These e-mails have the potential to be sent daily, weekly or monthly. Our experience indicates weekly is the best frequency.

If the majority of your employees do not have e-mail, consider offering the information to them through:
• Bulletin boards
• Check stuffers
• Mailbox stuffers
• Newsletters

SAMPLE #1 Worksite Wellness E-mail Messages

From: Employee Wellness Program
To: Wellness Team
Subject: Layering for Exercise

One way to help ensure enjoyment of a winter walk (or run) is to make sure you’re dressed properly for the weather. And the secret to that, for a winter workout, is to dress in layers.
Layer 1 — Avoid 100 percent cotton in the first layer, next to your skin. Cotton holds moisture. Wear underwear made from manmade fabrics to wick perspiration away from skin.
Layer 2 — A zippered sweatshirt and sweatpants will keep you warm. Just open the zipper if you get too warm.
Layer 3 — If required, over the sweatsuit, you can add a waterproof and windproof jacket. If it’s very cold, you may want to wear a jacket made with goose down.
Hands — Mittens will keep your hands warmer than gloves.
Feet — Wear socks made from wool or manmade fabrics that keep your feet dry and warm. Avoid 100 percent cotton socks. Don’t wear sneakers or boots that fit too tightly … this will restrict blood flow and your feet will end up feeling colder.
Head — About 40 percent of your body’s heat is lost through your head. Wear a hat and cover your ears.
Lips — Don’t forget lip balm with sunscreen … even in winter!

SAMPLE #2 Job Site Wellness E-mail Messages

From: Employee Wellness Program
To: Wellness Team
Subject: Energy Boosts

Need a boost of energy? Here are some ideas for tapping into your own energy sources — and most require little effort.
• Get an extra hour of sleep. No surprise here — it is able to make a large difference in your energy level the following day.
• Eat less more often. Have little, balanced meals or snacks throughout your day for a steady supply of fuel and energy. Make note of which foods seem to boost your energy level.
• Drink plenty of water. Dehydration leads to to fatigue, which you are able to offset by drinking water throughout the day.
• Avoid alcohol and caffeine. Both are able to contribute to dehydration and fatigue. They also tend to disrupt sleep patterns.

Education on a specific health issue. You may want to choose one of your group’s top diagnoses. Examples are:
• Diabetes – diabetes prevention and care by a certified diabetic educator
• Heart disease – cardiovascular health (individual counseling sessions with a dietician)
• Hypertension
• Hypercholesterolemia
• Flu and pneumonia
• Breast cancer – breast health or breast self-exam sessions can be taught by a trained instructor

Education on healthcare insurance benefits:
• Diabetes – what are the covered benefits, where to purchase diabetic supplies, support groups for staff members with diabetes.
• Workplace Health Promotion Program Benefits
• Well baby/child care.

Education on the significance of enrolling in your health plan or local health department’s health education programs or disease management programs. Example programs:
• Diabetes
• Respiratory
• Low-Back Pain
• Cardiovascular
• Tobacco use

Community Resource Speakers for Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs
• Local health plan office
• Local heart association
• Local cancer society
• Pharmacies – many pharmacists are available to speak on pharmacy-related problems.
• Prescription Employers – many companies have standard presentations developed for employers that are given no cost of charge to use at your own direction. Some examples are:
   • Know Your Numbers (high blood lipids) – Pfizer
   • Respiratory Wellness (flu and pneumonia) – Pfizer
   • Men’s and Women’s Health – Pfizer
• Local gyms/personal trainers/YMCA – are able to discuss walking safety, benefits of walking, swimming and aerobics.
• Yoga and/or Pilates instructors
• Running, cycling club representatives
• Local dieticians
• Stamp Out Smoking – Tobacco Coalition representatives

Topics for Wellness Seminars / Lunch and Learn Programs

• Cycling – benefits and opportunities for cycling
• Nutrition and health (Heart Healthy lunch for all attendees)
• Heart health
• Women’s health problems
• How to recognize the signs and symptoms of heart attack and stroke
• National Employee Fitness Day within the office setting – Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness representatives can encourage event
• Exercise tolerance and healthy heart problems
• Beginning an exercise program – include the effect of seeing the doctor prior to the beginning of any new exercise program
• Self-defense
• Domestic abuse
• Safety in general
• Exercise safety
• Walking/running benefits and safety tips Tobacco dangers and avoidance

Healthcare and Insurance expenditures

A number of studies offer evidence of decreased medical and insurance costs for participants in Corporate Wellness Programs, especially wellness programs involving exercise.

