A driving factor behind the push toward wellness spans organizations of all types, sizes and cultures -  that is, healthcare costs are spilling over the corporate belt buckle.

The annual cost of medical services in the USA is rising at seven times the rate of inflation.  And the rise in healthcare costs is one boom pundits expect our economy to sustain.1

This trend makes it increasingly challenging for corporations to maintain current levels of insurance coverage. In 2003, health care inflation forced 65% of businesses to raise employees’ share of healthcare costs.

Seventy-nine% of large firms said they will increase workers’ share of health care costs in 2004.2 But with lost benefits and increased financial burdens come lost morale and productivity.

Corporations are searching for another way. While businesses can’t control many of the supply-side elements contributing to rising healthcare costsâ.”malpractice insurance rates, the nursing shortageâ.”they can help curb demand. That’s why efforts are being redirected from illness to wellness.

The case for wellness is supported by an ever growing body of evidence demonstrating the high costs associated with controllable health risks -

o  One study reports that obesity raises healthcare costs by 36 percent and medication costs by 77 percent.

o  Michigan officials estimate physical inactivity cost the state nearly $8.9 billion in 2002, a cost estimated to be largely borne by businesss through insurance premiums and lost productivity.

o  The not-for-profit National Committee for Quality Assurance reports that the estimated typical cost for postnatal care for women who didn’t receive prenatal care was $2,341 more than for women who had.  And the indirect costs of unhealthful behavior may be just as high.

Data shows that healthier employees are more productive, spending more time at work and showing increased “presenteeism,” or productivity, while there. Furthermore, healthier employees use fewer medical services.

The five leading causes of death in the U.S. â.” heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes â.”  are directly linked to unhealthy lifestyles. Clearly, stimulating healthy habits presents an opportunity to improve employees’ well being, reduce the need for healthcare services and help control costs.

Offering staff member wellness benefits â.” large or small â.” represents an intersection between corporate social responsibility and responsibility to stakeholders. Between staff member health and corporate health. It is often the right thing to do for staff members and companys.

Research by Traveler’s Corp. shows a $3.40 return for every dollar invested in Wellness Programs. for many companies, the choice to offer employee health promotion benefits is easyâ.”one where conscience and pragmatism align.

The challenge arises in picking  the health promotion programs that’ll deliver the most impact based on trends in your employees’ health risks and medical claims costs.

From big organizations to the corner deli, business owners welcome ways to increase productivity, reduce rates of absenteeism and cut costs. Similarly, wellness programs can range from modest to elaborate.

In determining where to focus a company’s limited resources, looking at costs, benefits and best practices is a good beginning point. This section profiles six aspects of wellness and explores their benefits to workers and employers.

AAOHN’s survey stated that more than half of staff members (61 percent) want to receive wellness information from a healthcare specialist, like a consultant or an onsite occupational health nurse (OHN), compared to flyers or flyers (18 percent) or human resources (HR) staff (15 percent).

OHNs can develop, implement and evaluate components of work site wellness programs like screening programs, exercise/fitness courses, stress management, use of tobacco cessation, nutrition and weight control programs, as well as chronic illness management programs.

Plus, OHNs can help staff navigate through complicated health care plans and might even serve as a triage point between staff and their personal health care providers.

Employees might refrain from seeing their health care provider when it means time away from work, inconvenient parking, waiting time in the office and co-pays.

In situations where personnel are under treatment for chronic illnesss like heart disease, onsite nurses can routinely monitor risk factors like blood pressure or cholesterol on a regular basis.

It is often easier for an staff member to ask an on-site nurse for information about symptoms or prescription medication than it’s to schedule a follow-up visit to a personal healthcare provider.

Benefits realized by corporations include enhanced worker morale and retention, a recruitment advantage, increased productivity and reduced time away from work.

In companies with a safety department, the OHN can evaluate and address work-related health issues, including participation in workstation examinations to correct potential ergonomic problems, and proactively addressing muscle strains by developing stretching programs and involving staff members in leading stretches.

