Corporate Wellness Program Proposal

As the science behind Corporate Wellness Programs continues to evolve, so will the need to define and articulate the dimensions of a broad-based model of Corporate Wellness Programs. A representative model includes the following Corporate Wellness Program components; health education initiatives, employee health services and benefits, nutrition and physical fitness initiatives, Corporate Wellness Program policies and procedures, counseling and employee assistance programs, a safe and healthy work environment, and the integration of company and community resources.

A broad-based approach to Corporate Wellness Programs will maximize the impact of all interventions by increasing communication between administrators, staff members, and employee families, while encouraging the adoption of a healthy worksite climate and culture. Philosophically, this model supports the ideals of employee wellness and optimal health by encouraging worksites to go beyond initiatives designed to only reduce medical costs, prevent disease, or maintain health.

A key factor in the utility of this model is the overlap of responsibilities for Corporate Wellness Programs by various departments and individuals inside and outside the company. As the structure of the workplace continues to change, in the future this dynamic model can be used to evaluate and plan for Corporate Wellness Programs that are truly broad-based in nature.

A Comprehensive Model For Corporate Wellness Programs

According to the National Survey of Worksite Health Promotion Activities (1992) 81% of employers in the United States with 50 or more staff members have some form of Corporate Wellness Programs activity. This result puts us in proximity of the Healthy People 2000 (1990) objective of 85 percent by the year 2000. Why are employers getting into the business of Corporate Wellness Programs? The three most common reasons cited for employer interest in Corporate Wellness Programs are the desire to control spiraling medical costs, to encourage a healthy productive work force, and as a means of boosting the morale of staff members and the image of the company (O’Donnell, 1994).

As the motivations for Corporate Wellness Programs differ, so do the extent of a Corporate Wellness Programs efforts. A program may consist of distributing the occasional health pamphlet on the warning signs of cancer to staff members, or it may comprise an elaborate and strategically planned Corporate Wellness Program targeted to the specific needs of a company and its staff members. Research indicates (O’Donnel & Harris, 1994) that some Corporate Wellness Programs have been more effective than others in improving health status, but what would a truly broad-based model of Corporate Wellness Programs consist of?

Close your eyes and imagine yourself working for the healthiest business possible. What characteristics or Corporate Wellness Program strategies would make that organization so healthy? Examine it from a holistic perspective. What does that business do to enhance the physical, social, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual aspects of employee health? How does that business develop effective health policies and relevant programs that impact all staff members? Finally, how does that business demonstrate its belief that workers are the business’s most valued asset?

It is unlikely that any one component of a Corporate Wellness Program will be responsible for the positive health outcomes of all staff members. Corporate Wellness Program have evolved from the occasional fitness facility for the exclusive use of business executives, or the sporadic employee safety program, to a wide range of health enhancing services and initiatives. Corporate Wellness Program experts often speak of the importance of cultural change and the need to institutionalize Corporate Wellness Programs in today’s workplace. This goal can only occur through a broad-based and integrated approach that impacts on workers through numerous channels.

Walking Corporate Wellness Programs are some of the most popular Corporate Wellness Programs. They set the bar for entry fairly low – most anyone can walk around the block or their building – and walking Corporate Wellness Programs also provides employees with a good way to break up the afternoon doldrums and interact in a casual, more social environment with other employees. Just leaving your desk for a few minutes every day for a some fress air can be a big stress reliever – and stress is the #2 leading cause of absenteeism, according to Corporate Wellness Program statistics.

As a first step to beginning your Corporate Wellness Program, we recommend that you have a designer draw up an attractive map of your corporate campus or vicinity. Plan out and test a few short walks of varying distances, and using a pedometer and watch, figure out how long each walk is in time and distance. Have a little fun with your walking Corporate Wellness Program by equating each walk with a common office activity of the same duration, like a writing a one-page status report or filling out a common form. Post the map at the worksite and make sure people know about walking Corporate Wellness Programs by using your office communication channels – newsletters, announcements, company meetings. Keep it fun by building weight-loss teams, setting up races or organizing healthy picnics and athletic activities around the walking Corporate Wellness Programs route.

Following are some other walking Corporate Wellness Programs tips from Tom Weede, author of The Entrepreneur Diet: The On-the-Go Plan for Fitness, Weight Loss, and Healthy Living:

Make sure to link the walking Corporate Wellness Program to work objectives. Employees need to be reassured that these walks are part of their responsibility to be healthy and productive. They’re not personal errands that need to be compensated for by longer days at the office.
Keep healthy snacks at the worksite.
Reinforce the walking Corporate Wellness Program message by regularly mentioning it during employee meetings
Set up a health-related benefit that walking Corporate Wellness Programs participants can use for health-related expenses.

Corporate Wellness Programs: A Long-Term Committment

“Corporate Wellness Programs” – what does that phrase mean to you? To many of us, it evokes an array of ambivalent thoughts — the fitness center membership we barely used, the nagging ankle injury from last year’s company picnic, the backaches, the bratwurst we had for lunch, the love handles and of course, the fad diets that failed us or that we failed. Usually, Corporate Wellness Programs is a guilt trigger that causes us to feel remorse about our bodies and the health management we know we should be doing for them.

Unfortunately we live in a society where our survival is dependent on sitting at a desk, not hunting game, picking berries and sprinting away from wolves. We also live in such luxury, nutritionally, that we can gain weight steadily without being wealthy. Cardiovascular disease, obesity and poor dietary habits cause most of the heath issues that weigh down employee attendance and erode a company’s productivity.

Ironically the poorest societies in the world – the ones furthest from the conveniences of modern life – often boast the healthier, most physically hardy members. And as for the animal kingdom — don’t look there for commiseration. In the wild, it is extremely rare to find an animal that suffers from our kind of wellness issues.

Prescription Medication dependency degrades Health and Wellness

It doesn’t help that U.S citizens are descending into a deadly love affair with drugs — and drug testing won’t help you with these drugs.

For example, Greg Critser’s book Generation RX details how U.S citizens spend about $180 billion dollars on Prescription Medications each year, with the estimated 2011 tally at a whopping $414 billion. The average number of Prescription Medications per American in 2004 stood at twelve.

Twelve! That means that your average employee is taking 14, 18, or even more than 20 medications in an attempt to enhance their Health and Wellness.

Is this effective, though? Critser is not convinced that the prescription drugs help United States health. In fact, he points out a bevy of negative consequences for America’s legal prescription addition, which include prescription interactions, liver damage, and the legions of people who now depend on prescription drugs to deal with ordinary trials and stresses.

An business has the potential to enhance Health

It’s not all bad news, though. Occupational Health Testings and well-designed Corporate Wellness Programs can help you fight the downward spiral for you and your employees. In fact, good Corporate Wellness Programs – like a strong walking Corporate Wellness Programs initiative – can literally save lives and reduce the symptoms that cause employees to turn to prescription drugs in the first place.