Employee Health and Wellness

Employee Health Promotion Programs begin and end with individual health. Individuals, after all, are able to make decisions about maintaining and / or improving their health and wellbeing. Employee Employee Health Promotion Programs must therefore provide the tools and resources required to assist and motivate individuals to actively participate in the program.

Individual health is only one component of beginning employee Employee Health Promotion Programs. Below you’ll find some things to assist you in your efforts to develop a healthy atmosphere for you and your coworkers.

Encouraging Your Employer to Begin an Employee Health Promotion Program

This is the first step in beginning a Employee Health Promotion Program. In recent times more and more corporations are beginning to see the value of promoting and supporting the health of their employees. Partnership for Prevention, a nonprofit organization, has released a sourcebook called “Healthy Workforce 2010″ (http://www.wellnessproposals.com/pdfs/tool_kits/healthy_workforce_2010.pdf). This sourcebook is an excellent resource containing information on:
 • Benefits of Employee Health Promotion Programs
 • Suggestions on where to begin
 • Tools like surveys and assessment forms

These resources are for both corporations and employees to lead the development and assess the effectiveness of their new Employee Health Promotion Program. Offer it to your employer as a place to begin or read it yourself and present your ideas.

Taking Part in Employee Health Promotion Programs

Once you have an employee Employee Health Promotion Program established, participating fully in all aspects of the program is important. Many of us know that we need to more actively engage in Employee Health Promotion Programs to improve our health, yet have difficulty finding and taking the time to do so. These simple steps can jumpstart your participation in an employee Employee Health Promotion Program:
 • Examine the offerings that interest you and that you need for health  improvement.
 • Schedule time to go to the presentation or service.
 • Actively following through with recommendations from the program.
 • Make a decision now to improve your health. You will feel better today and tomorrow and the next day for actively moving towards wellness.

Here is a list of potential Employee Health Promotion Programs that might be available to you at work:
 • ergonomic evaluations and training classes
 • lactation rooms and classes
 • prenatal education program
 • quiet rooms for relaxation
 • stress management programs
 • onsite fitness centers
 • chair massage
 • nutritional information
 • onsite primary medical care services
 • child care facility or resources and referral service
 • smoking cessation programs parenting classes
 • elder care resource and referral service
 • cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose screening programs
 • flu vaccination
 • weight management programs
 • medical care consumerism programs
 • work/life programs
 • lifestyle coaching
 • mobile mammography

More information to follow in my next posting about Employee Employee Health Promotion Programs

Studies suggest that for every $1 invested in Employee Health Promotion Programs, a business saves $3 to $5 in health and safety costs. Companies that invest in Employee Health Promotion Programs reap the financial incentives through savings on medical care costs, disability pay, absenteeism, turnover and safety problems.

worksites have already proven to be a great place to promote wellness. After all, people spend more time at work than doing anything else. Eighty-two percent of the U.S. population is linked in some way to a worksite. Therefore, providing Employee Health Promotion Programs is a great way to reach a substantial number of people in your area.

Employee Health Promotion Programs in Small Businesses

Unlike large businesses, small businesses frequently lack the resources to provide Employee Health Promotion Programs to their employees. However, they may be the most in need of such services. Small businesses are the hardest hit by medical insurance costs and have the highest rates of substance abuse. Staff Member well-being and physical or mental illness can also be more disruptive in a small business setting. Employee Health Promotion Programs in small businesses also makes sense because small firms employ the majority of working citizens.

Regardless of the size of a business, Employee Health Promotion Programs can pay. Statistically, even if there are only 100 people in a business:

• 60 sit all day to do their work
• 50 don’t wear their safety belts regularly
• 50 feel they’re under moderate stress
• 35 are overweight by 20 percent or more
• 30 smoke
• 27 have cardiovascular disease
• 25 or more have high cholesterol (over 200 mg/dl)
• 10 are heavy drinkers
• 10 have high blood pressure
• 5 have diagnosed diabetes and another 5 have undiagnosed diabetes
• 7 use marijuana
• 1 uses cocaine

Bottom Line Employee Health Promotion Program Benefits

At least one quarter of the medical care costs incurred by working adults can be attributed to modifiable health risks (e.g., diet, exercise, tobacco use, etc.) Fortunately, there is a way to hold back the trend. Growing research links an individual’s lifestyle behaviors to their health risk.

