Worksite Wellness ProgramsWorksite Wellness Programs

Employee retention is a challenge. Worksite Wellness Programs can help. offering perks such as incentives to exercise, healthy food, and stress management and weight loss programs at work is a way to maintain your workers satisfied.

Attracting new employees are also a challenge, and anything you can do to “stand out” from other workers is to your advantage. Remember, salary isn’t everything. Often, the possibility of flex hours or a discount at the local gym may be the deciding factor for a future worker. Once again, Worksite Wellness Programs to the rescue!

How Are Worksite Wellness Programs Administered?

Whether running small Worksite Wellness Programs in-house or using outside corporate wellness organizations to oversee the whole thing, program promotion is vital. You may have a great speaker come in to talk about a very “hot topic,” but if no one knew about it, it was a waste of the speaker’s time and your money.

Corporate Worksite Wellness Program setup and promotion go hand and hand. Depending on the size of your company, it may be handled by one person or an entire corporate wellness team. You may even have an worker who is interested in physical fitness and would love to organize some educational wellness seminars and programs.

Other workers may have areas of interest and would be willing to set up some educational programs. Especially for smaller businesses, once you have chosen your events and programs, it is best to set up a calendar with a schedule of events. Then publish the entire calendar as well as announcing each individual event as it comes up.

Access to Worksite Wellness Programs

To make access easy, offer a wide range of Worksite Wellness Programs and programs that can fit into everyone’s schedule. For example, some workers may find it difficult to get to a seminar at work or make a commitment for 8 weeks of the Weight Watchers at Work program. However, they will take advantage of a reduced rate at the gym and will borrow tapes from the health and wellness library.

If you have shifts, be sure to schedule events for the after 5:00 group. Nothing will undermine Worksite Wellness Programs more quickly than promoting great programs that are only convenient for first shift workers.

Sometimes, Worksite Wellness Programs can take advantage of “special situations” that occur and which offer an excellent opportunity for worker education and support, at little or no expense to the employer. Not only do these situations help workers personally, but also they are an opportunity for the employer to be seen in a positive light. For example:

A company had several workers with cancer, as well as a number of workers with family members with cancer. Their HR staff had received numerous questions about what to say to a coworker with cancer, as well as hearing about how difficult it was for the caregivers to manage work and home demands. They thought that it would be a great idea to initiate a lunchtime monthly “discussion/support group” to talk about the struggles, frustrations, and fears that people were facing. This activity was included under the umbrella of Worksite Wellness Programs that the company offered.

The group was facilitated by a rep from the Employee Assistance Program, but it was not a therapy group, nor was it promoted as such. It was informal and workers came as they could fit it into their schedules.

Did it solve all their problems? Of course not, but it did give them a place to vent, talk, and get some information and support. It was a powerful statement from the employer saying, “We care about you and we’d like to help you with this,” and the workers were very grateful. Effective Worksite Wellness Programs clearly convey this type of message to their workers.

Another employer had an worker who was autistic and often exhibited some odd or unusual behaviors. He had some significant difficulties and had to be out of work for several months. As time came for him to return, coworkers became anxious about what to expect.

The employer had someone come in to talk about autism and how best to deal with a person with the disease. It was a general discussion, and there was no discussion of the worker’s personal information. However, coworkers felt much more prepared to handle his return.

An worker with epilepsy told her coworkers about her condition in case she had a seizure. The employer then had someone from an epilepsy advocacy group come in and educate workers about the illness and what to do.

You may believe taking steps like this are not the responsibility of the employer, that it is not your business. But physical and mental illnesses affect just about everyone and are natural elements of Worksite Wellness Programs.

Employees who are preoccupied and worried about someone having a seizure or catching HIV from a coworker are not focused and productive. When you spend time informing and supporting workers, you not only have productive workers, you also have their respect.

Worksite Wellness Programs are also an effective way to educate workers/parents about substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, depression, mental illness, learning disabilities, and other issues that affect adults, children, and teens. Arming parents, other relatives, and concerned friends with information is a way to prevent problems in the future, for themselves and their children.

