Wellness Quote – Wellness Proposal

Tying wellness activities into holiday themes is a strategy widely used to develop interest and participation. Notwithstanding, be aware that offering holiday activities in the worksite can develop issues.

Your worksite might have policies and guidelines already in place about issues like appropriate decorations themes, work time, etc. Make sure to check with senior level management regarding all guidelines and policies.

Remember to include and acknowledge the holiday celebrations of the various cultures or groups represented in your workforce. It is ordinarily safer to use graphics, themes, and wording that aren’t specific to one culture, as others may feel left out.

Indeed, acknowledging diverse holidays, if done respectfully, can help familiarize your workforce with values and practices of different cultures and ethnic groups.

A few topical ideas for holiday themes include -

o  Wellness committee members distribute “healthful heart valentines” to each staff member for Valentine’s Day.

o  Thanksgiving “turkey trot”. Employees who exercise three times a week for at least one-half hour between November 1 and 15 are entered into a drawing for a free turkey (can be purchased at the local supermarket or donated).

o  Chinese New Year tai chi demonstration. Consider a follow-up worksite introductory tai chi class offering.

o  Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/etc. holiday food potluck. Members of different cultural or ethnic groups bring in a dish reflective of their holiday traditions.

Each person can say a few words about the origin and tradition behind the food. In this holiday theme, food does not have to be low fat or particularly healthful, since the purpose is enhancing cultural diversity, not counting calories.

Pre/Post Holiday Weigh In

Holiday weight gain can be a big health challenge. This wellness activity is fun, low-key, and helps workforce monitor their weight during the holiday season.

o  Participants weigh-in with a “trusted” confident before Thanksgiving.  The weigh-ins could  be conducted on the honor system, but weight ought to be recorded on a weight-tracking card. You could invite a local nurse or Weight Watchers representative to monitor weigh-ins.

o  Workers set a personal goal of maintaining their weight from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.

o  Weight cards are stored in a secure file location.

o  Provide weekly weight control hints. These must be posted next to the wellness bulletin board, sent via email, or provided in handout form.

o  Or, alternate the weekly hints with healthful recipe choices.

o  Remind staff of the necessity to continue physical activity during the busy holiday season.

o  Weigh everybody the first work day following New Year’s Day. Record the weight on the tracking card.

o  Staff Members who’ve maintained their weight or who’ve lost weight receive a prize and award certificate.

o  Workers who gained weight receive a certificate of completion and an invitation to continue participation in a related health weight wellness activity.

National health observance campaigns can lighten workload and effort. A lot of of these well-developed observances have kits and materials which may either be downloaded for free or purchased inexpensively.

Monthly health themes, week Iong events, and nationally recognized days of the year are also good ways to have fun while participating in bigger events. Health observances are tied to almost every aspect of wellness and health. Things to consider -

o  National observances present opportunities to work with other community agencies and organizations to coordinate larger events and celebrations.

o  A wellness message is more likely to stick with individuals when the information is presented at work, in local supermarkets, and on TV.

o  National Staff Member Fitness Day/Week (April) is a good place to begin.

o  A word of advice – don’t go overboard in attempting to tie a wellness program into these national observances, as there are so many. Select one to three events annually and stick with these.

Develop and promote events well ensuring that staff members will come to expect and anticipate these wellness programs each year. It’s best to do a few wellnesss well than many promotions poorly.

Many staff members enjoy team related activities. These activities generally take place on an staff member’s time away from work and participation is totally voluntary in nature.

Even though the sports team isn’t part of an employee’s regular work duties, if the team or activity is associated with the corporation, the corporation can be held liable in the event of an worker injury.

When the activity brings with it a risk of injury, it’s necessary to address the possible risk and liability issues with the correct organization department. Furthermore consult with your organization’s workers’ compensation carrier and/or legal counsel.

o  Organize summer softball or volleyball teams, a winter ski outing, fall and winter smoke free bowling teams, a spring golf tournament, summer walks, etc.

o  Provide brochures and catalogs from area Parks and Recreation departments and county park organizations so staff can take advantage of community leagues, trips and offerings.

o  Invite an official from one of the above companies to speak at a organization brown bag event, or invite an area Parks and Recreation instructor to provide a demonstration of a new class offering.

