The Wellness Council

When developing a comprehensive Wellness Program, be sure that it consists of a selection of awareness, lifestyle change, supportive environment programs, policies and activities that target risk behaviors, and the needs and interests of the employees.

It’ll be important to review and revise existing policies governing such areas as smoking sections and the staff cafeteria.

Tips on designing a Wellness Program –

• Create activities based on your plan objectives addressing the specific needs of your workers. Focus on those topics that are of greatest interest to your workers and the greatest needs of your business, in that order. Avoid topics with narrow appeal.

• Keep it simple. Design the Wellness Program so it’s easy for the participants to understand and track.

• Integrate a combination of activities to include awareness, educational, and behavior elements.

• Pick activities in which every staff member can participate.

Suggestions for your Wellness Program –

• Challenges. Activities that focus on practicing a desired behavior that continues for 4-8 weeks and focuses on specific topics (such as physical activity, nutrition, or stress management).

• Learning experiences. This includes seminars, videos, and classes.

• Behavior changes (like smoking cessation). You could or may not offer interventions at the workplace. Nonetheless, you ought to encourage individuals to make lifestyle changes that they want to make even without an external incentive.

• Education on illness management. for  instance, support and education groups for diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.

• Learing new skills. for example, CPR and first aid.

• Preventive screenings like blood pressure, cholesterol, and vision.

Source –  Adapted from the Building Healthy Texans Corporate Wellness Toolkit.

Develop objectives and objectives

Goals are general guidelines that explain what you want to achieve. Goals define strategies or steps to take to attain the identified goal.

A wellness program should have a “destination”. Use the results of your surveys and your wellness committee’s mission statement as guides. Consider these ideas –  

• Focus on making health information and learning resources readily available to staff members

• Focus on group activities so workers can work together to support and encourage healthier lifestyles

• Create a wellness program that is visible to both workers and to your clients

• Focus on written policies and guidelines

• Make certain to set goals for your wellness program.

Review Guidelines for Writing Objectives.

Wellness Program Goals Should be

Specific – A goal is specific when it provides a description of what’ll be accomplished. It will state exactly what the organization intends to accomplish.

It ought to be written so that it can be easily and obviously communicated. A specific goal will make it easier for those writing objectives and action plans to address the following questions –  

• Who’s to be involved?

• What is to be accomplished?

• Where’s it to be done?

• When’s it to be done?

Measurable – A goal is measurable when it’s quantifiable. to determine when your goal is measurable, ask questions like –  How much? How many? How will I know when it’s accomplished?

Attainable – You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that authorizes you to carry out those steps. Goals that might have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable.

Realistic – Realistic, means “do-able.” the goal needs to be realistic for your organization and where the organization is at the moment.

A goal to take out all the high fat items in the vending machine might not be realistic for your business right now; a better goal would be to substitute some of the chips, candy bars and pies for pretzels, yogurt and dried fruit.

Timely – In conclusion, a goal must have a timeframe –  for next week, in three months, by age 35. It must have a starting and ending point. It should also have some intermediate points at which progress can be evaluated.

Limiting the time in which a goal ought to be accomplished helps to focus effort toward its achievement. When you don’t set a time, the commitment is too vague. It tends not to happen because you feel you can start at any time. Without a time limit, there’s no urgency to start taking action now.

Successful wellness programs are designed to meet the needs and interests of the workers. Ask workers what they are interested in, and what needs they have.

Individuals  are more willing to participate and support wellness efforts if they are involved in the decision-making process. Review the sample staff member survey provided below.

Worker Interest Survey – can be edited (http – //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/worksite_wellness/business_tools/employee_interest_survey.doc)

When developing a recent survey, keep the following hints in mind –

• Ask mostly closed form questions, particularly if you will be sending the survey to a big number of staff members. Closed form questions provide specific choices and are easy to tabulate.

• Invite comments, suggestions and recommendations, or ask open-ended questions after the survey. Open-ended items are more challenging to summarize.

• Include a brief explanatory cover letter with the survey with the signature of the business president. Make sure to include a statement about confidentiality and anonymity.

• Ask a group of representative workers to review the survey before it is distributed. Find out when the questions will be understood by workers and will not be objected to.

• Include demographic information at the starting, or end of the survey (gender, age, shift, site, department, etc.).

• Conduct a random drawing for a valued incentive item for all those who returned the survey. This could increase the response rate.

One rule to consider concerning surveys is when you’ve fewer than 500 employees, everyone ought to receive one. the benefit of everyone receiving a recent survey can be significant. When you’ve over 500 employees, a sample of the work population from each department will suffice.