For $30 per person, the Bank of America started a Workplace Health Promotion Program for retirees using a risk assessment questionnaire, self-care books and other mailed materials. Insurance claims were reduced an average of $164 per year in this group while they increased $15 for the control group. Since they were able to document significant changes in risk behavior, they anticipate greater savings in future years.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks participants claim $300 less per case for a 1-year savings of $700,000. Savings for conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle are $722 per case.

Coca Cola stated a decline in medical|medical|medical care|healthcare} claims with an exercise program alone, saving $500 per employee per year for the workers (60%) who joined their HealthWorks exercise program. Prudential Insurance Corporation reports that the company’s major medical costs dropped from $574 to $312 for each colleague in its wellness program.

Decreased Rates of Absenteeism

Absenteeism has been shown to be impacted by wellness programs. The evidence indicates a significant reduction in absenteeism and resultant dollars saved as a result of employee fitness programs.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks program decreased absent days .8 percent to save $2 million in one year. FitWorks participants also spent 3.3 days less on STD for an additional savings of $4.7 million.

Focusing Corporate Wellness Program efforts on high-risk staff members has the potential to lead to better results. A national manufacturing organization reports a decrease of 12.2% in illness days for these staff members.

A two-year study by The DuPont Corporation of the significance of its comprehensive Worksite Wellness Program on absences among workers reports that blue-collar workers at intervention sites had a 14% decline in disability days vs. 5.8% decline for controls. There were a total of 11,726 fewer net disability days.

Enhanced Performance, Productivity and Morale

A number of employers with Employee Wellness Programs report documented improvement in job attitude, work success, energy level, and/or overall morale among program participants–all critical factors in enhancing productivity.

A Johnson & Johnson study observed that employee attitude changes were greater at Worksite Health Promotion Program intervention sites with significant positive attitude changes noted in the categories of business responsibility, supervision, on the job conditions, job competence/security, and pay/benefits.

In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Employer experimental group realized a 4% growth in productiveness after starting a organization exercise program, compared to the control group. Further, 47% of program participants published that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their co-staff members, and generally enjoyed their work more.

Swedish investigators observed that mental effectiveness was significantly better in physically fit staff members than in non-fit staff members. Fit staff members committed 27% fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, as compared with the effectiveness of deconditioned staff members.

The Bottom Line

The following sample of Workplace Health Promotion Programs wellness program results have been reported by individual employers:

Company: Dollars Saved/Dollars Spent

• Bank of America (Fries): $5.96/$1
• PacBell: $3.10/$1
• Wisconsin School District Insurance Group: $4.47/$1
• Prudential Insurance: $2.90/$1
• Bank of America (Leigh): $4.73/$1
• General Mills: $3.50/$1

Summary

There is mounting evidence that a sizable portion of the billions of dollars currently spent by employers on health-related costs is avoidable by means of Corporate Health Promotion Programs. Well-planned, comprehensive Corporate Health Promotion Programs (Corporate Health Promotion Programs and Corporate Health Promotion Programs) have been shown to be cost-effective, especially when the Corporate Health Promotion Programs is matched to the health issues of the specific employee.

Develop a no cost Employee Wellness Program or run a efficacious health management program in the office for little or no expense to your organization. The benefits of workplace wellness and learning how to enable a health management program at work are many. The articles on health management have generated a variety of questions, mostly from wellness providers but also from employers trying to enable their own wellness workplace programs. There are a number of things to do to enable a efficacious health management program at work.

Suggestions for Starting a Free or Low Cost Employee Wellness Program

Prior to starting an inexpensive or no cost wellness program for your company, learn more about what workers want. Survey workers to learn more about their wellness concerns. Keep the survey confidential to safeguard employees’ identities. Typically the most popular workplace wellness subject matters are tobacco cessation, weight loss concerns and heart and blood lipid health.

Look for Worksite Wellness Program Freebies

Find out who will come in for free to talk to workers and look into partnerships with outside agents involved with workplace wellness. For example, contact a local branch of a well-known weight loss organization and ask if someone is able to come in and talk to workers. Look for agencies that are willing to come in and talk about subject matters related to wellness at no expense to workers, in exchange for something from you.

Find Corporate Health Promotion Program Partnerships

Working with a weight loss company to set up a speaking engagement for workers is an excellent opportunity to explore a potential wellness partnership. The weight loss company may say that if ten workers join the program, they will have regular gatherings at company headquarters for the people who joined. The weight loss group also may offer company workers a discount if multiple people join the program.

