Employee Health and Wellness

Employee Health and Wellness Programs: The Grand Slam

Employee Health and Wellness Programs are as close to a grand slam proposition as you’ll find, according to most researchers and Employee Health and Wellness experts.

But if you have skeptics in your organization who are questioning the time and expense of beginning an Employee Health and Wellness Initiative, you may be wary too. Aren’t staff member Health Promotion Programs subject to the adage “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”?

Employee Health and Wellness Programs Don’t Have To Be Expensive

Fortunately, staff member Health Promotion Programs don’t require a big investment. Like any other corporate project, mismanagement and “death by committee” can inflate the cost of staff member Health Promotion Programs, but it’s hard to spend too much time and money on them. After all, staff member Health Promotion Programs are mostly informational in nature. Flyers, e-mails, maps, and Employee Health Promotion Health and Wellness Fairs can only cost so much. There’s no expensive, specialized Employee Health and Wellness Initiative machinery.

Employee Health Promotion statistics on successful programs are particularly persuasive. Unlike many cost-saving measures, staff member Health Promotion Programs actually add to staff member satisfaction – but they also reduce Health Insurance premiums and staff member absenteeism.

What are some common staff member Health Promotion Programs?
Employee Health and Wellness Programs run the gamut, depending on your worksite demographic, from physical activity for health patients to nutritional initiatives that encourage workers to replace unhealthy snack foods with healthy fare like dried fruit and shelled nuts.

Following are some examples of staff member Health Promotion Programs:

ergonomic safety
cardiovascular disease education and testing
staff member safety
health risk assessments
walking wellness programs
drug testing

Employee Health and Wellness Programs – With Perks

Employee Health and Wellness Programs don’t always stir the blood of employees, even though they’re designed to do just that. How do you get employees to enroll in Employee Health and Wellness Programs – and stay enrolled?

The brochures for these programs tout the benefits to employees and businesses. Employee Health Promotion statistics show that there are tangible benefits. Employee Health and Wellness Programs actually do save lives by getting workers to take their health seriously.

However, St. Louis, Missouri-based Maritz Inc., the world’s largest incentive company, has applied their own invigorating twist to health management by providing gift rewards to employees who participate in Employee Health and Wellness Programs. The gift reward program is Maritz’s own Exclusively Yours® plan. Health management participants earn points, which can be then redeemed for merchandise, electronics, restaurant vouchers and travel, much like a frequent-flier program.

Enrollment incentives in Employee Health and Wellness Programs?

Undoubtably corporations that don’t work in the incentives industry will be tempted to cry foul about using such a rich carrot to incentivize health program enrollments. Not every company can throw that kind of money at health management resources – and not every company has the built-in cost savings as a business that specializes in providing incentive programs.

For certain rich incentives like Maritz’s will break through the glaze that appears over many employees’ eyes when they’re encouraged to do something new, different or difficult. For many employees uncomfortable with health management and physical activity, “new, different and difficult” would apply to Employee Health and Wellness Programs. So where does that leave businesses who are unwilling or unable to provide incentives for health management program enrollment?

Successful Employee Health and Wellness Programs motivate employees – before and after signup

Health management program administrators should keep the long-term view in mind when trying to get employees to take that critical first step. Even the best incentives can fail in the face of faltering organization, badly-designed Employee Health and Wellness Programs and wavering support. Make sure to run good Employee Health and Wellness surveys before you build your Employee Health and Wellness Programs so staff member input and needs are being met by your Employee Health and Wellness Programs. The goal is positive outcomes, not high enrollment numbers.

Employee Health and Wellness Programs cannot survive managerial apathy. If executive and managerial participation is widespread and heartfelt, employees will follow their leadership. The potential rewards and Employee Health and Wellness benefits are clearly worth reaping, for both your employer and your co-workers.

Employee Health and Wellness Programs in Prevention of NCD’s

The 61st annual World Health Assembly is taking place this week in Geneva, Switzerland and at this assembly; the World Health Organization (WHO) is presenting its report titled “Preventing Non-communicable Diseases (NCD) in the Workplace through Diet and Physical Activity.”

The report calls for Employee Health and Wellness Programs to be promoted and implemented worldwide.

Importance of Employee Health and Wellness Programs

The report states that NCD related deaths have surpassed transferable disease related deaths and have become the leading global killers. Examples of NCD’s are heart disease, diabetes and stroke. In 2005, 60% of worldwide projected deaths were caused by non-communicable diseases. They are predicting that this health trend will continue through at least 2030.

Unhealthy diets, excessive caloric intake, lack of physical activity and tobacco use are the major risk factors in the cause of NCD’s. Now more than ever, the understanding of the importance of health and wellness is crucial.

Employee Health and Wellness Programs are Effective Tools

The report states that Employee Health and Wellness Programs are found to be effective in improving health-related risk factors, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes. The report also states that Employee Health and Wellness Programs will improve the health of employees, improve the corporate image, improve staff member morale, reduce staff member absences and sick leave, increase staff member productivity, and reduce corporate medical care costs.

Employee Health and Wellness Programs Monitoring

Finally, the report mentions that to have a successful Employee Health and Wellness Initiative, monitoring and evaluation through health risk assessments and health outcomes are essential and should be included in the Employee Health and Wellness Initiative implementation. The evaluations ensure that the Employee Health and Wellness Initiative developed meets the proper needs of the employees. Employees should be reevaluated on an on-going basis to make sure the Employee Health and Wellness Initiative is still working, or to see if there are any adjustments that need to be made.

Employee Health and Wellness Programs Becoming Popular

Employee Health and Wellness Programs are becoming popular outside the worksite, showing the ever-increasing importance of disease prevention and health risk management. Private insurance corporations, as well as state Medicaid and Medicare offices are working on ways to improve the health of the people they insure in hopes to save money in the long run. They are finding that mini-Employee Health and Wellness Programs are definitely the way to go.

Employee Health and Wellness Programs Help with Early Intervention

According to an article that appeared in The Indianapolis Star, businesses, insurers and government agencies are turning to “early intervention to change the behavior of those struggling with common but dangerous health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, heart failure and coronary heart disease.”

The tactics that they incorporate to improve their beneficiaries’ wellness postcard reminders for different lab tests or check-ups; and possibly even phone calls from nurses to work with the patients to make sure that they are taking their medicines properly and following the lifestyle changes that were suggested by their medical care provider.

Employee Health and Wellness Programs Offer Quality Benefits

There are more benefits to a Employee Health and Wellness Initiative than just the cost savings that an employer or a state agency will see; there is the benefit to the actually patient. The patient is going to get the motivation and the incentive to get better or to manage their health and their health risks by having to answer to someone, whether that someone is a full-time wellness staff member at their company or a nurse affiliated with their insurance company.