Corporate America is increasingly investing in staff member health promotion because it is good business. In order to meet productivity demands, corporations must rely on a healthy, productive workforce to succeed in the highly competitive global marketplace.
Over a hundred studies in both corporate and governmental settings have documented the economic benefits of company wellness programs, including reduced absenteeism, reduced injuries and workman’s compensation costs, reduced health care costs, reduced employee turnover, as well as increased productivity, greater employee satisfaction, and improved morale.1-10
The more recent literature reflects improvements in health promotion programming along with greater return on investment. In general, the more focused and intensive the health promotion program, the greater benefit realized.
To enhance their effectiveness federal government employee health promotion programs might be able to incorporate some of the features described. Worker health promotion programs shown to have positive returns on investment often include the following features –
1 Health and productivity management model
Programs characterized by this model focus attention on identification and reduction of specific risks or behaviors such as use of tobacco, lack of exercise, excess weight, unhealthful diet, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, stress, depression, and so on.
High-risk personnel are particularly targeted for intervention, although the most successful health promotion programs also direct efforts towards healthful personnel in order to maintain their low-risk status. This model emphasizes outcomes as opposed to simply offering wellness activities for their own sake.
2 Health risk appraisal
Use of a computerized health risk assessment instrument with individualized feedback and recommendations is nearly universal in successful health promotion programs. Staff Members take the questionnaire yearly in many cases.
The HRA serves to increase awareness, provide direction, and motivate person to improve specific behaviors. In some cases, the personalized report is directly linked to appropriate resources related to identified risks.
Research indicates that the use of an Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) is effective when it’s followed by some kind of educational or therapeutic intervention for identified risks. It often serves as the entry point into wellness programs.
3 Biometric analysis
Many health promotion programs combine the results of the health risk assessment with measurement of each employee’s biometrics, including weight and Body Mass Index , blood pressure, cholesterol, fasting glucose, and assorted other metrics.
Combining the results of the HRA with biological measures results in a more precise risk profile. Computerized health risk appraisals often incorporate biometric data in their risk analysis.
4 Health Promotion Program Incentives
Employees are frequently given monetary or other meaningful rewards for completing an HRA, participation in a health promotion program or class, specific accomplishments such as stopping tobacco use, losing weight, or exercising, and for maintaining healthy status and/or behaviors.
In many cases the monetary incentives are associated with reductions in medical insurance premiums. Some health promotion programs use disincentives as well as incentives, such as charging workforce who smoke higher rates for their medical insurance contribution.
5 High health promotion program participation rates
Successful wellness programs use incentives to drive participation rates up. They also market their wellness programs extensively, and may use contest or challenge strategies to heighten enthusiasm and encourage participation.
6 Health Promotion coaching
Staff Members with identified risks or desire to improve their health habits could be periodically coached via telephone by trained wellness Coaches.
Coaching helps staff set and achieve realistic lifestyle-related objectives including those addressing stress, work life balance, smoking, weight, physical activity, and various behavior modifications.
Three or more sessions are ordinarily offered. In some intensive health promotion programs, the coaching extends to actual disease management intervention for personnel with identified high-risk illnesses.
7 Multiple formats
Programs might offer wellness content in online, paper, and seminar formats to provide stimulating variety and alternatives to accommodate the needs of all employees.
In addition to on-site physical activity and healthful eating events, on-line wellness programs, e-mail reminders and notices, printed newsletters and materials, and workplace classes and workshops are common dissemination strategies.
8 Senior management support
Enthusiastic and frequent endorsement by executive management is crucial to achieving high rates of participation. When senior executives are wellness role models themselves the effects of endorsement are enhanced.
9 Frequent contact
Successful health promotion programs have frequent contact of some sort with every employee. This could be through marketing efforts (e.g., posters, e-mail notices, reminders, or messages, etc.), bulletin boards, newsletters, staff meeting presentations, discussion in new employee orientation, supervisory sessions, etc.
The key is to enhance staff member awareness of wellness opportunities and reinforce the corporate emphasis on wellness through frequent and multiple “touches”.
10 Open enrollment
To encourage high participation rates workers must have easy access to the health promotion programs and activities. Open and uncomplicated enrollment processes achieve this.
Some organizations automatically enroll all workforce and then allow those who don’t wish to participate to “opt-out”. This practice has been proven to increase enrollment rates in some establishings.
11 Family involvement
A lot of health promotion programs encourage spouses and other family members to take part in the organization wellness activities and to adopt a healthy lifestyle along with the designated employee. It’s far easier for the employee to have a healthy lifestyle when his/her family does so as well.
