Corporate America is increasingly investing in staff member health promotion because it is good business. In order to meet productivity demands, organizations must rely on a healthy, productive workforce to succeed in the highly competitive global marketplace.
Over a hundred studies in both corporate and governmental settings have documented the economic benefits of employee wellness programs, including decreased absenteeism, decreased injuries and workman’s compensation costs, decreased health care costs, decreased employee turnover, in addition to increased productivity, greater employee satisfaction, and improved morale.1-10
The more recent literature reflects improvements in wellness programming along with greater return on investment. In general, the more focused and intensive the wellness program, the greater benefit realized.
To enhance their effectiveness federal government employee wellness programs could be able to incorporate some of the features described. Staff Member wellness programs shown to have positive returns on investment often include the following features -
1 Health and productivity management model
Programs characterized by this model focus attention on identification and reduction of specific risks or behaviors like tobacco use, lack of exercise, excess weight, unhealthy diet, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, stress, depression, and so on.
High-risk workforce are specifically targeted for intervention, although the most successful wellness programs also direct efforts towards healthful workforce in order to maintain their low-risk status. This model emphasizes outcomes as opposed to simply offering wellness activities for their own sake.
2 Health risk appraisal
Use of a computerized health risk appraisal instrument with individualized feedback and recommendations is almost universal in successful health promotion programs. Employees take the questionnaire annually in many cases.
The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) serves to elevate awareness, provide direction, and motivate individuals to improve specific behaviors. In some cases, the personalized report is directly linked to appropriate resources related to identified risks.
Research indicates that the use of an HRA is effective when it’s followed by some type of educational or therapeutic intervention for identified risks. It often serves as the entry point into health promotion programs.
3 Biometric analysis
A lot of health promotion programs combine the results of the health risk appraisal with measurement of each worker’s biometrics, including weight and Body Mass Index , blood pressure, cholesterol, fasting glucose, and assorted other metrics.
Combining the results of the HRA with biological measures leads to a more precise risk profile. Computerized health risk assessments often incorporate biometric data in their risk analysis.
4 Wellness Program Incentives
Staff Members are frequently given monetary or other meaningful rewards for completing an HRA, participation in a health promotion program or class, specific accomplishments such as stopping tobacco use, losing weight, or exercising, and for maintaining healthy status and/or behaviors.
In many cases the monetary incentives are associated with reductions in medical insurance premiums. Some wellness programs use disincentives in addition to incentives, like charging personnel who smoke higher rates for their medical insurance contribution.
5 High health promotion program participation rates
Successful health promotion programs use incentives to drive participation rates up. They also market their health promotion programs comprehensively, and may use contest or challenge strategies to heighten enthusiasm and encourage participation.
6 Health Promotion coaching
Employees with identified risks or desire to improve their health habits may be periodically coached via telephone by trained wellness Coaches.
Coaching helps workers set and achieve realistic lifestyle-related goals including those addressing stress, work life balance, use of tobacco, weight, exercise, and various behavior modifications.
Three or more sessions are usually offered. In some intensive health promotion programs, the coaching extends to actual disease management intervention for staff members with identified high-risk diseases.
7 Multiple formats
Programs may offer wellness content in online, paper, and seminar formats to provide stimulating variety and alternatives in order to accommodate the needs of all staff members.
In addition to on-site physical activity and healthful consuming events, on-line wellness programs, e-mail reminders and notices, printed newsletters and materials, and worksite courses and workshops are common dissemination strategies.
8 Senior level management support
Enthusiastic and frequent endorsement by senior management is vital to achieving high rates of participation. When senior executives are wellness role models themselves the effects of endorsement are enhanced.
9 Frequent contact
Successful health promotion programs have frequent contact of some sort with every employee. This may be through advertising efforts (e.g., posters, e-mail notices, reminders, or messages, etc.), bulletin boards, newsletters, staff meeting presentations, discussion in new employee orientation, supervisory sessions, etc.
The key is to enhance employee awareness of wellness opportunities and reinforce the corporate emphasis on wellness through frequent and multiple “touches”.
10 Open enrollment
To encourage high participation rates workforce must’ve easy access to the wellness programs and activities. Open and uncomplicated enrollment processes achieve this.
Many corporations automatically enroll all workforce and then allow those who don’t wish to participate to “opt-out”. This practice has been proven to improve enrollment rates in some settings.
11 Family involvement
Many health promotion programs encourage spouses and other family members to take part in the company wellness activities and to adopt a healthful lifestyle along with the designated staff member. It’s far easier for the staff member to have a healthful lifestyle if his/her family does so as well.
