Workplace Health PromotionWorkplace health promotion and workplace wellness program blog

Workplace Health Promotion Programs that support workers and the setting that they work in have been shown to be a good return on investment. Workplace Health Promotion Programs can be extensive and sometimes costly. However, there are ways for small companies to make positive changes at little or no cost.

Workplace Health Promotion Program: Nutrition Activities

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

1. Make available healthy eating reminders and prompts to workers via multiple means (i.e. e-mail, posters, payroll stuffers, etc.).
2. Make available appealing, low-cost fruits and vegetables in vending machines and in the cafeteria.
3. Make available cookbooks, food preparation, and cooking classes for workers’ families.
4. Ensure worksite cafeterias follow healthy cooking practices and set nutritional standards for foods served that align with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
5. Make available healthy foods at meetings, conferences, and catered events.
6. Use point-of-decision prompts as a marketing technique to promote healthier choices.
7. Make available healthy cooking demonstrations that teach skills (i.e. fruit and vegetable selection and preparation).
8. Make available taste-testing opportunities at the worksite.
9. Make available worker-led campaigns, demonstrations or programs.
10. Make available local fruits and vegetables at the worksite (i.e. worksite farmer’s market or community-supported agriculture drop-off point).
11. Use competitive pricing (price non-nutritious foods in vending machines and cafeterias at higher prices).
12. Make available protected time and dedicated space away from the work area for breaks and lunch.
13. Make kitchen equipment available to workers.
14. Make available an opportunity for worksite gardening if possible.

Sweetened Beverage Consumption

1. Make water available throughout the day.
2. Make available appealing, low-cost healthful drink options in vending machines and the cafeteria.
3. Modify worksite vending contracts to raise the number of healthy options.
4. Price non-nutritious beverages at a higher cost.
5. Use point-of-decision prompts to promote healthier choices.

Portion Control

1. Label foods to show serving size and/or nutritional content.
2. Make available food models, food scales for weighing and pictures to help workers assess portion size.
3. Make available appropriate portion sizes at meetings, worksite events and in the cafeteria.

Breastfeeding

1. Support nursing mothers by providing them rooms for expressing milk in a secure and relaxed setting, a refrigerator for storage of breast milk, policies that support breast feeding, and lactation education programs.
2. Make available flexible scheduling and/or worksite or near-site child care to allow for milk expression during the workday.
3. Adopt alternative work options (i.e. teleworking, part-time, extended maternity) for breastfeeding mothers returning to work.
4. Educate personnel on the importance of supporting breastfeeding co-workers.

T.V. & Food Advertising

1. Place TVss in non-eating areas of the worksite.
2. Limit food advertising in the cafeteria (i.e. print and other media).

(Adapted from The Health Promotion First Act prepared by David Anderson, Ph.D., StayWell Health Management)

Staff Member Lifestyles Impact Staff Member Health

• Approximately 40 percent of all deaths in the United States are premature (at least 900,000 deaths annually) and are due to unhealthy lifestyle choices such as tobacco use, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, misuse of alcohol and drugs, and accidents. Other contributors to early death include genetic predisposition (30 percent), social circumstances (15 percent), poor access to quality medical care (10 percent), and environmental exposures (5 percent).
• Unhealthy lifestyle is the primary contributor to the six leading causes of death in the U.S. – heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, accidents, and diabetes – which collectively account for over 70 percent of all deaths.
• People with healthier lifestyles live an average of 6 to 9 years longer, postpone disability by 9 years and compress disability into fewer years at the end of life.
• The prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults rose to 30 percent in 1999-2000, a 33 percent increase from a decade earlier, and the prevalence of diabetes also rose by 33 percent during approximately the same period (1990 to 1998).
• About two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, 55 percent do not get enough physical activity, 26 percent are completely inactive,10 and only 25 percent eat recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables If diet/physical activity patterns continue worsening at their current rate, these behaviors will soon surpass tobacco use as contributors to mortality.
• Among young people, the prevalence of overweight has more than quadrupled in the past 20 years to 16 percent, daily participation in high school physical education classes has dropped from 42 percent in 1991 to 28 percent in 2003, more than 60 percent eat too much saturated fat, and almost 80 percent do not eat recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables.
• Lifestyle diseases disproportionately affect women, racial and ethnic minorities, the poor and seniors:
• The prevalence of diabetes among African Americans is about 70 percent higher than among white Americans, and the prevalence among Hispanics is nearly double that for white Americans.
• Women comprise more than half of the people who die each year of cardiovascular disease.
• Chronic conditions significantly limit daily activity for 35 percent of persons over 65 years of age.

