Workplace Health PromotionWorkplace health promotion and workplace wellness program blog

Sometimes, Workplace Health Promotion Programs can take advantage of “special situations” that happen and which offer an excellent opportunity for worker education and support, at little or no expense to the employer. Not only do these situations help workers personally, but also they are an opportunity for the employer to be seen in a positive light. For example:

A company had several workers with cancer, as well as a number of workers with family members with cancer. Their Human Resources staff had received numerous questions about what to say to a coworker with cancer, as well as hearing about how difficult it was for the caregivers to manage work and home demands. They thought that it would be a great idea to initiate a lunchtime monthly “discussion/support group” to talk about the struggles, frustrations, and fears that people were facing. This activity was included under the umbrella of Workplace Health Promotion Programs that the company offered.

The group was facilitated by a rep from the Employee Assistance Program, but it was not a therapy group, nor was it promoted as such. It was informal and workers came as they could fit it into their schedules.

Did it solve all their problems? Of course not, but it did give them a place to vent, talk, and get some information and support. It was a powerful statement from the employer saying, “We care about you and we’d like to help you with this,” and the workers were very grateful. Effective Workplace Health Promotion Programs clearly convey this type of message to their workers.

Another employer had an worker who was autistic and frequently exhibited some odd or unusual behaviors. He had some significant difficulties and had to be out of work for several months. As time came for him to return, coworkers became anxious about what to expect.

The employer had someone come in to talk about autism and how best to deal with a person with the disease. It was a general discussion, and there was no discussion of the worker’s personal information. However, coworkers felt much more prepared to handle his return.

An worker with epilepsy told her coworkers about her condition in case she had a seizure. The employer then had someone from an epilepsy advocacy group come in and educate workers about the illness and what to do.

You may believe taking steps like this are not the responsibility of the employer, that it is not your business. But physical and mental illnesses affect just about everyone and are natural elements of Workplace Health Promotion Programs.

Staff Members who are preoccupied and worried about someone having a seizure or catching HIV from a coworker are not focused and productive. When you spend time informing and supporting workers, you not only have productive workers, you also have their respect.

Workplace Health Promotion Programs are also an effective way to educate workers/parents about substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, depression, mental illness, learning disabilities, and other issues that affect adults, children, and teens. Arming parents, other relatives, and concerned friends with information is a way to prevent problems in the future, for themselves and their children.

Staff Members may not be comfortable attending Workplace Health Promotion Programs entitled “Substance Abuse and You” or “Dealing With Depression,” fearing they have “self-identified” just by their presence. However, when much of that same information is billed as “Teens and Substance Abuse” or “Recognizing the Signs of Depression in Teens,” there may be a full house for the presentation.

Once this happens, the levels of awareness are raised. An employee who is concerned that he or she is actually depressed can attend and gain life-saving information. Using this type of approach in Workplace Health Promotion Programs goes beyond raising awareness among parents whose children are struggling with personal problems.

Mental health topics are frequently difficult to introduce. There is still some stigma attached to being “mentally ill” or having alcohol problems. A benign way to bring information into the worksite is to use Workplace Health Promotion Programs and the National Screening Day programs. These are dates that have been set aside annually to raise awareness about various problems. They include:

Alcohol Abuse and Addiction (April)
Anxiety Disorders (during Mental Health Month in May)
Depression (October)
Eating Disorders (February)

There is a wealth of information available internet-based that can be made available to your workers at no cost as part of your Workplace Health Promotion Programs. All it takes implement this into Workplace Health Promotion Programs is some type of notification in the form of an e-mail with an introductory statement and some links.

Local mental health clinics, medical schools, and hospitals usually provide free employee health screenings on designated days so that anyone can come in, take a test, and get information and a referral for care if appropriate. You could arrange with a local provider for a block of time for your workers to participate in the screenings, or talk to them about coming into the worksite to provide them.

What Are Workplace Health Promotion Programs?

Workplace Health Promotion Programs are designed to promote and support employee health and wellness through education and awareness programs primarily based at the worksite. The program is a win-win in that workers benefit from learning and staying well, and the employer has increased loyalty and less absenteeism.

As companies become more aware of the importance of employee health on productivity, there is increased interest in encouraging and supporting healthy lifestyle choices. Employer costs for Workplace Health Promotion Programs can rapidly be offset with fewer work-related injuries, improved attendance, less turnover, and increased morale.

