Your Source for Wellness

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

Build Support Among All Levels of the Organization

A key to a successful Wellness Program requires management commitment and staff member involvement.

Wellness Program Step 2 -  Form a Wellness Committee

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

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

The next crucial component is to base the Wellness Program on the needs and interests of your business and its staff members.

Wellness Program Step 4 -  Establish Objectives and Objectives

Goals and goals are the road maps to guide you where your program needs to go.   These are the foundation for planning and reviewing  activities to ensure that your wellness program is going to meet your unique needs.

Wellness 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 would be all for naught.

Wellness Program Step 6 -  Select and Implement a Plan

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

Wellness Program Step 7 -  Monitor and Evaluate Your Wellness Program

Examination is a necessary step to keep a program on target, as well as to ensure that the program is reaching its objectives or achieving the desired results.

Summary

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

Definitely, but you might 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 wellness program!

Consequently, to ensure a successful wellness program consider the key components as you plan your program or improve your current program -

• Upper-Level Management Support and Staff Member Involvement

• Active Wellness Committee

• Program is Based on Staff Member Needs and Interests

• Objectives and Objectives are Established

• Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources and Budget

• Program Implementation and Internal Advertising and Marketing

• Examination of Outcomes and Program

The program design options depend on the objectives and desired outcomes of your program.  If your goal is to help employees 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 wellness 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 hence shouldn’t be confused.  

For example, scheduling activities like an worker health fair or lunchtime education sessions, or having  brochures available do not typically 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 business makes health information available and accessible to employees.  This kind of program can include  pamphlets on a selection of topics, wellness articles in newsletters, bulletin board displays, e-mail health messages, etc.  

Additionally, most wellness fairs are designed as awareness programs with providers providing information and providing medical screenings to staff members.  

Awareness programs are cheap and do not require extensive staff member or business time commitments.  Nevertheless, these programs do not ordinarily result in healthier behavior change.  

Increasing awareness is not ordinarily enough to generate lifestyle changes for most individuals, unless used to motivate employees to register for a program being offered at the business or community on the topic.  

An example of this would be providing information on the harmful effects of smoking and inviting staff members who smoke to register for a smoking cessation class.

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

These cost the corporation a little more than awareness programs; nevertheless, they are still affordable and don’t require a excellent deal of time for planning or attending a session.  

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

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

Behavior change programs as a result require more business resources, cost more, and require more worker commitment, time and effort.  The results are often the desired positive lifestyle change, which if sustained can lead to potential cost savings.  

Examples are tobacco use cessation classes, weight loss and weight management meetings, or an ongoing fitness program.

Environmental and Organizational Support -   Environmental support is often considered the highest and most important level to include when designing your wellness program in order to support and maintain healthy behaviors.  

These types of design choices include policy changes like -

• Creating a tobacco-free workplace

• Designating a walking path,

• Establishing onsite health clubs,

• Ensuring healthful vending machine selections,

• Offering healthy food options in the cafeteria, and/or

• Establishing flex-time policies.  

Other examples include subsidizing healthy vending machines or cafeteria choices; reimbursing gym or weight loss and weight control program memberships; or providing insurance incentives for healthy behaviors.

Ideally, the wellness program design would include some of all these options.  The more comprehensive and integrated the approach, the more successful the results will be.  For example, a corporation can -

• have tobacco cessation information available;
• can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of use of tobacco and how to quit;
• can start an onsite tobacco use cessation program,
• supply self quit tobacco use kits, or
• support employees to attend a community program; and/or
• on an environmental support level can establish a smoke-free workplace and grounds,
• offer lower insurance premiums for non-smokers, or
• provide pharmacological quit smoke aids for free.

Wellness Program -  Components for Success

There are a few key components or elements that should be considered to ensure the success of your Wellness Program or wellness program.  These include -  

• Upper-Level Management Support and Employee Involvement

• Active Wellness Committee

• Program is Based on Worker Needs and Interests

• Goals and Goals are Established

• Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources and Budget

• Program Implementation and Internal Marketing and Advertising

• Examination of Outcomes and Program

Major advantages of healthy employees include -

• Lower Health Care Costs

• Reduced Injuries

• Lowered Absenteeism

• Increased Morale and Loyalty

• Higher Productivity

• Reduced Use of Healthcare Benefits

• Decreased Workers’ Compensation / Disability

• Positive Perception in Community

• Reduced Turnover

• Better recruitment for skilled employees

What’s NOT having a Wellness Program costing your company?  