Financial Impact of Lifestyle
• It is estimated that lifestyle-related chronic diseases account for 70 percent of the nation’s medical care costs, which translates to over 11 percent of the entire U.S. gross domestic product.
• Two broad-based scientific reviews identified 83 peer-reviewed studies reporting that people with unhealthy habits have higher medical costs.
• Research conservatively estimates that high health risks (high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc) account for at least 25 percent of total medical costs.
• Recent research indicates a direct relationship between modifiable lifestyle risks and lower worker productivity, and relevant data suggest that the costs to companies in lost productivity due to poor employee health may be substantially more than the direct medical and disability costs.
• Unhealthy lifestyles frequently lead to chronic disease, many of which cannot be cured and require years or decades of costly treatments. Below are estimated annual costs of selected unhealthy lifestyles and chronic diseases including obesity, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, stress, and inactivity.

Workplace Health Promotion Programs Improve Health and Yield Major Savings
• Comprehensive scientific reviews identified 378 peer-reviewed studies showing that Workplace Health Promotion Programs improve health knowledge, health behaviors, and underlying health conditions.
• Research has demonstrated that lifestyle modification may frequently be more effective and cost-effective than medical intervention in decreasing morbidity and mortality.
• Several scientific reviews indicate that Workplace Health Promotion Programs reduce medical costs and absenteeism and produce a positive return on investment. The most definitive review of financial impact reported that:
• 18 studies indicated that these programs reduce medical costs, and 14 studies indicated that they decrease absenteeism costs.
• 13 studies that calculated benefit/cost ratios all showed the savings from these programs are much greater than their cost, with medical cost savings averaging $3.48 and the absenteeism savings averaging $5.82 per dollar invested in the programs.
• Medical costs are expected to exceed 16 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 and to grow at 7.2 percent annually through 2015, when medical expenditures will account for 20 percent of GDP:
• Per capita medical costs in the U.S. are the highest in the world and more than double the median for OECD countries, yet the United States ranks 26th in terms of healthy life expectancy.
• Medicaid is the second largest item in most state budgets, and its portion of the total budgets is increasing each year.
• Rising medical costs for U.S. companies continue to outpace general inflation, averaging 12 percent per year for the past 10 years. This trend is causing a tremendous financial hardship on U.S. companies.

1. Senior management involvement in the Workplace Health Promotion Program- Evidence of enthusiastic commitment and involvement of senior management helps workers understand their companies’ serious commitment to health. Staff Members need to perceive that their senior management, supervisors, and coworkers have positive attitudes toward health since these factors have all been associated with improved employee health status. Management-related factors have been shown to contribute more to success than the content of the intervention.

2. Participatory planning – A Workplace Health Promotion Program should be undertaken in partnership with the workforce. Staff Members from all levels of staff should be actively engaged in the health and management aspects of the project as well as all on-going processes of any Workplace Health Promotion Program. Planning must also include processes for maintaining communication with all staff and building their commitment to the process. Beginning Workplace Health Promotion Program steering committees to lead interventions during the planning and delivery of worksite health promotion programming increases worker awareness, participation, and satisfaction. Staff Member committees can identify perceived worker interests regarding educational programming, determine work site-specific characteristics that may affect the intervention or influence participation, and suggest the best methods for promotion and delivery of Workplace Health Promotion Programs and activities. Ways to maximize worker input and involvement might include interest surveys, focus groups, and peer counsellors.

3. Primary focus on workers’ needs – A Workplace Health Promotion Program should meet the needs of all workers, regardless of their current level of health and recognize the needs, preferences, and attitudes of different groups of participants. Program designers should consider the major health risks in the target population, the specific risks within the particular group of workers, and the company’s needs. In other words, interventions should be tailor-made to the characteristics and needs of the recipients. This means that varied programs must be offered at different levels. Participation and commitment can be increased if a group of employees has the opportunity to address a specific modifiable risk factor of their choice.

4. Optimal use of on-site resources – Planning and implementation of Workplace Health Promotion Programs should optimize use of on-site personnel, physical resources, and organizational capabilities. For example, whenever possible, initiatives should use on-site health and safety, management, work organization, communication, Human Resources, and other specialists. Well-qualified external leadership may be introduced when in-house expertise is lacking.