12 Tobacco use cessation
Because use of tobacco and other use of tobacco is the number one threat to health it is critical to offer workforce effective and convenient assistance with quitting.
Access to smoking cessation pharmaceuticals is often part of such health promotion programs. In-house health promotion programs provide the most convenient access to these services, although on-line or telephone-based health promotion programs may be available as well.
13 Physical Activity
Regular exercise is a core component of every health promotion program. Staff Members must be strongly encouraged to engage in regular exercise.
Most health promotion programs provide either periodic or continuous on-site opportunities, and some locations have on-site health clubs, swimming pools, walking trails, etc. Discounted or paid memberships to community exercise facilities is a common alternative to on-site facilities.
14 Weight management
Because obesity is a major threat to health it’s crucial that programs offer effective assistance with weight control. Comprehensive encouragement from upper management to shed excess weight is important.
Web-Based wellness programs, workplace programs, or discounted access to weight control programs in the community may all be available. Long-term follow-up is crucial for maintenance of weight loss.
15 Stress management
Worksite stress is perhaps the most common complaint among personnel and a major contributor to absenteeism, presenteeism (reduced productivity), and low morale.
Almost all successful health promotion programs offer assistance with personal and worksite stress. Some programs refer personnel to outside resources for additional serious conditions like depression and anxiety disorders, but most offer web-based or frequent on-site general stress reduction programs.
Some corporations endeavor to structure the work environment to minimize stress, both physically and operationally.
16 Medical testings/immunizations
Staff Members are actively encouraged to complete recommended medical screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, Body Mass Index (BMI), colorectal and breast cancer, and others.
Annual influenza immunizations are also encouraged. Some sites provide these services at the worksite. Incentives are often awarded for completion of these screenings/immunizations.
17 On-Site health care
Actual provision of onsite primary care medical services is a growing trend. The rapidly escalating costs of medical care insurance for staff has stimulated this trend.
Many organizations have found that it’s less expensive to provide main care services themselves than to fund those services through health insurance.
On-Site care also lowers the amount of time workers would otherwise spend away from the workplace getting such services.
References
1 Aldana, Steven G. (2001) Financial Impact of Wellness Programs – A Extensive Review of the Literature. Am J Wellness 15(5) – 296-320.
2 Chapman, Larry. (1998) the Role of Incentives in Wellness. The Art of Wellness 2(3) – 1-8.
3 Chapman, Larry. (2003) Biometric Screening in Health Promotion – is it Really as Important as We Think? the Art of Health Promotion 7(2) – 1-12.
4 Chapman, Larry. (2005) Meta-Investigation of Employee Health Promotion Economic Return Studies – 2005 Update. The Art of Wellness, July/August, 1-15.
5 Chapman, Larry. (2006) Employee Participation in Company Health Promotion and Health Promotion Programs – Just how Important are Incentives, and Which Ones work Best? North Carolina Medical Journal 67(6) – 431-432.
6 Chapman, Larry, Lesch, Nancy, and Passas Baun, Mary Beth. (2007) the Role of Wellness Coaching in Company Wellness. the Art of Wellness, July/August, 1-12.
7 Chapman, Larry. (2007) Proof Positive – an Analysis of the cost-Effectiveness of Corporate Wellness. Northwest Health Management Publishing, Seattle, WA.
8 Chapman, Larry. (2007) an In-Depth Look at the Economic Evidence for Rewarding Health Behavior Change. Workshop presentation at the World Research Group “Rewarding Healthful Behaviors for Health Plans and Corporations” Conference, Orlando, FL, January 23-24.
9 Edington, Dee. (2001) Emerging Research – A View from One Research Center. American Journal of Wellness 15(5) – 341-349.
10 Edington, Dee W. (2007) Health Management as a Serious Corporation Strategy. Presentation at the World Research Group “Rewarding Healthy Behaviors for Health Plans and Companys” Conference, Orlando, FL, January 23-24.
11 Pelletier, Barbara, Boles, Myde, and Lunch, Wendy. (2004) Changes in Health Risks and Make certain to work Productivity. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 46(7) – 746-754.
12 Pelletier, Kenneth R. (2005) A Review and Analysis of the Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness Studies of robust Health and Disease ManagementPrograms at the Workplace – Update VI 2000-2004. JOEM 47(10)1051-1058.
13 DeVol, Ross, Bedroussian, Armen, et. Al. (2007) an Unhealthful America – the Economic Burden of Chronic Disease. Report released by the Milken Institute. www .milkeninstitute.org.
14 Partnership for Prevention. (2008) Investing in Health – Proven Health Promotion Practices for Workplaces. http – //www .prevent.org/images/stories/2008/investinginhealth_finalfinal.pdf.
