Health Wellness ProgramHealth and Wellness Programs and Wellness Program Consulting

In today’s business atmosphere, the health of employees is often related to the health of the business. Increased job satisfaction, improved morale, reduced illness and injuries, and increased productiveness are just some of the advantages of having healthy employees. Promoting health in your workplace does not have to be be complicated, expensive or time-consuming. Any business, big or small, can reward healthy eating and active living in the workplace. Here are some recommendations:

Healthier Eating

• For breakfast gatherings, rather than serving donuts, sizable muffins, cookies, tea and coffee with cream and sugar, offer healthier alternatives such as bagels, small muffins, fresh fruit, water, 100 percent fruit juice and milk with coffee and tea.
• For lunch meetings, avoid serving chips, fried foods, rich pastas, and salads loaded with dressing. Instead, offer sandwiches, bagels, whole grain low fat crackers and cheese, 100  percent fruit juice, water, salads with dressing on the side, vegetable and fruit trays.
• Fully reimburse (or partially reimburse) workers for items purchased to better their health (e.g. healthy eating cookbooks, consultation with a Registered Dietitian).
• Arrange for the cafeteria or food vendors to offer healthy meal choices.
• See that you have healthy choices like bottled water, 100% fruit juice, fruit bars, and raisins available in snack machines.
• Offer a means for individuals to share healthy recipes with each other (for example, posting recipes on the Intranet, on posters or by e-mail).

Active Living

• Plan programs and group activities to promote workers to become active, such as walking programs, contests and challenge programs, stretch breaks, group sports or participation in local or provincial programs.
• Provide on-Site health professionals (e.g. personal trainers, fitness instructors) or incorporate this service in Employee Assistance Program(EAP)s to help employees work towards physical activity goals.
• Offer a supportive environment in the workplace that makes healthy choices easy: bike racks, shower facilities, clean, safe and accessible stairways, walking or running routes in the vicinity of the workplace, and gym facilities.
• Provide|Offer|Give} flex time so that workers have more opportunities to take part in exercise program as part of their working day.
• Reimburse workers health club membership fees, fitness class registrations, and fitness equipment purchases.
• Offer corporate health club memberships to cut expenditures of individual memberships.

Keeping It Fresh!

Find a champion to:

• Design lunch ‘n learn sessions to offer information and motivation for healthy eating and active living.
• Invite demonstrators to support cooking lessons or tips for making healthy foods.
• Post a list of local restaurants that offer healthy food choices on their menus.
• Distribute information to educate staff members on portion sizes.
• Include physical exercise and nutrition information in newsletters, pay check inserts, bulletin boards or e-mails.
• Create activities that encourage healthy eating and physical activity. By way of example, begin a year-round lunch-time walking club, and special activities