5. Integration – An overall worksite health policy should be developed. The policies governing the health of the employees must align with the corporate mission, vision, and values, supporting both short- and long-term goals. These consistent policies must affirm the value of worker health and a commitment to engage workers in health enhancement. Workplace Health Promotion Program Procedures should be integrated into a company’s regular management practices and eventually should be formally incorporated into the company’s corporate plan with adequate resources attached to them.

6. Recognition that a person’s health is determined by an interdependent set of factors – Any Workplace Health Promotion Program must address multiple components of an individual’s life:
• the worksite physical and psychosocial setting;
• their personal resources such as social support, sense of empowerment, etc.; and
• their lifestyle practices influencing health.

7. Tailoring to the special features of each worksite setting – Workplace Health Promotion Programs must be responsive to the unique needs of each worksite’s procedures, organization and culture. Integrating health behaviors and program participation into the existing corporate culture will normalize program participation.

8. Workplace Health Promotion Program Evaluation – Project management should flow through needs analysis, determining priorities, planning, implementation, continuous monitoring, and evaluation. Evaluation must include a clearly-defined range of process measures and outcomes as well as mechanisms for monitoring the impact of non-intervention worksite changes such as plant closure, major worksite re-organization, and new technology on staff health.

9. Long-term commitment – To sustain the benefits of the Workplace Health Promotion Program, the worksite must continue the initiative over time, reinforcing risk-reduction behaviours and adapting the programs to ongoing personal, social, economic, and worksite changes.

Introduction to Workplace Health Promotion Programs

Risky health behaviors by workers cost a company. Changing those behaviors can save the employer money and raise the worker’s productivity.

Because work gives an worker a stable environment and support system, Workplace Health Promotion Programs can have a great impact on decreasing high-risk behaviors. This impact results in lower health claims cost, less absenteeism, and less short-term disability.

Workplace Health Promotion Programs can include:

Awareness Rasing Activities: Health and wellness newsletters, health topics covered in payroll stuffers, healthy emails.

Health Risk Assessment: Employee health screenings, health and wellness fairs, health risk appraisals.

Educational Programs: Lunch & Learn wellness seminars, guest speakers at staff meetings.

Skill Building: Healthy cooking demostrations, activity challenges, CPR instruction opportunites, stress management classes, weight management classes.

Interventions: Massage, tobacco cessation, and skills to help you get the most out of your doctor visit.

Physical setting: Healthy items in the vending machines and cafeterias, clean air practices, ergonomics, bike racks, flex time, welllit stairways.

Evaluation: Staff Member needs assessment, baseline Workplace Health Promotion Program evaluation measures, ongoing Workplace Health Promotion Program evaluation of overall effectiveness.

Why Make available Workplace Health Promotion Programs

The typical employer spends about $8,000 a year on an employee’s medical care. This includes health insurance, disability and worker’s compensation. As these costs climb, health insurance is expected to rise at least 10 percent per year.

A 1999 study showed that businesses using Workplace Health Promotion Programs had a return on investment from $1.49 – $13 in benefits per dollar spent. The amount depended on the nature of the Workplace Health Promotion Programs used. (S. Aldana, American Journal of Wellness, 2001; 15:296-320)

One study showed that a “stop smoking” element to Workplace Health Promotion Programs can save between $404 -$40,829 per employee, depending on the age and sex of the worker.

The Workplace Health Promotion Programs at Traveler’s Company included a self-care book, a newsletter, single-topic brochures, and videotapes. The Workplace Health Promotion Programs saved the company $7.8 million in employee benefi t costs, decreased doctor visits, and it decreased absenteeism by 1.2 days per worker per year. The estimated Workplace Health Promotion Programs ROI was $3.40 per dollar spent.

In 1998, the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) reported a study of 46,026 workers from six large companies for three years. Staff Members with an inactive lifestyle had 10 percent higher costs; workers with depression had 70 percent higher costs.

Benefits of Workplace Health Promotion Programs

Increased Productivity – The Canada Life Assurance Company realized a 4 percent rise in productivity after starting an employee fitness program.

Increased Job Satisfaction – According to employee opinion surveys conducted by the Silverstone Group about thier Workplace Health Promotion Programs, workers’ morale increased, which helped support a more creative work environment.