Nonprofits an Untapped Health Leadership Resource

There are also plenty of nonprofit agencies who would be thrilled to visit a company to discuss health management. But it’s up to you to offer them something in return. For example, if the MS Society came in and talked about the signs of MS, the company could offer to organize an MS walk (in keeping with company health management objectives and goals, right?), or an auction with employee and company-donated items where the proceeds go to MS. The people at the nonprofit agencies would be glad to open a dialog with your company and to talk about what they would want in return for a speaking engagement. In numerous cases, they won’t need anything at all for a first meeting.

Gathering Data and Evaluating Company Health Promotion Program Results

Gathering data and analyzing results of a Corporate Health Promotion Program has the potential to be tricky because of HIPPA laws. Still, if at least 10 workers joined the weight loss program, or 20 people participate daily in the all-new “Let’s Walk a Mile at Lunch” program, that sort of progress has the potential to speak strongly to upper management. And, company successes will potentially give upper management more incentive to support money for additional health management and Corporate Health Promotion Programs in the future.

Employee health is a major problem for small company owners. In a small company, even a few sick workers can disrupt the flow of the workplace and bring the operation to a standstill.

Rather than sitting back and hoping for the best, some small company owners are taking the matter of employee health into their own hands by starting Workplace Health Promotion Programs. Here’s how they work.

Overview of Worksite Health Promotion Programs

Employee wellness programs are programs initiated by the company to better the overall health of their labor force and to help individual employees overcome specific health-related hurdles. These programs can be offered in a variety of formats: In mandatory employee training meetings, as voluntary courses, or through an outside provider offering a wide-range of EAPs.

In every case, however, the corporation foots the bill for the programs because an investment in employee health is a corporation expenditure that directly impacts the corporation’s bottom line.

Why offer Employee Health Promotion Programs?

Apart from the obvious concern for the health of your staff members, there are many other reasons why Workplace Wellness Programs make sense for small organizations. Right off the bat, your organization will advance from the lowered level of absenteeism that goes hand in hand with a healthy workforce.

Worksite Wellness Programs will also reduce the number of injuries that occur in the workplace, not just from accidents, but also from repetitive motion and other recurring sources. Since even a minor blip in worker attendance is able to have a tremendous influence on a small organization, a more reliable workforce will eventually translate into a smoother work cycle and a more robust bottom line.

Employee Health Promotion Program Features

Corporate Wellness Programs can cover a broad range of health-related topics. Based on your workers’ needs, it’s completely up to you to determine the kind of programming you want to offer. Nonetheless, most Corporate Wellness Programs offer some at least some programs in the following areas:

• Nutrition. Diet is able to significantly influence an employee’s ability to do their job effectively. Nutritional programs educate staff members about food options and equip them to make healthy dietary choices.
• Physical Fitness. In addition to diet, exercise is an important factor in a healthy lifestyle. Company Wellness Programs frequently offer staff members with opportunities to incorporate exercise into their daily lives.
• Tobacco Cessation. Statistics prove that smokers tend to fall ill more commonly than their non-smoking peers. Since sick staff members disrupt the workplace, smoking cessation programs are a no-brainer for both employers and staff members.
• Physiological Testing. Many employers offer physiological as a regular part of their wellness programs. Cholesterol tests, Blood Pressure screenings, and other simple exams have the potential to support early warning signs for more genuine concerns.
• Stress Management. Stress itself takes a toll on staff members. Nonetheless, stress is also linked to other health problems such as depression, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Worksite Health Promotion Programs that help staff members deal with stress improve not only the psychological health of your staff members, but their physical health, too.

The advantages to starting a workplace health & wellness program are many.

A few corporate wellbeing and health tips to get workers started on the path to a healthier lifestyle:

1. Look around, and determine if employees lead a healthy lifestyle before initiating an Workplace Wellness Program. How many employees run outside at lunch for a tobacco break? Would a smoking cessation program help? How frequently do the junk food-laden snack machines must be replenished? Is anyone working out or taking advantage of local walking trails as part of their healthy living goals/objectives? The answers to these questions will give companies a better idea of the Workplace Wellness Program that’s right for them.

2. Survey staff members to evaluate their healthy lifestyle habits. Are they exercising regularly? Eat three square meals a day? Have regular physicals? Really? Then what planet are they on? Because we would love to visit! A corporate wellness program benefits most businesses because staff members don’t have the time or energy to stay on top of health & wellness concerns at work or when they leave the office to go home.

