Health And Wellness In The Workplace

Initially introduced by Halbert Dunn in the 1950’s, wellness became a popular buzzword during the late 1970’s and received considerable academic attention in the 1980’s.     

Wellness programs for staff members became more widespread during the following decade, and credible evidence for their economic viability began to be published.     

There have now been over 100 published studies on this topic and a number of systematic reviews.

Health risks increase costs.  Medical and medical insurance costs escalate with both age and number of risks present.8,10   the number of risks is also strongly related to sick time absenteeism, Employee’s Compensation costs, short-term disability, and reduced productivity (”presenteeism”).

Early worker wellness programs were relatively basic and usually produced a return on investment (ROI) of less than one dollar for every dollar spent operating the program (ROI = <1 - 1).8

Such programs might  be characterized as “fun-oriented”.  Participation is entirely voluntary, and there is no particular focus on the reduction of particularly identified high risks.  

Interventions and activities are not customized, and there’s no emphasis on the management of health costs.  These programs are normally site-based only, lack choices to address all of the major behaviorally-related health risks, and lack multimodal presentation.  

Minimal or no incentives are provided to staff members for participation, and services to spouses and family members aren’t available.  Most such programs lack meaningful investigation.  

More conventional programs are “activity-oriented” and have shown an ROI of between 1 - 2.5 and 1 - 3.5.8 These programs may have a greater emphasis on health and risk reduction, although the efforts are relatively wide and not personalized.  

They might have some generalized emphasis on healthcare cost management, although not necessarily aimed at specific high risks.  Most are site-based and voluntary, with spouses included only rarely.  

Modest incentives might  be utilized to encourage participation.  Formal analysis might  be weak.

The newest and most economically viable programs are “results-oriented” and exemplify the health and productivity management model.  These programs consistently produce return rates of 1 - 4 or greater within a 12-24 month period.8  

Such programs are strongly focused on the reduction of especially identified high risks and the management of healthcare costs.  They are generally voluntary, but use strong financial and other incentives to promote participation.  

They’re multi-component in nature (address all major risks), and have both onsite and virtual modalities of operation.  The interventions are highly targeted and individualized, and offered to spouses as well as staff members.

For businesses, the cost of providing health insurance for their employees is of excellent importance.  Those costs have been increasing at annual rates between 6% and 14%.

Chapman’s 2007 systematic review7 stated an average reduction in health care costs of 26.5% then of employee wellness programs.  His review covered 60 of the most scientifically exact studies, with an average of 3.77 years of study.

Absenteeism due to illness is another cost driver.  Chapman’s review7 reports an average reduction in sick leave of 25.3 percent.   Cost for Employee’s Compensation was reduced by 40.7 percent, and disability costs by 24.2 percent.

There’s also an emerging literature on the costs of presenteeism (reduced productivity).11,13  In one study, every risk decreased through a wellness program yielded a 9% reduction in presenteeism (and a 2% reduction in absenteeism).11

Some businesses have achieved a zero percent increase in healthcare costs across at least brief periods of time.10  Doing so requires 90-95 percent participation of the employee population in focused wellness programs, with 75%-85 percent of the staff members falling into the low risk category.10     

Although extensive efforts to lower the risk status of those in moderate or high risk categories must be made, the needs of currently healthy staff members must be addressed as well to avoid increases in risk-status.   

Given the size of the federal workforce, meaningful cost savings in the government’s contribution to health insurance premiums for employees can be achieved when a majority of that population were participating in active wellness programs.     

Likewise, improvements in absenteeism, employee’s compensation, disability, presenteeism, and turnover then of robust employee wellness programs would yield substantial fiscal benefits for the government.   

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 Corporate Wellness Economic Return Studies -  2005 Update.  The Art of Wellness, July/August, 1-15.

5   Chapman, Larry.   (2006)   Employee Participation in Corporate Wellness and Wellness Programs -   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 Wellness Coaching in Corporate Wellness.   the Art of Wellness, July/August, 1-12.

7   Chapman, Larry.  (2007)   Proof Positive -   an Analysis of the cost-Effectiveness of Corporate 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 Employers” Conference, Orlando, FL, January 23-24.

