Employee Wellness

Given the enormous growth of wellness programs over the last two years, it was inevitable resistance would creep up among watchdog groups. In Washington, lobbyists have spearheaded a push for Congress, the DOL and IRS to crack down on “punitive” wellness programs. Specifically, the groups seek to limit programs in which employees’ share of their [...]

Effective wellness programs recognize the importance of building a supportive cultural environment. the workplace culture includes shared values/heartfelt beliefs about what’s important. It includes social standards of expected and accepted behavior called “cultural norms.” It includes coworker support from family, friends, and coworkers. This support can help one adopt healthful lifestyles. Tools are available to [...]

A recent survey finds nearly 42 percent of corporations with 200 or fewer staff members have some sort of disease management program. That’s a enormous increase from four years ago, when just 28% of smaller employers offered such programs. There’s more to come, too. Fifteen% of respondents that didn’t currently have a disease management (DM) [...]

Effective wellness programs try to develop healthy workplace climates. A healthy workplace climate is one which encourages teamwork, cooperation, and empowerment of the individual. Individuals  have a sense of community, a shared vision, and a positive outlook. Policies promote and support wellness efforts within the workplace. • Effective programs identify ways that business policies and [...]

Thinking about an obesity-related disease management (DM) program for your organization? Here’s what you need to know. In order to be effective, the program must meet participants’ individual medical and psychological needs, not to mention your own organization’s need to control long-term health costs. How wide-reaching should the program be? After all, it doesn’t make [...]

An initial health screening can include a recent survey of employees’ interests as part of the assessment. Successful wellness programs are designed to meet the needs and interests of the employees. The information you need to get from a recent survey depends on the scope of your program. A sample survey may be obtained in [...]

Develop a culture of wellness within your organization Create Exemplary Management Support In the most successful Wellness Programs, senior level managers lead their organizations by example. and they work to ensure that the management structure not only allows, but actively encourages their employees to participate. Organize a Wellness Advisory Team Wellness committees serve as the [...]

Comprehensive wellness programs involve all staff members, deal with all major health risks, offers choices, and target both the staff members and the worksite environment; provide periodic evaluation of its results.      Comprehensive wellness programs emphasize follow-up and offers support for the worker if he/she is employed. Studies have shown this approach to be highly [...]

Studies show that untargeted health-promotion campaigns have little long-term impact.                   Chronic illnesss, which rob person and families of their health and happiness, represent major costs to businesss in the form of health-care and disability costs, lost productivity, and absenteeism.                   Wellness Programs should address risky behaviors that can help your workers eat healthier, increase their level [...]

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 employees became more widespread during the following decade, and credible evidence for their economic viability began to be published.      There have now been over 100 [...]