3. Give Employee Health Promotion Programs a tremendous kick-off with a healthy living “fair.” Offer staff members free flu shots, Blood Pressure checks, cholesterol screenings, body/fat ratio assessments, tobacco cessation programs and free mammograms- and contact the local hospital, because there’s plenty more where this came from. Corporations keep their staff members hopping during the week. Give staff members a chance to amp up their healthy lifestyle on the business dime. A corporate health and wellbeing program is an added benefit that staff members receive for working for the business!

4. Incent to live- offer cash money for workers to lose weight, commit to a smoking cessation program and generally enjoy a healthier lifestyle. Promote humankind’s innate competitive nature by offering prizes for health & wellness employee “winners.” And, advocate a healthier lifestyle by sponsoring workers who want to enter a local 5K for charity race, run a marathon or play a sport.

The previous ten years has brought primary changes in business attitudes toward Workplace Health Promotion Programs. Interest in self-help and self-care programs has increased as growth in healthcare expenditures have encroached substantially into profits. Changes in the business structures of healthcare facilities, in particular the growth of the for-profit healthcare sector, and the need to contain expenditures are changing the ways in which purchasers of healthcare plans are viewing their own efforts toward provision of workplace healthcare programs and facilities. Projections for the next decade indicate that workplace health programs will continue to become valuable factors in the provision of healthcare, including prevention activities, for both government and private industry. In companies with existing Workplace Health Promotion Programs, administrative rationale for sponsoring these activities ranged from improving employee health (28%) to improving employee morale (9.7%). Programs include interventions associated with safety, health risk assessment, smoking cessation, Blood Pressure (BP) control, nutrition programs and stress management. Benefits cited range from improved health and work rate to decreasing healthcare expenditures.

Demographics of the American Workforce
• 110 million American citizens composed the civilian labor force in 1981; by the year 2000 the civilian labor force is expected to be nearly 140 million.
• 44% of the 1984 labor force was female; 10% was Black.
• The median age of the workforce is 32 years and is expected to increase to 32 years by 2030.
• 57.9 percent of all employees work in corporations with between 2 and 500 employees; 45 percent work in corporations with fewer than 100 employees. An additional 7.5 million American citizens are self-employed and 3 million are farmers.
• 18% of all wage and salaried employees in 1985 were union members.
• 45% of all employees are employed in offices.

Prevalence of Employee Wellness Programs Activities

Based on a 1985 survey, almost 66% of worksites with 50 or more employees had Workplace Health Promotion Programs activities in 1985.  The frequency of worksite-based activities by selected categories in 1985 was:

Activity

Smoking Control       35.6%
Health Risk Assessment    29.5%
Back Care             28.6%
Stress Management       26.6 percent
Exercise             22.1%
Off the Job Accidents    19.8 percent
Nutrition             16.8 percent
Blood Pressure Control    16.5 percent
Weight Control          14.7 percent

Worksite size is the strongest indicator of program prevalence.

Most workers believe the benefits of their Worksite Wellness Programs activities outweigh the costs, although few formal evaluations exist.

The most usually given reason for starting programs and perceived advance from programs is improved employee health.

At most worksites with activities (85.4%), all workers are eligible to take part. 30 percent of worksites with activities offer them to company dependents, and an equal percent offer them to retirees.

When worksites seek outside program assistance, they turn to voluntary, not-for-profit corporations (57.1%), private for-profit providers-consultants (50%), local hospitals (44%), and insurance corporations (43%).

Tobacco Cessation Programs

Smoking related health problems cost United States organizations $26 billion per year in lost productivity and $7 to $8 billion in smoking-related medical costs.

Workers who use tobacco are 50% more likely to be hospitalized than people that do not use tobacco, have 2 times as many job-related accidents as people that do not use tobacco and have absenteeism rates approximately 50% higher than people that do not use tobacco.

People who used tobacco an average of one or more packs of cigarettes per day had 118 percent higher health care expenses than people that do not use tobacco.

76 percent of current tobacco users and 80 percent of former tobacco users and non-smokers feel that companies ought to restrict smoking to certain areas.

In 1985, 65% of smokers, 85% of nonsmokers and 78% of former smokers, felt that smokers should refrain from smoking in the presence of nonsmokers.

In 1986, 17 states had laws regulating smoking in offices or workplaces either in government-controlled offices or offices of private staff members.