Family Friendly Activities

Periodically offer activities which may be taken home and shared with the entire family. Ideas for these include -

o  TV Free Week (usually in April) – Develop a chart for the children to use to record their TV-free participation.

o  Make available a certificate to anybody who’s TV-free for a week.

o  When possible, offer several prizes (but not video rental certificates, video games or other TV-related items) for related categories, such as less than 5 hours of Television, no video games for a week, etc.

Stress Management

A lot of simple wellness activities and practices can help employees understand the role stress plays in effecting health, safety, and productivity. It is necessary to help employees understand simple stress management strategies for reducing stress levels.

o  Stress kit check out. Have stress management tools available for worker use during a scheduled break time. Consider providing relaxation music or programs including player and headphones; mat or blanket to lie on; neck pillow; eye mask; and stress massage rollers.

o  Make available a stress management brown bag event at which employees can attempt different types stress management tools.

o  Be certain to encourage workforce to take 10-minute relaxation/exercise breaks. Post reminders.

o  Give a comfortable staff member break area.

o  Designate a “quiet room” for meditation and relaxation, if possible.

o  Be sure to work with Management to keep supervisors informed about the effects of stress in the worksite. Supervisors are often the first step in helping personnel find different ways of managing work related stressors.

o  Contact the Worker Assistance Provider (EAP) for a variety of stress management information and self-assessments.

o  Give stress management self-assessments to interested employees. Follow these up with a stress management videotape, a brown bag presentation, or a community guest speaker.

Mental Wellness

Emotions and mental health greatly affect overall health and well-being. Every wellness program should incorporate some services, programs, resources or activities to address mental health issues.

Mental health topics could be sensitive areas for personnel. Therefore, it is crucial to provide information in a selection of ways, worksite presentations being just one possibility.

For example, put domestic violence resource cards in the restrooms to provide useful information in a private establishing that doesn’t embarrass whoever. Other considerations include -

o  When planning to offer an oratory event or presentation a neutral class title will ensure potential participants won’t be put off by the name.

For example, “Parenting in 2004″, “Positive Parenting”, or “Parent University” is much more appealing than “Stress and Parenting”.

o  Be certain to allot enough time when hosting EAP/mental health workshops for a question and answer session so participants may ask specific questions.

Always remind participants that individual help is available through the employee assistance program (EAP) and also through their health benefits. Provide written contact information for your EAP, but do so discretely.

o  The Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP) is an excellent partner and resource for wellness programming in these areas.  The EAP can help find ways to address mental health, stress, coping, and other related issues.

Use of tobacco Cessation

Smoking cessation assistance is a worthwhile wellness activity. Smoking is usually a difficult habit to overcome. Corporate wellness activities to support “tobacco-free” living include -

o  Use American Lung Association resource. These include the Freedom From Use of tobacco group and/or video-tutorial. There’s also a follow-up video “A Lifetime of Freedom From Use of tobacco”.

o  Reward person that have successfully quit smoking for six months with an appropriate “kicked the habit” certificate and some type of incentive gift.

o  Provide “cold turkey” sandwiches to smokers who pledge to quit during the Great American Smokeout.

o  Start a “quitting or thinking about it” support group to assist and encourage individuals attempting to stop smoking.

Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Addictions

When a substance abuse policy is not in place in your workplace, advocate that one be developed. Request a knowledgeable Health Promotion Committee member be included in the policy development process.

If such a policy is already in place be certain Wellness Committee members are cognizant of the policy and have a thorough understanding of it. From time to time, remind staff of wellness resources and programs available.

o  Invite AA, NA, AI-Anon, and other groups to meet in a business building and/or publicize community meetings.

o  Serve non-alcoholic drinks whenever alcohol is served, and make sure food is always served along with alcoholic beverages.

o  Give easily accessible information about counseling, referral, and treatment programs available in the community. Put this information in an area where it can be viewed without embarrassment.

o  When conducting wellness programs include information about responsible alcohol use on stress/weight control, nutrition, physical fitness, smoking, and accident prevention.

o  Issues like co-dependence and the difficulty of helping a substance abuser can also be addressed. Provide this information as part of the health promotion program by providing informational materials, brown bag sessions, EAP information, etc.

o  The Worker Assistance Program provider is an excellent resource for substance abuse wellness programming and or worker assistance.

o  Other addictions, like problem gambling, food addiction, shopping, Internet addiction, etc., could be problematic and can reach the point of affecting a person’s life and work. Provide information, video review, or staff member assistance sessions addressing these topics.

o  A Health Promotion Committee member may gain personal information regarding an employee problem. Remember to keep all employee information totally confidential.