Enhanced Recruitment & Retention – In the midst of a tight labor market, Workplace Health Promotion Programs could be a vital tool to draw new recruits.

Decreased Absenteeism – Canada Life Assurance Company’s absenteeism dropped 42 percent among workers in the Workplace Health Promotion Programs.

Decreased Workers Comp & Disability – In one year, Boeing Company’s number of back injuries decreased by 34 percent. Six million dollars was saved by tracking injuries as they occurred.

Managed Medical Care Costs – Golden, Colorado Adolf Coors Company’s Workplace Health Promotion Programs returned $6.19 for every dollar spent.

Why have Workplace Health Promotion Program goals?

Workplace Health Promotion Program goals take your company’s priorities for employee health improvement and make them specific and measurable. Well-defined Workplace Health Promotion Program goals provide direction for selecting Procedures and a basis for which to measure progress.

Writing Workplace Health Promotion Program goals

Writing Workplace Health Promotion Program goals is not complicated or difficult. It does require some thought, about your company’s Workplace Health Promotion Program vision for a culture of health and they should be:

Specific Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals
Measurable Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals
Attainable Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals
Realistic Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals
Timely Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals

Specific Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals: What is the specific outcome your company is looking for? “Reduce smoking among workers” is more specific than “Improve the health of workers.” You may wish to write some goals about specific outcomes (reducing smoking among workers) and other goals about specific progress (implementing a smoke-free campus policy or decreasing the price of fresh fruit in the cafeteria to 25 cents a piece).

Measurable Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals: Making your goals measurable provides a means of evaluating your progress and success. There is a saying: “what gets measured, gets done.” Goals which are measurable can be effective motivators for your company. “Provide more time for workers to be physically active” is much less measurable than “implement a daily 15-minute walking break into the schedule of all workers.” “Increase the number of workers who want to quit smoking” is less measurable than “increase enrollments in the stop-using tobacco program to 120 workers per year.”

Attainable Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals: Establish goals that challenge your company to change and that will demonstrate a real commitment to the health of the employees. At the same time, set goals that are achievable. Goals that are set too far out of reach can be overwhelming and may become a barrier rather than a motivator.

Realistic Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals: Write goals that are do-able, given the skills, time, finances and overall strategy of the company. A realistic project may push the skills and knowledge of the people working on it but it shouldn’t break them.

Timely Workplace Health Promotion Program Goals: When do you hope to achieve the goal? Next week? Next year? Without a timeframe, the goal is still not clear and is much less likely to galvanize resources and energy within your company.

“Reduce the percent of workers who use tobacco from 20 percent to 10 percent” is much less of a challenge than “By the end of 2010, reduce the percent of workers who use tobacco from 20 percent to 15 percent”.

Worksite Obesity: The Facts

Worksite obesity has become one of the fastest growing medical care problems in America. It is well known that America is considered one of the, if not “the”, heaviest countries in the world. This is largely in part due to fast food, un-healthy snacks and a very sedentary lifestyle. However, what many people are not aware of is that the rate of obesity in our country has doubled in the last 30 years and this weighs heavily on a organization’s bottom line.

According to a new report from The Conference Board, Weights and Measures: What businesss Should Know about Obesity, obese employees cost private businesses an estimated $45 billion annually. Here are some of the report’s findings:

Obesity is associated with a 36% increase in spending on medical care, more than smoking or problem drinking.
34% of adult Americans fit the definition of “obese”
Obesity related health problems are costing U.S. companies millions of dollars annually in medical expenditures and work loss.

Worksite Obesity: How businesses Can Help

With the increase in obesity and business costs associated with it, it is more and more imperative to establish a way to assist employees with their healthy living choices. Workplace Health Promotion Programs can help businesses help their employees. By providing assistance with Health Screening and Biometric Testing, Health risk assessments and by conducting Workplace Health Promotion Program surveys; Workplace Health Promotion Programs allow the business non-invasive ways to communicate their concerns about their worker’s health.

We suggest establishing a Walking Workplace Health Promotion Program to assist your employees in meeting their weight-loss goals. Walking Wellness is a program designed to get your employees away from their desk and get them outside for a little physical activity. Keep it fun by having contests, setting up weight-loss teams and having organized healthy picnics.

If your company is interested in measuring the impact of your Workplace Health Promotion Program efforts in future years, you’ll want to gather relevant baseline data on the health and health behaviors of your worker population.

