Wellness plans, wellness programs and more…

A Health Promotion Program is an organized wellness program to assist and support staff in establishing healthier life choices.  This can include increasing staff member awareness on health topics, scheduling behavior change programs, and/or establishing organization policies that support health-related goals.  

Programs and policies that promote increased exercise, use of tobacco prevention and cessation, and healthful food selections are several examples.  

Wellness Dimensions

Wellness is more than fitness.  In addition to fitness, the dimensions of optimal health include

• Spiritual Wellness Dimension

• Emotional Dimension of Wellness

• Social Wellness Dimension

• Intellectual Wellness Dimension

These Wellness Dimensions are often depicted as a “life wheel” with examples of health components that include –

• fitness,
• nutrition,
• purpose in life,
• financial planning,
• social connections and support systems,
• stress management,
• mind-body health,
• career planning and
• continued learning.  

The key for individual health is keeping the “life wheel” in balance.  A extensive health promotion program addresses most, when not all, of these dimensions.

Why Employee Wellness?

Workers spend a great deal of time on the job, and the fact is that our traditional work-week is increasing. In fact, the typical American now works about 47 hours per week.  

Plus, technologies such as modems, laptops, cellular phones, voice and email have blurred the work-life boundary.  These realities cut down on the amount of time that the average individual can devote to wellness pursuits, and yet personnel are expected to be at top performance when at work.

A recent study  by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses found that employee health promotion or health promotion programs are successful in assisting workforce make positive health changes due to several factors such as convenience, environmental support, and coworker or social acceptance.  

What’s the Link between Wellness and the Workplace?

Programs and policies that promote healthful behaviors may make a large difference on staff member wellness AND have an impact on the organization’s bottom line.   Studies have shown that for every dollar invested by businesss in company wellness/wellness programs, there were savings ranging from $1.49 to $4.91 with a median savings of $3.14*.  

In organization terms, that is more than a 3 – 1 minimum return on investment – a number that is hard to ignore, and a best practice that should warrant serious consideration from corporations.  

In truth, a corporate wellness literature review posted in Health Promotion Practitioner Journal found –  

• 19 studies found a 28.3% reduction in sick time

• 16 studies demonstrated a 5.6 – 1 return on investment

• 23 showed a 26.1 percent reduction in healthcare costs

• 4 found a 30 percent reduction in direct medical and workers’ compensation claims

There’s little doubt that a extensive health promotion program targeted to meet a organization’s specific needs can reduce costs by reducing absenteeism, lowering healthcare expenditures, reducing staff member turnover, and increasing productivity.

• USA Department of Health and Human Services, 2003

Ten Steps Toward Strategic Wellness Programs

The Wellness Program management world is evolving rapidly. Each month, there are new research findings that support the premise that Wellness Programs and disease management (DM) have a long-term impact on health care costs.

Many big organizations that began Wellness Programs three to five years ago are showing savings in health, disability, and staff members compensation costs. Small to mid-size organizations are watching all this and wondering where to start with wellness.

Getting executive management support and budget approval is among the challenges at the starting of a Health Promotion Program. This is the case because Health Promotion Programs could be expensive, averaging $150-300 per employee a year in large companies.

Most of the savings aren’t realized for a number of years. This long-term investing is hard for corporations on the move.

The key to success for Wellness Programs is to take a strategic approach. Here are ten steps to consider when starting a Wellness Program.

1. Start with senior level management. Without senior level management support, a wellness strategy can fall flat. Start with the health of your executive team and discover your wellness champions at the top of the corporation.

2. Analyze the problem. Look at your healthcare claims and analyze the trends. Which conditions are driving your medical, disability, and workers’ compensation claims and which are modifiable? What’s worked and what has not thus far? What’s the long-term impact of doing nothing?

3. Hold an initial wellness meeting. Invite your key stakeholders both inside and outside the corporation. Ask your broker to facilitate the meeting and invite key health vendors including health, disability, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), fitness, and occupational nursing.

Review claims and utilization data and identify key areas of concern. Look at current offerings and see how they can be tailored to the needs of the population.

4. Consider both healthful and unhealthful employees. Since 85% of claims are normally attributed to 15% of claimants, it’s essential to reach those with the most costly conditions while also reaching people  who are at risk for developing preventable illnesses in the future.