Interest in increasing exercise ranks nearly as high as weight management in worker interest and need. Ideas for increasing worker awareness and participation in physical activities follow -

o  Fitness classes in the workplace – On-Site exercise may be much more convenient for staff members. However, on-site classes require logistical planning and coordination with attention to details.

Onsite courses are ordinarily more feasible for larger businesss.  As part of the steps in planning and assessment, talk with other wellness programs offering workplace classes. Ask what their experience has been like.

Talk to potential providers in the area as well. Find out what it’d take to offer an onsite fitness class. YMCA’s, health clubs, and community recreation programs are good resources for this type of discussion.

It is also feasible to offer a “mini” introductory worksite class series. A mini series might consist of an introduction to a new physical activity area. Workers are then expected to make the transition to home or community based wellness programs.

o  Nerf Olympics –  Nerf games are fun (and entertaining) activities that encourage movement, flexibility, stress reduction, and ordinarily are a good laugh. When planning such an activity consider establishing up a “challenge” stations with various activities.

Ideas for activities include hula hoop contests, Nerf basketball free throws, Nerf football tosses, Frisbee “golf”, jump rope, etc.  The Health Promotion Team will lay out the course.

Each participant goes through the stations and gets a “gold” medal (you can buy these at party stores and toy stores inexpensively) for completing all the stations (no matter how badly they perform).

Start each participant at intervals authorizing for smooth running, but expect high difficulty stations to be backed up. This delay can add to the fun and creates a “keystone cops” scenario.

Nerf Olympics is a good activity to do with an audience, so encourage cheering peers.

o  Provide incentives to staff who engage in aerobic exercise such as walking, running and bicycling on their own time (see goal establishing wellness program, offer points toward prizes, etc.).

o  Distribute maps of walking/jogging trails located near the workplace. Mark distances in steps and miles. Be certain to encourage workforce to walk during lunch and/or break times.

Post a steps collected map on a workplace wall where workforce can log their steps or miles.

o  Be certain to encourage walkers, joggers,, and those who enjoying other forms of exercise to form workout groups to meet before work, at lunch, or after work.

o  Promote the use of stairs instead of elevators. Place bulletin boards, art contests, etc., in stairwells.

o  Sponsor “Bike-to-Work” or Walk-to-Be sure to work week.

o  Schedule five-minute desk stretching at the worksite. This can relieve repetitive motion problems as well as eye and back strain.

o  Sponsor an individual challenge activity such as “Climb a Mountain” or “Swim a Sea”. This is an honor system wellness program in which participating workforce are awarded minutes, steps, or miles credit for cardiovascular exercise (swimming, walking, running, skiing, biking, stair stepping, group exercise, etc.).

The object of this type of challenge is to accumulate the equivalent mileage it’d take to reach the top of a famous mountain, span a body of water (swim the Columbia River), or reach a distant city/county.

Attempt personalizing the challenge as much as possible to individual interests and/or area geographical matches close to the worksite.

o  Collect a selection of exercise video or DVD tapes. Employees can either check out a tape for home use, or offer a group activity video class.

o  When it isn’t possible for staff to leave the building to exercise or workout at lunch, try establishing an in-house aerobic walking track for employee use in an unused part of the workplace for lunch, break or after hours use.

An example of how this issue may  be solved is the use of stationary bicycles and other small exercise equipment provided for staff by some 911 call centers.

o  Sponsor a “Personal Best” Challenge”. Workers run, walk, bicycle, etc.  Their own personal best time. Repeat the personal best challenge each quarter to six months. Each time an staff member improves, offer recognition and an appropriate award.

Likewise, recognize those staff members who maintain their personal best in the same way. Be sure to encourage non-participating staff members to get involved.

Assist these individuals in picking  an activity that is comfortable and of interest for them, and one in which they are able to succeed and progress.

o  When you offer an introductory or other onsite exercise class or activity, make sure the instructor can relate to the audience, and the audience can relate to the instructor.

Have a Health Promotion Committee member attend a current class by the selected instructor class before the instructor conducting a class at worksite. Likewise, consider the workers who could  be potentially attending the class.

Sometimes bigger and/or older exercise instructors are often better accepted by audiences who are similarly sized and aged.

o  Sponsor a themed “virtual” trek. Calculate the mileage for the proposed “trip” ahead of time. Be sure that the distance is appropriate for the number of expected participants and time for the event (six to eight weeks) works well.

