Health Wellness ProgramHealth and Wellness Programs and Wellness Program Consulting

The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports defines wellness as “a multidimensional state of being describing the existence of positive health in an individual as exemplified by quality of life and a sense of well-being.” Wellness looks beyond the current guide of treating disease and focuses on preventive actions and healthier lifestyles. Employee Wellness Programs, also commonly referred to as Employee Wellness Programs, serve as a complement to existing insurance-based health benefit programs and can take many forms and address a myriad different potential health conditions. They are a powerful strategy to promote positive lifestyle changes that can result in significant cost savings for businesses.

Examples of potential components of a Workplace Wellness Program cover:

Health Risk Assessments / Employee Health Screenings – Health Risk Assessments (aka Health Risk Appraisals), evaluate the most prevalent lifestyle-related risks of an individual. HRAs frequently cover screenings for Blood Pressure (BP), cholesterol, glucose levels and other health indicators. These analyses supply significant benchmarking measures that ideally will allow staff members to prevent or lower their risk of diseases. Finding Wealth Through Wellness, As noted by Kathryn Krivy, director of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Wellness Institute in Chicago, “Medically based Health Risk Assessments are a necessity because in order to affect transformation in your organization, you need to know what the issues are, and you just do not know until you get the data.”

Physical Activity and Weight Management – One of the most popular Employee Wellness Programs is for organizations to supply access to a fitness center, frequently on-Site. Other potential measures include offering healthier vending machines and cafeteria options, weight management support groups and fitness challenge programs. Some organizations, like hospital group Baptist Health South Florida, will even pay for workers to attend weight-loss seminars such as Weight Watchers.

Awareness and Education Programs – Many  companies hold events discussing the benefits of nutrition, safety or physical fitness, among other topics. Other options are to host a wellness fair or lead a disease-awareness campaign.

Behavior Modification – This covers issues like smoking, wearing seat belts, and alcohol use. While many companies will supply assistance for staff members looking to change behavior, some companies, like healthcare benefits administrator Weyco, Inc., mandate changes, such as stopping smoking, as a condition of employment.

Alternative Treatments – Other Worksite Health Promotion Programs can comprise of absorbing some or all of the costs for massages, stress-reduction activities like yoga or even herbal medicines.