The good news is Employee Health Promotion Programs can:

• Decrease medical care costs
• Decrease workers’ compensation claims
• Decrease employee absenteeism
• Raise worker productivity
• Improve employee morale

The bottom line is that Employee Health Promotion Programs can benefit any size business — small or large.

There are a number of reasons why a Employee Health Promotion Program is beneficial.

1. Enhanced Morale – When the organizational culture begins to change as a result the Employee Health Promotion Program, you and your employees may actually begin to see and feel a new level of energy within the employer.  Ultimately, one of the most ambitious goals of any complete Employee Health Promotion Program is to attempt to influence the attitudes and actions of the employer’s most valuable resource — its employees.

2. Decreased Turnover – As we all know, employee replacement costs can be quite high for any kind of business.  The effort and expense associated with running employment ads, reading applications, checking references, interviewing qualified candidates, hiring and training a new employee can be a serious burden on any business.  In light of the challenges that high employee turnover pose, many businesses are looking to Employee Health Promotion Programs as an additional perk that can help to prevent employees from jumping ship.

3. Increased Recruitment Potential – In the midst of a very tight labor market, businesses are forced to pull out the stops in order to recruit new talent.  In some instances, Employee Health Promotion Programs can prove to be a very valuable tool in sealing the deal.

4. Decreased Absenteeism – When an employee misses work in a business setting, the entire employer is forced to absorb his/her responsibilities.  Even in the event of the occasional absence caused by things like colds and the flu, work can back-up and tensions can build.

 Even worse is a long-term absence caused by a major health event that requires hospitalization and/or rehabilitation.  By preventing certain types of illness caused by poor lifestyle habits, Employee Health Promotion Programs can play an important role in lowering absenteeism.

5. Healthcare Cost Containment – Most businesses don’t create a Employee Health Promotion Program with cost containment in mind.  However, cost containment for certain health problems should be considered a viable goal by many businesses.

6. Enhanced Staff Member Health Status – One of the greatest advantages of a well-designed Employee Health Promotion Program is the promise of improved health.  There is a growing body of evidence that suggests well-designed Employee Health Promotion Programs can successfully impact such behaviors as smoking, high-risk alcohol use, seatbelt use and more.

It is important to measure the effectiveness of all Employee Health Promotion Programs. There are several very simple ways to measure Employee Health Promotion Programs:

How many attended the corporate health and Employee Health Promotion Program, and was there participation or a visible level of interest?

Use a short and simple pen and paper assessment that people fill out at the end of the Employee Health Promotion Program /presentation. Statements that are rated on a scale from 1 (strongly agree) to 5 (strongly disagree) will give valuable information. Ask about:
 • The value of the Employee Health Promotion Programs to the individual
 • The style of the presenter
 • The presenter’s knowledge of the topic
 • The level of knowledge gained by the employee
 • Other areas that would be of interest for future Employee Health Promotion Programs

Examples of Questions about Employee Health Promotion Programs
 • This program provided me with information and/or skills I will use.
 • The presenter was knowledgeable about the subject matter.
 • There was adequate time for questions.
 • The methods used to present the information were effective.

Open-ended questions about Employee Health Promotion Programs may include:
 • The best component of this Employee Health Promotion Program was…
 • The component that needed improvement was….
 • I would attend another Employee Health Promotion Program by this speaker…
 • Topics I would like to see included in other presentations or Wellness Programs…

This would be a process assessment that reviews how well the Employee Health Promotion Programs were started. It is also important to look at health outcomes and cost outcomes of Employee Health Promotion Programs.

More in-depth information about the cost-effectiveness of Employee Health Promotion Programs can be found by analyzing data before and after Employee Health Promotion Programs concerning medical care claims, workers’ comp claims, sick time, productivity levels, etc. Health outcomes for Employee Health Promotion Programs can be measured by looking at health claims and sick time.