Workplace Health Promotion Program Data on your worker population

Health Risk Assessments

Some health plans offer companies free internet-based health risk assessments (HRA), complete with summary aggregate reports. If your health plan does not offer a free HRA, you could pay for an HRA either through your health plan or through a third party vendor.

To encourage participating in an HRA, assure workers of confidentiality and consider providing incentives and rewards for completing the assessment. The higher the participation rate, the more likely that the aggregate data will accurately represent the behaviors and risks of your worker population.

Workplace Health Promotion Program Health Surveys

You can get a general sense of workers’ health-related attitudes and behaviors using a “lowtech” paper survey. As with a health risk assessment, workers will be more likely to respond to a survey if there is an incentive and if they are confident that their responses are confidential. Remember that without widespread participation you’ll only get a “feel” for worker behaviors rather than a statistically accurate picture.

Workplace Health Promotion Program Focus Groups and Informational Interviews

The information you can collect from focus groups or informational interviews with workers is an important supplement to the anonymous survey or HRA data. Listening to workers discuss their attitudes, values, receptivity and barriers related to health provides a wealth of information on which to base decisions on how to improve your company’s Workplace Health Promotion Program. Workplace Health Promotion Program focus groups are especially useful for securing information from hard-to-reach worker populations, such as those for whom English is a learned language.

Keep Workplace Health Promotion Program focus groups small (8-19 workers, ideally all of a similar job class). If possible, offer incentives and rewards such as movie tickets or lunch, to recruit participants. Develop a list of open-ended questions in advance and allow 60-90 minutes for the discussion.

Informational interviews are an alternative to Workplace Health Promotion Program focus groups. The Workplace Health Promotion Program coordinator of your health improvement Procedures or selected members of the Health and Wellness Committee can conduct one-on-one interviews with workers in a variety of positions to better understand their attitudes, interests and barriers related to a) health behaviors and b) the worksite policies, settings and practices.

Population data

If data on the employee population are not available, you can use state or national data to estimate the prevalence of risk behaviors among workers.

In addition to looking at the health behaviors of workers, take a good look at your company. The following questions can help you identify opportunities for your company to support and encourage healthy behaviors among workers.

A strong foundation for employee health improvement

1. To what extent does the senior management in your company actively and visibly support the Workplace Health Promotion Program?

__ No support for the Workplace Health Promotion Program
__ Support, but not at senior level
__ Support at senior level, but not visible to workers
__ Strong and visible Workplace Health Promotion Program support
Comments:

2. Is the Workplace Health Promotion Program tied to your company’s mission statement?

__ No
__ Yes, the Workplace Health Promotion Program is tied to business plan OR mission statement
__ Yes, the Workplace Health Promotion Program is tied to both business plan and mission statement
Comments:

3. Is there an worker within your company whose job responsibilities include Workplace Health Promotion Program coordination?

__ No
__ Yes, but has little time available to dedicate to Workplace Health Promotion Program
__ Yes, and has at least part of the job dedicated to Workplace Health Promotion Program
__ Yes, and has at least one full-time position dedicated to Workplace Health Promotion Program
__ Yes, and has at least part of the job dedicated to wellness AND has a background that includes Workplace Health Promotion Program qualifications
__ Yes, our company has at least one full-time position dedicated to health improvement AND the worker’s background includes Workplace Health Promotion Program qualifications
Comments:

4. Does your company have an active wellness committee with diverse representation?

__ No (does not have a Health and Wellness Committee, or has a committee that doesn’t meet)
__ Yes, we have a Health and Wellness Committee, but with limited representation
__ Yes, we have a Health and Wellness Committee with widespread representation
__ Yes, we have a Health and Wellness Committee with widespread representation AND committee involvement is part of each representative’s job responsibilities
Comments:

5. Does your company have an annual budget for Workplace Health Promotion Program expenses? (Workplace Health Promotion Program expenses may be associated with providing a health assessment, paying for behavior change programs/coaching programs, covering incentives and rewards that encourage healthy behaviors, subsidizing healthy food options, communications and programs around specific health topics, fitness centers/walking paths, etc).