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

• 59 percent of adults are overweight or obese

• More than 60% of American adults do not exercise regularly

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

• Heart illness is the most common cause of death and the leading cause of death in smokers

• 26 percent of staff members 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 typical cost of annual healthcare spending is over $5,000 per individuals and with dependents almost $10,000.  

Recent data shows that health care related expenses now cost North Carolina companies thousands of dollars per staff member, per year.

Most Illnesses can be Avoided -   Although it sounds unbelievable, experts indicate that avoidable disease makes up 60% - 70% of the entire burden of disease in the USA    

In North Carolina, it is estimated that more than 53 percent 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 company 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.  Further, high levels of organizational stress can adversely affect a corporation by increasing injuries, absenteeism, and medical costs while decreasing productivity.  

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

What is the Upfront Cost and Time Investment for a Wellness Program?

The cost depends on the kind of Wellness Program implemented.  There are a few options to promote worker health with advantages and disadvantages of each.  The program design depends on the goals of the wellness program, the company resources, and the community resources available.  

Improving dietary practices, increasing physical activity 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 corporation addresses these issues are endless and can range from increasing worker awareness, which could include buying several  flyers on a variety of topics, and measuring walking distances around your facility.

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

When well planned and based on your objectives, any of these programs can help you succeed.  Refer below to Wellness Program Design Choices for more ideas.

A Wellness Program is an organized program to assist and support employees in establishing healthier lifestyles.  This can include increasing employee awareness on health topics, scheduling behavior change programs, and/or establishing company policies that support health-related goals.  

Programs and policies that promote increased physical activity, use of tobacco prevention and cessation, and healthful food selections are several examples.  

Dimensions of Wellness

Wellness is more than fitness.  In addition to fitness, the dimensions of optimal health include

• Spiritual Wellness

• Emotional Wellness

• Social Wellness

• Intellectual Wellness

These dimensions are often depicted as a “life wheel” with examples of health components that include -

• fitness,
• nutrition,
• purpose in life,
• financial planning,
• social connections and support systems,
• stress management,
• mind-body health,
• career planning and
• continued learning.  

The key for individual health is keeping the “life wheel” in balance.  A robust wellness program addresses most, when not all, of these dimensions.

Why Corporate Wellness?

Staff Members spend a great deal of time on the job, and the truth is that our traditional work-week is increasing.  In truth, the average American now works about 47 hours per week.  

Plus, technologies like modems, laptops, cellular phones, voice and email have blurred the work-life boundary.  These realities reduce the amount of time that the typical individual is able to devote to wellness pursuits, and yet employees are expected to be at top performance when at work.

A recent study  by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses found that corporate wellness or wellness programs are successful in helping workers make positive health changes due to a few factors such as convenience, environmental support, and colleague or social acceptance.  

What’s the Link between Wellness and the Workplace?

Programs and policies that promote healthful behaviors could make a big difference on staff member wellness AND have an impact on the corporation’s bottom line.   Studies have shown that for every dollar invested by employers in corporate wellness/wellness programs, there were savings ranging from $1.49 to $4.91 with a median savings of $3.14*.  

In company terms, that’s more than a 3 - 1 minimum return on investment - a number that is hard to ignore, and a best practice that should warrant serious consideration from businesses.  

Indeed, a corporate wellness literature review posted in Wellness Practitioner Journal found -  

• 19 studies found a 28.3 percent reduction in sick time

• 16 studies demonstrated a 5.6 - 1 return on investment

• 23 showed a 26.1% reduction in health costs

• 4 found a 30 percent reduction in direct medical and workers’ compensation claims

There is little doubt that a robust wellness program targeted to meet a corporation’s specific needs can save money by reducing absenteeism, lowering healthcare expenditures, reducing employee turnover, and increasing productivity.

• United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2003

Ten Steps Toward Strategic Wellness Programs

The Wellness Program management world is evolving rapidly. Each month, there are new research findings that support the premise that Wellness Programs and disease management have a long-term impact on health care costs.

A lot of large corporations that began Wellness Programs three to five years ago are showing savings in health, disability, and workers compensation costs. Small to mid-size corporations are watching all this and wondering where to begin with wellness.

Getting  senior level management support and budget approval is one of the challenges at the beginning of a Wellness Program. This is the case because Wellness Programs could be expensive, averaging $150-300 per staff member per year in big corporations.