Voluntary wellness programs like lunchtime wellness seminars miss many of the people  who need them most. Consider wellness programs that are population-wide or target intact workgroups. Wellness incentives help but do not motivate everybody.

5. Make sure to set short-term objectives for the wellness programs. Make sure to set some realistic short-term objectives based on your key areas of concern. Are there any plan design changes that could have an immediate impact on spending? Are there some programmatic actions that could have immediate results?

6. Find out what staff members are thinking. Hold some focus groups to determine where individuals  are with wellness. What is working? What isn’t? How much interest do individuals  have in the Health Promotion Programs? What obstacles and barriers are staff members experiencing when they attempt to change behavior?

7. Make certain you’ve a high-impact Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP). Your first wellness dollars ought to go into upgrading your Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP). A highly utilized Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP) can provide a foundation for all of your future wellness activities.

A good Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP) is a trusted link to the hearts and minds of staff.  At no additional cost, the Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP) can provide needed follow-up coaching and personal attention for staff who are working on modifiable health behaviors or involved in disease management programs.

Nutritionists, fitness, pregnancy, and stress management specialists are all part of a high-value Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP).

8. Be certain to set three to five year goals for healthcare savings and measure them. Get help from your broker and insurance carrier help you on long-term goals for your health, disability, and employees compensation plans.

Establish program metrics that will help you to measure Return On Investment. Go beyond participation rates, completion rates and program satisfaction. Measure changes in readiness, changes in behavior, and changes in risk factors. Establish rigorous methods to measure health care savings over the long term.

9. Make sure to set goals for organizational health. Consider the more intangible advantages of a wellness program and quantify them whenever possible. Include worker turnover rates, cost of new hires, worker morale, benefit satisfaction data, and business of choice issues in setting goals. Establish ways to measure success in these areas.

10. Add specifics to your short and long-term plan. Include a program strategy, a communication strategy, and an incentive strategy that’ll fit with your corporate culture. Focus on integration of related components along a health continuum with communications that are focused, simple, and human.

Establish a budget that includes key components like consumer education, wellness, health risk appraisals, and regular biometric screens.

Wellness Programs are critical to improving the health of our nations. Most adults spend more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else, making it a excellent venue for promoting healthful habits.

The workplace organizational culture and environment are powerful influences on behavior and this needs to be put to use to assisting staff members to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Benefits to Wellness Programs include –  

• Weight reduction

• Improved physical fitness

• Improved stamina

• Lower amounts of stress

• Enhanced well-being, self-image and self-esteem

Corporations can also benefit from Wellness Programs. As reported by recent research, employers’ benefits are –

• Enhanced recruitment and retention of healthful employees

• Lowered health care costs

• Decreased rates of illness and injuries

• Decreased worker absenteeism

• Increased worker relations and morale

• Improved productivity

• Weight reduction

• Better physical fitness

• Better stamina

• Reduced amounts of stress

• Increased wellness, self-image and self-esteem

Corporations can also benefit from Wellness Programs. According to recent research, companys’ benefits are –

• Enhanced recruitment and retention of healthy staff

• Lowered health care costs

• Decreased rates of disease and injuries

• Lowered staff member absenteeism

• Enhanced staff member relations and morale

• Improved productivity

A USA  Department of Health and Human Services report revealed that at workplaces with exercise programs as components of their Wellness Programs have –

• Decreased healthcare costs by 20 to 55%

• Lowered short-term sick time by six to 32 percent

• Enhanced productivity by two to 52 percent

Thanks to modern medicine, life expectancy for American Citizens has continually increased. Just how much we enjoy these additional years, however, depends greatly on how we have lived our lives.

When our quality of life is to remain high so that we can fully enjoy these extra years, we must practice good consuming habits, be active and refrain from using tobacco products.

Who needs Wellness Programs? When you work in an office or a jobsite or are a member of an organization who spends a considerable amount of time at work, you’ll benefit from a well-designed staff member health promotion program. Employees spend a minimum of about 200 hours a month at work – a considerable amount of time.

Further, stress, distractions and the pressures of the job can take its toll on the employee, which makes it important that a health promotion program is implemented.

Today, all across America, Canada, Europe and Asia, top corporate Health Promotion Programs are being used to help improve staff member conditions at work and reduce the cost of staff member health care.

Some of the top Wellness Programs currently in use today include –

Health Promotion Programs – HRAs (HRAs)

Health Risk Assessment (HRA) is a top Health Promotion Program currently in use globally. Organizations that start it determine the safety and health concerns of workers by the assessment of appropriateness of the facilities and equipment against the needs of the workers.

