Examples of potential elements of a Employee Wellness  include:

Health Risk Assessments / Employee Wellness Screenings – Health Risk Assessments (aka Health Risk Appraisals), evaluate the most prevalent lifestyle-related risks of an individual. HRAs frequently include screenings for Blood Pressure (BP), cholesterol, glucose levels and other health indicators. These analyses support significant benchmarking measures that ideally will allow employees to prevent or lower their risk of illnesses. Finding Wealth Through Wellness, As noted by Kathryn Krivy, director of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Wellness Institute in Chicago, “Medically based Health Risk Assessments are a necessity because in order to affect transformation in your business, you need to know what the concerns are, and you just do not know until you get the data.”

Physical Activity and Weight Management – One of the most popular Employee Wellness  is for corporations to support access to a fitness center, frequently on-Site. Other potential measures include offering healthier snack machines and cafeteria options, weight management support groups and fitness challenge programs. Some corporations, like hospital group Baptist Health South Florida, will even pay for employees to frequent weight-loss sessions such as Weight Watchers.

Awareness and Education Programs – Many  corporations have events discussing the benefits of nutrition, safety or physical fitness, among other topics. Other options are to host a health & wellness fair or administer a disease-awareness campaign.

Behavior Modification – This covers issues like smoking, wearing seat belts, and alcohol use. While many corporations will support assistance for employees looking to change behavior, some corporations, like healthcare benefits administrator Weyco, Inc., mandate transformation, such as quitting smoking, as a condition of employment.

Alternative Treatments – Other Employee Wellness can include absorbing some or all of the costs for massages, stress-reduction activities like yoga or even herbal medicines.

Companies, through private medical insurance corporations, are the leading provider of medical services in the U.S.. In 2004, 59.8 percent of American citizens were covered by a business-based medical insurance program, accounting for 88 percent of all private medical insurance. Yet the growing costs of Health Care, ever-increasing prescription prices and a steady rise in chronic illnesses have brought the corporate world to a breaking point.

For many corporations the growing burden has become too difficult to carry. Over the past five years medical insurance premiums have raised an average of 11.6 percent each year, more than four times the average rate of inflation and employee earnings over that time.3 Not surprisingly, this exponential growth in costs has caused the number of corporations offering Health Care services during that time to drop from 69 percent to 60 percent.4 In addition, in 2005,  medical insurance premiums jumped 9.2 percent, more than three times the rate of inflation – and that was the lowest increase in the past five years.

In this environment corporations need to find progressive ways to mitigate the rising costs of Health Care coverage. Seemingly, the easiest strategies to accomplish this goal would be to cut benefits coverage or pass on arising burden to employees and retirees. More than 80 percent of corporations have chosen one or both of these cost saving measures in the past few years and almost half of all sizable corporations are likely to increase the amount employees pay in 2007.5

However, these methods do nothing to address the primary causes of rising costs, one of which is a population that requires increased medical care. To make a lasting and meaningful impact on costs and overall health, corporations need to look beyond a old-school reactive-based approach.

As a result, a myriad of health care ailments plague the workforce costing the employee quality of life, while the business faces more Health Care costs.

It is a circumstance in which no one wins. Waiting until the problem occurs is self-defeating for both the business and the employee member. Employee Wellness  only makes great sense by discussing the topic before it happens.

Employee Wellness  – Cease and Desist Order

Employee Wellness are like cease and desist orders. These particular orders are instructions on why employees should cease living unhealthy lives and desist from eating junk food.

Let’s face it – employee frequently consume unhealthy food throughout the day. Office employees, line employees, sales associates, and executives – they all fall prey to the temptations of donuts, snack machines food, office party snacks and so on.

The bad habits continue at home. Food that is bad for your health is staples in an abundance of diets. These foods include too much white bread, cakes, alcohol, fast food picked up on the way home and unhealthy snacks like buttered popcorn and sugar rich soda drinks.

Poor diet and little or no exercise results in serious chronic illnesses eventually including heart disease and strokes.

Waiting until the ailments occur is expensive. Growing health care costs are taking a serious monetary toll on corporations. Every dime that is invested on illness recovery could have been invested on a business preventive health and Employee Wellness .

Prevention means beginning conditions such that illness and injury are minimized through diet and exercise and an awareness of what is a great fitness plan.