Types of Workplace Health Promotion Programs

Workplace Health Promotion Programs: Lunch & Learn Wellness Presentations

The easiest Workplace Health Promotion Programs are one’s where the employer arranges to have quarterly presentations during lunchtime on topics such as stress management, nutrition, and exercise. A local mental health clinic, hospital, or the Employee Assistance Program (Employee Assistance Program) may provide these. This type of corporate health and Workplace Health Promotion Program is usually arranged through Human Resources, the medical department, or the safety manager. Participation is generally voluntary.

Before selecting topics for wellness seminars, it is a good idea to do some type of worker polling to see what topics people are interested in. This can be as simple as an e-mail to all staff asking for suggestions or as formal as having an outside group come in to conduct interviews and design a complete corporate health and Workplace Health Promotion Program.

Workplace Health Promotion Programs: Health Risk Assessments

An employer can provide comprehensive Health Risk Assessments for workers. Health Risk Assessments are detailed questionnaires that covers all areas of behavior (seatbelt use, smoking, alcohol use, frequency of exercise, family history of disease and illness, etc.). This is usually done in conjunction with employee health screening / biometric testing for things like cholesterol and blood sugar screening.

Once the Health Risk Assessments are scored, the results are shared with workers along with suggestions for changes. The employer is able to get aggregate statistics that will show trends that he or she may want to address. For example, if a lot of people have high blood pressure, the employer may consider an educational seminar, biweekly worksite blood pressure readings, and low-salt, low-fat selections in the cafeteria or snack machines as interventions to include in the corporate health and Workplace Health Promotion Program.

If the Health Risk Assessments show that there is a “trend” toward not wearing seatbelts, perhaps having the State police come in and give a presentation about what happens in an accident when you don’t have a seatbelt on would change some behavior.

Workplace Health Promotion Programs: tobacco Cessation

tobacco cessation programs are very popular elements of Workplace Health Promotion Programs. Often, the local chapter of the American Cancer Society or American Lung Association will come in to run a group. Another option is for workers to attend a tobacco cessation group in the community. Costs for the tobacco cessation group can be offset by the employer after workers complete the program.

Workplace Health Promotion Programs: Stress Management

Stress is a major area of concern for companies. Stressed out employees get sick more frequently, make more errors, and generally do not perform up to capacity. As a result, Workplace Health Promotion Programs frequently take steps to address employee stress. There are many ways to address stress within your Workplace Health Promotion Programs, and the beauty of these ideas is that everyone can benefit from them.

Certainly, stress management presentations are educational and informative and should be included in any corporate health and Workplace Health Promotion Program.

Workplace Health Promotion Programs and Work/Life Programs

Many companies offer a work/life program that offers assistance with things from finding day care for a child or elderly parent and information on obscure college scholarship funds to information on which PC to buy and where to find someone to walk your dog. These programs fit into Workplace Health Promotion Programs because they help your workers handle many of the things that are taking up work time and increasing stress.

Workplace Health Promotion Programs and Employee Assistance Programs

An Employee Assistance Programs are integral parts of effective Workplace Health Promotion Programs. By helping workers address personal/mental health problems and concerns, an Employee Assistance Program can go a long way toward improving overall health and productivity. Representatives from your Employee Assistance Program can also work closely with you to design Workplace Health Promotion Programs that are integrated and effective.

Time Management and Workplace Health Promotion Programs

Time is one of our most precious commodities, and anything you can do as an employer to help your workers manage their time is going to be welcome. Although not traditionally thought to be part of Workplace Health Promotion Programs, providing flextime and telecommuting are two ways to decrease stress and raise productivity.

These programs take thought and planning and are not appropriate for all workers or all positions; however, in many worksites, they are underused. Either your Human Resources manager or an outside consultant can help you design a program. If you belong to a business group or Chamber of Commerce, you may find assistance there. Also, talk to colleagues who are doing this in their businesses to see how it is working.

The Culture of Wellness

Staff Member wellness has to be part of your company culture, not just something you throw in as an afterthought. It isn’t a Band-Aid, but rather a thoughtful piece of your business strategy. For example, if productivity is down due to tobacco breaks, providing tobacco cessation classes can help. But it’s also important to establish a no tobacco policy.

When workers feel valued, they are more loyal and tend to work harder. They take pride in their work and talk about what a great company they work for. A healthy workforce is a productive workforce.

Even the best and most innovative companies are experiencing the impact worker well-being on their organizations’ performance. The bad news is that many of these companies are unaware of the extent to which less-than-optimal worker health and well-being is impacting workforce capacity and performance. The goods news is that there is an increasing body of research and practice than can help companies mitigate this frequently unseen issue and develop significant opportunities for improved workforce attraction, retention and performance! This article focuses on how companyal leaders can improve physical and financial worker wellness in the worksite.