Most of the savings are not realized for a number of years. This long-term investing is hard for businesses on the move.

The key to success for Wellness Programs is to take a strategic approach. Here are ten steps to consider when beginning a Wellness Program.

1. Begin with  upper management. Without  upper management support, a wellness strategy can fall flat. Begin with the health of your executive team and discover your wellness champions at the top of the organization.

2. Analyze the problem. Look at your healthcare claims and analyze the trends. Which conditions are driving your medical, disability, and workers’ compensation claims and which are modifiable? What’s worked and what has not accordingly far? What is the long-term impact of doing nothing?

3. Hold an initial wellness meeting. Invite your key stakeholders both inside and outside the business. Ask your broker to facilitate the meeting and invite key health providers including health, disability, Staff Member Assistance Program (EAP), fitness, and occupational nursing.

Review claims and utilization data and identify key areas of concern. Look at current offerings and see how they are able to be tailored to the needs of the population.

4. Consider both healthy and unhealthy employees. Since 85 percent of claims are usually attributed to 15 percent of claimants, it’s essential to reach those with the most costly conditions while also reaching individuals  who are at risk for developing preventable illnesses in the future.

Voluntary wellness programs such as lunchtime wellness workshops miss many of the individuals  who need them most. Consider programs that are population-wide or target intact workgroups. Wellness incentives help but do not motivate everyone.

5. Be sure to set short-term goals for the wellness programs. Be sure to set some realistic short-term goals based on your key areas of concern. Are there any plan design changes that could’ve an immediate impact on spending? Are there some programmatic actions that could’ve immediate results?

6. Find out what employees are thinking. Hold some focus groups to determine where individuals  are with wellness. What’s working? What isn’t? How much interest do individuals  have in the Wellness Programs? What obstacles and barriers are employees experiencing when they attempt to change behavior?

7. Make sure you have a high-impact Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Your first wellness dollars ought to go into upgrading your Employee Assistance Program (EAP). A highly utilized Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide a foundation for all your future wellness activities.

A good Worker Assistance Program (EAP) is a trusted link to the hearts and minds of employees. at no additional cost, the Worker Assistance Program (EAP) can provide needed follow-up coaching and personal attention for employees who are working on modifiable health behaviors or involved in disease management programs.

Nutritionists, fitness, pregnancy, and stress management professionals are all part of a high-value Employee Assistance Program (EAP).

8. Be certain to set three to five year objectives for healthcare savings and measure them. Get help from your broker and insurance carrier help you on long-term objectives for your health, disability, and workers compensation plans.

Establish program metrics that’ll help you to measure ROI. Go beyond participation rates, completion rates and program satisfaction. Measure changes in readiness, changes in behavior, and changes in risk factors. Establish rigorous methods to measure healthcare savings over the long term.

9. Make certain to set objectives for organizational health. Consider the more intangible advantages of a wellness program and quantify them whenever possible. Include employee turnover rates, cost of new hires, employee morale, benefit satisfaction data, and company of choice issues in establishing objectives. Establish ways to measure success in these areas.

10. Add specifics to your short and long-term plan. Include a program strategy, a communication strategy, and an incentive strategy that’ll fit with your corporate culture. Focus on integration of related components along a health continuum with communications that are focused, simple, and human.

Establish a budget that includes key components such as consumer education, wellness, health risk (assessment|appraisal}s, and regular biometric screens.

Wellness Programs are vital to bettering the health of our nations. Most adults spend more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else, making it a great venue for promoting healthy habits.

The worksite organizational culture and environment are powerful influences on behavior and this needs to be put to use as a means of assisting employees to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Benefits to Wellness Programs include -  

• Weight reduction

• Improved fitness

• Increased stamina

• Lower levels of stress

• Increased well-being, self-image and self-esteem

Corporations can also benefit from Wellness Programs. According to recent research, companys’ benefits are -

• Enhanced recruitment and retention of healthy employees

• Lowered healthcare costs

• Decreased rates of illness and injuries

• Decreased staff member absenteeism

• Improved employee relations and morale

• Increased productivity

A U.S.  Department of Health and Human Services report revealed that at worksites with exercise programs as components of their Wellness Programs have -

• Reduced healthcare costs by 20 to 55%

• Decreased short-term sick leave by six to 32 percent

• Increased productivity by two to 52%

Thanks to modern medicine, life expectancy for Americans has continually increased. How much we enjoy these additional years, nevertheless, depends greatly on how we’ve lived our lives.