9   Edington, Dee.   (2001)   Emerging Research -   A View from One Research Center.  American Journal of Wellness 15(5) -  341-349.

10   Edington, Dee W.  (2007)   Health Management as a Serious Business Strategy.  Presentation at the World Research Group “Rewarding Healthful Behaviors for Health Plans and Corporations” Conference, Orlando, FL, January 23-24.

11   Pelletier, Barbara, Boles, Myde, and Lunch, Wendy.  (2004)  Changes in Health Risks and Be sure 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 comprehensive Health and Disease Management (DM)Programs at the Worksite -  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 Condition.  Report released by the Milken Institute.   www.milkeninstitute.org.

14   Partnership for Prevention.  (2008) Investing in Health -   Proven Wellness Practices for Workplaces.   http - //www.prevent.org/images/stories/2008/investinginhealth_finalfinal.pdf.

Corporate America is increasingly investing in employee wellness because it’s good business.  In order to meet productivity demands, companies 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 advantages of staff member wellness programs, including lowered absenteeism, lowered injuries and workman’s compensation costs, lowered health care costs, lowered staff member turnover, in addition to increased productivity, greater staff member satisfaction, and improved morale.1-10  

The more recent literature reflects improvements in wellness programming along with greater return on investment.  In general, the more focused and intensive the program, the greater benefit realized.  

To enhance their effectiveness federal government employee wellness programs could  be able to incorporate some features described.  Employee wellness 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 tobacco use, lack of physical activity, excess weight, unhealthful diet, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, stress, depression, and so on.     

High-risk employees are namely targeted for intervention, although the most successful programs also direct efforts towards healthful employees for maintain their low-risk status.  This model emphasizes outcomes as opposed to simply offering wellness activities for their own sake.     

2   Health risk (assessment|appraisal}

Use of a computerized health risk (assessment|appraisal}  instrument with individualized feedback and recommendations is nearly universal in successful programs.  Employees take the questionnaire annually in many cases.     

The HRA serves to elevate 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 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 wellness programs combine the results of the health risk (assessment|appraisal} 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 (assessment|appraisal}s often incorporate biometric data in their risk analysis.   

4   Wellness Program Incentives

Employees are frequently given monetary or other meaningful rewards for completing an HRA, participation in a program or class, specific accomplishments like stopping use of tobacco, losing weight, or exercising, and for maintaining healthful status and/or behaviors.     

In many cases the monetary incentives are associated with reductions in health insurance premiums.  Some programs use disincentives in addition to incentives, such as charging workers who smoke higher rates for their health insurance contribution.   

5   High wellness program participation rates

Successful programs use incentives to drive participation rates up.  They also market their programs extensively, and may use contest or challenge strategies to heighten enthusiasm and encourage participation.   

6   Wellness coaching

Staff Members with identified risks or desire to improve their health habits might  be periodically coached via telephone by trained health coaches.     

Coaching assists staff members set and achieve realistic lifestyle-related objectives including those addressing stress, work life balance, use of tobacco, weight, physical activity, and various behavior modifications.     

Three or more sessions are ordinarily offered.  In some intensive programs, the coaching extends to actual disease management (DM) intervention for workers 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 for accommodate the needs of all employees.     

In addition to onsite physical activity and healthy eating events, on-line programs, e-mail reminders and notices, printed newsletters and materials, and workplace courses and seminars are common dissemination strategies.   

8   Upper-level management support

Enthusiastic and frequent endorsement by  upper-level management is critical to achieving high rates of participation.  When senior executives are wellness role models themselves the effects of endorsement are enhanced.   

9   Frequent contact

Successful programs have frequent contact of some sort with every staff member.  This may  be through advertising and marketing efforts (e.g., posters, e-mail notices, reminders, or messages, etc.), bulletin boards, newsletters, staff meeting presentations, discussion in new staff member orientation, supervisory sessions, etc.      

The key is to enhance employee 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’ve easy access to the wellness programs and activities.  Open and uncomplicated enrollment processes achieve this.     