The higher the response, the more valid and reliable the results. A minimum response of 40 percent to 50 percent is considered valuable.

A crucial first step in organizing your corporation’s wellness program is the formation of a wellness committee. the focus of the wellness committee is to plan, promote, and implement the program.

The committee establishes continuity, motivation, and broad ownership of the program in addition to provides an excellent car for communication.

So who ought to be on the committee? Consider appointing the following individuals /departments to your committee –

• Top management within your corporation

• Union representatives

• Human resources (HR)  department

• Staff Member assistance program

• Information technology

• Communications

• Health and safety department

• Staff Members interested in wellness

Building a successful wellness program requires staff time in addition to money. Some larger organizations may spend 20 hours per week for three to six months preparing all the steps prior to launching a wellness program.

Anywhere from 4 to 10 people  meeting monthly is equivalent to a wellness committee. A mission statement for the committee should be developed by the second meeting. This way, everybody knows what the committee is working toward.

Download sample minutes from a local worksite. (WORD DOC –  http – //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/worksite_wellness/corporation_tools/walking_works_minutes.doc)

Once a wellness program has been established, the committee’s size and meeting schedule may change. Still, no fewer than 4 members should meet at least quarterly so the group – and the wellness program – does not fade away.

Support from management is essential to building a successful wellness program! Visible  executive management support is one of the most critical factors in the success of a worksite Wellness Program.

Executive management executives are responsible for making sure that the organization meets its goals. They can provide additional assistance by helping you to link your Wellness Program goals to corporation outcomes, thereby positioning Wellness Program as a fundamental part of the organization.

It’s important to develop support and excitement for the program from all levels of the company including  upper management, mid-level management, and grass-root employees.

The challenge for any Wellness Program coordinator is convincing  upper management about the potential value of Wellness Program to the organization and conceptualizing how Wellness Program programs can impact the organization in a meaningful manner.

The American Journal of Wellness is a great resource to assist you with obtaining convincing information on the benefits of a Wellness Program.

Wellness Program support from management can come in many different ways –

• Involvement in the planning process

• Distribution of funding for the wellness program

• Support for time given to the wellness program

• Participation in wellness events

• Leadership by management, like the distribution of a letter of support for the program.

• Download a sample letter requesting  senior management support. (http – //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/worksite_wellness/company_tools/sr_mgt_support.doc)

• Flexibility of staff member schedules to accommodate wellness activities

The first step in developing your wellness/Wellness Program is to understand your organization and how Wellness Program will fit into the current structure.

By researching your corporation’s history with similar programs and eliciting feedback from coworkers, you can find the best solution for your organization.

Wellness Program –  Research Questions

• Find out when Wellness Program has been done in the past. When so, what worked and what did not?

• Was it widely accepted?

• Was programming successful? Why or why not?

• What does your business hope to gain from starting a Wellness Program?

Answers to these questions will help you begin the process of creating a culture of wellness within your organization. It is imperative that you assess the environment before beginning a program.

Wellness Program –  Staff Member Feedback

In addition, you can begin the process of understanding your organization by evaluating  the survey below –

WORD DOC –  http – //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/worksite_wellness/company_tools/work_climate_survey.doc

The costs of healthcare have been rising more than 10 percent each year for a few years. A substantial amount of the money spent in the healthcare system treats costly diseases and diseases.

• Approximately 95 percent of the $1.4 trillion that we spend as a nation on health goes to direct medical services, while about 5 percent is allocated to preventing illness and promoting health.

• Potentially, 50 percent to 70 percent of all diseases are avoidable as they are associated with modifiable health risks.

• In an effort to optimize worker health, reduce avoidable healthcare utilization and enhance work performance, and in turn lower healthcare costs and improve worker satisfaction and retention, many companies are developing, or are interested in developing, Wellness Programs for workers.

The advantages of corporate wellness are well documented. More than 120 research repeatedly show themes like improvements in health outcomes coupled with high returns on investment (ROI). Some major findings include the following –

• Savings of $3.48 in decreased health care costs per dollar invested.

• Savings of $5.82 in decrease absenteeism costs per dollar invested.

• ROIs of at least $3 to $8 per dollar invested within five years of program implementation.

• Lifestyle behavior change programs –  $3 to $6 ROI within 2 to 5 years.

• Self care, decision support programs –  $2 to $3 ROI within a year.

• Illness management programs –  $7 to $10 ROI within a year.

By offering health improvement programs, employers are not only providing an additional service for workers, but they’re also gaining financially. Moreover, the impact of a health improvement program goes beyond reduced health care cost and ROI.