Examples of tobacco cessation intervention program used by employers include:

• making available people that do not smoke a discount of health and life insurance;
• paying full or partial fees for smoking cessation programs;
• offering cessation programs on organization or shared time;
• making available cash payments to quitters after 6 of 12 smoke-free months;
• participating in national quit smoking days; and
• adopting a tobacco-free employer policy and setting deadlines for implementing the policy.

Physical Fitness Programs

An active 55-year-old man can lead as vigorous a lifestyle as a sedentary 35-year-old.

Differences in work-related exercise has been demonstrated to give a two- to three-fold difference in cardiovascular deaths between active staff members and their more sedentary counterparts.

In addition to improving strength, balance, and flexibility, exercise programs have the potential to decrease the probability of back injuries among certain occupational groups.

93 million workdays in the United States are lost each year as the result of back concerns.

Research findings support the notion that workplace physical activity programs improve fitness and help lower other health risks, although results related to improved work rate are weak due to lack of methods for accurately quantifying work rate.

A very small proportion of worksites have onsite physical fitness facilities.

The majority of workers sponsored fitness programs involve skills training such as aerobic dance, low impact aerobics, weight training, preand post-natal exercise classes, and walking/jogging groups.

Some corporations subsidize employee participation in community “Ys,” health clubs or other community programs if no on-Site facilities are available.

Worksite fitness programs may lower expenditures to employers by lowering employee health care claims and expenditures.

Those whose weekly exercise was equivalent to climbing less than five flights of stairs or walking less than a half mile, invested 114% more on health claims than those who climbed at least 15 flights of stairs or walked 1 1/2 miles weekly.

Healthcare expenditures for obese people are roughly 11 percent higher than those for thin people.

Nutrition and Weight Control

One-third of the U.S. population is obese to the extent of decreasing their life expectancy.

Improvements in eating habits can decrease the risk of somber health concerns such as elevated Blood Pressure and blood lipid levels and is instrumental in the control of non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

The workplace offers several advantages for nutrition education; support and influence of co-workers and management, availability of a daily eating situation, and opportunities for follow-up and monitoring.

Job Site diet programs are able to be grouped in 6 broad categories:

• cafeteria programs;
• multi-component programs;
• weight control programs;
• blood lipid reduction programs;
• programs for pregnant and lactating women; and
• other diet education issues.

Men are less likely to take part in weight-loss programs than are female staff members.

Stress Management

Estimates suggest that 50 percent to 80 percent of physician visits have the potential to be attributed to psychosomatic or stress-related origins.

Business pays many of the expenditures related to employee stress, both directly in the form of medical expenditures and in decreased productiveness.

Job factors which are associated with stress include:

• not allowing employees to take part in decisions about the work process;
• positions which require more or less skill than the employee has;
• changes in work demands;
• lack of clarity about expectations and standards; and
• conflict with co-workers or supervisors.

Most workplace stress management programs are implemented as a result of requests from workers.

Stress management programs focus on three types of skills: relaxation skills, coping skills, and interpersonal skills.

Worksite stress management programs are frequently delivered in one of three formats:

• seminars conducted by trained professionals;
• self-learning tools; and
• personal teaching to support  with self-assessment, planning for changes, learning new skills and responding to life crises.

The two primary techniques used in workplace stress management programs are:

• teaching people to reduce the detrimental physical effects of stress; and
• teaching people to recognize and control sources of stress at work and in personal life.

Safety Belt Usage

Motor vehicle accidents are the largest single cause of lost work time and on-the-job fatalities of American business.

Motor vehicle accidents account for 27% of all work-related deaths and 45 million days of lost work annually.

Greater than 36% of the 11,300 accidental work deaths in 1983 involved motor vehicles.

Workers who regularly fail to use seat belts may spend up to 54 percent more days in the hospital.

Traffic accidents caused about 3 times as many days of restricted exercise as any other kind of disability.

Motor vehicle crashes cost $15.2 billion in lost productiveness, 88% of which is attributed to losses from workforce activities and future earnings.

In work settings where safety belt policies, mandating use of belts by anyone riding in a employer vehicle or using a private vehicle for employer business, have been enforced, 60% to 90% use has been published.

Incentive programs, accompanied by education and use requirement restrictions have resulted in 40% to 70% initial usage rates.

Factors influencing the sources of worksite safety belt programs include:

• active commitment on the part of upper management;
• clearly defined and well enforced policy of required belt use on the job;
• positive incentives/rewards; and
• ongoing education and training programs.