Employees may not be comfortable attending Worksite Wellness Programs entitled “Substance Abuse and You” or “Dealing With Depression,” fearing they have “self-identified” just by their presence. However, when much of that same information is billed as “Teens and Substance Abuse” or “Recognizing the Signs of Depression in Teens,” there may be a full house for the seminar.

Once this occurs, the levels of awareness are raised. An employee who is concerned that he or she is actually depressed can attend and gain life-saving information. Using this type of approach in Worksite Wellness Programs goes beyond raising awareness among parents whose children are struggling with personal problems.

Mental health topics are often difficult to introduce. There is still some stigma attached to being “mentally ill” or having alcohol problems. A benign way to bring information into the worksite is to use Worksite Wellness Programs and the National Screening Day programs. These are dates that have been set aside annually to increase awareness about various problems. They include:

Alcohol Abuse and Addiction (April)
Anxiety Disorders (during Mental Health Month in May)
Depression (October)
Eating Disorders (February)

There is a wealth of information available online that can be made available to your workers at no cost as part of your Worksite Wellness Programs. All it takes implement this into Worksite Wellness Programs is some type of notification in the form of an e-mail with an introductory statement and some links.

Local mental health clinics, medical schools, and hospitals usually provide free employee health screenings on designated days so that anyone can come in, take a test, and get information and a referral for care if appropriate. You could arrange with a local provider for a block of time for your workers to participate in the screenings, or talk to them about coming into the worksite to provide them.

What Are Worksite Wellness Programs?

Worksite Wellness Programs are designed to promote and support employee health and wellness through education and awareness programs primarily based at the worksite. The program is a win-win in that workers benefit from learning and staying well, and the employer has increased loyalty and less rates of absenteeism.

As businesses become more aware of the importance of employee health on productivity, there is increased interest in encouraging and supporting healthy lifestyle choices. Employer costs for Worksite Wellness Programs can rapidly be offset with fewer work-related injuries, improved attendance, less turnover, and increased morale.

Types of Worksite Wellness Programs

Worksite Wellness Programs: Lunch & Learn Wellness Seminars

The easiest Worksite Wellness Programs are one’s where the employer arranges to have quarterly seminars during lunchtime on topics such as stress management, nutrition, and exercise. A local mental health clinic, hospital, or the Employee Assistance Program (Employee Assistance Program) may provide these. This type of corporate health and Worksite Wellness Program is usually arranged through HR, the medical department, or the safety manager. Participation is generally voluntary.

Before selecting topics for wellness seminars, it is a good idea to do some type of worker polling to see what topics people are interested in. This can be as simple as an e-mail to all staff asking for suggestions or as formal as having an outside group come in to conduct interviews and design a complete corporate health and Worksite Wellness Program.

Worksite Wellness Programs: Health Risk Assessments

An employer can provide comprehensive Health Risk Assessments for workers. Health Risk Assessments are detailed questionnaires that covers all areas of behavior (seatbelt use, smoking, alcohol use, frequency of exercise, family history of disease and illness, etc.). This is usually done in conjunction with employee health screening for things like cholesterol and blood sugar screening.

Once the Health Risk Assessments are scored, the results are shared with workers along with suggestions for changes. The employer is able to get aggregate statistics that will show trends that he or she may want to address. For example, if a lot of people have high blood pressure, the employer may consider an educational seminar, biweekly workplace blood pressure readings, and low-salt, low-fat selections in the cafeteria or snack machines as interventions to include in the corporate health and Worksite Wellness Program.

If the Health Risk Assessments show that there is a “trend” toward not wearing seatbelts, perhaps having the State police come in and give a seminar about what occurs in an accident when you don’t have a seatbelt on would change some behavior.

Worksite Wellness Programs: tobacco Cessation

tobacco cessation programs are very popular elements of Worksite Wellness Programs. Often, the local chapter of the American Cancer Society or American Lung Association will come in to run a group. Another option is for workers to attend a tobacco cessation group in the community. Costs for the tobacco cessation group can be offset by the employer after workers complete the program.

Worksite Wellness Programs: Stress Management

Stress is a major area of concern for businesses. Stressed out workers get sick more often, make more errors, and generally do not perform up to capacity. As a result, Worksite Wellness Programs often take steps to address employee stress. There are many ways to address stress within your Worksite Wellness Programs, and the beauty of these ideas is that everyone can benefit from them.