A health improvement program can affect productivity, absenteeism, morale, recruitment success, turnover, and medical care costs.

* Source –  Rees, C., and Finch, R. (2004). Health Improvement –  A robust guide to designing, beginning and evaluating  worksite programs. National Business Group on Health, 1 (1), 1-7.

According to the American Journal of Wellness, “Wellness is the science and art of assisting individuals  change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health.

Optimal health is defined as a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual health. Lifestyle change may be facilitated through a combination of efforts to enhance awareness, change behavior, and create environments that support good health practices.

Of the three, supportive environments will probably have the greatest impact in producing lasting change.”

Wellness Program –  Action Steps

The process of building a Wellness Program involves –

• Identifying the current health status of your employees

• Decidingthe appropriate programs and interventions to offer

• Promoting and starting the programs

• Building in motivational incentives

• Measuring the impact

• Revising programs based on investigation outcomes

It may even include developing policies and procedures that support employee participation in wellness activities at your worksite (such as flextime).

Steps to Beginning a Wellness Program

• Conduct an organizational assessment

• Obtain management support

• Establish a wellness committee

• Obtain staff member input

• Develop objectives and objectives

• Design and implement program activities

• Choose incentives

• Evaluate outcomes

Among the ways the government plans to improve the nation’s health is through comprehensive Wellness Programs.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, these programs might help employees live healthier lifestyles by creating supportive work environments and offering awareness, education and behavior change programs.

Truly, one of the objectives of Healthy Individuals  2010, a set of health objectives for the nation to achieve by the year 2010, is to elevate the proportion of employees that participate in a extensive Wellness Program at their worksite to 75%.

5 Ways to Assess and Improve Your Employees’ Health

Emotional health is a state of wellness that comes from understanding and acknowledging our emotions and locating appropriate ways to express them.

As workers, we often bring emotional problems from our childhood or current family life into the workplace because we haven’t dealt with them effectively outside of work.

This can seriously damage workplace relationships and lead to poor performance and negative feelings all around.

Many tools and techniques exist for helping us improve our emotional health. Some of the most common are given below, with real-life case histories illustrating their use.

If an unpleasant mood or feeling persists over a length of time, don’t hesitate to seek out a qualified professional. Wellness programs generally have professional support already in place as part of their services.

1. Coaching/Counseling –

Among the hallmarks of emotional health is the willingness to ask for help when we need it.

Confidential specialist help, the coaching and counseling provided by worker assistance or wellness programs, can provide an external source of strength and insight for “working out” emotionally-based problems in lieu of “working them in” to your job.

2. Self-help Groups –

Self-help groups are designed to aid individuals  in emotional situations in which they feel alone. the purpose of these groups is twofold –  to allow individuals  to safely feel and express their emotions, and to help break their isolation at work and/or in society at big and reintegrate them into society with the support of a coworker group.

The classic self-help group is Alcoholics Anonymous, but thanks to technology, it’s possible to connect with others that have common health challenges, no matter how unique the situation.

Individuals  are taking advantage of tele-conference groups and social web sites, like sparkpeople .com and revolutionhealth.com. Wellness programs often have such groups available through web-based or telephone support. Progressive corporate wellness provider

Exan Wellness, for instance, offers teleconference cell groups and moderated wellness forums for interacting with others in a supportive, confidential and unknown environment.

Individuals  with shared challenges get together and discuss the emotional challenges they’re facing at work or in other areas of their lives and work through change together.

3. Journaling –  Journaling is often recommended by counsellors as a way to help identify and process emotions. Individuals  record their emotions in writing as they experience them, in whatever form they wish.

By assisting the writer gain greater emotional clarity, journaling can help in making more emotionally informed decisions. In much the same way, letter writing enables individuals  to identify and process the emotions they feel in relation to others.

The letter does not have to be sent or its contents shared –  it simply provides a place for the expression of feelings.

An 18-year-old “army brat,” Brent has always done well at school, academically and athletically. But in his last year of high school, something seems to have happened to him. He has lost all interest in school, becoming moody and withdrawn.

Brent describes to his guidance counselor all the times he’d to move when he was growing up. Each move wrenched him from his friends and forced him to play the role of the “new kid on the block.”

The counselor suggests that Brent write letters to the friends he has missed over the years telling them how he felt. Finally, he has a chance to say a proper goodbye.

4. Assess Your Emotional Health –  Companies that seek to improve employees’ interpersonal skills, or emotional intelligence in the workplace are more successful, according to ground-breaking journalist Daniel Goleman.

And emotional intelligence is the buzzword in workplaces these days. Some wellness programs have information about emotional intelligence, or emotional health assessments. Seek out more information about emotional intelligence for better corporate wellness.