For longer events, small teams can accumulate their mileage for the trip. Establish a reporting network. Post a map to track the trip. Chart the progress with stick pins, a magic marker, or a highlighter.

Provide a brief humorous fictional narrative of the trip, posting a new one each week. Include as many participants’ names as possible. Alternate posting humorous texts with health tips along the way. Provide an incentive after the trip.

Ideas for Exercise Themes -

o  Swim the Mississippi to the Mardi gras.

o  Take a tour to all Oregon counties.

o  Take a tour of Oregon from Enterprise to Brookings.

o  Run or walk around the world (25,000 miles).

o  Tour de France (take all summer)

o  Tour de France on a stationary bicycle (take all winter)

o  Indianapolis 500

o  Climb Mount Everest (stairs or stair climbers). Target Sir Edmund Hilary’s birthday or the anniversary of the first conquest as a completion date.

o  Climb Mount Washington or Mt. Hood. Target President’s Day as a completion date.

o  Climb any significant mountain and tie it to any remotely related event.

o  Use time in exercise as a measurement for the contest rather than distance. This permits you to treat all forms of aerobic activity more equitably.

Staff Members ordinarily enjoy sharing nutritional tips and attempting new foods. Sponsor a “nutrition cook-off” and/or healthful potlucks.

o  Nutrition cook-off. Teams of workforce set a menu in advance and bring in prepared foods for an official competition. A nutritionist from the health department or local hospital or community serves as the judge.

Dishes and foods are examined based on both health considerations and taste. Following the event, a cookbook of the teams’ recipes could be developed and distributed to the entire staff.

o  Cholesterol Control or “Down Under” Club. People  with cholesterol over 200 mg.  Are invited to voluntarily participate.  The invitation needs to be extended to all personnel as the Health Promotion Team won’t have (nor should have) access to individual medical information.

Provide a variety of services to assist in lowering cardiac risks. Gordian Health Solutions offers cholesterol management health programs for workforce qualifying by cholesterol score.

If an staff member gets cholesterol numbers below 200 in six months, provide an incentive such as a prize to continue progress. Continue to supply information and reminders for continued cholesterol control.

o  Label reading contest. Designate a particular food or food category. Staff Members must find the designated products with the lowest/highest fat content in the supermarket. Give coupons or other prizes for predetermined number of winners or participants.

Or, provide samples of healthier food options based on label information. Show how these compare to less healthful options. Display results of the contest in the employee break room or at an employee brown bag event.

Other Wellness Program Nutrition Suggestions -

o  Give freshly brewed decaffeinated coffee and herbal tea.

o  Sponsor a healthy food “bake-off” once a year.

o  Give sugar and salt substitutes in the lunchroom.

o  At meetings, replace sweet rolls and donuts with bran muffins, wholewheat bagels, or fresh fruit. Consider offering other decaffeinated coffee and herbal teas plus no-sugar fruit juices.

o  Serve free popcorn in the break area.

o  Create a cookbook featuring healthy recipes contributed by staff members.

o  Fruit or veggie of the week (or month). Display an “exotic” fruit or vegetable in your lunchroom and see if colleagues know what it is. Staff Members can put their name and the name of the item on an index card.

These could be used to conduct a prize drawing at the end of the week from the cards with the correct answer.  To add fun, encourage individuals  to put down funny answers when in doubt of the real name of the item.

Read some of those names during the prize drawing, and provide a prize for the most creative name. Divide the fruit or vegetable at the drawing and let those interested taste it. Be certain it could be eaten raw.

Unusual food items like star fruit are now readily available in supermarkets work well for this activity as many individuals haven’t tried these kinds of produce.

Weight management is a major area of both staff member interest and need. Body Mass Index (BMI)  is the clinical measure that indicates whether individuals  are in a healthy weight range or are overweight or obese.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of a person’s overall height to their overall weight. Height and weight are measured during the worker biometric screening. A computer mathematical calculation provides the Body Mass Index (BMI) score.

Ideas for worksite based weight control programs include –

o  Have Weight Watchers, TOPS, or other reputable weight control groups meet in your worksite or nearby. Provide such groups before/after work or at lunch. Worker attendance is generally better when workforce can attend either wholly or partially on work time.