When our quality of life is to remain high so that we can fully enjoy these extra years, we must practice good eating habits, be active and refrain from using tobacco products.

Who needs Wellness Programs? If you work in an office or a jobsite or are a member of an organization who spends a considerable amount of time at work, you will benefit from a well-designed staff member wellness program. Staff Members spend a minimum of about 200 hours a month at work - a considerable amount of time.

Furthermore, stress, distractions and the pressures of the job can take its toll on the worker, which makes it important that a wellness program is implemented.

Today, all across America, Canada, Europe and Asia, top corporate Wellness Programs are being used to help improve worker conditions at work and reduce the cost of worker healthcare.

Some of the top Wellness Programs currently in use today include -

Wellness Programs - Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal}s (HRAs)

Health Risk (Assessment|Appraisal} is a top Wellness Program currently in use globally. Organizations that start it determine the safety and health concerns of workers by the assessment of appropriateness of the facilities and equipment against the needs of the workers.

It can, for instance, guide the organization into determining how much air quality within an office room affects the users and then help the assessment team to come up with the measures necessary to correct the problem.

An HRA can also evaluate the level of exposure workers have to certain hazardous or hazardous materials and practices.

Wellness Programs - Immunizations.

This is not always practiced in every country since there are regions where government sponsored immunization shots are available. Notwithstanding, it’s also become an important component of the top Wellness Programs in many organizations in North America.

Immunization shots, like those used to combat flu, for instance, are offered to staff members for free.

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)

Staff Member Assistance Programs (EAPs) consist of a wide variety of services. It can range from providing educational resources to employees regarding health issues to sponsoring health services and medical care. In many companies, medical and insurance have also become a staple part of their benefits system.

Weight Management Programs

This is another wellness program that organizations use, particularly those that offer in-house commissary or cafeteria services. Instead of serving richer, high-calorie fare, cafeterias offer choices for a healthier diet, ordinarily in the form of low-calorie foods and sugar substitutes.

Worker Wellness Newsletters - Health Education Programs

Among the top Wellness Programs that organizations can start is a self-powered tool using a newsletter to promote wellness, coupled with a visible campaign.

The campaign might  be done periodically and focus on a specific topic, such as smoking hazards, cancer, stress, carpal tunnel syndrome, safety in the workplace, etc.

The newsletter in itself could be an effective means to deliver information to staff members or members of an organization but it is far from perfect. Some staff members, for example, might not peruse the newsletter in its entirety or even pay attention to it.

When the issues outlined in the newsletter are promoted through an active and highly visible campaign, it will be easier to maximize positive results.

Physical Fitness and Exercise Plans

Another top wellness program for organizations is one that involves physical activities. Businesses often sponsor exercise-related events like marathons and business sports programs to encourage employees to remain fit or lose excess weight. In mid- to large-sized organizations, companies might even pay for fitness center memberships or in-house exercise facilities.

Wellness Program Incentives.

Some of the top Wellness Programs implemented by businesses involve incentive rewards. This involves company-sponsored programs that reward staff members for achieving specific wellness objectives.

Participation in health campaigns and signing up for Wellness Programs are two of the most widely rewarded schemes. Rewards can range from special recognitions to points (for larger rewards) to specific gifts. In a few cases, cash might also be used.

Nonetheless, incentive systems have had mixed reactions and levels of success. But it continues to be among the top choices among businesses who are willing to modify it for fit their unique needs.

Wellness Programs - Group Activities

In many organizations, businesses take advantage of colleague pressure in order to encourage workers to participate in Wellness Programs. This is currently among the favorite staff member Wellness Programs currently in use today and growing in popularity.

Colleague pressure is often leveraged to help promote competitions referring to corporate wellness and to persuade staff members to be active in company-sponsored health fairs.

Wellness programs at the corporate level are beneficial, right? Wellness statistics obviously show that such wellness programs aren’t only cost-effective to the organization but can assist the staff member in developing a healthier lifestyle.

With the rising cost of healthcare, wellness programs simply make sense. So where does the problem come in? Let’s examine the topic from both perspectives.

Wellness Programs -  the Good

• A sampling of corporate returns on investment for wellness programs -  Bank of America -  600%; General Motors - 370%; Pepsico -  300%; Citibank -  465%; and the Washoe County School District leading the pack at a whopping 1,560 percent. (Campbell,J., Wellness Improvement Experts, www.wellnessimprovementspecialists.com, Albuquerque, New Mexico.)