In today’s hectic world, most of us are spending more time at work, and have increasingly less time to look after our health. for a long time, businesss have understood the benefits associated with keeping employees well - increased productivity from decreased absenteeism and decreased disability claims.

For these reasons, coupled with the fact that many businesses realized double-digit healthcare costs last year, businesses ought to consider Health Promotion Programs as a way to keep employees healthy.

But just how important are these health promotion programs to employees? How often are they willing to participate in health promotion programs designed to positively impact their wellness? Who do workers trust to provide them with important information about their health?

Answers to these questions and more were recently garnered from a published study  commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Inc. (AAOHN).

The AAOHN survey questioned 500 personnel nationwide about their perceptions of Health Promotion Programs. Greater than three-quarters of all participants indicated these wellness programs are a good way to improve their overall health, and almost 60 percent consider these offerings an incentive to remain with their current company.

Worker retention and turnover impact the bottom line, so building health promotion programs into the work site culture is a valuable way to help retain talented staff and to enhancing personal health and worksite productivity.

Health Promotion wish list

Staff Members appear to have their own agenda when it comes to their health. With new pressures resulting from an unstable economy, national security threats and work/balance issues, it is not surprising that 85% of survey respondents cited stress management as a priority topic for work site wellness.

In addition to stress, other preferred topic areas include health screening programs (84 percent), exercise/physical fitness programs (84 percent), health insurance education (81 percent) and disease management (DM) seminars (80 percent).

In addition to lifestyle and personal health issues, those asked expressed concern about work-related health issues, including strains and injuries resulting from lifting or task-oriented muscle repetition, exposure to harmful substances, personal injury, vision changes due to computer work and workplace violence.

Beginning a Health Promotion Program

With such a wide range of health concerns, a key goal for corporations is finding a way to proactively address the health needs of the largest number of staff, and effectively change unhealthful behaviors, promote wellness and ward off illness and illness.

Printed materials such as pamphlets, posters, fliers or pamphlets present an easy solution. But it is imperative that you remember that different individuals  require different formats for learning.

A good rule of thumb -  provide information in a variety of learning formats such as videos, brochures, health-related quizzes, display boards, lunch and learn presentations and reimbursement or incentive programs.

This assumes you have overcome the first hurdle - getting people  to sign on to a health promotion program. While survey respondents indicated health promotion programs are important, just six out of 10 (60 percent) stated that they participated in the health promotion programs at their businesses.  The other 40% cited lack of interest and lack of time as deterrents.

This points to the need for a robust, structured wellness program using a creative approach, with an incentive for participation and effective wellness program advertising.

By investing in an organized wellness program headed by a certified health care professional such as an on-site nurse, corporations can give workers the access to the health information they want, and increase participation and generate interest at the same time.

The result - personnel become savvier health care consumers who feel more in charge of their personal health.  And healthier personnel make for a healthier bottom line.

Although these health promotion programs are set up to help individuals set, work toward and maintain healthy lifestyle options, they sometimes fail.

There are five main reasons health promotion programs are unsuccessful.  The first reason is because of lack of worker interest. It’s crucial when presenting a new health promotion program to workers that every effort is made to communicate the all encompassing benefits of the health promotion program to the corporation and to the individual.

Next, health promotion programs can fail because of lack of staff resources. When a health promotion program is introduced but there are few resources to offer with the health promotion program, it’ll be challenging for an worker to want to take advantage of it.

As part of the previous reason for failure of a wellness program, inadequate funding also can set a wellness program up for failure. With little money to promote a wellness program, it could be challenging to spread the word about the benefits of a wellness program.

An all too frequent reason that wellness programs don’t reach optimal success is because the wellness program and its coordinators fail to engage high risk personnel. If high risk personnel have the majority of the health issues in a workplace, they ought to be the most targeted individuals for a wellness program.

To see 100 percent participation is the optimal goal, but to engage those with the most severe health concerns is a huge priority.

Finally, the inability to enlist the support of upper management is a meaningful reason why health promotion programs might not be successful. Without the endorsement, support and flexibility that upper management can offer a health promotion program, it is far less likely that it’ll actually succeed.