It is also important to look at the impact of Employee Health Promotion Programs on family members. For example, smoking by pregnant mothers may lead to the birth of a severely impaired child. This could cost an employer or health plan hundreds of thousands of dollars, an expense that could have been avoided with well-designed Employee Health Promotion Programs.

You can also compare the cost per employee of running the Employee Health Promotion Programs to the savings per employee. One assessment of Employee Health Promotion Programs involving 20,000 to 25,000 employees at New York City-based Citibank showed a return of $6.70 for every dollar the business invested in Employee Health Promotion Programs. The findings were based on a study of health costs and absenteeism.1

An ongoing assessment of your Employee Health Promotion Programs should be performed each year and additional periodic evaluations of Employee Health Promotion Programs should be conducted on an ad hoc basis. An ad hoc assessment of your Employee Health Promotion Programs might be initiated by a variety of triggers. For example, at the end of flu season, a business might want to measure its flu shot program.

Employee retention is a challenge. Employee Health Promotion Programs can help. providing perks such as incentives to exercise, healthy food, and stress management and weight loss programs at work is a way to maintain your employees satisfied.

Attracting new staff members are also a challenge, and anything you can do to “stand out” from other employees is to your advantage. Remember, salary isn’t everything. Often, the possibility of flex hours or a discount at the local gym may be the deciding factor for a future employee. Once again, Employee Health Promotion Programs to the rescue!

How Are Employee Health Promotion Programs Administered?

Whether running small Employee Health Promotion Programs in-house or using outside corporate wellness businesses to oversee the whole thing, program promotion is vital. You may have a great speaker come in to talk about a very “hot topic,” but if no one knew about it, it was a waste of the speaker’s time and your money.

Corporate Employee Health Promotion Program setup and promotion go hand and hand. Depending on the size of your business, it may be handled by one person or an entire corporate wellness team. You may even have an employee who is interested in physical fitness and would love to organize some educational wellness presentations and activities.

Other employees may have areas of interest and would be willing to set up some educational programs. Especially for smaller corporations, once you have chosen your events and activities, it is best to set up a calendar with a schedule of events. Then publish the entire calendar as well as announcing each individual event as it comes up.

Access to Employee Health Promotion Programs

To make access easy, offer a wide range of Employee Health Promotion Programs and activities that can fit into everyone’s schedule. For example, some employees may find it difficult to get to a presentation at work or make a commitment for 8 weeks of the Weight Watchers at Work program. However, they will take advantage of a reduced rate at the gym and will borrow tapes from the health and wellness library.

If you have shifts, remember to schedule events for the after 5:00 group. Nothing will undermine Employee Health Promotion Programs more quickly than promoting great activities that are only convenient for first shift employees.

Sometimes, Employee Health Promotion Programs can take advantage of “special situations” that occur and which offer an excellent opportunity for employee education and support, at little or no expense to the employer. Not only do these situations help employees personally, but also they are an opportunity for the employer to be seen in a positive light. For example:

A company had several employees with cancer, as well as a number of employees with family members with cancer. Their HR staff had received numerous questions about what to say to a coworker with cancer, as well as hearing about how difficult it was for the caregivers to manage work and home demands. They thought that it would be a great idea to initiate a lunchtime monthly “discussion/support group” to talk about the struggles, frustrations, and fears that people were facing. This activity was included under the umbrella of Employee Health Promotion Programs that the company offered.

The group was facilitated by a rep from the Employee Assistance Program, but it was not a therapy group, nor was it promoted as such. It was informal and employees came as they could fit it into their schedules.

Did it solve all their problems? Of course not, but it did give them a place to vent, talk, and get some information and support. It was a powerful statement from the employer saying, “We care about you and we’d like to help you with this,” and the employees were very grateful. Effective Employee Health Promotion Programs clearly convey this type of message to their employees.

Another employer had an employee who was autistic and frequently exhibited some odd or unusual behaviors. He had some significant difficulties and had to be out of work for several months. As time came for him to return, coworkers became anxious about what to expect.

The employer had someone come in to talk about autism and how best to deal with a person with the disease. It was a general discussion, and there was no discussion of the employee’s personal information. However, coworkers felt much more prepared to handle his return.

An employee with epilepsy told her coworkers about her condition in case she had a seizure. The employer then had someone from an epilepsy advocacy group come in and educate employees about the illness and what to do.

