Posts from — September 2010

Program investigation could  be the last step, but it must be planned at the beginning of your efforts! Analysis assists you identify what parts of the health promotion program are working well and what parts need improvement.

Then, based on the analysis data, adjustments may be made to fine-tune your health promotion program.   Adjusting the health promotion program based on analysis data is critical to its continued success.

Assessing your wellness program does not have to be complicated.  HOWEVER, it’s crucial to plan how you’ll monitor your wellness efforts and determine success during the planning phase.

Likewise remember to evaluate the wellness program based on the objectives and objectives you already identified during your planning process.

In order to evaluate your wellness program you need to have a system to document specifics as you go along.  This can be as simple as maintaining file folders on wellness programs that are offered, or a computer document with a table or spreadsheet summarizing information gathering.  Consider -

o  Program topic and numbers of staff members who participated

o  The numbers of flyers taken by staff members or distributed and on what topics

o  The number of participants in a behavior modification program and how many met their goals as well as how many attended all the sessions

o  Numbers of staff members who continued the healthful behavior modification following the wellness program?

o  Overall employee satisfaction with the wellness program or each topic. Here is a sample analysis form.

Depending on your objectives and objectives, gather desired data and compare it to previous data accumulated during the initial assessment to determine when the objectives were met.  Such data might include

o  Absentee rates

o  Injury rates

o  Health risk factors Insurance costs

Summarize and Report Health Promotion Program Results

Once you’ve collected all of the investigation information it needs to be reviewed with the Wellness Committee and summarized. You’ll probably have positive results and some areas where a change is needed or additional focus required for continuous improvement.

This not-so positive information can be used to make any needed changes in addition to to plan for next year and is important to include in your report.

It is imperative that you communicate the wellness program results to both senior management and personnel.  Consider how senior management typically receives reports on operations and productivity issues and include the annual wellness program report in the same format.

At some companies the reports are made during upper-level management meetings using presentation styles like power point slides.  At other companies, graphs and bar charts are the norm or a list of the goals and the summary outcomes reported.

No matter the format, it is important to convey the outcomes and successes achieved, including any anecdotal stories, in addition to areas for improvement. Make certain to link the outcomes to the organization mission and bottom line whenever possible.

Staff Members want to receive the same information!  Consider using the same communication channels used when informing workforce of the health promotion program -

o  Corporation newsletters,

o  Bulletin boards,

o  E-mails

Also consider celebrating successes and recognizing achievements by -

o  Posting pictures from events

o  Highlighting success stories

o  Posting pictures of successes

o  Scheduling a celebration

o  Recognizing champions

Armed with data, Wellness Program topic preferences, objectives, and objectives â.” and a Wellness Committee rearing to get things done â.” it is now time to decide how best to take action.  This website provides tools to help you!

You can peruse about the different types of wellness programs offered by other corporations to get an idea of what might work for your corporation.

If your planning phase was well executed, you should simply have to follow through with the plans you’ve already made.

Important Health Promotion Program considerations include -

1. Formally Introduce the Health Promotion Program and consider policy statements that state the importance of the wellness program.  Examples include a general policy regarding the commitment to employee safety and health as well as specific policies such as No Use of tobacco, Healthful Eating and Physical Activity.

2. Communicate Your Program -  the best planned health promotion program with great health promotion programs won’t be advantageous when your personnel do not know about it or do not understand the options or how to participate.  Communicate your health promotion program using a selection of methods to ensure the message and “how-to’s” are heard!

Wellness Program Communication Strategies could include -

o  Newsletter articles

o  Postings on the corporation’s intranet or internet

o  A designated Champion of the health promotion program

o  Formal or informal meeting to announce wellness program, “the kick-off”

o  pamphlets / table tents,

o  Bulletin boards / kiosk where all material is promoted or found,

o  Email / phone messages,

o  Mailings or distributions

3. Use Health Promotion Program Incentives -  You’ll be amazed to figure out what individuals  will do for a free T-shirt.  Incentives can both support and motivate participation among staff.

Consider both formal or company incentives and informal or health promotion program rewards/prizes from local resources to reinforce participation in Health Promotion Programs. Either way, it is vital that you provide incentives that are attractive and meaningful to your employees.