Case Studies of Worksite Wellness Programs

Based on an extensive evaluation of its comprehensive employee Company Health Promotion Program, LIVE FOR LIFE, Johnson & Johnson published the break-even point for the program occurs in year 3 and by year 5 they have a net benefit of $316 per employee. Their year 9 projected benefit is $677 per employee.

employees at four Johnson & Johnson organizations who were exposed to the Corporate Wellness Program increased their daily energy expenditure in vigorous activity by 104% compared to an increase of 33% among employees at organizations that were provided only an annual health screen.

Members in the United Methodist Publishing House’s Employee Wellness Program submitted more claims (1.14 per participating employee and .82 for the control in 1984, 1.44 and 1.3 respectively in 1985), but the average cost per claim was less for participants ($316 for participants and $567 for control, in 1984, $262 and $602 respectively in 1985, $270 and $566 respectively in the first four months of 1986).

The United Methodist Publishing House attributes some of the reduced than projected use in healthcare costs for 1985 ($902,116 projected with actual costs $142,884) to the Company Health Promotion Program even though the results are not conclusive.

In 1985, the Adolph Coors Employer conducted a telephone interview of a random sample of its 10,000 employees to determine changes in health practices since the introduction of an employee Corporate Wellness Program 4 years earlier. The sample of 495 employees was stratified to match the employer profile in terms of age, sex and job description. The survey stated that 65 percent of respondents started exercising in The last 4 years, 37 percent had improved their diets, 20 percent were regular users of the wellness center, 9 percent had stopped smoking as the result of the employer’s tobacco cessation program and regular participants of the wellness center miss an average of 1.96 workdays each year due to illness or injury compared to 3.08 days for non-participating employees.

The Coors Corporation also saw a cost savings from a cardiac rehabilitation program that was implemented in 1981. In 1980 workers were out of work 7.2 months after a heart attack or bypass operation. In 1984, cardiac patients were out an average 1.9 months saving $152,000 in lost work time and in 1985 cardiac patients missed an average of 2.6 months, saving $125,000 that year.

Instituting a Worksite Health Promotion Program improves the health of employees, lowers employee absenteeism and saves the business money, too. Learn more about starting an Worksite Health Promotion Program in the office.

Benefits of Worksite Wellness Programs

• A business expenditure of $100-$150 per employee each year to take part in an Company Wellness Program can save companies $300 to $450 for each employee every year, according to Ron Goetzel, Director, Cornell University Institute for Health and Productivity Studies. The savings can take a few years to actualize, says Goetzel, and are seen in reduced health expenditures.
• The Wellness Councils of America published a $24 return for every $1 invested on a Company Wellness Program for small businesses.
• According to a 2005 survey by The Art of Health Promotion, businesses who adopted Employee Wellness Programs realized a 30 percent reduction in health care and absenteeism expenditures in less than four years.

A thriving Company Wellness Program starts with Senior Leadership. Organization owners should lead by example, taking part in their business’s exercise program and working closely with a wellness coach. Senior Leadership should make sure employees are well cognizant of their wellness efforts, displaying weight loss results or tobacco cessation results on business intranet or bulletin boards for everyone to see.

Worksite Wellness Programs that Really Work

• Encourage workers to kick start their own wellness programs by visiting their doctor. A complete physical should include information about blood glucose, cholesterol levels and general health.
• Target specific health-related problems in a corporate fitness program. Information about how to fight obesity, smoking, alcoholism and prescription drug abuse ought to be at the forefront of an Worksite Health Promotion Program, along with related conditions.
• Hire a wellness coach to instruct workers on how to lead a healthy lifestyle.
• Reward workers for taking part in company wellness plans. Let workers accrue wellness and health points that they are able to redeem for prizes. Make the prizes healthy, too- a free massage, private training session with the company’s wellness coach or health meal gift certificate encourages even healthier lifestyle choices.
• Acknowledge employee wellness and health leaders in business newsletters, in posted bulletins and on the business intranet.

Company Health Promotion Programs Yield Big Results

For corporation owners who want to increase employee participation in a Company Wellness Program, consider Johnson & Johnson’s approach. Faced with only 26% of workers participating in their employee health and wellbeing program, Johnson & Johnson offered workers a $500 discount on health insurance costs if they completed a health risk profile. The number of workers participating in the Johnson & Johnson corporation exercise program jumped after they provided the incentive — to more than 93%.

Ron Goetzel encourages those looking to pitch a corporate exercise program to Senior Leadership to use basic facts about the advantages of Workplace Health Promotion Programs as part of their argument. Keep it simple, and share results from other company’s employee wellness plan success stories.