It can, for instance, guide the business into deciding how much air quality within an office room affects the users and then help the assessment team to come up with the measures necessary to correct the problem.

An Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) can also evaluate the level of exposure workers have to certain dangerous or dangerous materials and practices.

Wellness Programs – Immunizations.

This isn’t always practiced in every country since there are regions where government sponsored immunization shots are available. Nevertheless, it’s also become an important component of the top Health Promotion Programs in many organizations in North America.

Immunization shots, like those used to combat flu, for example, are offered to staff members for free.

Staff Member Assistance Programs (EAPs)

Staff Member Assistance Programs (EAPs) consist of a wide variety of services. It can range from providing educational resources to workforce regarding health issues to sponsoring health services and medical care. In many organizations, medical and insurance have also become a staple part of their benefits system.

Weight Management Programs

This is another wellness program that companies use, specifically those that offer in-house commissary or cafeteria services. Instead of serving richer, high-calorie fare, cafeterias offer options for a healthier diet, usually in the form of low-calorie foods and sugar substitutes.

Employee Wellness Newsletters – Health Education Programs

One of the top Health Promotion Programs that businesses can implement is a self-powered tool using a newsletter to promote wellness, coupled with a visible campaign.

The campaign may  be done periodically and focus on a specific topic, such as tobacco use hazards, cancer, stress, carpal tunnel syndrome, safety in the worksite, etc.

The newsletter in itself may be an effective means to deliver information to personnel or members of an organization but it is far from perfect. Some personnel, for instance, might not peruse the newsletter in its entirety or even pay attention to it.

If the issues outlined in the newsletter are promoted through an active and highly visible campaign, it’ll be easier to maximize positive results.

Physical Fitness and Exercise Plans

Another top wellness program for corporations is one that involves physical activities. Companies often sponsor exercise-related events such as marathons and organization sports programs to encourage staff to remain fit or lose excess weight. In mid- to large-sized corporations, corporations might even pay for fitness club memberships or in-house exercise facilities.

Wellness Program Incentives.

Some of the top Wellness Programs implemented by companies involve incentive rewards. This involves company-sponsored programs that reward workers for achieving specific wellness objectives.

Participation in health campaigns and signing up for Health Promotion Programs are two of the most widely rewarded schemes. Rewards can range from special recognitions to points (for bigger rewards) to specific gifts. In several cases, cash may also be used.

Notwithstanding, incentive systems have had mixed reactions and levels of success. But it continues to be among the top choices among corporations who are willing to modify it for fit their unique needs.

Health Promotion Programs – Group Activities

In many corporations, corporations take benefit of peer pressure for encourage employees to take part in Wellness Programs. This is currently one of the favorite employee Wellness Programs currently in use today and growing in popularity.

Coworker pressure is usually leveraged to help promote competitions referring to corporate wellness and to persuade personnel to be active in company-sponsored wellness fairs.

Health promotion programs at the corporate level are beneficial, right? Health Promotion statistics obviously show that such wellness programs are not only cost-effective to the business but can assist the worker in developing a healthier lifestyle.

With the rising cost of health care, wellness programs simply make sense. So where does the problem come in? Let’s examine the topic from both perspectives.

Health Promotion Programs –  the Good

• A sampling of corporate returns on investment for wellness programs –  Bank of America –  600%; General Motors – 370%; Pepsico –  300%; Citibank –  465%; and the Washoe County School District leading the pack at a whopping 1,560 percent. (Campbell,J., Health Promotion Improvement Experts, www.wellnessimprovementspecialists.com, Albuquerque, New Mexico.)

• Companies with wellness programs have realized a 28% reduction in sick leave, a 26% reduction in adjunctive healthcare costs and a 30% reduction in disability and personnel compensation costs. (Health Affairs, Volume 21, No.2, March, 2002.)

• The Washoe county School District in Northern Nevada realized a $15.60 return on investment for every dollar spent because of a 20 percent reduction in absenteeism. (Hardy,A. (2005).  At the Top of the Class. WELCOA’s Absolute Advantage Magazine, 5(1), 14-20.)

• Health promotion programs provide the structure, encouragement, incentives and ongoing support that many person need to make lifestyle changes.