Business Structural or Formal Health Promotion Program Incentives -

o  Discounts on staff member health insurance premiums or co-pays, or contributions to 401K programs, staff member stock choices, or other mechanisms.  Click here for additional information on health plan incentive ideas

o  Fitness Center/Fitness Center discounts or enrollment fee coverage

o  Public transportation vouchers

o  Flexible work time options

o  ”Wellness Days” off work

Rewards/Prizes or Informal Health Promotion Program Incentives -

o  Cash â.” a very effective incentive!

o  Prize incentives like gift certificates to heart healthful restaurants; music player to use while exercising, emergency kits, or any other prizes that would motivate your employees.

o  T-Shirts, water bottles, or other affordable rewards

4. Assess community resources available to provide some of the wellness services.  The local health department or your organization healthcare provider might  be able to assist you with this information.  There are also providers throughout the State providing great wellness services for companies. They’re available to help you strategize and find the best options available.

5. Implement your health promotion program as planned documenting information and outcomes as you go such as numbers of participants, dates of activities, and any other special details you are tracking.

The Wellness Committee ought to set out a plan for the entire year that outlines accomplishing objectives and objectives, as well as provides details for marketing and advertising and assessing  the health promotion program.

The plan is the detailed map of what kinds of wellness programs will be offered, when and where they will be scheduled, how they will be marketed and evaluated, and what the budget is.

It’s crucial that you plan your wellness activities based on your goals and goals, as well as the budget since different strategies will yield different outcomes.  For  instance, if your objective is to elevate awareness on a topic, then distributing handouts or scheduling a one-time education session may  be appropriate.

Nevertheless, when your goal is to change behavior, then different strategies could  be necessary, like ongoing weekly sessions and support groups.  Click here to link to Program Design Options for more ideas.

Wellness Program Marketing and Advertising

This is the time to plan your marketing and advertising strategies! Just how can you market the health promotion program and ongoing activities?  No matter how you decide to, market often, keep it fresh, and remind staff members again and again!

Consider having an overall kickoff activity to let everyone know about the wellness program. Senior Level Management ought to provide the introduction or invitation so that all staff are alert to their support and leadership in the wellness program.

Possible marketing methods -

o  Sending email messages, including reminders

o  Posting flyers,

o  Displaying bulletin board postings,

o  Writing articles,

o  Sending letters or

o  Sending special invitations.

Other Health Promotion Program Considerations -

o  Is the wellness program promoted to all personnel or to a specific target audience?

o  Do you have a health promotion program champion (someone who is connected with different groups in the company, and well respected) who can help in your promotion efforts?

o  If your advertising efforts don’t seem to be working, do you have a way to revisit and adjust your strategy?

o  How’ll you determine success and evaluate your wellness program?  and how will you collect the information needed to evaluate your wellness program?

Topics most often included in Health Promotion Programs -

o  Nutrition

o  Exercise/Exercise

o  Tobacco Use Cessation

o  Bone Health

o  Heart Health

o  Healthy Back

o  Stress Reduction

o  Chronic Condition Awareness and Prevention

o  Self-care; Wise Health Care Consumer

o  Screening Services (Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure, bone density, cholesterol, glucose, posture, vision, and otherâ..)

o  Ergonomic Assessments

o  Wellness Fairs

o  Kids/family Events

o  Others topics that personnel have interest in

The topics and type of Wellness Program planned depend on the needs and interest, overall goal and resources available.

Program Design Options include awareness programs like handouts and/or education sessions, behavior change or modification programs like use of tobacco cessation and weight loss classes, and environmental or organizational support like no use of tobacco policies or healthy selections in vending machines.

The health promotion programs planned also depend on the demographics of your workforce. When you have a young, healthy workforce, you may want to focus the wellness attention on keeping staff healthy and not need to screen for illness.

Instead you might want to focus on healthy lifestyle behavior like exercise and good nutrition to prevent the begin of disease.  Click here for additional information on strategies for keeping workforce well, identifying disease early, or returning workforce to work who already have a chronic disease.

It’s also imperative that you consider, and plan how you’ll evaluate the success of your wellness program.  The system needs to be established for tracking certain data and recording events depending on the wellness program goals and desired outcomes.

Step 7 discusses wellness program evaluation in more detail.   and Step 6 will launch your wellness program!