You may believe taking steps like this are not the responsibility of the employer, that it is not your business. But physical and mental illnesses affect just about everyone and are natural components of Employee Health Promotion Programs.

Staff Members who are preoccupied and worried about someone having a seizure or catching HIV from a coworker are not focused and productive. When you spend time informing and supporting employees, you not only have productive employees, you also have their respect.

Employee Health Promotion Programs are also an effective way to educate employees/parents about substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, depression, mental illness, learning disabilities, and other issues that affect adults, children, and teens. Arming parents, other relatives, and concerned friends with information is a way to prevent problems in the future, for themselves and their children.

Staff Members may not be comfortable attending Employee Health Promotion Programs entitled “Substance Abuse and You” or “Dealing With Depression,” fearing they have “self-identified” just by their presence. However, when much of that same information is billed as “Teens and Substance Abuse” or “Recognizing the Signs of Depression in Teens,” there may be a full house for the presentation.

Once this occurs, the levels of awareness are raised. An employee who is concerned that he or she is actually depressed can attend and gain life-saving information. Using this type of approach in Employee Health Promotion Programs goes beyond raising awareness among parents whose children are struggling with personal problems.

Mental health topics are frequently difficult to introduce. There is still some stigma attached to being “mentally ill” or having alcohol problems. A benign way to bring information into the worksite is to use Employee Health Promotion Programs and the National Screening Day programs. These are dates that have been set aside annually to increase awareness about various problems. They include:

 Alcohol Abuse and Addiction (April)
 Anxiety Disorders (during Mental Health Month in May)
 Depression (October)
 Eating Disorders (February)

There is a wealth of information available web-based that can be made available to your employees at no cost as a component of your Employee Health Promotion Programs. All it takes implement this into Employee Health Promotion Programs is some type of notification in the form of an e-mail with an introductory statement and some links.

Local mental health clinics, medical schools, and hospitals usually provide free employee health screenings on designated days so that anyone can come in, take a test, and get information and a referral for care if appropriate. You could arrange with a local provider for a block of time for your employees to participate in the screenings, or talk to them about coming into the worksite to provide them.

What Are Employee Health Promotion Programs?

Employee Health Promotion Programs are designed to promote and support employee health and wellness through education and awareness programs primarily based at the worksite. The program is a win-win in that employees benefit from learning and staying well, and the employer has increased loyalty and less absenteeism.

As corporations become more aware of the importance of employee health on productivity, there is increased interest in encouraging and supporting healthy lifestyle choices. Employer costs for Employee Health Promotion Programs may rapidly be offset with fewer work-related injuries, improved attendance, less turnover, and increased morale.

Types of Employee Health Promotion Programs

Employee Health Promotion Programs: Lunch and Learn Wellness Presentations

The easiest Employee Health Promotion Programs are one’s where the employer arranges to have quarterly seminars during lunchtime on topics such as stress management, nutrition, and exercise. A local mental health clinic, hospital, or the Employee Assistance Program (Employee Assistance Program) may provide these. This type of corporate health and Employee Health Promotion Program is usually arranged through HR, the health department, or the safety manager. Participation is generally voluntary.

Before deciding on topics for wellness presentations, it is a good idea to do some type of employee polling to see what topics people are interested in. This may be as simple as an e-mail to all staff asking for suggestions or as formal as having an outside group come in to conduct interviews and design a complete corporate health and Employee Health Promotion Program.

Employee Health Promotion Programs: Health Risk Assessments

An employer can provide complete Health Risk Assessments for employees. Health Risk Assessments are detailed questionnaires that covers all areas of behavior (seatbelt use, smoking, alcohol use, frequency of exercise, family history of disease and illness, etc.). This is usually done in conjunction with employee health screening for things like cholesterol and blood sugar screening.

Once the Health Risk Assessments are scored, the results are shared with employees along with suggestions for changes. The employer is able to get aggregate statistics that will show trends that he or she may want to address. For example, if a lot of people have high blood pressure, the employer may consider an educational seminar, biweekly onsite blood pressure readings, and low-salt, low-fat selections in the cafeteria or snack machines as interventions to include in the corporate health and Employee Health Promotion Program.