Certainly, stress management seminars are educational and informative and should be included in any corporate health and Worksite Wellness Program.

Worksite Wellness Programs and Work/Life Programs

Many businesses offer a work/life program that offers assistance with things from finding day care for a child or elderly parent and information on obscure college scholarship funds to information on which PC to buy and where to find someone to walk your dog. These programs fit into Worksite Wellness Programs because they help your workers handle many of the things that are taking up work time and increasing stress.

Worksite Wellness Programs and Employee Assistance Programs

An Employee Assistance Programs are integral parts of effective Worksite Wellness Programs. By helping workers address personal/mental health problems and concerns, an Employee Assistance Program can go a long way toward improving overall health and productivity. Representatives from your Employee Assistance Program can also work closely with you to design Worksite Wellness Programs that are integrated and effective.

Time Management and Worksite Wellness Programs

Time is one of our most precious commodities, and anything you can do as an employer to help your workers manage their time is going to be welcome. Although not traditionally thought to be part of Worksite Wellness Programs, offering flextime and telecommuting are two ways to decrease stress and increase productivity.

These programs take thought and planning and are not appropriate for all workers or all positions; however, in many worksites, they are underused. Either your HR manager or an outside consultant can help you design a program. If you belong to a business group or Chamber of Commerce, you may find assistance there. Also, talk to colleagues who are doing this in their organizations to see how it is working.

The Culture of Wellness

Staff Member wellness has to be part of your company culture, not just something you throw in as an afterthought. It isn’t a Band-Aid, but rather a thoughtful piece of your business strategy. For example, if productivity is down due to tobacco breaks, offering tobacco cessation classes can help. But it’s also important to establish a no tobacco policy.

When workers feel valued, they are more loyal and tend to work harder. They take pride in their work and talk about what a great company they work for. A healthy workforce is a productive workforce.

Even the best and most innovative businesses are experiencing the impact worker well-being on their organizations’ performance. The bad news is that many of these businesses are unaware of the extent to which less-than-optimal worker health and well-being is impacting workforce capacity and performance. The goods news is that there is an increasing body of research and practice than can help businesses mitigate this often unseen issue and develop significant opportunities for improved workforce attraction, retention and performance! This article focuses on how companyal leaders can improve physical and financial worker wellness in the worksite.

The Problems of Chronic Disease

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60% of deaths in 2005 could be attributed to chronic disease (cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes).1 The largest attributing factors to the chronic diseases include smoking, physical activity, and diet.2 The costs of these diseases are staggering. For example, if there were a 10% reduction in mortality from heart disease and cancer, it could save the US $10.4 trillion annually.3 Further the WHO projects that over 80% of the US population will be either considered overweight or obese by the year 2015.

The Problems of Financial Distress and Dissatisfaction

As hard as it may be to fathom, a 2004 study found that 67% of U.S. Workers are dealing with Personal Financial Issues.4 In another study, it was found that these issues can exist in all segments of any workforce, regardless of income, education, or position level.5 Couple these facts with our workforce reality:

* The workforce is aging and demand for professionals in many industries continues to exceed the supply – and will for the foreseeable future.
* Due to the shortages of quality personnel the stress on our current workforce is increasing.
* With these workforce shortages, most businesses cannot continue to pay spiraling market prices for professionals.
* Lastly, those personality attributes that make many professionals great caregivers or service-providers also tend to make them less apt to focus on matters of personal financial management.

The Return On Investment

There are significant reasons why businesses should employ Procedures to implement Worksite Wellness Programs for their workers:

* Raise Productivity including reductions in medical care and workers compensation claims, rates of absenteeism, and presenteesism;
* Lower employer paid medical care and re-insurances premiums; and
* Raise worker, physicians and patient satisfaction; and
* Raise staff retention and productivity.

A recent Towers Perrin case study6 found that a ten percentage point improvement on worker engagement was linked to a 4.6 percentage point improvement on customer satisfaction and revenue growth and labor cost improvements equal to a 2.8% impact on controllable margin.