Some businesses automatically enroll all workers and then allow those who don’t wish to participate to “opt-out”.  This practice has been proven to increase enrollment rates in some settings.   

11   Family involvement

Many programs encourage spouses and other family members to participate in the corporation wellness activities and to adopt a healthy lifestyle along with the designated staff member.  It’s far easier for the staff member to have a healthy lifestyle when his/her family does so as well.   

12   Use of tobacco cessation

Because tobacco use and other tobacco use is the number one threat to health it is vital to offer workers effective and convenient assistance with quitting.     

Access to smoking cessation pharmaceuticals is often part of such programs.  In-house programs provide the most convenient access to these services, although on-line or telephone-based programs may  be available as well.     

13   Physical Activity

Regular physical activity is a core component of every wellness program.  Employees must be strongly encouraged to engage in regular physical activity.     

Most 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’s imperative that programs offer effective assistance with weight control.  Extensive encouragement from  senior management to shed excess weight is important.     

Online programs, worksite programs, or discounted access to weight control programs in the community may all be available.  Long-term follow-up is critical for maintenance of weight loss.   

15   Stress management

Workplace stress is perhaps the most common complaint among workers and a major contributor to absenteeism, presenteeism (reduced productivity), and low morale.     
   
Almost all successful wellness programs offer assistance with personal and workplace stress.  Some programs refer workers 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 businesses endeavor to structure the work environment to minimize stress, both physically and operationally.   

16   Biometric screenings/immunizations

Workers are actively encouraged to complete recommended health 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 main care medical services is a growing trend.  The rapidly escalating costs of medical care insurance for workers has stimulated this trend.     

Some companies have found that it is less costly to provide primary care services themselves than to fund those services through health insurance.     

Onsite care also reduces the amount of time employees would otherwise spend away from the worksite getting such services.    

References   

1   Aldana, Steven G.  (2001)   Financial Impact of Wellness Programs -   A Robust 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-Analysis of Corporate Wellness Economic Return Studies -  2005 Update.  The Art of Wellness, July/August, 1-15.

5   Chapman, Larry.   (2006)   Employee Participation in Corporate Wellness and Wellness Programs -   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 Wellness Coaching in Corporate Wellness.   the Art of Wellness, July/August, 1-12.

7   Chapman, Larry.  (2007)   Proof Positive -   an Analysis of the cost-Effectiveness of Corporate 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 Corporations” Conference, Orlando, FL, January 23-24.

9   Edington, Dee.   (2001)   Emerging Research -   A View from One Research Center.  American Journal of Wellness 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 Make 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 comprehensive Health and Illness Management (DM)Programs at the Worksite -  Update VI 2000-2004.  JOEM 47(10)1051-1058.

13   DeVol, Ross, Bedroussian, Armen, et. al.  (2007)  an Unhealthful 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 Workplaces.   http - //www.prevent.org/images/stories/2008/investinginhealth_finalfinal.pdf.

Examinations determine the outcome of a Wellness Program. They help you figure out if your goals were met. It’s a good idea to add an analysis component to your Wellness Program.

Examinations may conclude that some interventions didn’t work well. You may find that a well-liked Wellness Program costs too much and didn’t really affect employees’ health.

While these might not be the outcomes you hoped for, without this information you could continue ineffective interventions. Having this information will help you create better solutions.

When your results are excellent, it’s magnificent! You can spread the word to workers and management that your program is achieving its objectives.

Three major areas of an examination

• Wellness Program structure - the basic framework of the program

• Wellness Program process - How well the program is run

• Wellness Program outcomes - Whether the program met the set objectives

Common questions used to evaluate a Wellness Program

Structure Questions

• What is included in the Wellness Program? What is the intervention?

• Where does the Wellness Program take place?

• How’s the Wellness Program delivered? What content is included?

• Who manages the Wellness Program?

Process Questions

• How many people  participate?

• Do participants complete the Wellness Program?

• Are participants satisfied?

• Which aspects of the Wellness Program are best attended?

Outcome Questions

• Does the Wellness Program improve knowledge about health issues?

• Does the Wellness Program change behavior?