• employees are screened for potential for serious chronic diseases such as diabetes
• employees are taught the value of great diet and how to develop a dietary plan
• Individual job stress levels are evaluated
• Physical Activity Programs are made easily accessible to encourage participation
• Frequent sessions are helpful on relevant topics of health and Employee Wellness
• Company gives incentive programs to maximize participation

Many employees do not know the long-term consequences of living a life with little or no exercise. Employee Wellness  bring the information to the employees so they can make informed decisions.

The cut back in sick days, reduced injuries and decreased stress boosts manufacturing and declines costs.

Employee Wellness  – Resuming New Health

Employee Wellness  can be elaborate menus of choices or simple plans that show employees how to improve their quality of life.

The programs can cover all the problems that confront employees during their work day also. These kinds of topics include preventing injury, fitting exercise into a busy schedule, making right fast food choices or decreasing work related stress.

No matter what form the business preventive health and exercise program takes the benefits will be rapidly incurred. It only takes a couple of weeks for employees to begin to feel the results of a more active life.

A exercise program instructs on diet and provides the opportunity for exercises that tone, strengthen and improve flexibility.

Employee Wellness only make sense. It establishes a business culture that speaks volumes about the priority of a active lifestyle.

Once employees stop their old sedentary habits, they are left with the choice of resuming new active attitudes and practices.

Employee Wellness  are here to stay.

Companies are expected to be socially responsible in today’s world. It used to be employees had few amenities, because the business didn’t see any benefit to the business.

Times have changed drastically. Companies now know that the health of its employee workforce is indicative of the health of the business itself. The business exercise program was introduced to encourage active employee lifestyles, even while at work.

Half The Time

Stress is a huge factor in how we handle a heavy workload. Stress impacts our physical and mental wellness. It even generates a chemical that is processed into fat by our bodies. A business exercise program uses exercise and health information to train employees how to stay personally healthy.

When healthy, the body and mind is much better able to handle stress. Stress has an abundance of side effects. It can cause inattention, sickness and high Blood Pressure (BP). These effects in turn cost the business an abundance of money in absenteeism, poor work rate and higher health care costs.

A business exercise program makes fitness a priority in the business among its employees. In return, a exercise program provides many benefits to the business.

• Better work rate because of progresss in health
• Better employee concentration due to minimization of stress effects
• General improved morale
• Reduced absenteeism

You usually hear people who are under an abundance of stress say, “I do not know why I did that” when they make a mistake. The truth is they probably really do not know that their concentration is misdirected because of stress.

I Want to Participate

A business exercise program can take many forms.

• Physical Activity Program can be set up at the business’s facility and managed by an employee
• Company exercise program  can have a business membership with a nearby gym
• Physical Activity Program can be under contract with a fitness trainer who comes to the employer’s facility and coordinates the program, including employee evaluations
• Physical Activity Program can be managed by an employee onsite using the services of a web based exercise program

A business exercise program can be modified in almost any way necessary to accommodate the business and its employees.

Usually, in any program, seminars are provided periodically also to inform employees of current health problems and trends. As a minimum, a business program normally will offer the following:

• Aerobics for cardiovascular conditioning
• Abdomen strength building
• General muscle toning
• Exercises for improved flexibility

More elaborate programs will offer employee sessions, sessions and fitness center equipment. Company programs can be adapted to any business and any budget.

Why Will This Work

We spend an abundance of time at work. It’s simple for employees to skip working out, blaming it on lack of time. Using professional fitness services like those found here takes away the excuses that are costing the business money.

Company fitness sounds like buzz words, but it has become an significant concept in the work place. Workers in the business world are willing to work long and hard hours.

In exchange they expect the business to be willing to make accommodations. A business fitness plan is a all-inclusive program that mergers business and employee health needs.

Taking Stock

Companies have a social responsibility. They take care of the environment, donate money to worthy causes and participate in school programs. But for many corporations, the social awareness begins with their very own employees.

The employees who are fit make better employees. Research studies have shown that up to 75 percent of illness is related to lifestyle. So for a business exercise program to work it must train employees fitness as a all-inclusive lifelong plan. Since we spend at least 1/3 of our day at work, it only makes sense to make fitness available at the worksite.

• Test for problems that could drive to primary health ailments in the future, such as Blood Pressure (BP) and glucose levels
• Educate employees on diet
• Examine stress levels as a function of the job
• Make exercise equipment or sessions available
• Make adequate time for involvement in physical activity programs
• Offer disease prevention programs such as immunization
• Offer incentive programs for program participation

On A Mission

There are many ways a business can start a business fitness plan. A professional business can be hired to write a complete fitness plan. Or a professional can help a business create a plan the business developed. The professional assistance can be internet based, at the worksite, or at a health center.