12 Tobacco use cessation
Because use of tobacco and other use of tobacco is the number one threat to health it is vital to offer employees effective and convenient assistance with quitting.
Access to smoking cessation pharmaceuticals is often part of such health promotion programs. In-house health promotion programs provide the most convenient access to these services, although on-line or telephone-based health promotion programs might be available as well.
13 Exercise
Regular physical activity is a core component of every wellness program. Employees should be strongly encouraged to engage in regular physical activity.
Most wellness programs provide either periodic or continuous on-site opportunities, and some locations have on-site fitness centers, swimming pools, walking trails, etc. Discounted or paid memberships to community exercise facilities is a common alternative to on-site facilities.
14 Weight management
Because obesity is a major threat to health it is very important that programs offer effective assistance with weight control. Comprehensive encouragement from senior management to shed excess weight is important.
Web-Based health promotion programs, worksite programs, or discounted access to weight control programs in the community may all be available. Long-term follow-up is vital for maintenance of weight loss.
15 Stress management
Workplace stress is perhaps the most common complaint among personnel and a major contributor to absenteeism, presenteeism (reduced productivity), and low morale.
Nearly all successful health promotion programs offer assistance with personal and workplace stress. Some programs refer staff to outside resources for more serious conditions like depression and anxiety disorders, but most offer internet based or frequent on-site general stress reduction programs.
Some companies endeavor to structure the work environment to minimize stress, both physically and operationally.
16 Biometric testings/immunizations
Staff Members are actively encouraged to complete advised biometric screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, BMI, colorectal and breast cancer, and others.
Annual influenza immunizations are also encouraged. Some sites provide these services at the worksite. Incentives are often awarded for completion of these screenings/immunizations.
17 On-Site health care
Actual provision of onsite primary care medical services is a growing trend. The quickly escalating costs of medical care insurance for workers has stimulated this trend.
Some corporations have found that it’s less costly to provide primary care services themselves than to fund those services through medical insurance.
Onsite care also lowers the amount of time staff members would otherwise spend away from the workplace getting such services.
References
1 Aldana, Steven G. (2001) Financial Impact of Wellness Programs – A Comprehensive Review of the Literature. Am J Wellness 15(5) – 296-320.
2 Chapman, Larry. (1998) the Role of Incentives in Wellness. The Art of Wellness 2(3) – 1-8.
3 Chapman, Larry. (2003) Biometric Screening in Wellness – is it Really as Important as We Think? the Art of Wellness 7(2) – 1-12.
4 Chapman, Larry. (2005) Meta-Examination of Company Wellness Economic Return Studies – 2005 Update. The Art of Wellness, July/August, 1-15.
5 Chapman, Larry. (2006) Staff Member Participation in Company Wellness and Health Promotion Programs – Precisely how Important are Incentives, and Which Ones work Best? North Carolina Medical Journal 67(6) – 431-432.
6 Chapman, Larry, Lesch, Nancy, and Passas Baun, Mary Beth. (2007) the Role of Health Promotion Coaching in Company Wellness. the Art of Wellness, July/August, 1-12.
7 Chapman, Larry. (2007) Proof Positive – an Analysis of the cost-Effectiveness of Company Wellness. Northwest Health Management Publishing, Seattle, WA.
8 Chapman, Larry. (2007) an In-Depth Look at the Economic Evidence for Rewarding Health Behavior Change. Workshop presentation at the World Research Group “Rewarding Healthful Behaviors for Health Plans and Companys” Conference, Orlando, FL, January 23-24.
9 Edington, Dee. (2001) Emerging Research – A View from One Research Center. American Journal of Health Promotion 15(5) – 341-349.
10 Edington, Dee W. (2007) Health Management as a Serious Business Strategy. Presentation at the World Research Group “Rewarding Healthy Behaviors for Health Plans and Employers” Conference, Orlando, FL, January 23-24.
11 Pelletier, Barbara, Boles, Myde, and Lunch, Wendy. (2004) Changes in Health Risks and Be certain to work Productivity. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 46(7) – 746-754.
12 Pelletier, Kenneth R. (2005) A Review and Analysis of the Clinical and Cost-Effectiveness Studies of extensive Health and Illness Management (DM)Programs at the Workplace – Update VI 2000-2004. JOEM 47(10)1051-1058.
13 DeVol, Ross, Bedroussian, Armen, et. Al. (2007) an Unhealthy America – the Economic Burden of Chronic Disease. Report released by the Milken Institute. www.milkeninstitute.org.
14 Partnership for Prevention. (2008) Investing in Health – Proven Wellness Practices for Worksites. http – //www.prevent.org/images/stories/2008/investinginhealth_finalfinal.pdf.