Wellness Program Needs and Interest Survey.
August 31st, 2010 by Wellness Statistics, under Wellness Statistics. No Comments
Successful wellness programs are designed to meet the needs and interests of the employees. Ask employees what they’re interested in, and what needs they have.
People are more willing to participate and support wellness efforts when they are involved in the decision-making process. Review the sample worker survey provided below.
Worker Interest Survey – can be edited (http – //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/worksite_wellness/corporation_tools/employee_interest_survey.doc)
When developing a recent survey, keep the following hints in mind –
• Ask primarily closed form questions, specifically if you’ll be sending the survey to a large number of workers. Closed form questions provide specific options and are easy to tabulate.
• Invite comments, suggestions and recommendations, or ask open-ended questions after the survey. Open-ended items are more difficult to summarize.
• Include a brief explanatory cover letter with the survey with the signature of the business president. Make certain 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 if you have fewer than 500 staff members, everyone ought to receive one. the benefit of everyone receiving a recent survey can be significant. When you have over 500 staff members, a sample of the work population from each department will suffice.
The higher the response, the more accurate and reliable the results. A minimum response of 40% to 50% is considered valuable.
Tags: Wellness Statistics
Establish a Wellness Program Committee.
August 30th, 2010 by Wellness Statistics, under Wellness Statistics. No Comments
A critical 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 great automobile for communication.
So who ought to be on the committee? Consider appointing the following people /departments to your committee –
• Top management within your business
• Union representatives
• Human resources (HR) department
• Worker assistance program
• Information technology
• Communications
• Health and safety department
• Employees interested in wellness
Building a successful wellness program requires staff time as well as money. Some bigger organizations may spend 20 hours per week for three to six months preparing all the steps before launching a wellness program.
Anywhere from 4 to 10 people meeting monthly is equivalent to a wellness committee. A mission statement for the committee must 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/business_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 – doesn’t fade away.
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Wellness Program – Obtaining Management Support.
August 29th, 2010 by Wellness Statistics, under Wellness Statistics. No Comments
Support from management is essential to building a successful wellness program! Visible upper management support is one of the most critical factors in the success of a worksite Wellness Program.
Senior level management executives are responsible for making sure that the organization meets its goals. They can provide additional assistance by assisting you to link your Wellness Program goals to corporation outcomes, thereby positioning Wellness Program as a fundamental part of the organization.
It is important to develop support and excitement for the program from all levels of the business including executive management, mid-level management, and grass-root employees.
The challenge for any Wellness Program coordinator is convincing senior level 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 excellent 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 upper-level management support. (http – //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/worksite_wellness/business_tools/sr_mgt_support.doc)
• Flexibility of worker schedules to accommodate wellness activities
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Wellness Program – Conducting an Organizational Assessment.
August 28th, 2010 by Wellness Statistics, under Wellness Statistics. No Comments
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 are able to 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 corporation hope to gain from starting a Wellness Program?
Answers to these questions will help you start the process of creating a culture of wellness within your organization. It’s imperative that you assess the environment before beginning a program.
Wellness Program – Employee Feedback
In addition, you can begin the process of understanding your organization by analyzing the survey below –
WORD DOC – http – //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/worksite_wellness/corporation_tools/work_climate_survey.doc
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Benefits of Wellness Programs.
August 27th, 2010 by Wellness Statistics, under Wellness Statistics. No Comments
The costs of health care have been rising more than 10% yearly for a few years. A substantial amount of the money spent in the health care system treats expensive illnesses and illnesses.
• Approximately 95% of the $1.4 trillion that we spend as a nation on health goes to direct medical services, while about 5% is allocated to preventing illness and promoting health.
• Potentially, 50 percent to 70 percent of all diseases are preventable as they are associated with modifiable health risks.
• In an effort to optimize employee health, reduce avoidable health care utilization and enhance work performance, and in turn lower health care costs and improve employee satisfaction and retention, many companies are developing, or are interested in developing, Wellness Programs for staff members.
The benefits of corporate wellness are well documented. More than 120 research studies repeatedly show themes such as improvements in health outcomes coupled with high returns on investment (ROI). Some major findings include the following –
• Savings of $3.48 in reduced health care costs per dollar invested.
• Savings of $5.82 in lower rates of 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.
• Disease management programs – $7 to $10 ROI within a year.
By offering health improvement programs, employers aren’t only providing an additional service for staff members, but they’re also gaining financially. Moreover, the impact of a health improvement program goes beyond decreased healthcare 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 extensive guide to designing, starting and investigating worksite programs. National Business Group on Health, 1 (1), 1-7.
Tags: Wellness Statistics
What’s a Wellness Program?