A Wellness Program without objectives and objectives is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you won’t know where you are going, how to get there, what you want to do once you’ve arrived, or even whether or not you’ve arrived!

The trip may end up ok, or it might end up disastrously.  Yet, with a little thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a successful experience.  Clear objectives and objectives are needed to plan your wellness program to ensure success!

Health Promotion program goals and goals are different from one company to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources. Nonetheless, well thought out goals based on your company’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a successful health promotion program!

Health Promotion Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Wellness Program.  The mission statement is the overall expression of what the Wellness Committee wants to accomplish by starting a wellness program.

It’s crucial to consider how your Health Promotion Program fits in with the business mission statement, contributes to the overall mission and supports the business bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the business operations.

Here are some examples of Health Promotion Program mission statements -

At XYZ Company, maintaining an environment that supports employee safety and health is our underlying value. It is the mission of the Health Promotion Program to assist in developing wellness services that fosters and upholds that value.

It is the mission of the XYZ Wellness Committee to foster healthier lifestyle options to reduce health risk factors, improve overall well-being, and maintain a productive, active work force.

Health Promotion Program Goals

The goals and goals further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, senior level management expectations and staff member interests, examples of goals can include -

The goal(s) of XYZ Health Promotion Program in year XXXX is to -   (one or more of the following examples)

o  Reduce absenteeism by one day per staff member

o  Lower musculoskeletal injuries by 10%

o  Decrease unnecessary emergency room visits

o  Decrease or contain health care costs

o  Improve dietary habits of employees

o  Reduce health risk factors

Wellness Program Objectives

Specific Health Promotion Program goals help meet your long-term goals and vision.  Both short term and long term goals ought to be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and mission.

In addition to goals for the expected participant outcomes, process goals should also be created for the health promotion program process itself.  For example, process goals could include how many staff members you want to participate in the health promotion programs, how many sessions on a topic will be offered, the kind of wellness sessions that will be implemented, etc.

Goals need to be easily measurable within a set time frame. Try using the SMART formula to create both your long and short-term goals and goals -

o  Specific (one behavior or outcome)

o  Measurable (one result that could be observed or assessed),

o  Attainable (but also challenging),

o  Realistic (do you have the resources to achieve?), and

o  Time specific (within 3 months â.” up to 5 years)

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  For  instance, an objective for a weight loss program that has an overall goal of bettering healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that -

Participants (who) will lose an typical of .5 â.” 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) after the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight reduction per participant (attainable and realistic).

Or -

Participants (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier eating change after the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of an objective for coaching workers with elevated cholesterol may  be -

To reduce the sum cholesterol (specific what) of high risk workers with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions offered at the workplace (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic and time specific when) to lower the risk factor for heart disease (why).

And one last example of a process objective for a use of tobacco cessation program with an overall goal to assist participants in committing to quit for life -

By the end of the 4-week tobacco use cessation program, 10% of the participants will have quit tobacco use.  Each participant will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process objective) and 10% of those who quit will still be smoke free after one year.

You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including establishing your Health Promotion Committee. It is now time to plan your wellness activities!

Before you begin planning your Wellness Program you need to know where you’re now and then decide where you want to go.  Completing a thorough needs assessment is crucial to the success of your health promotion program for two reasons -

o  First it ensures that your health promotion program activities will be targeted to meet your company’s specific needs so that outcomes may be achieved.

o  Secondly the needs assessment provides the information you’ll need to evaluate the effectiveness of your health promotion program.

It’s often tempting to rush the assessment - in particular when time is limited or those with experience already have an idea of needs. Don’t give in to this temptation!

It is critical to understand what your organization needs are, what upper management expects, and what workers want as well as expect, before you develop a wellness program.

Consider and gather data on -

o  Demographic Information

o  Health Risk Factors

o  Medical Claims

o  Injury Rates and Causes

o  Workers’ Compensation Claims

o  Short and Long Term Disability Claims

o  Absenteeism

o  Culture Audits

o  Employee perceived needs and health risks

o  Management expectations or desired outcomes

There are lots of ways to assess this information. While some of data collecting process could  be time eating, remember that it’s however essential to plan health promotion programs that target specific issues.

This information will be critical to set objectives and for analyzing  wellness program success. Exactly how else can you know when outcomes have been achieved?