The Problems of Chronic Disease

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60 percent of deaths in 2005 could be attributed to chronic disease (cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes).1 The largest attributing factors to the chronic diseases include smoking, physical activity, and diet.2 The costs of these diseases are staggering. For example, if there were a 10 percent reduction in mortality from heart disease and cancer, it could save the US $10.4 trillion annually.3 Further the WHO projects that over 80 percent of the US population will be either considered overweight or obese by the year 2015.

The Problems of Financial Distress and Dissatisfaction

As hard as it may be to fathom, a 2004 study found that 67 percent of U.S. Workers are dealing with Personal Financial Issues.4 In another study, it was found that these issues can exist in all segments of any workforce, regardless of income, education, or position level.5 Couple these facts with our workforce reality:

* The workforce is aging and demand for professionals in many industries continues to exceed the supply – and will for the foreseeable future.
* Due to the shortages of quality personnel the stress on our current workforce is increasing.
* With these workforce shortages, most companies cannot continue to pay spiraling market prices for professionals.
* Lastly, those personality attributes that make many professionals great caregivers or service-providers also tend to make them less apt to focus on matters of personal financial management.

The Return On Investment (ROI)

There are significant reasons why companies should employ Procedures to implement Workplace Health Promotion Programs for their workers:

* Improve Productivity including reductions in medical care and workers compensation claims, absenteeism, and presenteesism;
* Reduce employer paid medical care and re-insurances premiums; and
* Improve worker, physicians and patient satisfaction; and
* Improve staff retention and productivity.

A recent Towers Perrin case study6 found that a ten percentage point improvement on worker engagement was linked to a 4.6 percentage point improvement on customer satisfaction and revenue growth and labor cost improvements equal to a 2.8 percent impact on controllable margin.

What all this shows is that providing Workplace Health Promotion Programs and incentives and rewards is more than just “the right thing to do.” Rather, there is a profound business case. As workforce capacity and engagement increase, a bottom-up cultural change takes place in your company. These changes drive improvements in customer satisfaction, productivity, absenteeism, and presenteesism – all of which drive improvements in profitability.

The Course of Change

As an employer, you can have a tremendous impact on the health of the community. Here are a few suggestions on how you can engage your workers (possibly include flowchart):

1. Define the Plan – Determine if you have the internal resource availability and knowledge to develop a formal Workplace Health Promotion Program. Many organizations, due to confidentiality legal and other reasons, select to engage outside partners to manage these processes.
2. Communication – Once you have developed the plan, communicate the plan to all workers – using multiple media and approaches.
3. Lead by Example –Begin Workplace Health Promotion Programs at the top (walk the walk). Allow yourselves the opportunity to go through a health risk assessment and a financial assessment. If you can, communicate your results and your action steps to staff.
4. Develop incentives and rewards for Staff Participation – Here are a couple of financial incentives and rewards you can provide staff that are low cost and optimally have a return on investment:

1. Pay workers to take a risk assessment
2. Lower employee contributions to medical plan for those with decreased risk of chronic disease and correspondingly raise employee contribution to medical plan for those with increased risk of chronic disease

5. Make available Personal Risk Assessment Counseling – Make available resources that can meet one on one with each worker to understand their health risks and opportunities
6. Eliminate Trans-Fat from Your Dietary Offerings – If you have worksite food facilities, and haven’t been required by legislative statute, you should eliminate trans-fatty oils from the worker and customer meals
7. Eliminate Smoking Areas for Staff Members – More and more organizations, including large cities, are now banning smoking on their facilities.
8. Make available Proper Monitoring Programs – Probably the hardest part of the plan, the ongoing monitoring is critical. Some organizations are large enough to own or build wellness centers – but even then, many workers feel uncomfortable in using them. Typically the users of wellness centers are those least in need. The good news is that there are many external and internet-based tools and options that are available today.
9. Encourage Other Local Businesses to Make available Workplace Health Promotion Programs. In some cases (e.g. hospitals), there are options where this can even generate revenue and/or deepen relationships with the communities you serve.

Legal Issues

When thinking about a Workplace Health Promotion Program, one must take into account certain requirements under ERISA, the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and the Public Health Service Act (PHSA). All three laws were amended by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to provide for improved portability and continuity of health coverage. HIPAA also added Code section 9802, ERISA section 702 and PHSA section 2702, each of which prohibits discrimination in health coverage based on health status.