When a professional fitness business is hired, employees are evaluated based on their workload. Individual exercise plans are put into place and progress is monitored. Some corporations hire a fitness trainer to work directly with employees on an ongoing basis at the worksite.

Other corporations pay for the services of a trainer at the nearest health center. To read what personal fitness can do for your business visit this page.

There are many choices a business can choose from. Companies frequently establish fitness plans that include employee families. For example, if the business purchased a business fitness center membership, families of employees are given use of the facilities also.

This promotes family unity in addition to fitness. Some corporations pay for fitness plans in their entirety. Others only pay part and the employee pays the balance. There are elaborate plans that offer classes and group exercises and seminars. There are simpler plans that offer access to basic fitness facilities.

But no matter what form the business fitness plan takes, as a minimum, the program will instruct on nutrition and support opportunity for exercises that tone, strengthen and improve flexibility. A business that takes care of its employees finds that the employees will take care of the business.

People spend an abundance of time at their place of employment, and work environments are full of stress. Downsizing, mergers, more manufacturing specifications and extended hours take their toll on employee health.

It can be measured in growing absenteeism and more health costs. It is time to reverse the trend. Establishing a business exercise group could be the perfect solution. Driving each other to start a exercise program will reap big results for the employees and the business.

Working Overtime

It is simple to find excuses to skip working out. One of them is always ‘not enough time’. But 2 walks for 15 minutes each has the same health benefit as 1 walk for 30 minutes. This fact makes building business exercise group programs simple.

Most corporations hire a fitness expert. The fitness expert can develop a plan the business can manage itself or let the fitness expert create and monitor. Either way, there are lots of ways for employees to exercise during the day.

• Go on walks outside during breaks or lunch
• Frequent sponsored exercise sessions at an in-house fitness center or a local fitness center before or after work
• Take the stairs instead of taking the elevators, calculating the number of stairs each week
• Do stretching exercises every hour to remain refreshed and alert

But it works even better when teamwork is added to the mix. A business is as great as its employees. Every business operates on the concept of great teamwork to fulfill its mission and offer great customer service. What better way to begin that process than by building a business exercise group?

The rapport that is created among employees working out together will carry over into the worksite itself. It is a well-known fact that group activities promote cooperation and exercise gives the perfect common activity.

All humans need to exercise to maintain fitness. With a business physical activity program, the business can convey its belief in team spirit, cooperative objectives and goals and strategy development.

A local personal trainer can be hired to come onsite or the business can hire a internet-based trainer. Either way, documenting the progress of each employee’s fitness level as they participate in the exercise group projects will encourage participation.

Moonlighting

There are numerous types of exercise programs that can be provided to benefit a worksite.

• A mixture of aerobics exercises followed by strength movements
• Circuit training at the health club
• Tai Chi Ch’uan for relaxation and stress control
• Step classes
• Body sculpting
• A series of progressive exercise classes offering steady fitness improvement
• Specialty sessions for people over 55 or for pregnant women

On this page you can locate a personal trainer who can show how building a business exercise group programs works.

A business will find that once employees begin to feel healthy, the physical activity program will carry over into their individual life. Now that is healthy moonlighting!

One of the advantages of wellness programs is they give employees every opportunity to improve their quality of life both at their place of employment and after their place of employment.

Wellness is not just about executing a few exercises. It is a all-inclusive service-oriented program that considers diet, overall fitness and job fitness.

Advantages of Employee Wellness

The Advantages of Employee Wellness  form a long list.

• Improvedemployee work rate
• Improvedemployee concentration
• Improved morale
• Lower absenteeism

The advantages of wellness programs can’t be miscalculated. With one-on-one consultation and group programs, employees learn to handle stress in a constructive demeanor.

This not only betters life at work, it betters customer service and the quality of life with our personal relationships. Everyone who works has had those days when the job goes home with you because of the burden stress has on physical and mental wellbeing.

Stress generates a chemical that boosts fat production in bodies.

A wellness program enables employees to deal with stress in such a manner they 1. lower stress caused illnesses and 2. do not carry the stress of the job with them throughout non-job activities.

The advantages of a wellness program are the result of the use of exercise and nutrition goal setting to train employees how to stay personally healthy.

It is much easier for the body to handle stress when the whole body is healthy. employees who are not active directly cost the business an abundance of money in absenteeism, better healthcare costs and lost productivity.

Employee relations can also suffer as a result of employees who feel daily stress of the job.