• Workers also realize returns on their efforts. FiServ, a financial services technology corporation, gave personnel who filled out a health risk appraisal a meaningful discount on their medical insurance premium. (Holland, Kelley, the New York Times, July 22, 2007.)

Wellness Programs –  the Bad

The flip side of the argument centers on basic human rights. Do we want/need our corporation to tell us to eat our veggies or lose 30 pounds? Some businesses are doing just that and at least one lawsuit has resulted because of it.

• Three hundred businesses have requested assistance from a national employment and labor law firm to institute more assertive wellness programs.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

• Clarian Health, based in Indianapolis, Will begin lowering staff member paychecks by $10.00 for every staff member who has a Body Mass Index (BMI)  of greater than 29.9 because not enough employees were utilizing their wellness services.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

• Scott Rodrigues filed a suit against his prospective corporation, Scotts Miracle-Gro, because he believed the company’s antiuse of tobacco policy violated his civil rights.  The corporation has a policy against hiring employees who smoke and Mr. Rodrigues’drug screen was positive for nicotine.(Holland, Kelley, the New York Times,July 22,2007.)

• Employee advocates are concerned that health discrimination might not be covered below the Americans with Disabilities Act.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

Penalizing staff members by hitting them hardest where it hurts the most,their pocketbook, does not appear to be a favorable approach to molding human behavior.

Such tactics may result in increased resentments and retaliation, primarily in the form of absenteeism and presenteeism (decreased productivity on the job.) Voluntary, incentive-based health promotion programs, such as the one in the Washoe County School District, can and do produce results.

A positive attitude for upper management along with an opportunity for personnel to have a stake in the decision-making may yield the greatest dividends to both corporation and staff member.

The motivation and resolve needed to change unhealthful lifestyle habits can best be derived from the basic tenets of encouragement, respect and support.

Getting Started – Secure upper-level management support

• Justifications for having a wellness fair

• Health risk assessments

• Be certain to help for high-risk population –  smokers, obese employees

• Early detection of diabetes, heart disease risk factors (high cholesterol, high blood pressure)

Health Fair Participation – Identify your audience

• Staff Members only, whole family, retirees?

• Community involvement? Theme?

Health Fair Time Line  

• Make sure to set a date and time Allow 4-6 months of planning time

Wellness Fair Creating

• Identify health-related screenings, tests, other activities you will offer Identify educational literature and other learning opportunities health fair will provide Include any “fun” activities, or food/beverage needs for the fair

Health Fair Location and Logistics

• Consider location big enough to accommodate the largest volume of people  at “peak time” periods

• Determine how booths/stations will be set up

Wellness Fair Providers

• Target relevant health/safety-related community and corporate vendors to provide services, educational materials, incentives and giveaways

Wellness Fair Advertising

• Determine advertising and marketing tools to be used to inform employees/participants (posters, mailings, e-mail)

• Determine any incentives or giveaways that will be included in the fair or used to encourage participation in the fair

Wellness Fair Scheduling

• Coordinate timing and events with staff and/or volunteers

Health Fair Personnel

• Schedule appropriate professionals Doctor or similar health care personnel to provide patient consultation for review of blood draw lab results

• Nurse(s) to administer immunizations

• Administrative/all-purpose individual to facilitate paper work, finger sticks and to provide general assistance

• Pharmacist or pharmacist assistant if appropriate Dietitian for nutritional counseling suggested personnel designated for health fairs

Footnotes

1 the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation via Reuters Health E-Line.

2 Kaiser Daily Policy on Health Report, (9/11/03)

3 www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/press/archive/lower_cost.htm

4 “Is Stress Nibbling Away at Your Bottom Line?” By Stephen Alper, Nov. 15, 2002.

5 Health Promotion in the Workplace, Michael P. O’Donnell, page 415.

6 http – //www.bmpcoe.org/bestpractices/internal/dayto/dayto_6.html

As reported by Gordian Health Solutions, the effectiveness of health promotion programs in bettering health and lowering healthcare costs is directly linked to incentives –  

• The more substantial the incentives,
• The higher the success rate.

Incentives can range from tokens of achievement, like t-shirts, water bottles and sports equipment, to more substantial financial awards, like cash incentives or copay vouchers for the successful completion of a health promotion program.

Nationwide Insurance is seeing results from a small incentive program initiated by one of the corporation’s on-site nurses.  To encourage lunchtime walking, the employee has informally launched a “shoelace program” modeled after the karate-belt color system.