August 26th, 2010 by Wellness Statistics, under Wellness Statistics. No Comments
According to the American Journal of Wellness, “Wellness is the science and art of assisting people 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 can be facilitated through a combination of efforts to enhance awareness, change behavior, and develop 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 beginning the programs
• Building in motivational incentives
• Measuring the impact
• Revising programs based on evaluation outcomes
It might even include developing policies and procedures that support staff member participation in wellness activities at your worksite (like flextime).
Steps to Starting a Wellness Program
• Conduct an organizational assessment
• Obtain management support
• Establish a wellness committee
• Obtain worker input
• Create objectives and objectives
• Design and implement program activities
• Pick incentives
• Evaluate outcomes
Among the ways the government plans to improve the nation’s health is through comprehensive Wellness Programs.
As reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, these programs may help staff members live healthier lifestyles by creating supportive work environments and offering awareness, education and behavior change programs.
In truth, one of the objectives of Healthful People 2010, a set of health objectives for the nation to achieve by the year 2010, is to elevate the proportion of staff members that participate in a extensive Wellness Program at their worksite to 75 percent.
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Improve Corporate Wellness through Emotional Health Techniques.
August 25th, 2010 by Wellness Statistics, under Wellness Statistics. No Comments
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 finding 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.
A lot of tools and techniques exist for assisting 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 licensed professional. Wellness programs typically 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 expert 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 instead 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.
People are taking benefit of tele-conference groups and social web sites, such as sparkindividuals .com and revolutionhealth.com. Wellness programs often have such groups available through online 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.
People 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 advised 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 about 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 had 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. Lastly, he has a chance to say a proper goodbye.
4. Assess Your Emotional Health – Businesses that seek to boost 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 create their empathetic skills.
These skills are also important for workplace health. When we’re empathic with fellow workers, we help them resolve negative or unhealthful emotions. New friendships are made through hobbies, classes, clubs, or even through online groups.
A lot of people 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 could 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 kids and threatened to hit her youngest son. Her behavior horrified her. to make matters worse, she believes she’s a failure at her job in addition to at motherhood. She watches with jealousy as younger colleagues advance much more rapidly up the corporate ladder despite having less experience than she has.
On the advice of a counselor, she decides 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 had not considered before.
Tags: Wellness Statistics
Wellness Programs Now as Important as Cost and Workforce Issues.
August 24th, 2010 by Wellness Statistics, under Wellness Statistics. No Comments
25% Jump in Employer Interest in Employee Wellness
Corporate wellness for their workers, 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 companies indicated a meaningful paradigm shift in how companies view health benefits for their workers.
Of those surveyed this year, 88 percent are committed to instituting long-term health care assistance programs (over the next 3-5 years) for their employees, with the goal of boosting the health and productivity of their workforce. This represents a 25 percent 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 condition in their workers and give them the tools and the information to prevent it. Companies 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 workers 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 kind of program we’ve created over years delivers the highest healthcare return on investment.”
Combining corporate wellness promotions, internet based assessments and health trackers, internet based medical 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 internet based statistics about employees’ health also makes it easier to track the bottom line – ROI” says Vic Lebouthillier.
Companies are moving beyond their traditional role as a provider of healthcare benefits to develop holistic programs that pinpoint the specific health needs of their employee populations, drive employee behavior change and eliminate barriers to healthcare, says Jim Winkler, leader of Hewitt’s health management consulting practice.
Notwithstanding, in a separate survey of 30,000 workers, 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, businesss need to drive home the fact that improved health is better for their workers as well as the business. It’s a win-win situation.
Companys and employees did find common ground when it came to future healthcare. Both surveys indicate that 95 percent of employees understand that their taking care of their health today will impact future healthcare payments.
A similar percentage also understand the important of early detection and prevention when it comes to saving on health care costs.
Cost is important for most businesses as well. Over 80 percent of those surveyed made cost mitigation a priority for 2008, but those cuts didn’t involve shifting responsibility for healthcare onto workers.
Although 64 percent of businesses have shifted costs to their employees, only 17 percent plan to do so in the next 3-5 years. In like fashion with health reimbursement accounts, 20 percent now offer these, but only about 5 percent plan to use them in 2008.
These survey leads todicate companies are getting more proactive in helping their employees to change behaviors and take ownership of their own health futures. This is clearly good for the wellness of employees, but also for the wellness of the companies they work for.
Nearly half the businesses 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 workers change and/or sustain a healthier lifestyle.
Almost of these companies will also use data and measurements to ensure their healthcare strategies meet their healthcare objectives?
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Corporate Wellness and Effective Healthcare Reform.
August 23rd, 2010 by Wellness Statistics, under Wellness Statistics. No Comments
It’s clear to virtually every American (especially those of us in business) that healthcare costs are skyrocketing out of control.
No one doubts that either the market will solve the problem OR the government will impose one on us. Managed care has failed from either a cost containment or quality of care perspective.
Businesses have reached the point where the cost of providing health insurance is almost as burdensome as government regulation. It’s time for some new thinking on health care and its impact on company and vice versa.