• Businesses with wellness programs have realized a 28 percent reduction in sick leave, a 26 percent reduction in adjunctive health care costs and a 30 percent reduction in disability and staff members compensation costs. (Health Affairs, Volume 21, No.2, March, 2002.)

• the Washoe county School District in Northern Nevada realized a $15.60 return on investment for every dollar spent due to a 20 percent reduction in absenteeism. (Hardy,A. (2005). at the Top of the Class. WELCOA’s Absolute Advantage Magazine, 5(1), 14-20.)

• Wellness programs provide the structure, encouragement, incentives and ongoing support that many individuals need to make lifestyle changes.

• Workers also realize returns on their efforts. FiServ, a financial services technology corporation, gave employees who filled out a health risk (assessment|appraisal} a significant discount on their health insurance premium. (Holland, Kelley, the New York Times, July 22, 2007.)

Wellness Programs -  the Bad

The flip side of the argument centers on basic human rights. Do we want/need our employer to tell us to eat our veggies or lose 30 pounds? Some companies are doing just that and at least one lawsuit has resulted because of it.

• Three hundred corporations have requested assistance from a national employment and labor law firm to institute more aggressive wellness programs.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

• Clarian Health, based in Indianapolis, Will begin decling employee paychecks by $10.00 for every employee who has a BMI  of greater than 29.9 because not enough workers were utilizing their wellness services.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

• Scott Rodrigues filed a suit against his prospective corporation, Scotts Miracle-Gro, because he believed the corporation’s antiuse of tobacco policy violated his civil rights. the company has a policy against hiring workers who smoke and Mr. Rodrigues’drug screen was positive for nicotine.(Holland, Kelley, the New York Times,July 22,2007.)

• Employee advocates are concerned that health discrimination might not be covered below the Americans with Disabilities Act.(Cornwell, Lisa, Associated Press, Albuquerque Journal, September 10,2007.)

Penalizing employees by hitting them hardest where it hurts the most,their pocketbook, does not appear to be a favorable approach to molding human behavior.

Such tactics may result in increased resentments and retaliation, mainly in the form of absenteeism and presenteeism (decreased productivity on the job.) Voluntary, incentive-based programs, like the one in the Washoe County School District, can and do produce results.

A positive attitude by management along with an opportunity for staff members to have a stake in the decision-making may yield the greatest dividends to both company and staff member.

The motivation and resolve needed to change unhealthy lifestyle habits can best be derived from the basic tenets of encouragement, respect and support.

Getting Began - Secure management support

• Justifications for having a wellness fair

• Health risk (assessment|appraisal}s

• Make certain to help for high-risk population -  smokers, obese staff members

• Early detection of diabetes, heart disease risk factors (high cholesterol, high blood pressure)

Wellness Fair Participation - Identify your audience

• Workers only, whole family, retirees?

• Community involvement? Theme?

Wellness Fair Time Line  

• Be certain to set a date and time Allow 4-6 months of planning time

Wellness Fair Planning

• Identify health-related screenings, tests, other activities you will offer Identify educational literature and other learning opportunities health fair will provide Include any “fun” activities, or food/beverage needs for the fair

Wellness Fair Location and Logistics

• Consider location large enough to accommodate the biggest volume of people  at “peak time” periods

• Determine how booths/stations will be set up

Wellness Fair Vendors

• Target relevant health/safety-related community and corporate providers to provide services, educational materials, incentives and giveaways

Wellness Fair Marketing

• Determine advertising tools to be used to inform employees/participants (posters, mailings, e-mail)

• Determine any incentives or giveaways that’ll be included in the fair or used to encourage participation in the fair

Health Fair Scheduling

• Coordinate timing and events with staff and/or volunteers

Health Fair Personnel

• Schedule appropriate specialists Doctor or similar health care personnel to provide patient consultation for review of blood draw lab results

• Nurse(s) to administer immunizations

• Administrative/all-purpose individual to facilitate paper work, finger sticks and to provide general assistance

• Pharmacist or pharmacist assistant when appropriate Dietitian for nutritional counseling suggested personnel designated for wellness fairs

Footnotes

1 the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation via Reuters Health E-Line.

2 Kaiser Daily Policy Concerning Health Report, (9/11/03)

3 www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/press/archive/lower_cost.htm

4 “Is Stress Nibbling Away at Your Bottom Line?” By Stephen Alper, Nov. 15, 2002.

