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Wellness in the Workplace
Wellness is good for business. For every dollar companies spend on wellness programs such as smoking cessation, healthy food options, and blood pressure screening, they save up to $6 on employee health benefits. That’s 600% return on investment. (1) Total ROI, including the hidden costs of poor employee health can be as high as 15 times investment. (2) For more information on ROI, please click here for a summary of information from the Partnership for Prevention.
Wellness programs ca be as simple as conducting a basic wellness survey (click to view) and following up with written material form organizations such as the American Heart Association, Cancer Society, Diabetes Association and material provided by your insurance carrier; to full blown programs offering on-site presentations, trainers, Health Assessments and medical follow-up. The first step is to review who is at risk and take measures to keep the healthy population from becoming higher risk. Click here to download information on Fast Track to Better and A Culture of Health showing what companies have accomplished with Wellness Programs.
What is Wellness and Workplace Wellness? Although there is no standard definition for wellness, one widely accepted view is “and intentional choice of a lifestyle characterized by personal responsibility, moderation, and maximum personal enhancement of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health”. (4)
A Worksite Wellness Program may be defined as “An organized program in the worksite that is intended to assist employees and their family members (and/or retirees) in making voluntary behavioral changes that reduce their health and injury risks, improve their health consumer skills and enhance their individual productivity and well-being”. (5)
The most common areas to address are:
Back care and injury prevention
Physical exercise
Stress Management
Tobacco use
Substance abuse prevention
Weight management
Consumer Health Education
Cholesterol Reduction
Nutritional Intervention
Selected Biometric testing
Hypertension Management
For local resources to help you initiate a Wellness Program for your business, check out:
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