If the Health Risk Assessments show that there is a “trend” toward not wearing seatbelts, perhaps having the State police come in and give a presentation about what occurs in an accident when you don’t have a seatbelt on would change some behavior.

Employee Health Promotion Programs: smoking Cessation

smoking cessation programs are very popular components of Employee Health Promotion Programs. Often, the local chapter of the American Cancer Society or American Lung Association will come in to run a group. Another option is for employees to attend a smoking cessation group in the community. Costs for the smoking cessation group can be offset by the employer after employees complete the program.

Employee Health Promotion Programs: Stress Management

Stress is a major area of concern for corporations. Stressed out employees get sick more frequently, make more errors, and generally do not perform up to capacity. As a result, Employee Health Promotion Programs frequently take steps to address employee stress. There are many ways to address stress within your Employee Health Promotion Programs, and the beauty of these ideas is that everyone can benefit from them.

Certainly, stress management seminars are educational and informative and should be included in any corporate health and Employee Health Promotion Program.

Employee Health Promotion Programs and Work/Life Programs

Many corporations offer a work/life program that offers assistance with things from finding day care for a child or elderly parent and information on obscure college scholarship funds to information on which PC to buy and where to find someone to walk your dog. These programs fit into Employee Health Promotion Programs because they help your employees handle many of the things that are taking up work time and increasing stress.

Employee Health Promotion Programs and Employee Assistance Programs

An Employee Assistance Programs are integral parts of effective Employee Health Promotion Programs. By helping employees address personal/mental health problems and concerns, an Employee Assistance Program can go a long way toward improving overall health and productivity. Representatives from your Employee Assistance Program can also work closely with you to design Employee Health Promotion Programs that are integrated and effective.

Time Management and Employee Health Promotion Programs

Time is one of our most precious commodities, and anything you can do as an employer to help your employees manage their time is going to be welcome. Although not traditionally thought to be a component of Employee Health Promotion Programs, providing flextime and telecommuting are two ways to decrease stress and increase productivity.

These programs take thought and planning and are not appropriate for all employees or all positions; however, in many worksites, they are underused. Either your HR manager or an outside consultant can help you design a program. If you belong to a business group or Chamber of Commerce, you may find assistance there. Also, talk to colleagues who are doing this in their businesses to see how it is working.

The Culture of Wellness

Staff Member wellness has to be a component of your company culture, not just something you throw in as an afterthought. It isn’t a Band-Aid, but rather a thoughtful piece of your business strategy. For example, if productivity is down due to smoking breaks, providing smoking cessation classes can help. But it’s also important to establish a no smoking policy.

When employees feel valued, they are more loyal and tend to work harder. They take pride in their work and talk about what a great company they work for. A healthy workforce is a productive workforce.

Even the best and most innovative corporations are experiencing the impact worker well-being on their organizations’ performance.  The bad news is that many of these corporations are unaware of the extent to which less-than-optimal employee health and well-being is impacting workforce capacity and performance.  The goods news is that there is an increasing body of research and practice than may help corporations mitigate this frequently unseen issue and develop significant opportunities for improved workforce attraction, retention and performance!  This article focuses on how employeral leaders may improve physical and financial employee wellness in the worksite.

The Problems of Chronic Disease

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60 percent of deaths in 2005 could be attributed to chronic disease (cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes).1  The largest attributing factors to the chronic diseases include smoking, physical activity, and diet.2  The costs of these diseases are staggering.  For example, if there were a 10 percent reduction in mortality from heart disease and cancer, it could save the US $10.4 trillion annually.3  Further the WHO projects that over 80 percent of the US population will be either considered overweight or obese by the year 2015.

The Problems of Financial Distress and Dissatisfaction

As hard as it may be to fathom, a 2004 study found that 67 percent of U.S. Workers are dealing with Personal Financial Issues.4 In another study, it was found that these issues may exist in all segments of any workforce, regardless of income, education, or position level.5 Couple these facts with our workforce reality:

    * The workforce is aging and demand for professionals in many industries continues to exceed the supply – and will for the foreseeable future.
    * Due to the shortages of quality personnel the stress on our current workforce is increasing.
    * With these workforce shortages, most corporations cannot continue to pay spiraling market prices for professionals.
    * Lastly, those personality attributes that make many professionals great caregivers or service-providers also tend to make them less apt to focus on matters of personal financial management.