What all this shows is that offering Worksite Wellness Programs and incentives and rewards is more than just “the right thing to do.” Rather, there is a profound business case. As workforce capacity and engagement increase, a bottom-up cultural change takes place in your company. These changes drive improvements in customer satisfaction, productivity, rates of absenteeism, and presenteesism – all of which drive improvements in profitability.

The Course of Change

As an employer, you can have a tremendous impact on the health of the community. Here are a few suggestions on how you can engage your workers (possibly include flowchart):

1. Define the Plan – Determine if you have the internal resource availability and knowledge to develop a formal Worksite Wellness Program. Many organizations, due to confidentiality legal and other reasons, select to engage outside partners to manage these processes.
2. Communication – Once you have developed the plan, communicate the plan to all workers – using multiple media and approaches.
3. Lead by Example –Begin Worksite Wellness Programs at the top (walk the walk). Allow yourselves the opportunity to go through a health risk assessment and a financial assessment. If you can, communicate your results and your action steps to staff.
4. Develop incentives and rewards for Staff Participation – Here are a couple of financial incentives and rewards you can provide staff that are low cost and optimally have a return on investment (ROI):

1. Pay workers to take a risk assessment
2. Lower employee contributions to medical plan for those with reduced risk of chronic disease and correspondingly increase employee contribution to medical plan for those with increased risk of chronic disease

5. Make available Personal Risk Assessment Counseling – Make available resources that can meet one on one with each worker to understand their health risks and opportunities
6. Eliminate Trans-Fat from Your Dietary Offerings – If you have workplace food facilities, and haven’t been required by legislative statute, you should eliminate trans-fatty oils from the worker and customer meals
7. Eliminate Smoking Areas for Employees – More and more organizations, including large cities, are now banning smoking on their facilities.
8. Make available Proper Monitoring Programs – Probably the hardest component of the plan, the ongoing monitoring is critical. Some organizations are large enough to own or build wellness centers – but even then, many workers feel uncomfortable in using them. Typically the users of wellness centers are those least in need. The good news is that there are many external and online tools and options that are available today.
9. Encourage Other Local Businesses to Make available Worksite Wellness Programs. In some cases (e.g. hospitals), there are options where this can even generate revenue and/or deepen relationships with the communities you support.

Legal Concerns

When thinking about a Worksite Wellness Program, one must take into account certain requirements under ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and the Public Health Service Act (PHSA). All three laws were amended by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to provide for improved portability and continuity of health coverage. HIPAA also added Code section 9802, ERISA section 702 and PHSA section 2702, each of which prohibits discrimination in health coverage based on health status.

To be a bona fide Worksite Wellness Program, the plan must satisfy the following requirements:

* An individual’s total incentive must be limited. A limit of 10 percent to 20 percent of the total cost of employee-only coverage may be appropriate, according to the DOL.
* The program must be reasonably designed to promote good health or prevent disease.
* The incentive must be available to all similarly situated individuals. The program must allow any individual for whom it is unreasonably difficult because of a medical condition to meet the Worksite Wellness Program standard (or for whom it is medically inadvisable to attempt to meet the Worksite Wellness Program standard) an opportunity to satisfy a reasonable alternative standard.

1 2005 Preventing chronic disease: A vital investment. World Health Organization
2 2007 Working Towards Wellness: Accelerating the prevention of chronic disease. World Economic Forum
3 2007 The Value of Health and Longevity. Kevin M. Murphy and Robert H. Topal, University of Chicago
4 2004 Employer/Employee Equation Research on Worker Types, Preferences and Engagement Issues – Concours Group, Age Wave and Harris Poll
5 1997 Neal E. Cutler, Ph.D
6 2003 Talent Report: New Realities in Today’s Workforce – Towers Perrin

Worksite Wellness Programs that support workers and the environment that they work in have been shown to be a good return on investment (ROI). Worksite Wellness Programs can be extensive and sometimes expensive. However, there are ways for small businesses to make positive changes at little or no cost.