5 Wellness in the Workplace, Michael P. O’Donnell, page 415.

6 http - //www.bmpcoe.org/bestpractices/internal/dayto/dayto_6.html

As reported by Gordian Health Solutions, the effectiveness of wellness programs in improving health and decling health care costs is directly linked to incentives -  

• the more substantial the incentives,
• the higher the success rate.

Incentives can range from tokens of achievement, such as t-shirts, water bottles and sports equipment, to more substantial financial awards, such as cash incentives or copay vouchers for the successful completion of a program.

Nationwide Insurance is seeing results from a small incentive program initiated by one of the corporation’s onsite nurses. to encourage lunchtime walking, the employee has informally launched a “shoelace program” modeled after the karate-belt color system.

Workers progress through the color scale until they reach “black-lace” status. the reward system has resulted in more workers making commitments to walk during their lunch hour.

At the high end of the reward spectrum, some businesses pay cash to workers who meet wellness goals. LuK, Inc. offers workers $250 for kicking the tobacco habit and remaining smoke free for 12 months.

For logging fitness points that add up to 10 miles a month, staff members are eligible for health assessments, which could lead to reward amounts of up to $225.

The most effective motivator, as reported by Gordian research, comes through linking participation in wellness programs directly to insurance premiums. Doing so clearly demonstrates to employees the positive effects of wellness on their own healthcare costs.

Often, the first step in linking wellness programming to insurance coverage is lowering deductibles for wellness care or eliminating deductibles altogether. By adding this benefit, corporations can encourage staff members to undertake routine screenings and other procedures to respond to medical problems before they become chronic.

Early detection benefits both patient health and business healthcare costs.

Incentivizing wellness program participation with healthcare credits

More frequently, businesss are going beyond increased wellness care coverage and looking to demonstrate the importance of wellness by linking participation to employees’ bottom lines.

Worthington Industries has lately rolled out a program that permits employees to eliminate their portion of the insurance premium by enrolling in a Healthful Options wellness program.

During the first year of the Healthful Options program, workers and their spouses complete Personal Health Assessments and medical testings to determine their levels of health risks.

Nurses, dietitians and exercise specialists are available to help moderate- and high-risk participants create individual action plans for improved health through the use of educational materials, behavior modification, telephone help from third-party program health coordinators, and formal health management programs.

By completing the assessments, workers earn their full premium credit. Because some plans at Worthington require no worker contribution, a cash award takes the place of a credit in those cases.  

During year two of the program, the wellness bar is raised slightly. to continue to receive the wellness credit, participants in the moderate- to high-risk category will be required to work at setting goals with third-party health coordinators.

Year three raises the bar again, requiring participants to show progress in meeting objectives and to continue to work with health coordinators to reach objectives.

After year three, Worthington Industries employees will be on the wellness track. the company believes that will mean a healthier workforce and cost savings for employees and the company.

The well being of Worthington workers is the foundation of this program, and both workers and the corporation are expected to benefit from the long-term advantages of the Healthful Choices Wellness Program.

While Worthington has taken a broad approach to wellness, other corporations have found success in offering incentives in specific areas. Longaberger, for instance, offers a discount on healthcare policies for workers who don’t use tobacco.

An individual worker who does not use tobacco saves $7 per bi-weekly pay. for tobacco-free employees with family coverage whose families are also tobacco-free, the savings increases to $14 per pay.

The next step -  Penalizing harmful behaviors

As it stands, healthcare is the only type of insurance that does not focus on penalizing for behaviors that put the insured party at risk. With healthcare costs rising so dramatically, that could soon change.

Just as an accident likely raises auto insurance premiums, increasing premiums for those who engage in unhealthy behaviors is a possible next step in corporations’ attempts to manage health care costs.

Reports that staff members would support this kind of action are stacking up. One Ohio business conducted an informal survey that indicated staff members would consider it a morale boost when health-conscious staff members were relieved of some burden of subsidizing care for staff members who engage in behaviors that adversely affect their health.

Whether or not this kind of program gains popularity, one thing is sure -  the need to control the rise in healthcare costs is becoming ever more pressing.

Take the first step

Whatever the strategy, from offering employees medical resources to providing incentives for healthful behaviors, employers have a real opportunity to improve morale and productivity, decrease absenteeism and control healthcare costs through wellness.

The first step is committing to taking one, whatever size effort is appropriate for your organization.  Big strides begin with small steps.