The Return On Investment (ROI)

There are significant reasons why corporations should employ Strategies to implement Employee Health Promotion Programs for their employees:

    * Raise Productivity including reductions in medical care and workers compensation claims, absenteeism, and presenteesism;
    * Lower employer paid medical care and re-insurances premiums; and
    * Raise employee, physicians and patient satisfaction; and
    * Raise staff retention and productivity.

A recent Towers Perrin case study6 found that a ten percentage point improvement on employee engagement was linked to a 4.6 percentage point improvement on customer satisfaction and revenue growth and labor cost improvements equal to a 2.8 percent impact on controllable margin.  

What all this shows is that providing Employee Health Promotion Programs and incentives is more than just “the right thing to do.”  Rather, there is a profound business case.  As workforce capacity and engagement increase, a bottom-up cultural change takes place in your employer.  These changes drive improvements in customer satisfaction, productivity, absenteeism, and presenteesism – all of which drive improvements in profitability.

The Course of Change

As an employer, you may have a tremendous impact on the health of the community.  Here are a few suggestions on how you may engage your employees (possibly include flowchart):

 1. Define the Plan – Determine if you have the internal resource availability and knowledge to develop a formal Employee Health Promotion Program.  Many organizations, due to confidentiality legal and other reasons, pick to engage outside partners to manage these processes.
 2. Communication – Once you have developed the plan, communicate the plan to all employees – using multiple media and approaches.
 3. Lead by Example –Begin Employee Health Promotion Programs at the top (walk the walk).  Grant yourselves the opportunity to go through a health risk assessment and a financial assessment.  If you can, communicate your results and your action steps to staff.
 4. Develop incentives for Staff Participation – Here are a couple of financial incentives you may provide staff that are low cost and optimally have a return on investment (ROI):

  1. Pay employees to take a risk assessment
  2. Lower employee contributions to health plan for those with reduced risk of chronic disease and correspondingly increase employee contribution to health plan for those with increased risk of chronic disease

 5. Offer Personal Risk Assessment Counseling – Offer resources that can meet one on one with each employee to understand their health risks and opportunities
 6. Eliminate Trans-Fat from Your Dietary Offerings – If you have onsite food facilities, and haven’t been required by legislative statute, you should eliminate trans-fatty oils from the employee and customer meals
 7. Eliminate Smoking Areas for Staff Members – More and more organizations, including large cities, are now banning smoking on their facilities.
 8. Offer Proper Monitoring Programs – Probably the hardest component of the plan, the ongoing monitoring is critical.  Some organizations are large enough to own or build wellness centers – but even then, many employees feel uncomfortable in using them.  Typically the users of wellness centers are those least in need.  The good news is that there are many external and web-based tools and options that are available today.
 9. Encourage Other Local Businesses to Offer Employee Health Promotion Programs.  In some cases (e.g. hospitals), there are options where this may even generate revenue and/or deepen relationships with the communities you support.

Legal Concerns

When thinking about a Employee Health Promotion Program, one must take into account certain requirements under ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and the Public Health Service Act (PHSA). All three laws were amended by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to provide for improved portability and continuity of health coverage. HIPAA also added Code section 9802, ERISA section 702 and PHSA section 2702, each of which prohibits discrimination in health coverage based on health status.

To be a bona fide Employee Health Promotion Program, the plan must meet the following requirements:

    * An individual’s total incentive must be limited. A limit of 10 percent to 20 percent of the total cost of employee-only coverage may be appropriate, according to the DOL.
    * The program must be reasonably designed to promote good health or prevent disease.
    * The incentive must be available to all similarly situated individuals. The program must allow any individual for whom it is unreasonably difficult because of a health condition to meet the Employee Health Promotion Program standard (or for whom it is medically inadvisable to attempt to meet the Employee Health Promotion Program standard) an opportunity to meet a reasonable alternative standard.