Worksite Wellness Program: Physical Fitness/Weight Management Programs

1. Allow access to on- and off- worksite gyms and recreational programs before, during, and after work hours.
2. Make available and encourage participation in after work recreation or leagues.
3. Make available cash incentives or reduced insurance costs for participation in physical activity and/or weight management or maintenance programs.
4. Make available shower and/or changing facilities onsite.
5. Make available outdoor exercise areas such as fields and trails for worker use.
6. Make available bicycle racks in safe, convenient, and accessible locations.
7. Make available workplace fitness opportunities, such as group classes or personal training.
8. Make available an onsite exercise facility.
9. Set up programs that have strong social support systems and incentives and rewards, such as:
o Buddy or team physical activity goals
o Programs that involve workers and family
o Programs to encourage physical activity, such as pedometer walking challenges
o Explore discounted or subsidized memberships at local health clubs, recreation centers, or YMCAs
10. Make available flexible work hours to allow for physical activity during the day.
11. Support physical activity breaks during the workday, such as stretching or walking.
12. Host walk-and-talk meetings.
13. Map out workplace trails or nearby walking routes and destinations.
14. Have workers map out their own biking or walking route to and from work.
15. Post motivational signs at elevators and escalators to encourage stair usage.
16. Make available exercise/physical fitness messages and information to workers.
17. Make available or support recreation leagues and other physical activity events onsite or in the community.
18. Begin worker activity clubs such as walking or bicycling clubs.
19. Make available workplace child care facilities to facilitate physical activity.
20. Sponsor a bike to work day and reward workers who participate.
21. Set up a box and solicit fitness and health tips.

Worksite Wellness Program: General Health Education Programs

1. Have a current policy outlining the requirements and functions of a comprehensive worksite Worksite Wellness Program.
2. Have a wellness plan in place that addresses the purpose, nature, duration, resources required, participants in, and expected results of a worksite Worksite Wellness Program.
3. Orient workers to the Worksite Wellness Program and give them copies of the physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use policies.
4. Promote and encourage worker participation in the physical activity/fitness and nutrition education/weight management program.
5. Make available health education information to workers.
6. Have a committee that meets at least once a month to oversee the Worksite Wellness Program.
7. Make available regular health education seminars on various physical activity, nutrition, and wellness-related topics. Ask voluntary health associations, medical care providers, and/or public health agencies to offer workplace education classes.
8. Host a health fair as a kick-off event or as a celebration for completion of a wellness campaign.
9. Designate specific areas to support workers such as diabetics and nursing mothers.
10. Conduct preventive wellness screenings for blood pressure, body composition, blood cholesterol, and diabetes.
11. Make available confidential health risk appraisals.
12. Make available workplace weight management/maintenance programs for workers.
13. Add weight management/maintenance, nutrition, and physical activity counseling as a member benefit in medical insurance contracts.

Worksite Wellness Program: Tobacco Cessation

1. Establish a company policy prohibiting tobacco use anywhere on the property.
2. Make available prompts/posters to support no tobacco use policy.
3. Policy supporting participation in tobacco cessation programs during duty time (flex-time).
4. Make available counseling through an individual, group, or telephone counseling program onsite.
5. Make available counseling through a health plan sponsored individual, group, or telephone counseling program.
6. Make available cessation medications through medical insurance.

Worksite Wellness Programs that support workers and the environment that they work in have been shown to be a good return on investment (ROI). Worksite Wellness Programs can be extensive and sometimes expensive. However, there are ways for small businesses to make positive changes at little or no cost.

Worksite Wellness Program: Nutrition Programs

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

1. Make available healthy eating reminders and prompts to workers via multiple means (i.e. e-mail, posters, payroll stuffers, etc.).
2. Make available appealing, low-cost fruits and vegetables in vending machines and in the cafeteria.
3. Make available cookbooks, food preparation, and cooking classes for workers’ families.
4. Ensure workplace cafeterias follow healthy cooking practices and set nutritional standards for foods served that align with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
5. Make available healthy foods at meetings, conferences, and catered events.
6. Use point-of-decision prompts as a marketing technique to promote healthier choices.
7. Make available healthy cooking demonstrations that teach skills (i.e. fruit and vegetable selection and preparation).
8. Make available taste-testing opportunities at the worksite.
9. Make available worker-led campaigns, demonstrations or programs.
10. Make available local fruits and vegetables at the worksite (i.e. worksite farmer’s market or community-supported agriculture drop-off point).
11. Use competitive pricing (price non-nutritious foods in vending machines and cafeterias at higher prices).
12. Make available protected time and dedicated space away from the work area for breaks and lunch.
13. Make kitchen equipment available to workers.
14. Make available an opportunity for workplace gardening if possible.