Wellness programs succeed for just as many reasons as they fail. With engaged and aroused employees, obtaining wellness objectives is attainable and promising.

Wellness efforts can also be uniquely tailored to women and men, old and young or to special health needs. Wellness in the worksite must be a top priority regardless of gender, age or special needs.

Living healthy requires time and attention and often special wellness activities designed by a wellness committee can help reach certain health objectives.

Most health promotion programs allow for each employee to dictate the goals and activities that’ll make up their wellness goals.

Typically, the company will jump in with health promotion programs or incentives.  As if sponsoring a competition, some companys will pay personnel for reaching weight reduction objectives.

Other wellness ideas could include special benefits or compensation for reaching health goals. It can be difficult to gage what will motivate some staff, but knowing that most staff do not want to pay more for healthcare is a good begin.

A solid health promotion program is a surefire way to cut down on healthcare costs, lost vacation time, and other miscellaneous medical testing.

With a unified wellness committee taking staff opinions into account, there must be objectives set up across the board that will help focus and monitor health care objectives for all involved staff.

Some staff may pick to focus on specific health concerns while others may want to improve their overall health through diet, exercise and stress relief techniques.

When some personnel seem adamant about admitting health concerns, it may be helpful to reaffirm confidentiality with each employee.

Other workforce might find it helpful to join a group or a partner in working toward health care objectives. Studies have proven that working on any kind of goal with another individual increases the percentage of completion and success.

Employee health promotion can come in any shape, form or timeframe. It’s more crucial to have resources in place for workforce to ensure a balanced and healthful lifestyle.

It’s believed that many illnesses in America are preventable by proper health testings and small changes toward a healthier lifestyle.  The most valuable resource a corporation has is its workers.

By investing time and money into them, the business would reap the advantages of having more focused and healthier staff members.

For an worker, health promotion programs can lead you towards living a healthier lifestyle and becoming a much healthier individuals. Depending on what a corporation offers you can learn how to reduce stress, keep your sugar levels in control, and even lose weight.

The support you will receive from your colleagues will help you reachyour health goals. From consuming a healthful lunch together to forming a racquetball tournament, you will create a feeling of camaraderie between colleagues.

Social influences are a major part of a healthful life style. You will be getting encouragement from colleagues as well as stimulating others around you to live healthful.

For companys, these wellness programs proved to have a considerable return on the investment put into them.

The small amount of funds it costs to begin these wellness programs and continue with them is insurmountable compared to what they save with increased productivity and decreased costs spent on sick leave and insurance premiums.

Having company support is a good start to living a healthier lifestyle. No matter what the approach, Wellness programs can help make a positive change in your job, life and the community.

Implementing these wellness programs is just one way businesss around the United States are building a healthier and more productive workforce.

These wellness programs vary in intricacy, from only offering information to staff members on staying healthful to offering a business fitness center and nutritious meal plans.  The bottom line of wellness programs is that healthful staff members are happy staff members, and they’re what make a business run.

As an employee, wellness programs have a few wellness benefits including helping you live a healthy lifestyle. Depending on the wellness efforts your company has put into place you are able to learn how to reduce stress, keep your sugar levels in control, and even lose weight if desired.

The support coworkers will give each other will help in improving employee health. Social influences are a major part of a healthful life style. You’ll be getting encouragement from coworkers in addition to stimulating others around you to promote wellness in the workplace.

There are a few barriers to wellness programming in the workplace. Aligning cultural touch points will aid in the effort to promote company wellness. From resource commitment to rewards and recognition it is the job of the business to support a healthy lifestyle as much as possible.

Hiring wellness experts who’ve a shared wellness vision with the corporation’s senior level management is another option to promote wellness in the worksite. They can give wellness coaching and advice on how to live healthful and make healthful decisions.

Employees are a organization’s most valuable assets and it’s vital that you create opportunities for personal health management, with an emphasis on shared responsibility. A healthful workforce is vital to the growth of the American business and in the long run is fundamental for the progress of the American economy.