Advantages of Employee Wellness  – Satisfaction Guaranteed

The Advantages of wellness programs are both tangible and intangible.

• Existing chronic illnesses are addressed to avoid further physical deterioration
• Preventive Employee Wellness  keep healthcare costs decreased over time
• Workers experience better energy which boosts work rate
• Unhealthy snacking in the worksite is addressed
• Ergonomics are studied to lower employee injury potential
• Employee flexibility is better
• Self-image of employees is better
• Employee cooperation developed through physical activity programs
• Resolutions to health and fitness problems are given

The advantages of business physical activity programs include on-Site and off-site services customized to match business objectives and goals. Even if a program is in place, it can be changed or expanded to suit the needs of the business and its employees.

Routine evaluations, health education, health management and health consulting services are some of the many advantages of wellness programs monitored by Employee Wellness  experts. Among the many choices available, a business program normally will offer the following as a minimum.

• Physical Exercise
• Core muscle building
• Muscle building
• Improved flexibility
• Dietary analysis and modification

Wellness programs vary depending on the size of the business, location to fitness equipment and budget. But no matter what shape the Employee Wellness  takes, the Advantages of Employee Wellness  will improve overall employee satisfaction. This reaps big rewards for the business.

Help your employees be the very best they can be mentally and personally, by realizing the Advantages of Employee Wellness .

The Worker Health Program has available a computerized case-management system which includes queries that allow simple assessment of process and outcome results at any point in time.

Process Assessment

Process evaluation looks at the  Employee Wellness ’s effect as seen at various points in time.

Information that is gathered from the various forms that wellness employees fill out should supply you with the following:

• How many employees were screened?
• How many employees who were referred to a doctor went?
• How many employees who expressed interest in health improvement programs went?
• How many employees who were referred to health improvement programs went?
• How many employees who went to health improvement programs completed them?
• How many employees are in follow-up caseload?

You can use this type of process evaluation to evaluate and learn about the health of your program.

Outcome Assessment

A central goal of the program is to improve the health of employees. Information on how to judge how well your program is meeting this goal is called “outcome evaluation” because you are evaluating the end results or outcome of your program.

In wellness programs, objectives are measured by specific (outcomes) behavior changes and reductions in health risk levels. Have employees lowered their Blood Pressure (BP)? Have they lost weight? Are they working out more? Is alcohol consumption at a safe level? For example these are the types of questions you can ask to learn if you are reaching your objectives:

• For employees with high Blood Pressure (BP) (140 / 90 or higher or on medication) at evaluation, what percentage have it under control (below 140 / 90) a year later?
• What is the modification in average Blood Pressure (BP) levels among all employees with high Blood Pressure (BP) 1 year after evaluation? Two years later?
• For employees with high blood cholesterol levels (above 240) at screening, what percentage has reduced their cholesterol to borderline-high levels (200-239)?
• For employees with borderline-high blood cholesterol levels, what percentages have reduced their cholesterol to the desirable range (below 200)?
• What is the modification in average cholesterol levels among all employees with high and borderline-high blood cholesterol levels 1 year after evaluation? Two years later?
• For employees who were overweight at evaluation, what percentage have lost 20 pounds or more a year later? Ten pounds or more? What is the average weight loss?
• For employees who were smokers at evaluation, what percentages have quit smoking? For at least a year?
• For employees whose level of alcohol consumption put them at-risk at evaluation, what percentage have quit drinking alcohol? Are consuming alcohol at levels considered safe by CDC ground rules? Have reduced their drinking, but are still at-risk?
• For employees, what percentages are working out at least three times a week for at least 20 minutes?
• If fitness levels were measured, what percentages have improved fitness?

Set a regular time such as every 6 months to look at which employees your program is reaching and how effective it is at assisting them lower their health risks. Use this information to make new decisions about how to direct your program efforts. Then make the modification you need to improve your program.

Some may feel that evaluation is unnecessary; it is not. Screening is a crucial part of a wellness program. You will have to know what is working and what is not. Decision-makers who fund the program need to be updated on the performance of the program. Assessment will support you with crucial data to maintain and expand the program and convince management to continue to support the program.

Counselors should follow up on employees at least every 6 months throughout the career of the employee at the worksite. The objectives and goals of follow-up are to:

• Involve employees who have health risks in treatment and risk reduction programs.
• Involve all employees in health improvement programs and worksite-wide wellness activities.
• Support employees in carrying out the risk reduction or health improvement activities they have chosen.
• Help employees comply with their treatment regimens.
• Prevent relapse.
• Prevent employees from dropping out.
• Help employees maintain behavior changes.