Options to help gather the health promotion program information -

o  Confidential HRAs with a Corporation Group Summary Report click here for more information on HRAs or Assessments

o  Medical Testings like cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar click here for more information on biometric screenings.

o  Staff Member Needs and Interest Surveys

o  Suggestion boxes placed around the organization

o  Focus Groups or hosting a luncheon meeting as a focus group

o  Sending out a confidential email questionnaire

o  Review records and databases including OSHA logs, first aid reports, insurance costs

Once your needs assessment is complete, the Wellness Committee can review the results and start planning and prioritizing wellness program options.

Planning must be based on goals and identified outcomes, Step 4 of the seven step process!

Establishing an active Health Promotion Committee provides opportunities for both senior management and employee involvement in the wellness program.  The Committee should be a team of employees and managers who formally meet to plan activities to promote healthier employee life choices.

Typical Functions of a Wellness Committee -

o  Investigating needs and interests

o  Brainstorming wellness program ideas

o  Planning activities

o  Developing communication plans

o  Advertising health promotion programs to colleagues

o  Serving as champions of the Health Promotion Programs

o  Assisting with analysis

Your Health Promotion Committee ought to be representative of all levels of the business.  Consider all areas of the workforce â.” multiple sites, shift staff, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.

It’s also imperative that you consider who’ll chair or co-chair the Wellness Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support a wellness manager or occupational health professional, even on a part-time or contractual basis.  Click here for more information on the benefits of a health professional.

Depending on your corporation size and resources, if you already have a corporation Safety Committee you might want to consider making it the Safety and Wellness Committee.  You can request volunteers or invite staff members to participate.

The number of Wellness Committee members depends on the size of your company; notwithstanding, you need enough members to get the work done and yet not too many to keep it manageable, usually a minimum of 4 members and maximum of 12 to 15 members.

It is crucial that you include skeptics of wellness as well and not just those staff members already practicing healthy lifestyles.

Depending on your workplace, consider representatives from the following areas -

o  Worker representatives from a cross section of different departments,

o  Senior level management ,

o  Health and safety professional(s),

o  Human resources specialist(s),

o  Benefits staff or someone from finance,

o  Your staff member assistance program (EAP) provider (if applicable), Click here for more information on EAPs

o  Medical or occupational health staff (if applicable).

Establish an effective Wellness Committee!  the Wellness Committee ought to meet regularly with a planned agenda and action items.  Successful Wellness Committees have a shared mission, vision and objectives.

Members need to believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated, that their work is important, benefits the corporation and colleagues, and they are recognized for their contributions. Refer to the NC Worksite Programs section for examples of what other companies have implemented.

As with any health promotion program, the two vital elements for the success of your health promotion program are executive management support and worker involvement. Senior level management sets the vision and provides the resources from which action plans flow.

Genuine support from upper-level management also lends credibility to the health promotion program. It’s key that upper-level management be visible supporters and role models for your Health Promotion Program.

Workers need to be involved on several levels so that they feel ownership of the health promotion program. Workers are the health promotion program stakeholders!

All workers should have an opportunity to provide input and feedback through needs and interest surveys and wellness program evaluation tools.  The information accumulated should be used to plan wellness programs that target those needs and interests to ensure participation, buy-in, and support.

There are a few methods to identify staff member needs and interests like -

o  Conducting Employee Focus Groups

o  Discussing Health Promotion Interests During Department Meetings

o  Distributing and Summarizing a Needs and Interest Survey

o  Including an Opportunity to Give Suggestions on Each Investigation Tool

Any one or combination of a few techniques will ensure that the wellness program meets what workforce want.  Click here for a sample Needs and Interest Survey.

Step 3 provides additional information on deciding health promotion program needs.  But first, establishing a Health Promotion Committee can help you involve upper-level management and personnel, determine need, and plan your health promotion program.

Wellness Program Step 1 - Be sure to set the Foundation -

Build Support Among All Levels of the Organization

A key to a successful Health Promotion Program requires management commitment and worker involvement.

Health Promotion Program Step 2 -  Form a Health Promotion Committee

An active Wellness Committee ensures worker involvement, provides buy-in, executive management support, and maintains a crew that is ready to take action to integrate wellness programs.