To be a bona fide Workplace Health Promotion Program, the plan must satisfy the following requirements:

* An individual’s total reward must be limited. A limit of 10 percent to 20 percent of the total cost of employee-only coverage may be appropriate, according to the DOL.
* The program must be reasonably designed to promote good health or prevent disease.
* The reward must be available to all similarly situated individuals. The program must allow any individual for whom it is unreasonably difficult because of a medical condition to meet the Workplace Health Promotion Program standard (or for whom it is medically inadvisable to attempt to meet the Workplace Health Promotion Program standard) an opportunity to satisfy a reasonable alternative standard.

1 2005 Preventing chronic disease: A vital investment. World Health Organization
2 2007 Working Towards Wellness: Accelerating the prevention of chronic disease. World Economic Forum
3 2007 The Value of Health and Longevity. Kevin M. Murphy and Robert H. Topal, University of Chicago
4 2004 Employer/Employee Equation Research on Worker Types, Preferences and Engagement Issues – Concours Group, Age Wave and Harris Poll
5 1997 Neal E. Cutler, Ph.D
6 2003 Talent Report: New Realities in Today’s Workforce – Towers Perrin

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: Physical/Weight Management Activities

1. Allow access to on- and off- worksite gyms and recreational programs before, during, and after work hours.
2. Make available and encourage participation in after work recreation or leagues.
3. Make available cash incentives or decreased insurance costs for participation in physical activity and/or weight management or maintenance programs.
4. Make available shower and/or changing facilities onsite.
5. Make available outdoor exercise areas such as fields and trails for worker use.
6. Make available bicycle racks in safe, convenient, and accessible locations.
7. Make available worksite fitness opportunities, such as group classes or personal training.
8. Make available an onsite exercise facility.
9. Set up programs that have strong social support systems and incentives and rewards, such as:
o Buddy or team physical activity goals
o Programs that involve employees and family
o Programs to encourage physical activity, such as pedometer walking challenges
o Explore discounted or subsidized memberships at local health clubs, recreation centers, or YMCAs
10. Make available flexible work hours to allow for physical activity during the day.
11. Support physical activity breaks during the workday, such as stretching or walking.
12. Host walk-and-talk meetings.
13. Map out worksite trails or nearby walking routes and destinations.
14. Have workers map out their own biking or walking route to and from work.
15. Post motivational signs at elevators and escalators to encourage stair usage.
16. Make available exercise/physical fitness messages and information to workers.
17. Make available or support recreation leagues and other physical activity events onsite or in the community.
18. Begin worker activity clubs such as walking or bicycling clubs.
19. Make available worksite child care facilities to facilitate physical activity.
20. Sponsor a bike to work day and reward workers who participate.
21. Set up a box and solicit fitness and health tips.

Workplace Health Promotion Program: General Health Education Activities

1. Have a current policy outlining the requirements and functions of a broad-based worksite Workplace Health Promotion Program.
2. Have a wellness plan in place that addresses the purpose, nature, duration, resources required, participants in, and expected results of a worksite Workplace Health Promotion Program.
3. Orient workers to the Workplace Health Promotion Program and give them copies of the physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use policies.
4. Promote and encourage worker participation in the physical activity/fitness and nutrition education/weight management program.
5. Make available health education information to workers.
6. Have a committee that meets at least once a month to oversee the Workplace Health Promotion Program.
7. Make available regular health education presentations on various physical activity, nutrition, and wellness-related topics. Ask voluntary health associations, medical care providers, and/or public health agencies to offer worksite education classes.
8. Host a health fair as a kick-off event or as a celebration for completion of a wellness campaign.
9. Designate specific areas to support workers such as diabetics and nursing mothers.
10. Conduct preventive wellness screenings for blood pressure, body composition, blood cholesterol, and diabetes.
11. Make available confidential health risk appraisals.
12. Make available worksite weight management/maintenance programs for workers.
13. Add weight management/maintenance, nutrition, and physical activity counseling as a member benefit in health insurance contracts.

Workplace Health Promotion Program: Tobacco Cessation

1. Establish a company policy prohibiting tobacco use anywhere on the property.
2. Make available prompts/posters to support no tobacco use policy.
3. Policy supporting participation in tobacco cessation programs during duty time (flex-time).
4. Make available counseling through an individual, group, or telephone counseling program onsite.
5. Make available counseling through a health plan sponsored individual, group, or telephone counseling program.
6. Make available cessation medications through health insurance.