Employees progress through the color scale until they reach “black-lace” status.  The reward system has resulted in more workforce making commitments to walk during their lunch hour.

At the high end of the reward spectrum, some corporations pay cash to staff members who meet wellness objectives. LuK, Inc. offers staff members $250 for kicking the tobacco habit and remaining smoke free for 12 months.

For logging fitness points that add up to 10 miles a month, staff members are eligible for health assessments, which can lead to reward amounts of up to $225.

The most effective motivator, as reported by Gordian research, comes through linking participation in health promotion programs directly to insurance premiums. Doing so clearly demonstrates to personnel the positive effects of wellness on their own health care costs.

Frequently, the first step in linking health promotion programming to insurance coverage is lowering deductibles for wellness care or eliminating deductibles altogether. By adding this benefit, companies can encourage workers to undertake routine screenings and other procedures to respond to health problems before they become chronic.

Early detection benefits both patient health and employer healthcare costs.

Incentivizing wellness program participation with health care credits

More frequently, corporations are going beyond increased wellness care coverage and looking to demonstrate the importance of wellness by linking participation to employees’ bottom lines.

Worthington Industries has lately rolled out a health promotion program that authorizes staff to eliminate their portion of the insurance premium by enrolling in a Healthful Choices health promotion program.

During the first year of the Healthful Choices program, personnel and their spouses complete Personal Health Assessments and biometric screenings to determine their levels of health risks.

Nurses, dietitians and exercise professionals are available to help moderate- and high-risk participants create individual action plans for improved health through the use of educational materials, behavior modification, telephone help from third-party program health coordinators, and formal health management programs.

By completing the assessments, personnel earn their full premium credit. Because some plans at Worthington require no worker contribution, a cash award takes the place of a credit in those cases.  

During year two of the wellness program, the wellness bar is raised slightly.  To continue to receive the wellness credit, participants in the moderate- to high-risk category are going to be required to work at setting goals with third-party health coordinators.

Year three raises the bar again, requiring participants to show progress in meeting goals and to continue to work with health coordinators to reach goals.

After year three, Worthington Industries workers are going to be on the wellness track.  The corporation believes that will mean a healthier workforce and cost savings for workers and the corporation.

The well being of Worthington personnel is the foundation of this wellness program, and both personnel and the company are expected to benefit from the long-term benefits of the Healthy Choices Wellness Program.

While Worthington has taken a wide approach to wellness, other businesses have found success in offering incentives in specific areas. Longaberger, for instance, offers a discount on healthcare policies for staff who do not use tobacco.

A personal employee who doesn’t use tobacco saves $7 per bi-weekly pay. for smoke-free personnel with family coverage whose families are also smoke-free, the savings increases to $14 per pay.

The next step –  Penalizing harmful behaviors

As it stands, healthcare is the only kind of insurance that does not focus on penalizing for behaviors that put the insured party at risk. With healthcare costs rising so dramatically, that could soon change.

Just as an accident likely raises auto insurance premiums, increasing premiums for those who engage in unhealthful behaviors is a possible next step in employers’ attempts to manage healthcare costs.

Reports that staff members would support this kind of action are stacking up. One Ohio business conducted an informal survey that indicated staff members would consider it a morale increase when health-conscious staff members were relieved of some of the burden of subsidizing care for staff members who engage in behaviors that negatively affect their health.

Whether or not or not this type of wellness program gains popularity, one thing is sure –  the need to control the rise in health care costs is becoming ever more pressing.

Take the first step

No matter what the strategy, from offering workers medical resources to providing incentives for healthy behaviors, companys have a real opportunity to improve morale and productivity, lower rates of absenteeism and control healthcare costs through wellness.

The first step is committing to taking one, whatever size effort is appropriate for your organization.  Big strides start with small steps.

Preventing injuries is a high priority for companys, specifically in factory establishings like Honda. That’s why the business offers a few programs-including line-site process investigations -to identify potential hazards and help reduce the chance of injury.

As part of an early intervention program, Honda personnel who are feeling pain can receive a massage of the affected area during work time.

Stretching programs are another effective tool in injury prevention. As reported by the Best Practices in Manufacturing Web site, Dayton Parts, Inc. (DPI) in Harrisburg, Pa., conducted research that revealed approximately 80% of all manufacturing injuries occurred within the first two hours of each shift.