With the correct steps, workforce have often been very successful at changing the environment of a workplace.

When an staff member or group of staff members wishes to begin a health wellness program within the company, she must first speak with other staff members to see when there’s a mutual interest.

Very often times, many people  are thinking about starting something, but no one has taken the first step. A team could  be formed with those interested, and information could  be gathered from other staff members about their needs and interests.

When one is considering the proposal of a health promotion program to her company, not only must the requests be made clear (such as a request for a lunchtime yoga class) but the logistics must be known before presenting it to the boss. Some of the questions that must be considered include -

o  Where’ll the class be held?

o  Who’ll teach the class?

o  How’ll the instructor be paid?

Regrettably, there are corporations where businesss do not see the benefit of health wellness programs until they are presented to them in a clear manner. Workers themselves need to be proactive.

If there is stress, fatigue, and unhealthful snacking because personnel are overwhelmed and feeling easily replaceable, then the business might  be in too distant of a position to realize that the personnel are unhappy.

Rather than continue to complain and be frustrated with the current situation, staff need to be the ones to make the first step in creating a wellness program that’ll enable everybody to learn more about how to take care of themselves.

When you said yes to either or both of these questions it’s most likely because your workers are not getting what they need to work at their highest potential. A good way to change this is through the use of wellness programs.

Health promotion programs are a excellent way to lessen the stress felt by staff while working, help the physical and psychological health of all person, develop a safer, more fun work environment, and as a result increase the productivity of all staff and decrease the cost of health insurance for the company.

There are lots of ways that businesses can go about increasing corporate health promotion. Among the most popular ways is by building a health and fitness center that the workforce of the company can use before or after working.

By building an onsite health club, businesses are showing that they are concerned with the health of their employees and that they are willing to help with the physical and mental wellness of their staff members.

A health and fitness center is also promoting necessary healthful strategies like weight loss, needed daily aerobic exercise, and just in general, everybody’s want/ need to stay healthful and fit. In order for all staff members to stay safe while exercising, a business must employ staff whom are properly trained and licensed as fitness trainers.

There are also many other choices that corporations have, to go about creating staff member health promotion programs. One other choice is to hold exercise courses such as yoga, spinning, or walking, or to hold educational courses that teach about how to eat healthful, give general health education, or teach more, fun ways to exercise.

Another excellent way to improve a health promotion program is to hold support groups for smoking cessation, weight loss, or dealing with cancer. With a combination of all these different ideas and health promotion programs, businesses can create successful health promotion programs that help not only the individual workers, but also the organization as a whole.

Fitness and wellness programs are essential for a successful business because they decrease the stress felt by employees, they help the physical and psychological health of person, and they develop safer and sometimes more fun work environments.

The effect of those changes is an increase in productivity by staff members because there are less sick days and when they’re at work they’re more willing and able to do so.

In order to have a successful fitness and health promotion program the organization must create an outcome-oriented operating plan. There are eight steps to create a complete and successful operating plan for health promotion programs.

1. Come up with a vision statement which includes goals the corporation is trying to meet.  The fitness and health promotion program vision statement must also satisfy the overall organization’s vision statement.

2. Make certain to set goals that the business and the staff members are trying to accomplish through the use of a fitness and health promotion program.

3. Come up with goals that the organization and staff can use to accomplish their goals.

4. Develop a timeline which tells when the health promotion program is being implemented and when the goals and goals set should be accomplished.

5. Come up with a realistic budget which includes the cost of the incentives used to encourage workers, materials used for the health promotion program, and individuals employed to teach classes, or promote safety while exercising.

6. Advertise and market the wellness program to all workers via email, bulletin boards, newsletters, and meetings.

7. Develop an implementation plan which includes detailed information on what wellness programs will be offered, and when.

8. Come up with an examination plan which includes surveys and participant evaluations to determine whether the health promotion program is working or not.

With these eight steps businesses can create successful fitness and wellness programs that better the health of workforce while decreasing stress and increasing the overall productivity of the individuals and the business in general.