WELLNESS PROGRAMhttp://wellnessassociation.com/

WELLNESS PROGRAM A comprehensive health program designed to

maintain a high level of well being through properdiets, light exercises, stress management and illness prevention.

OBJECTIVES

• Educate management on the benefits of productivity and the costs of its loss due to illnesses• Establish steps necessary to implement and

maintain a successful wellness program• Establish a method of testing the success of

the wellness program• Assess which wellness programs are best for

various work environments

REASONS FOR A WELLNESS PROGRAM• Technology advances• Increase in stress levels• Increase of workplace diversity• Expanding work hours• High health care costs• Illness prevention• The need for a healthier lifestyle• Disease and obesity

WELLNESS PROGRAM

Unhealthy Lifestyle Costs• Can consume upwards of half the company profit• Cost employees and employers in lost productivity• Disease, disability and death

PRIMARY RISK AREAS

• Smoking• Lack of exercise• Unhealthy eating habits• Overweight/obesity• Alcohol and substance abuse• Stress

BENEFITS OF A WELLNESS PROGRAM• Many individuals in the workforce spend more time

at work than even home – leaving an opportunity to promote healthy habits and to lower business

costs• Reduced workers’ compensation costs • Increased productivity• Reduced absenteeism

BENEFITS OF A WELLNESS PROGRAM

• Lower turnover- reduced costs recruiting and training new employees• Reduction in the number of injuries• Weight reduction• Enhanced physical fitness

BENEFITS OF A WELLNESS PROGRAM• Improved employee awareness• Increased loyalty• Improved company morale

PROMOTING THE WELLNESS PROGRAM The Partnership for Prevention has outlined three components of promotion practices for workplaces, and cost-effective, creative ways to implement them

1) Tobacco• According to the CDC, men who smoke incur

about $16,000 more in lifetime medical expenses, and are absent from work four days more per year, than men who do not smoke• Women smokers incur about

$18,000 more in expenses and are absent two more days than their non-smoking counterparts

PROMOTING THE WELLNESS PROGRAM2) Cancer Screening• remind employees to get cancer screenings• post flyers in bathrooms, send e-mails, distribute fact sheets or make posters• offer on-site screening services by cooperating with your local American Cancer Society or local hospital

PROMOTING THE WELLNESS PROGRAM3)Fitness and Nutrition•Many individuals in the workforce spend the majority of their day at work, which means they make many of their choices about their fitness and nutrition at work• Here are some simple things that an employer can do to make healthful choices easier to make:

Set up a walking club before or after work

PROMOTING THE WELLNESS PROGRAM

Subsidize healthy options in vending machines with junk food options; for instance, charge $1 for a cupcake but only 25 cents for an apple

Start a pedometer challenge with a goal of 10,000 steps a day

Provide a safe place to store bikes in the office

PROMOTING THE WELLNESS PROGRAM

Encourage employees to take the stairs

Buy healthy food for meetings instead of junk food

Host a health fair

WELLNESS PROGRAM DELIVERY METHODS• Lunchtime Learning Seminars• Employee Wellness Newsletters• “Stall Talks” – on the back of restroom doors• Online Wellness Tools and Wellness Resources

PRESENTEEISM

The practice of workers reporting to work when ill and not operating to their usual level of productivity

CAUSES OF PRESENTEEISM

• Increase in dual-earner households

• With a greater percentage of households lacking a spouse at home to care for a sick child, a number of workers will go to work when ill in order to save their limited sick days for when their children are sick

• More workers are now also caring for aging parents as well as their own children

CAUSES OF PRESENTEEISM

• Employer expectations

• Some workers go off to work when sick because they fear one or more of the following: appearing less committed to their jobs, receiving disciplinary action or even losing their jobs

• A day or more off can also mean burdening coworkers with job duties, coming back to a heavy backlog of work responsibilities or missing work deadlines

CAUSES OF PRESENTEEISM

• Little or no paid sick days

• Many more employers no longer allow employees to accrue sick days; it is more common today for workers to have a use-it-or-lose-it arrangement

THANKS