• Does the Wellness Program save the corporation money?

• What’s the return on investment (ROI)?

Download a sample program (http - //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/wellness_partners/services/turnkey_programs/walking/participant_eval.pdf) evaluation from IBC’s Walking Towards Wellness program.

• Identify through an employee survey what incentives they value.

• Identify what incentives the organization can provide as well as what the budget will allow.

• Ensure that every participant who achieves a goal receives some recognition.

• Avoid offering incentives for the “best” or the “most.”

• Prevent using food as a reward.

• Use incentives to promote your wellness program, through logos and branding.

Incentives encourage staff members to adopt positive behaviors or maintain an existing positive behavior that may potentially help the employee stay healthful and live longer. Adopting positive health behavior is fundamentally what wellness is about.

Incentives could be used to increase participation rates, help person complete a Wellness Program, or help person change or adhere to healthy behaviors.

Providing incentives and rewards will send an important message to the staff members that your organization is committed to assisting them with improving their health. It also plays a significant role in arousing person to participate.

Tips on how to pick appropriate incentives -

• Identify through an employee survey what incentives they value.

• Identify what incentives the organization can provide in addition to what the budget will allow.

• Ensure that every participant who achieves a goal receives some recognition.

• Prevent offering incentives for the “best” or the “most.”

• Prevent using food as a reward.

• Use incentives to promote your Wellness Program, through logos and branding.

When developing a robust Wellness Program, make certain 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 tobacco use sections and the staff cafeteria.

Tips on designing a Wellness Program -

• Develop activities based on your plan goals addressing the specific needs of your staff members. Focus on those topics that are of greatest interest to your staff members and the greatest needs of your business, in that order. Prevent 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 (such as tobacco use cessation). You might or might not offer interventions at the workplace. Notwithstanding, you should encourage individuals to make lifestyle changes that they want to make even without an external incentive.

• Education on disease 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 -  Modified 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 employees

• 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 customers

• Focus on written policies and guidelines

• Make certain to set objectives 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’ll state exactly what the organization intends to accomplish.

It ought to be written so that it may be easily and clearly communicated. A specific goal will make it easier for those writing goals and action plans to address the following questions -  

• Who is 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 if it’s quantifiable. to determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions like -  How much? How many? How’ll 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 allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may 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 may not be realistic for your company right now; a better goal would be to substitute some of the chips, candy bars and pies for pretzels, yogurt and dried fruit.

Timely - Lastly, a goal must have a timeframe -  for next week, in three months, by age 35. It must have a beginning and ending point. It should also have some intermediate points at which progress can be examined.

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

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

Individuals  are more willing to participate and support wellness efforts if they’re 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, specifically if you’ll be sending the survey to a big number of employees. 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 corporation president. Be certain to include a statement about confidentiality and anonymity.

• Ask a group of representative employees to review the survey before it is distributed. Find out if the questions will be understood by employees and won’t 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’ve fewer than 500 employees, everyone should receive one. the benefit of everyone receiving a recent survey may 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 precise and reliable the results. A minimum response of 40% to 50% is considered valuable.

A vital 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 as well as provides an great automobile 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

• Employee assistance program

• Information technology

• Communications

• Health and safety department

• Workers 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 individuals  meeting monthly is equivalent to a wellness committee. A mission statement for the committee should be created by the second meeting. This way, everyone 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  senior management support is one of the most vital factors in the success of a worksite Wellness Program.

Upper-level management executives are responsible for making sure that the organization meets its objectives. They can provide additional assistance by assisting you to link your Wellness Program objectives 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 business including  executive management, mid-level management, and grass-root workers.

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 advantages 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 management support. (http - //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/worksite_wellness/employer_tools/sr_mgt_support.doc)

• Flexibility of employee 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 peers, you can find the best solution for your organization.

Wellness Program -  Research Questions

• Find out when Wellness Program has been done in the past. If 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 beginning 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 starting a program.

Wellness Program -  Worker Feedback

In addition, you can start the process of understanding your organization by assessing  the survey below -

WORD DOC -  http - //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/worksite_wellness/business_tools/work_climate_survey.doc