Health Promotion Program Step 3 -  Gather Data to Identify Key Needs and Expectations

The next vital component is to base the Health Promotion Program on the needs and interests of your business and its staff members.

Wellness Program Step 4 -  Establish Objectives and Goals

Objectives and goals are the road maps to guide you where your program needs to go.   These are the foundation for planning and investigating  activities to ensure that your health promotion program is going to meet your unique needs.

Health Promotion Program Step 5 - Develop a Detailed Action Plan

There’s no such thing as over planning!  the best of intentions can get lost, overstepped, or forgotten without adequate planning, and then it’d be all for naught.

Health Promotion Program Step 6 - Select and Implement a Plan

Armed with the needs assessment information, a Health Promotion Committee, and objectives and objectives, it’s now time to put your plan into action!

Health Promotion Program Step 7 -  Monitor and Evaluate Your Health Promotion Program

Examination is a necessary step to keep a wellness program on target, in addition to to ensure that the wellness program is reaching its goals or achieving the desired results.

Summary

These Seven Steps outline considerations for a comprehensive approach to establish an effective health promotion program. Are you able to implement components of wellness activities without following these steps?

Certainly, but you may not have the sustainability or ability to obtain desired outcomes.  Following the Seven Steps does not have to be complicated or burdensome.  A very simple approach can achieve a successful health promotion program!

Therefore, to ensure a successful health promotion program consider the key components as you plan your health promotion program or improve your current health promotion program -

o  Senior Management Support and Staff Member Involvement

o  Active Health Promotion Committee

o  Health Promotion Program is Based on Worker Needs and Interests

o  Objectives and Goals are Established

o  Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources and Budget

o  Health Promotion Program Implementation and Internal Advertising

o  Evaluation of Health Promotion Program Outcomes

The wellness program design options depend on the goals and desired outcomes of your wellness program. When your goal is to help workers change behavior, reduce risk factors, or save health care dollars then your wellness program would be designed to accomplish those outcomes and a budget would be necessary to support that design.

There are different health promotion program design levels depending on desired outcomes and budgets.  Each level has advantages and disadvantages.  The intentions or results are quite different, aren’t interchangeable respecting obtaining the same results, and thus shouldn’t be confused.

For  instance, scheduling activities like an worker wellness fair or lunchtime education sessions, or having handouts available do not generally result in behavior change, but might increase awareness on a topic.

When the goal is behavior change then a different design is required, like Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs and Organizational Support.  The outline below describes the wellness design levels with a brief explanation.

Awareness Programs -   at this level a organization makes medical information available and accessible to personnel.  This type of health promotion program can include flyers on a selection of topics, wellness articles in newsletters, bulletin board displays, e-mail health messages, etc.

Likewise, most wellness fairs are designed as awareness programs with vendors providing information and providing medical testings to employees.

Awareness programs are inexpensive and don’t require robust staff member or company time commitments. Notwithstanding, these wellness programs don’t generally lead to healthier behavior change.

Increasing awareness isn’t normally enough to generate lifestyle changes for most person, unless used to motivate staff to register for a wellness program being offered at the corporation or community on the topic.

An example of this would be providing information on the harmful effects of tobacco use and inviting workers who smoke to register for a tobacco use cessation class.

Education Programs -   Educational wellness programs often provide more information on a topic and can also provide time for questions and answers, but are similar to awareness wellness programs.  An example is lunch-n-learn sessions on a health related topic.

These cost the company a little more than awareness programs; nonetheless, they’re still inexpensive and do not require a excellent deal of time for planning or attending a session.

Again, increasing awareness and providing information may not lead to the desired behavior modification unless ongoing support or incentives are also planned.

Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs -   These wellness programs are designed as 4 to 12 weekly sessions or seminars to provide wellness education, address barriers and provide opportunities to practice the desired skills.

Behavior change programs thus require more company resources, cost more, and also require more staff member commitment, time and effort.  The results are often the desired positive lifestyle change, which if sustained can lead to potential cost savings.

Examples are use of tobacco cessation classes, losing weight and weight control meetings, or an ongoing fitness program.

Environmental and Organizational Support -   Environmental support is often considered the highest and most essential level to include when designing your health promotion program in order to support and maintain healthful behaviors.