Sweetened Beverage Consumption

1. Make water available throughout the day.
2. Make available appealing, low-cost healthful drink options in vending machines and the cafeteria.
3. Modify worksite vending contracts to increase the number of healthy options.
4. Price non-nutritious beverages at a higher cost.
5. Use point-of-decision prompts to promote healthier choices.

Portion Control

1. Label foods to show serving size and/or nutritional content.
2. Make available food models, food scales for weighing and pictures to help workers assess portion size.
3. Make available appropriate portion sizes at meetings, worksite events and in the cafeteria.

Breastfeeding

1. Support nursing mothers by providing them rooms for expressing milk in a secure and relaxed environment, a refrigerator for storage of breast milk, policies that support breast feeding, and lactation education programs.
2. Make available flexible scheduling and/or workplace or near-site child care to allow for milk expression during the workday.
3. Adopt alternative work options (i.e. teleworking, part-time, extended maternity) for breastfeeding mothers returning to work.
4. Educate personnel on the importance of supporting breastfeeding co-workers.

T.V. & Food Advertising

1. Place TVss in non-eating areas of the worksite.
2. Limit food advertising in the cafeteria (i.e. print and other media).

(Adapted from The Health Promotion First Act prepared by David Anderson, Ph.D., StayWell Health Management)

Staff Member Lifestyles Impact Staff Member Health

• Approximately 40% of all deaths in the United States are premature (at least 900,000 deaths annually) and are due to unhealthy lifestyle choices such as tobacco use, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, misuse of alcohol and drugs, and accidents. Other contributors to early death include genetic predisposition (30%), social circumstances (15%), poor access to quality medical care (10%), and environmental exposures (5%).
• Unhealthy lifestyle is the primary contributor to the six leading causes of death in the U.S. – heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, accidents, and diabetes – which collectively account for over 70% of all deaths.
• People with healthier lifestyles live an average of 6 to 9 years longer, postpone disability by 9 years and compress disability into fewer years at the end of life.
• The prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults rose to 30% in 1999-2000, a 33% increase from a decade earlier, and the prevalence of diabetes also rose by 33% during approximately the same period (1990 to 1998).
• About two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, 55% do not get enough physical activity, 26% are completely inactive,10 and only 25% eat recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables If diet/physical activity patterns continue worsening at their current rate, these behaviors will soon surpass tobacco use as contributors to mortality.
• Among young people, the prevalence of overweight has more than quadrupled in the past 20 years to 16%, daily participation in high school physical education classes has dropped from 42% in 1991 to 28% in 2003, more than 60% eat too much saturated fat, and almost 80% do not eat recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables.
• Lifestyle diseases disproportionately affect women, racial and ethnic minorities, the poor and seniors:
• The prevalence of diabetes among African Americans is about 70% higher than among white Americans, and the prevalence among Hispanics is nearly double that for white Americans.
• Women comprise more than half of the people who die each year of cardiovascular disease.
• Chronic conditions significantly limit daily activity for 35% of persons over 65 years of age.

Financial Impact of Lifestyle

• It is estimated that lifestyle-related chronic diseases account for 70% of the nation’s medical care costs, which translates to over 11% of the entire U.S. gross domestic product.
• Two comprehensive scientific reviews identified 83 peer-reviewed studies reporting that people with unhealthy habits have higher medical costs.
• Research conservatively estimates that high health risks (high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc) account for at least 25% of total medical costs.
• Recent research indicates a direct relationship between modifiable lifestyle risks and decreased worker productivity, and relevant data suggest that the costs to businesses in lost productivity due to poor employee health may be substantially more than the direct medical and disability costs.
• Unhealthy lifestyles often lead to chronic disease, many of which cannot be cured and require years or decades of expensive treatments. Below are estimated annual costs of selected unhealthy lifestyles and chronic diseases including obesity, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, stress, and inactivity.