Follow-up can be conducted in person, by phone, mail, and via computer if the technology is available. Most preferable is an in-person contact. Computer programs which can do case load management are available to help counselors track information and perform follow-up.

Priorities for Follow-Up

People with multiple health risks should be at the top of the list. People in key positions such as union leaders or department heads with health risks should also be contacted early so that they learn what the program is about and can share the information with others.

People who need a medical evaluation for high Blood Pressure (BP) or blood lipids should also be targeted early. Many employees will have seen their doctors as a result of the evaluation, but some will need more encouragement to do so. Those with no health risks can be followed up each year.

A follow-up counseling session can take 20 to 45 minutes. At minimum, follow-up must include those who were told to seek medical evaluation for high Blood Pressure (BP) readings, high cholesterol readings, or borderline high blood cholesterol readings with 2 or more other risk factors.

It may include those who were identified as at-risk for one or more of the other major risk factors: at-risk levels of alcohol consumption, being overweight, and having low HDL.

Follow-Up With Physicians

A letter (see forms) should be sent to the physician or clinic of each employee who has high Blood Pressure (BP), high blood lipids, or is under a physician’s care.

The letter should explain the program and should include the employee’s relevant, current health measurements.

Along with the letter, send a self-addressed return envelope. Follow-up with the physician should be repeated every 6 months until it is determined that the employee is under satisfactory control.

Contacting the physician is significant for three reasons:

• The doctors receive employees’ health measurements taken at the worksite.
• You receive the Blood Pressure (BP) and cholesterol readings the doctor takes and information on the treatment the doctor prescribes. Many times the employee does not have this information or does not remember it. The information can be used when counseling the employee.
• Follow-up encourages physicians to pay closer attention to heart disease risk factors among their patients.

The four basic types of programs include:
• Classes
• Minigroups
• Guided self help
• Individual counseling

Classes

Classes (8 or more) can be an effective means of providing education and social reinforcement for behavior change. The length of a class can vary depending on topic requirements. It is not sufficient to offer only classes at a worksite.

Many employees are under time constraints with after work commitments and although they may be interested they simply can’t participate because of their schedules.

employees may be very eager to begin a program but because of lack of participants to meet class quotas, the program is canceled. Many national corporations such as the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Weight Watchers, etc. offer classes; you should have little trouble in identifying a provider for class type programs.

You may want to contact your local hospital, health department, or YMCA for possible options. For selecting a vendor to support a program you may want to review the section on program structure.

Minigroups

When there is not enough interest to set up a class, those who are interested in a given health topic can be formed into a minigroup (2 to 7).

The minigroup can cover the same content as a class but do so in a less formal manner. Presentation of information and discussion is the major format of the minigroup.

Guided Self-Help

Most employees do not want formal help in making health changes; they prefer to do it on their own. In guided self-help, the wellness counselors support reinforcement, materials, and encouragement.

Meeting times can be arranged and contact can be made either in person, by phone, or computer. Materials can be made available at the worksite, or mailed to the individual. Some worksites now make information available via intranets or the Internet.

Individual Counseling

One of the most successful ways to help people change and improve their health status is counseling (or coaching) on a one-on-one basis.

In published research studies, wellness programs which incorporated individual counseling as part of the program process achieved significantly higher participation rates and achieved greater risk reduction/risk elimination than standard group programs. Research studies have determined that individual counseling is both cost effective and cost advantageous.

A wellness counselor should be trained in evaluation techniques, for in certain situations, they may be required to both screen people and counsel them. They should know how to do the following:

• Review employee health risks
• Contact employees who have health risks.
• Counsel employees on a one-on-one basis, helping them set objectives and goals, solve concerns, and get expert help when they need it.
• Help employees follow their treatment recommendations and make lifestyle and health behavior changes.
• Recruit employees into health improvement programs, such as weight loss and tobacco cessation.
• Work with employees on a one-on-one basis using guided self-help.
• Conduct classes and minigroups if necessary.
• Work with Employee Wellness Committee members to plan and conduct worksite-wide wellness activities.

Wellness counselors are health generalists; they must have basic knowledge about a wide range of health topics and health risks.

Counselors must be able to talk with employees about their medical concerns and the treatments prescribed by their doctors. They should have a great overview of diet, exercise physiology, pathophysiology of disease, pharmacology, psychology, and behavior change skills.