5. Friendships/Support Systems –  Friendships allow people  to feel supported in their emotional journeys. at the same time, they give people  an opportunity to develop their empathetic skills.

These skills are also important for workplace health. When we’re empathic with fellow staff members, we help them resolve negative or unhealthy emotions. New friendships are made through hobbies, classes, clubs, or even through internet based groups.

Many individuals  are locating emotional satisfaction by connecting or re-connecting with friends through Facebook and other social websites.

Sometimes workplace stress that isn’t dealt with in a healthy manner can be brought home. A 36-year-old mother of three, Sarah, wants to be a good wife, a good mother, and a success at her job.

One day, drained after a long day at work, she shouted at her rambunctious children and threatened to hit her youngest son. Her behavior horrified her. to make matters worse, she believes she’s a failure at her job as well as at motherhood. She watches with jealousy as younger peers advance much more rapidly up the corporate ladder despite having less experience than she has.

On the advice of a counselor, she determines to take time out for herself and take a course for amateur painters. It doesn’t take long before she strikes up a friendship with a single mom in the class.

She once led a life very similar to Sarah’s before managing to achieve a better balance between work and family. Her new friend becomes a much-needed sounding board for Sarah and offers her perspectives on her life that she hadn’t considered before.

25% Jump in Business Interest in Worker Wellness

Corporate wellness for their employees, employers are discovering, is good for the health of their corporations as well. Wellness programs help to cut the costs associated with poor employee health, which include absenteeism, loss of productivity and poor work quality.

A recent Hewitt Associates survey of over 500 USA businesses indicated a significant paradigm shift in how businesses view health benefits for their staff members.

Of those surveyed this year, 88% are committed to instituting long-term healthcare assistance programs (over the next 3-5 years) for their staff members, with the goal of increaseing the health and productivity of their workforce. This represents a 25% increase in interest in wellness programs over 2007.

A strong offering of wellness programs to meet the demand has resulted. Health assistance providers have broadened their programs with tools that address general lifestyle factors, physical, social and psychological health factors.

Programs look to predict chronic disease in their workers and give them the tools and the information to prevent it. Corporations also demand a way to measure the effectiveness of their healthcare spending.

Self-care is our motive, says Vic Lebouthillier, president of progressive wellness provider Exan Wellness.”We really believe giving employees tools to help them manage their own health, and promoting the benefits, while giving people  resources to reach out for help is the key to successful lifestyle change.

Corporations are also telling us they need a cost-effective way to deliver wellness programs. the type of program we have developed over years delivers the highest health care return on investment.”

Combining corporate wellness promotions, online assessments and health trackers, online health information, telephone conferences and self-help groups, and access to a broad variety of health experts, is behind the success of the Exan program. “Having online statistics about employees’ health also makes it easier to track the bottom line – ROI” says Vic Lebouthillier.

Businesses are moving beyond their traditional role as a provider of health care benefits to create holistic programs that pinpoint the specific health needs of their employee populations, drive employee behavior change and eliminate barriers to health care, says Jim Winkler, leader of Hewitt’s health management consulting practice.

Notwithstanding, in a separate survey of 30,000 employees, 74 percent said that, although they felt their corporation had an obligation to help them understand how to use their health benefits program, only 12 percent felt the corporation had any right to tell them how to be healthy.

Based on these results, companys need to drive home the fact that improved health is better for their staff members in addition to the company. It’s a win-win situation.

Companys and employees did find common ground when it came to future health care. Both surveys indicate that 95 percent of employees understand that their taking care of their health today will impact future health care payments.

A similar percentage also understand the important of early detection and avoidance when it comes to saving on healthcare costs.

Cost is important for most companies as well. Over 80% of those surveyed made cost mitigation a priority for 2008, but those cuts didn’t involve shifting responsibility for health care onto staff members.

Although 64 percent of corporations have shifted costs to their staff members, only 17 percent plan to do so in the next 3-5 years. In like manner with health reimbursement accounts, 20 percent now offer these, but only about 5 percent plan to use them in 2008.

These survey causesdicate corporations are getting more proactive in helping their workers to change behaviors and take ownership of their own health futures. This is clearly good for the wellness of workers, but also for the wellness of the corporations they work for.

Almost half the corporations surveyed were convinced that changing health behaviors was key to increased productivity and lower absentee rates. Over 60 percent plan to institute programs that help employees change and/or sustain a healthier lifestyle.

Almost of these businesses will also use data and measurements to ensure their healthcare strategies meet their healthcare objectives?