Worksite Wellness Programs Improve Health and Yield Major Savings

• Comprehensive scientific reviews identified 378 peer-reviewed studies showing that Worksite Wellness Programs improve health knowledge, health behaviors, and underlying health conditions.
• Research has demonstrated that lifestyle modification may often be more effective and cost-effective than medical intervention in decreasing morbidity and mortality.
• Several scientific reviews indicate that Worksite Wellness Programs reduce medical costs and rates of absenteeism and produce a positive return on investment (ROI). The most definitive review of financial impact reported that:
• 18 studies indicated that these programs reduce medical costs, and 14 studies indicated that they decrease rates of absenteeism costs.
• 13 studies that calculated benefit/cost ratios all showed the savings from these programs are much greater than their cost, with medical cost savings averaging $3.48 and the rates of absenteeism savings averaging $5.82 per dollar invested in the programs.
• Medical costs are expected to exceed 16 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 and to grow at 7.2 percent annually through 2015, when medical expenditures will account for 20 percent of GDP:
• Per capita medical costs in the U.S. are the highest in the world and more than double the median for OECD countries, yet the United States ranks 26th in terms of healthy life expectancy.
• Medicaid is the second largest item in most state budgets, and its portion of the total budgets is increasing each year.
• Rising medical costs for U.S. businesses continue to outpace general inflation, averaging 12 percent per year for the past 10 years. This trend is causing a tremendous financial hardship on U.S. businesses.

1. Senior management involvement in the Worksite Wellness Program- Evidence of enthusiastic commitment and involvement of senior management helps workers understand their businesses’ serious commitment to health. Employees need to perceive that their senior management, supervisors, and coworkers have positive attitudes toward health since these factors have all been associated with improved employee health status. Management-related factors have been shown to contribute more to success than the content of the intervention.

2. Participatory planning – A Worksite Wellness Program should be undertaken in partnership with the workforce. Employees from all levels of staff should be actively engaged in the health and management aspects of the project as well as all on-going processes of any Worksite Wellness Program. Planning must also include processes for maintaining communication with all staff and building their commitment to the process. Beginning Worksite Wellness Program steering committees to guide interventions during the planning and delivery of worksite health promotion programming improves worker awareness, participation, and satisfaction. Staff Member committees can identify perceived worker interests regarding educational programming, determine work site-specific characteristics that may affect the intervention or influence participation, and suggest the best methods for promotion and delivery of Worksite Wellness Programs and activities. Ways to maximize worker input and involvement might include interest surveys, focus groups, and peer counsellors.

3. Primary focus on workers’ needs – A Worksite Wellness Program should meet the needs of all workers, regardless of their current level of health and recognize the needs, preferences, and attitudes of different groups of participants. Program designers should consider the major health risks in the target population, the specific risks within the particular group of workers, and the company’s needs. In other words, interventions should be tailor-made to the characteristics and needs of the recipients. This means that different programs must be offered at different levels. Participation and commitment can be increased if a group of workers has the opportunity to address a specific modifiable risk factor of their choice.

4. Optimal use of on-site resources – Planning and implementation of Worksite Wellness Programs should optimize use of on-site personnel, physical resources, and organizational capabilities. For example, whenever possible, initiatives should use on-site health and safety, management, work organization, communication, HR, and other specialists. Well-qualified external leadership may be introduced when in-house expertise is lacking.

5. Integration – An overall worksite health policy should be developed. The policies governing employee health must align with the corporate mission, vision, and values, supporting both short- and long-term goals. These consistent policies must affirm the value of worker health and a commitment to engage workers in health enhancement. Worksite Wellness Program Procedures should be integrated into a company’s regular management practices and eventually should be formally incorporated into the company’s corporate plan with adequate resources attached to them.

6. Recognition that a person’s health is determined by an interdependent set of factors – Any Worksite Wellness Program must address multiple components of an individual’s life:
• the worksite physical and psychosocial environment;
• their personal resources such as social support, sense of empowerment, etc.; and
• their lifestyle practices influencing health.