__ No
__ Yes, but funds are earmarked for Workplace Health Promotion Programs (e.g. only for Weight Watchers or fitness discounts) and do not meet all existing Workplace Health Promotion Program needs
__ Yes, funds are available to meet current Workplace Health Promotion Program needs
Comments:

6. Does your company have a plan for engaging workers in the Workplace Health Promotion Program?

__ No
__ Yes, we have a communications plan for our Workplace Health Promotion Program
__ Yes, we have a communication plan AND we offer meaningful incentives or rewards (such as premium discounts or debit cards) for the Workplace Health Promotion Program to engage in healthy behaviors.
Comments:

A data-based approach to the Workplace Health Promotion Program

7. Does your company have clearly stated Workplace Health Promotion Program goals and priorities for employee health improvement?

__ No
__ Yes
__ Yes, data (e.g. HRA, claims, productivity) are the basis for defining Workplace Health Promotion Program goals or priorities
__ Yes, data AND evidence-based best practices are a basis for defining Workplace Health Promotion Program goals or priorities
__ Yes, data and best practices are basis for defining Workplace Health Promotion Program goals or priorities as well as measuring Workplace Health Promotion Program progress (evaluation)
Comments:

8. Has your company completed a Health Risk Assessment?

__ No
__ Yes, but more than 2 years ago
__ Yes, within the last two years, and achieved a participation rate of less than 50 percent
__ Yes, within the last two years, and achieved a 50 percent – 79 percent participation rate
__ Yes, within the last two years, and achieved an 80 percent or greater participation rate
Comments:

A worksite setting that supports healthy behaviors

9. Does your company’s tobacco reduction strategy reflect best practices?

(Check all that apply)
__ A no-smoking policy that includes both buildings AND grounds
__ 100 percent coverage for the cost of over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy
__ Staff Member access to – and strong promotion of — a tailored stop-smoking program
Comments:

10. Does your company provide opportunities (time and places) for physical activity during the work day?

__ No
__ Yes, indoor places for physical activity (on-site fitness center) OR outdoor places for physical activity (walking paths)
__ Yes, both indoor AND outdoor places for physical activity
__ Yes, indoor and outdoor opportunities AND employees can use work time for physical activity
Comments:

11. Does your company promote healthy eating by providing access to fruits and vegetables?

__ No
__ Yes, fruits and vegetables are available at the worksite (in vending machines, break areas, or cafeterias)
__ Yes, fruits and vegetables are available and discounted at the worksite
Comments:

Benefits that support employee health improvement

12. Does your company provide workers with self-care resources?

(Check all that apply)
__ Distribution of self-care books
__ internet-based access to health information
__ Nurse advice line
Comments:

13. Which of the following preventive services are covered at 100 percent by your company’s health benefits?

(Check all that apply)
__ Vision screening
__ Hearing
__ Immunizations (per CDC/ACIP recommendations)
__ Radiology
__ Laboratory services
__ STD screening
__ Preventive medical examination for adults
__ Cancer screen (includes: colon, cervical, breast, prostate and ovarian cancers)
__ Contraceptive management
Comments:

14. Which of the following are included in your company’s pharmacy benefit?

(Check all that apply)
__ Mail order or other 90-day supply option for medications
__ Specialty pharmacy network
__ Incentive-based tiered formulary design
Comments:

15. Do your company’s health benefits provide coverage for behavioral health (such as depression, mental illness, counseling, stress management, and chemical dependency)?

__ Yes, at the same level as medical benefits
__ Yes, but at a lower level (less coverage) than medical benefits
__ No coverage for mental or behavioral health
Comments:

Why it’s important and how to do it

The Workplace Health Promotion Program Vision

A Workplace Health Promotion Program vision statement is a concise statement that summarizes the purpose and goals of your company’s commitment to starting a Workplace Health Promotion Program. Taking the time to clarify and describe your company’s Workplace Health Promotion Program vision can provide a focus and a consistent direction for your Procedures for years to come. The vision statement reminds leaders and workers of the link between worker health and the company’s ability to achieve its overall mission.

Answer the following questions and you’ll have the components needed to build a simple and effective Workplace Health Promotion Program vision for your company’s culture of health:

• What do you want your Workplace Health Promotion Program to accomplish?
• How do you plan to accomplish it?
• How does this Workplace Health Promotion Program mission support or further the company’s mission?

A sample Workplace Health Promotion Program vision statement might be . . .

To have workers who perform at their best and who enable XYZ Corporation to be an industry leader in printing quality and customer service (company’s mission), XYZ Corporation is committed to providing opportunities for healthy behaviors during the workday (how) in order to encourage workers not to smoke, to be active, and to eat healthfully (what).