These kinds of design choices include policy changes like -

o  Creating a smoke-free workplace

o  Designating a walking path,

o  Establishing onsite fitness centers,

o  Ensuring healthful vending machine selections,

o  Offering healthful food options in the cafeteria, and/or

o  Establishing flex-time policies.

Other examples include subsidizing healthy vending machines or cafeteria choices; reimbursing health and fitness center or losing weight and weight control program memberships; or providing insurance incentives for healthy behaviors.

Ideally, the health promotion program design would include some of all these choices.  The more extensive and integrated the approach, the more successful the results will be.  For  instance, a company can -

o  have tobacco cessation information available;

o  can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of use of tobacco and how to quit;

o  can implement an on-site use of tobacco cessation program,

o  supply self quit smoking kits, or

o  support workforce to attend a community program; and/or

o  on an environmental support level can establish a tobacco-free workplace and grounds,

o  offer lower insurance premiums for non-smokers, or

o  provide pharmacological quit smoke aids for free.

Health Promotion Program -  Components for Success

There are a few key components or elements that must be considered to ensure the success of your Health Promotion Program or health promotion program.  These include -

o  Upper Management Support and Staff Member Involvement

o  Active Health Promotion Committee

o  Program is Based on Staff Member Needs and Interests

o  Objectives and Goals are Established

o  Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources and Budget

o  Program Implementation and Internal Advertising

o  Analysis of Outcomes and Program

Major benefits of healthy employees include -

o  Lower Health Care Costs

o  Lowered Injuries

o  Reduced Absenteeism

o  Improved Morale and Loyalty

o  Higher Productivity

o  Decreased Use of Healthcare Benefits

o  Reduced Workers’ Compensation / Disability

o  Positive Perception in Community

o  Lowered Turnover

o  Enhanced recruitment for skilled employees

What’s NOT having a Health Promotion Program costing your company?

Consider the health risk factors that are increasing chronic diseases for adults -

o  59% of adults are overweight or obese

o  Greater than 60% of American adults do not exercise regularly

o  More than 75 percent of adults don’t consume the minimum recommendations for fruits and vegetables

o  Heart disease is the most common cause of death and the leading cause of death in smokers

o  26% of workforce announced they were often or very often burned out or stressed by their work

Health Care Costs are Increasing -  Health Care costs are at a record high of $1.7 trillion with no signs of holding steady let alone decreasing.  The average cost of annual health care spending is over $5,000 per individuals and with dependents almost $10,000.

Current data shows that health care related expenditures now cost North Carolina corporations thousands of dollars per staff member, annually.

Most Diseases can be Prevented -  Even though it sounds unbelievable, experts indicate that preventable disease makes up 60 percent - 70 percent of the entire burden of disease in the USA

In North Carolina, it is estimated that more than 53% of all deaths are preventable, and that 2/3 of all preventable deaths are due to tobacco use, lack of exercise, and poor nutrition.

Stress Levels are Increasing -   as organization resources become less and businesses adopt leaner work practices, the effects of absenteeism and productivity lost have a greater impact.

In a recent national poll, 78 percent of Americans described their jobs as stressful, and the majority felt that stress levels have become worse over the last 10 years. Furthermore, high levels of organizational stress can adversely affect a company by increasing injuries, absenteeism, and healthcare costs while reducing productivity.

Simple solutions such as stress management education, flexible work schedules, quality social interaction, and increased participation in corporation decision-making can improve stress levels in the worksite.

What’s the Upfront Cost and Time Investment for a Health Promotion Program?

The fee depends on the kind of Wellness Program implemented.  There are several options to promote staff member health with advantages and disadvantages of each.  The wellness program design depends on the goals of the wellness program, the business resources, and the community resources available.

Improving dietary practices, increasing exercise levels, managing stress or addressing work life balance issues, and reducing/eliminating tobacco use, are main strategies for preventing many of the most common avoidable chronic illnesss.

The possibilities of how your company addresses these issues are endless and can range from increasing staff member awareness, which could include buying several brochures on a variety of topics, and measuring walking distances around your facility.

Other possibilities include establishing organizational support like funding a fulltime occupational health specialist or building an onsite health club.

When well planned and based on your goals, any of these health promotion programs can help you succeed.  Refer below to Health Promotion Program Design Choices for more ideas.