7. Tailoring to the special features of each worksite environment – Worksite Wellness Programs must be responsive to the unique needs of each worksite’s procedures, organization and culture. Integrating health behaviors and program participation into the existing corporate culture will normalize program participation.

8. Worksite Wellness Program Assessment – Project management should flow through needs analysis, establishing priorities, planning, implementation, continuous monitoring, and evaluation. Assessment must include a clearly-defined range of process measures and outcomes as well as mechanisms for monitoring the impact of non-intervention worksite changes such as plant closure, major worksite re-organization, and new technology on staff health.

9. Long-term commitment – To sustain the benefits of the Worksite Wellness Program, the worksite must continue the initiative over time, reinforcing risk-reduction behaviours and adapting the programs to ongoing personal, social, economic, and worksite changes.

Introduction to Worksite Wellness Programs

Risky health behaviors by workers cost a company. Changing those behaviors can save the employer money and increase the worker’s productivity.

Because work gives an worker a stable setting and support system, Worksite Wellness Programs can have a great impact on decreasing high-risk behaviors. This impact results in lower health claims cost, less rates of absenteeism, and less short-term disability.

Worksite Wellness Programs can include:

Awareness Rasing Programs: Health and wellness newsletters, health topics covered in payroll stuffers, healthy emails.

Health Risk Assessment: Employee health screenings, health and wellness fairs, health risk appraisals.

Educational Programs: Lunch & Learn wellness seminars, guest speakers at staff meetings.

Skill Building: Healthy cooking demostrations, activity challenges, CPR instruction opportunites, stress management classes, weight management classes.

Interventions: Massage, tobacco cessation, and skills to help you get the most out of your doctor visit.

Physical environment: Healthy items in the vending machines and cafeterias, clean air practices, ergonomics, bike racks, flex time, welllit stairways.

Assessment: Staff Member needs assessment, baseline Worksite Wellness Program evaluation measures, ongoing Worksite Wellness Program evaluation of overall effectiveness.

Why Make available Worksite Wellness Programs

The typical employer spends about $8,000 a year on an employee’s medical care. This includes medical insurance, disability and worker’s compensation. As these costs climb, medical insurance is expected to rise at least 10% per year.

A 1999 study showed that organizations using Worksite Wellness Programs had a return on investment (ROI) from $1.49 – $13 in benefits per dollar spent. The amount depended on the nature of the Worksite Wellness Programs used. (S. Aldana, American Journal of Wellness, 2001; 15:296-320)

One study showed that a “stop smoking” element to Worksite Wellness Programs can save between $404 -$40,829 per employee, depending on the age and sex of the worker.

The Worksite Wellness Programs at Traveler’s Company included a self-care book, a newsletter, single-topic brochures, and videotapes. The Worksite Wellness Programs saved the company $7.8 million in employee benefi t costs, decreased doctor visits, and it reduced rates of absenteeism by 1.2 days per worker per year. The estimated Worksite Wellness Programs ROI was $3.40 per dollar spent.

In 1998, the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) reported a study of 46,026 workers from six large businesses for three years. Employees with an inactive lifestyle had 10% higher costs; workers with depression had 70% higher costs.

Benefits of Worksite Wellness Programs

Increased Productivity – The Canada Life Assurance Company realized a 4% rise in productivity after establishing an employee fitness program.

Increased Job Satisfaction – According to employee opinion surveys conducted by the Silverstone Group about thier Worksite Wellness Programs, workers’ morale increased, which helped support a more creative work setting.

Enhanced Recruitment & Retention – In the midst of a tight labor market, Worksite Wellness Programs could be a vital tool to draw new recruits.

Decreased Absenteeism – Canada Life Assurance Company’s rates of absenteeism dropped 42% among workers in the Worksite Wellness Programs.

Decreased Workers Comp & Disability – In one year, Boeing Company’s number of back injuries decreased by 34%. Six million dollars was saved by tracking injuries as they occurred.

Managed Healthcare Costs – Golden, Colorado Adolf Coors Company’s Worksite Wellness Programs returned $6.19 for every dollar spent.