Corporate wellness as an operational perspective instead of merely window dressing is one way to deal effectively with rising healthcare costs.
The Insurance Problem
The first step in correcting the problem is to realize that an employee’s health is their own responsibility. Expecting corporations to provide unlimited health insurance coverage is simply unrealistic and unreasonable.
It’s time for companys (on a broad scale) to reconsider their role in providing health insurance coverage. Instead of providing complete coverage for all employees through group plans, corporations should start to shift the burden of health coverage to those covered.
Here’s the approach. Give catastrophic medical insurance as a group benefit to all workers with a big enough deductible (say $5000 per employee) to make the cost low cost for the business.
Then, allow workers to buy their own medical insurance policies (based on their own needs) and pay for them through payroll deduction with pre-tax earnings.
There are numerous insurance businesses that sell individual plans on this basis. Everybody wins. Workers can tailor their coverage to their own needs and circumstances using their own physicians. Corporations win by stopping the endless cycle of rising costs and ever-changing plans.
And when individuals become responsible for the cost of their own insurance, they become more attentive to their own health.
Besides, when an employee is interested in working for you ONLY because your company offers great insurance benefits are not they telling you they’re going to cost you more money in the future?
Create a “Wellness Culture”
Our current “sickness culture” perpetuates the healthcare crisis and hastens the demise of market-based solutions. By ailment culture, I mean our focus on medical problems instead of on having a healthy workplace and performance culture.
Now, what would a “wellness culture” look like? First, instead of compensated sick days, employees could be rewarded at year’s end with an attendance bonus.
Staff Members would be reimbursed for successful completion of tobacco use cessation and weight-loss programs. Companies would invest in corporate memberships at local fitness centers so every worker can participate.
Workers would be offered in-house wellness programs on a selection of issues ranging from ergonomics to stress management. Lastly, corporations would commit to hiring and retaining healthy staff members.
Simply put, healthful employees cost less and are more productive than unhealthful ones. Applicants must be screened for health habits and practices that limit their productivity and increase the likelihood of future expense.
While this may seem harsh, it rewards those employees whose personal lifestyle and habits ensure the best Return on Investment by the company committing to hire, train and pay them.
Be open to “alternative and complementary” approaches
Studies published in major medical journals reveal that individuals who use “alternative and complementary” health modalities (including chiropractic, acupuncture, yoga and massage) are typically healthier, better educated, take fewer medications and miss fewer days from work than the typical American.
Since these person look for ways to stay healthy without drugs and surgery, they end up being a net benefit as for attendance and productivity. Old prejudices in this area should be discarded in order for corporations to improve productivity and increase profitability
Conclusion
Healthcare costs are increasing at a staggering pace. Managed care is an dreadful failure. Companies are buckling below the pressure of providing health coverage to their employees.
American competitiveness in the market is sagging. These times call for extraordinary solutions. It’s time for American corporations to consider some out-of-the-box solutions to the healthcare crisis.
Corporate wellness is an approach that is timely, achievable and reasonable given the alternatives. All choices should be considered while we still have a chance.
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Wellness Programs.
August 22nd, 2010 by Wellness Statistics, under Wellness Statistics. No Comments
Research spanning more than a decade has consistently shown wellness programs to be financially effective and that every dollar invested on a wellness program can return $2.30 and $10.10 by lowering absenteeism, sick day usage and by lowering insurance costs.
Also it is noted that there are marked improvements in employee performance and productivity in organizations that start a wellness program.
Healthy organizations enjoy increased worker morale and an improved ability to attract and retain key people . Also, staff members are more alert and productive.
For instance, Coca Cola reports that they save around $500 a year per employee once they implemented a fitness planin which 60% of their workers participate.
Coors Brewing Business stated that employees who participated in their wellness programs reduced their absentee rate by 18%.
Workers enjoy their share of benefits from wellness programs too. A healthful lifestyle affects every part of a person’s life, including their work environment.
Wellness programs lead to fewer injuries, less human error and a work environment that is more harmonious and relaxed. Additionally, staff members who work at a corporation that starts a wellness program know that their organization is concerned about their wellness.
Workers often report a reduction in their stress levels due to wellness programs.
As employees feel better, more relaxed, more valued and more human to their company; they enjoy an increase in productivity. This increase in productivity, while advantageous to the business, is also essential to the staff member as it increases their own sense of self worth and confidence levels.
Staff Members who feel successful and who feel that they accomplish goals are overall happier and in a better frame of mind.
The advantages of wellness programs, both tangible and intangible, are evident. It is a wise move for a corporation to implement a wellness program, in particular when they incorporate some form of mental health aspect into it.
This also has social benefits as domestic violence and child abuse is shown to be lowered in areas where wellness programs are implemented. These days, an organization can nearly not afford to have some sort of wellness program to offer to their employees.
Tags: Wellness Statistics