the worksite are more successful, according to ground-breaking journalist Daniel Goleman.

And emotional intelligence is the buzzword in worksites these days. Some wellness programs have information about emotional intelligence, or emotional health assessments. Seek out more information about emotional intelligence for better company wellness.

5. Friendships/Support Systems –  Friendships allow individuals  to feel supported in their emotional journeys.  At the same time, they give individuals  an opportunity to create their empathetic skills.

These skills are also important for workplace health. When we are empathic with fellow employees, we help them resolve negative or unhealthy emotions. New friendships are made through hobbies, classes, clubs, or even through internet based groups.

Many people  are finding emotional satisfaction by connecting or re-connecting with friends through Facebook and other social websites.

Sometimes workplace stress that is not dealt with in a healthy manner may be brought home. A 36-year-old mother of three, Sarah, wants to be a good wife, a good mother, and a success at her job.

One day, drained after a long day at work, she shouted at her rambunctious kids and threatened to hit her youngest son. Her behavior horrified her.  To make matters worse, she believes she’s a failure at her job in addition to at motherhood. She watches with jealousy as younger peers advance much more rapidly up the corporate ladder despite having less experience than she has.

On the advice of a counselor, she decides to take time out for herself and take a course for amateur painters. It doesn’t take long before she strikes up a friendship with a single mom in the class.

She once led a life very similar to Sarah’s before managing to achieve a better balance between work and family. Her new friend becomes a much-needed sounding board for Sarah and offers her perspectives on her life that she had not considered before.