Break times may  be rolled into lunch break times to minimize staff member time away from work duties (with senior level management approval). Workers typically pay their own fees for class attendance and supporting materials.

o  When the wellness program offers incentives based on participation, award a completion gift when employee has attended a certain number of weight management sessions or activities.

o  Supply information regarding community weight management groups.

o  Incentives like cash, tee shirts, plaques, certificates, hours/days off, names on bulletin boards may be given to individuals who write a losing weight contract and meet their goal.

o  Launch a workplace commitment to offer alternative healthful snacks at company-sponsored meetings. Healthy snacks such as fruit, pretzels, plain popcorn, almonds, and veggies provide demonstration as to the company’s commitment to health and worker well being.

Every worksite will have staff members who’ll not take part in offered company health promotion activities. But these same staff members could  be following many healthy practices in their daily living.

A good wellness program should give these individuals  credit and recognition for their good work.

Recognition of healthful goal establishing and goal achievement is a good approach for reinforcing what people  are doing on their own outside of work, and for reaching those who do not like group activities.

Suggested steps for individual objectives and recognition include –

o  A form employees can fill out which includes the set goal(s) and a target date for completion.   

o  Information on setting realistic objectives, as individuals  often overestimate what they are able to do and by when. It’s good to remind staff members “baby steps” count!   

o  Maintain a confidential file of the submitted employee goal forms in a dated “tickler” system.   

o  Send a reminder to each worker at the time of each participant’s goal date. This reminder can be a copy of their original goal form. Ask for staff member’s feedback regarding their goal(s) –  completed the goal, need an extension, or have discontinued the goal.   

o  When the form is returned from an employee –    

1) When an staff member has completed the goal, a certificate of completion is received along with a prize or incentive item linked to the goal (if possible).

2) When the employee renegotiates the deadline or the goal, the form is re-filed for future follow-up. Continue to encourage the employee.

3) When the goal is canceled, send a note acknowledging this “good try” and encourage the employee to attempt again when the timing is right.

o  Allow those interested in this process to set objectives any time and as often as they want.   

Walking Club

Walking clubs or “trekking” can either be done in real time (by scheduling walking groups), or clubs could be set it up so people  do their walking on their own and keep a shared log at work.

After a certain number of miles or steps are logged, workers are eligible for membership into the walking “club” and receive something like a prize (a walking pin, similar to the ones that volkswalkers get, or a certificate of membership).

Ways to continue interest in walking groups include -

o  Periodic announcements about community walking events. Keep abreast of events in the community, Parks and Recreation health promotion programs, available tracks, inside walking choices, volkswalking events, etc.

o  Periodic information specific to walkers; such as what to look for when buying a pair of walking footwear.

o  Consider a workplace team to take part in a local fundraiser walk, like the March of Dimes walk.

o  A walking club may be the kind of “club” that never really meets, or it may be the kind that does provide the choice for those who are interested in group walks and events.

Health Awareness Video Programming

A lot of good health related videos and DVDs are available through loan programs either at no or low costs. Pick video programming based on worker interests and needs.

o  Schedule periodic health video viewings at lunch brown bag sessions.

o  The videos may be related to health or other related wellness topics like financial planning, caring for aging parents, or even humor as a “break” from the work routine.

o  Be sure to preview videos before showing them to insure they’re appropriate, not too long, etc.

o  Have a Health Promotion Committee Host moderate the viewing, greet individuals , and lead a brief discussion after the video. Develop one or two questions for discussion after previewing the video and use these to lead the discussion. Many health videos come with group discussion questions.

o  Try to supply a pertinent educational pamphlet for participants to take with them for more information on the topic.

o  When possible, provide popcorn or fruit as a snack.

o  Offer a prize drawing (or points when you’re doing that type of incentive wellness program) for those attending the video program and discussion.

Wellness Mentors

Every worksite typically has at least a couple of personnel that have successfully made changes in their health. Usually, other personnel will relate to one of their colleagues. Coworker support can go a long ways in stimulating healthful changes.

o  Seek volunteers from the work force who have experienced a disease resulting from an unhealthy behavior, or survived or recovered from a disease that just happens like breast cancer, and who have successfully made positive changes.

o  Connect these success story employees with employees struggling with similar health issues.

o  Both workers participating in the mentoring process are doing so on a voluntary basis. Respect the privacy of this very special relationship.

o  A Wellness Committee person could be involved from a peripheral standpoint, and be available to share other resources that could  be valuable to both workforce.