1 2005 Preventing chronic disease:  A important investment. World Health Organization
2 2007 Working Towards Wellness:  Accelerating the prevention of chronic disease.  World Economic Forum
3 2007 The Value of Health and Longevity.  Kevin M. Murphy and Robert H. Topal, University of Chicago
4 2004 Employer/Employee Equation Research on Worker Types, Preferences and Engagement Issues – Concours Group, Age Wave and Harris Poll
5 1997 Neal E. Cutler, Ph.D
6 2003 Talent Report: New Realities in Today’s Workforce – Towers Perrin

Employee Health Promotion Programs that support employees and the setting that they work in have been shown to be a good return on investment (ROI). Employee Health Promotion Programs may be extensive and sometimes expensive. However, there are ways for small corporations to make positive changes at little or no cost.

Employee Health Promotion Program: Weight Management/Physical Fitness Activities

   1. Grant access to on- and off- worksite gyms and recreational activities before, during, and after work hours.
   2. Offer and encourage participation in after work recreation or leagues.
   3. Offer cash incentives or reduced insurance costs for participation in physical activity and/or weight management or maintenance activities.
   4. Offer shower and/or changing facilities onsite.
   5. Offer outdoor exercise areas such as fields and trails for employee use.
   6. Offer bicycle racks in safe, convenient, and accessible locations.
   7. Offer onsite fitness opportunities, such as group classes or personal training.
   8. Offer an onsite exercise facility.
   9. Set up programs that have strong social support systems and incentives, such as:
      o Buddy or team physical activity goals
      o Programs that involve employees and family
      o Programs to encourage physical activity, such as pedometer walking challenges
      o Explore discounted or subsidized memberships at local health clubs, recreation centers, or YMCAs
  10. Offer flexible work hours to allow for physical activity during the day.
  11. Support physical activity breaks during the workday, such as stretching or walking.
  12. Host walk-and-talk meetings.
  13. Map out onsite trails or nearby walking routes and destinations.
  14. Have employees map out their own biking or walking route to and from work.
  15. Post motivational signs at elevators and escalators to encourage stair usage.
  16. Offer exercise/physical fitness messages and information to employees.
  17. Offer or support recreation leagues and other physical activity events onsite or in the community.
  18. Begin employee activity clubs such as walking or bicycling clubs.
  19. Offer onsite child care facilities to facilitate physical activity.
  20. Sponsor a bike to work day and reward employees who participate.
  21. Set up a box and solicit fitness and health tips.

Employee Health Promotion Program: General Health Education Activities

   1. Have a current policy outlining the requirements and functions of a broad-based worksite Employee Health Promotion Program.
   2. Have a wellness plan in place that addresses the purpose, nature, duration, resources required, participants in, and expected results of a worksite Employee Health Promotion Program.
   3. Orient employees to the Employee Health Promotion Program and give them copies of the physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use policies.
   4. Promote and encourage employee participation in the physical activity/fitness and nutrition education/weight management program.
   5. Offer health education information to employees.
   6. Have a committee that meets at least once a month to oversee the Employee Health Promotion Program.
   7. Offer regular health education presentations on various physical activity, nutrition, and wellness-related topics. Ask voluntary health associations, medical care providers, and/or public health agencies to offer onsite education classes.
   8. Host a health fair as a kick-off event or as a celebration for completion of a wellness campaign.
   9. Designate specific areas to support employees such as diabetics and nursing mothers.
  10. Conduct preventive wellness screenings for blood pressure, body composition, blood cholesterol, and diabetes.
  11. Offer confidential health risk appraisals.
  12. Offer onsite weight management/maintenance programs for employees.
  13. Add weight management/maintenance, nutrition, and physical activity counseling as a member benefit in medical insurance contracts.

Employee Health Promotion Program: Tobacco Cessation

   1. Establish a company policy prohibiting tobacco use anywhere on the property.
   2. Offer prompts/posters to support no tobacco use policy.
   3. Policy supporting participation in smoking cessation activities during duty time (flex-time).
   4. Offer counseling through an individual, group, or telephone counseling program onsite.
   5. Offer counseling through a health plan sponsored individual, group, or telephone counseling program.
   6. Offer cessation medications through medical insurance.