After starting a program that required production workforce to stretch for 10 to 15 minutes at the starting of their shifts, they saw a dramatic reduction in injuries.

While the DPI program costs about $75,000 a year to operate, joined with other business programs, it has helped bring the annual cost of workers’ compensation from $700,000 to $200,000 each year.6

To help prevent lengthy absences and reduce workers’ compensation claims, Honda instituted a work recovery program. Through the program, workforce that have had an injury can work in a adapted job-getting better.

Workers in the program spend their work days receiving physical conditioning to raise overall fitness, physical therapy to restore functionality, health education and nutrition counseling.  The program is based on data that shows fewer work days are lost when an staff member stays connected to the work environment.

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, www.ohiobwc.com, provides a “10-Step Company Plan” as a guide for businesses in providing health promotion programs that aim to reduce injuries.  The plan includes information on safety and health programs to prevent occurrences of on-the-job accidents, including –

Staff Member involvement – to ensure the success of any company wellness program, workforce must participate in the safety and health-management process.

This may be done through safety and health audits, accident evaluations, or by forming safety and health involvement teams, focus groups or committees.

Orientation and training plan – Conduct orientation and training sessions to educate employees on the corporation’s safety policies.

These sessions should include procedures for the safe use of machinery and tools, chemical hazards and how to prevent contact or exposure, specific job/task safe practices, and hazard recognition and prevention.

Communication – Open communication keeps employees informed and provides suggestions and feedback on the effectiveness of the organization’s health promotion program.

Through memos, bulletin boards and staff meetings, important safety and health information can be conveyed throughout the company, keeping all executive management staff and employees knowledgeable about the organization’s safe practices.

The corporation plan also outlines incentives for post-injury procedures, including –

Medical treatment and return-to-work practices – arly return-to-work strategies help injured or ill personnel return to work in a timely manner.

Companies should establish a disability management policy to help injured or ill staff obtain quality medical treatment, making their transition back to work quick and effortless.

Timely notification of claims – Employers should document worksite injuries immediately after they occur and promptly send that documentation to a claims handler.

Quickly providing claim information demonstrates care and concern for the injured employee, avoids delays and confusion with the claim process, and reduces the potential for abuse or needless litigation.

Record keeping – Internal documents must be kept to record work-time injuries and to assess the success of the organization’s safety efforts.

Business audits, surveys and injury or illness reports can all be used to analyze which safety practices and policies have proven successful, and what areas of wellness need improvement.

Dr. Moore of Nationwide maintains that immunization is the most cost-effective treatment in medicine. for  instance, vaccinating children against the influenza virus averages a savings (including healthcare costs, parents’ missed work, etc.) of up to $35 per vaccine recipient.

And experts predict that estimate is low, because it does not take into account the rapid spread of the flu.

The American Association of Family Physicians’ Web site, www.aafp.org, offers a advised adult immunization schedule created by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

This schedule, tiered by age and chances of exposure, recommends diphtheria, tetanus, influenza, pneumonococcal, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, measles, mumps and rubella, varicella and meningococcal vaccinations.

Ideas to incorporate avoidance and early detection –  

• Hold a health fair and invite organizations that provide screening services for such conditions as blood pressure, blood iron, cholesterol, Body Mass Index  and diabetes.

• Offer educational materials about well-baby care and immunizations.

• Choose healthcare coverage plans that include wellness check-ups and immunizations.

• Provide on-site mammograms for workers.

• Sponsor onsite flu shots to coincide with flu season.

Benefits of Stress Reduction Programs

While stress cannot be eliminated from life, or even from the workplace, coping skills may be developed with relative ease. Stress management skills lead to reduced absenteeism and more effective, more productive workforce.

Because stress has been proven to contribute to such physical conditions as ulcers, high blood pressure (BP) and stroke, stress reduction has a direct impact on bettering physical health.

Studies have shown that heart patients who attend stress management programs have 42 percent lower health care costs. Other studies have documented a 50 percent reduction in medical services use when stress management programs are employed.

Moreover, Employee Assistance Program (EAP) professionals estimate that 20 percent of any workforce is affected by personal problems that can influence work performance.

Stress reduction tactics to consider –  

• Offer on-site yoga or meditation classes.

• Organize support groups among workforce.

• Sponsor stress management classes during the workday.

• Offer an worker assistance program that includes both counseling and referral.

• Provide onsite counseling for staff members in a work-related trauma, like the death of a colleague.