The Workplace Health Promotion Program Brand

In the same way that your company’s name and brand image provide visibility for your business, your Procedures toward starting a Workplace Health Promotion Program will benefit from being easily recognizable to workers:

• A consistently used Workplace Health Promotion Program brand on all communications conveys to workers that the commitment to a culture of health is here to stay.
• A Workplace Health Promotion Program brand institutionalizes the culture and makes it more likely to withstand changes in staff and budget.

Do what you can to engage workers in starting the identity (brand) for your company’s Workplace Health Promotion Program. Not only are they more likely to accept the name, it’s also a great way to announce to workers the company’s Workplace Health Promotion Program commitment. Here are two possible approaches to involving workers:

Option 1: Have a Workplace Health Promotion Program contest

1. Announce the Workplace Health Promotion Program contest guidelines and deadline.
2. Have the Health and Wellness Committee review the ideas submitted, and select a name.

If, for example, your organization, Premier Building and Design, is in the commercial construction business, you might receive the following Workplace Health Promotion Program ideas from workers:

• Cornerstone: Feeling well is what it’s all about
• Premier Elements: Building healthier workers
• Custom Build: Building health builds wealth
• Building Health: Designing better worker health

After reviewing the entries, your Health and Wellness Committee determines that it likes the name “Premier Elements” and the subtitle “Building health builds wealth”. Your committee awards the “name the Workplace Health Promotion Program contest” prize to the two workers, those who submitted the pieces of the name that represent the final product.

Premier Elements: Building health builds wealth

3. Choose a Workplace Health Promotion Program logo to go with the name.

The Workplace Health Promotion Program logo is an important piece of the branding

• Review any ideas submitted for Workplace Health Promotion Program logos.
• If you’re fortunate to have a graphic design professional at your organization, enlist her or his help with developing the Workplace Health Promotion Program logo!
• As an alternative, select a piece of clip-art that fits with the Workplace Health Promotion Program name you’ve selected. For example, the organization referenced above might look for a symbol that conveys building, health and wealth.

Option 2: Health and Wellness Committee determines the name and brand

1. Have your Health and Wellness Committee brainstorm Workplace Health Promotion Program names.
• To get ideas flowing, ask members to write down all health-related words and words associated with your company or industry.
• Try clustering words together as in the construction organization example above.
2. Once your Health and Wellness Committee has narrowed down the possibilities to about three ideas, have committee members vote to select a name for your culture of health.
3. Choose a Workplace Health Promotion Program logo to go with the winning name.
4. Announce the company’s Workplace Health Promotion Program and the corresponding Workplace Health Promotion Program name. Explain that employees on the advisory committee chose the name.

Sample Workplace Health Promotion Program meeting agendas and topics for discussion

Is your company’s Workplace Health Promotion Program Health and Wellness Committee new? Has it existed on paper but been inactive for a while? In either case, some of the following may be appropriate agenda items for your first Workplace Health Promotion Program meetings. You may also want to revisit these topics annually.

• Clarify roles of Health and Wellness Committee members
­ Are members responsible for implementing changes or recommending changes?
­ How long are members’ terms on the Health and Wellness Committee?
­ How will new members be selected?

• Determine Health and Wellness Committee meeting frequency and processes
­ Establish dates, times, and locations.
­ Determine how agendas will be set.
­ Plan for recording and distributing meeting notes.

• Plan Workplace Health Promotion Program communication with upper management
­ Does a leader sit on the group or does the coordinator report on progress (and to whom)?
­ How frequently do leaders want reports on Workplace Health Promotion Program progress?

• Select a name and brand for your company’s Workplace Health Promotion Program

• Create a vision statement for your company’s Workplace Health Promotion Program

• Identify existing allies Workplace Health Promotion Program for promoting worker health within your company
­ Who do Health and Wellness Committee members know who could be relied on to support worksite changes necessary to develop a culture that promotes health?

• Brainstorm challenges your company may face in working to develop facilities, policies and Workplace Health Promotion Program practices that promote worker health
­ What do committee members regard as opportunities? How about potential Workplace Health Promotion Program obstacles?

• History of past Workplace Health Promotion Program efforts
­ If relevant, summarize past Workplace Health Promotion Program efforts. Discuss what your company learned from those efforts.
? What has the company tried over the last few years?
? What has worked well?
? What hasn’t worked well?
? How, if at all, was success of previous Workplace Health Promotion Program efforts measured?