Corporate Wellness Program Proposal

Exactly how can a health coach help me? This is a question that many individuals  ask themselves time and time again. After all, the thought of having somebody to help reach your goals has to be somewhat appealing, right?

But with that in mind, until you know what a wellness coach can do for you, you’ll probably never move forward with hiring one. Luckily, with a bit of research and soul searching you’ll be able to determine the benefits of working with a wellness Coach.

Usually speaking, the most basic way that a wellness coach can help is by assisting you in reaching your health and exercise related objectives. While it’s easy for individuals  to set objectives, when it comes to actually carrying out the work to reach them things can get a bit more challenging.

This is where a wellness coach can come into play. They will be able to assess your objectives, let you know if they are feasible, and then work with you every step of the way. This way, you will not be on your own when times get tough and you feel like throwing in the towel.

Now that you know the general details, the next thing is to consider the more in depth areas in which a health coach can assist you.  As you can imagine, a health coach devotes most of their time to coaching others as far as their physical and sometimes mental health is concerned.

A lot of individuals  decide to hire a wellness coach because they need simple help in getting their body back in shape. After all, as you start to get older and time gets tight, keeping in shape isn’t always the easiest thing to do.

This is namely true when you spend the majority of your time at work and/or with your family. But luckily, a wellness coach can work with you either in individuals, on the phone, or even online. This makes it easy to get the assistance that you need without really changing your lifestyle.

One thing that you need to know about hiring a wellness coach is that they’ll work with any kind of customer. If you think that your problem is too simple, you’re wrong.  And in the same thought, there is no issue that is too large either.

The fact of the matter is that a wellness coach takes excellent pride in assisting anybody who needs it. So before you pass this opportunity by, keep in mindthat no matter what you’re up against you will qualify for help.

To figure out exactly what a wellness coach can do for you, touch base with one of them to discuss your situation. From there, you will have a much better feel for how to move forward.

Individual Advantages of Fitness

Do you want to get fit, lose excess fat, or have more energy?  Most people  would answer “yes” to this question. It is hard to imagine why anybody would not want to achieve fitness to become a healthier person.

When you are overweight or obese, have a family history of heart disease or diabetes, have high cholesterol or blood pressure, or simply feel that you could be a healthier you, then you could benefit  from a fitness program.

Regular exercise is an easy way to help prevent many illnesses by eliminating the major risk factors like obesity and lack of movement.  A combination of aerobic activity and strength training is the best way to achieve your fitness goals while bettering your health.

When picking  a fitness program, the most challenging aspect may  be locating an activity or exercise that is fun as opposed to one that doesn’t motivate you.

Individuals are aroused in different ways which is why there are so many exercise plans out there. If you try something that you don’t like, you can always move on and try something different until you discover a certain activity that appeals to you.

A lot of times, individuals develop their own plans for exercise but lose interest in the health promotion program and as a result find themselves steering away from their good intentions.  This is why a wellness coach could  be exactly what a personal needs to keep them on the right track to achieve fitness for life.

Just how a Wellness Coach can make it Possible

Health coaches are trained experts that assist customers in achieving fitness for life in a variety of ways. an individual can hire a personal trainer to work with them at the health and fitness center and help them with their fitness goals; nevertheless, a health coach does a excellent deal more to help their customers reach success.

A wellness coach uses a health risk appraisal to determine the individual needs of the client and uses this information to create a while action for their fitness plan.  Because everyone has unique fitness objectives, each fitness program is personalized to fit the needs of the client.

A wellness coach not only excites you to achieve your fitness goals but also teaches you to motivate yourself.

Health coaches understand that individuals  have busy lives and require convenient ways to exercise.  That is why a health coach develops personalized health promotion programs that will work with an individual’s busy schedule.

They are also available 24 hours a day through web-based communication and hold sessions as often or as little as the client needs. Wellness coaches may assist their clients by telephone, e-mail and instant messaging, or face-to-face meetings.

Although wellness Coaches focus on other aspects of a person’s wellness like nutrition, stress management, and sleep management, it is important to understand that each of these aspects of a wellness program intertwine to assist a person in becoming the healthiest person they can be.

Before you call it quits and decide to give up on having a healthier lifestyle, you might want to consider what a health coach can do for you. A lot of individuals  get so frustrated working out on their own that they give up before they really have a chance to succeed.

Luckily, by hiring a wellness coach you can avoid this issue, and end up with the body that you’ve been dreaming of. But before you jump forward too far, you need to know what a wellness coach is in addition to what one can do for you.

Typically speaking, a wellness coach is a fitness trainer, dietician, and much more all rolled into one. While this might sound like an impossible job on the surface, the fact of the matter is that wellness Coaches are very good at what they do.

These experts have many years of experience in the health industry, and have a knack for communicating what they know to others on a very personal level.

The main goal of any wellness coach is to work with you so that you can reach the goals that you have set forth for yourself.  And guess what?

If you do not know what you want to accomplish your health coach can help in that area as well. Simply put, they’re there to make sure that you’re on the right path to success.

Health coaches come from a variety of different backgrounds. Even though most people don’t go through schooling thinking that they want to be a health Coach, over time they begin to transform into this career.

For  instance, many health Coaches have backgrounds in fitness training, bodybuilding, health and nutrition, exercise science, and much more.

After you hire a wellness Coach, he or she’ll be at your disposal day in and day out. Many individuals  rely on coaches to help them on an individual basis.  And although this is a good idea for some, web-based wellness Coaches are becoming more and more well-liked as a result of busy schedules.

So before you think that you don’t have time to work with a health Coach, you should really reconsider. They will be willing to work with you in the capacity that best suits your lifestyle.

While working with a wellness coach you’ll be able to get specialist advice on reaching your objectives. When you want to lose weight, you’ll be supplied with an exercise program  that will get you moving in the right direction.  The same thing holds true for those individuals  who want to eat healthier, get in better shape, etc.

As you can see, a wellness coach is more than just your typical Joe. They’re trained in multiple disciplines, and work with clients for help them reach their goals.

Health Promotion incorporates many facets of our daily lives. From the amount of sleep to the water we drink, to the food that we eat and the activity that we maintain, our health is dependent upon many factors of our lifestyle.

Working to improve our wellness can be challenging to achieve on our own. That is why we can utilize the assistance of a wellness Coach.

What’s a wellness Coach?

A wellness coach is a highly educated expert who’s trained in behavioral change. They hold degrees in Exercise Science, Health Education, Exercise Physiology, Counseling and Education.

A wellness coach assists individuals in recognizing current health concerns in addition to preventing future health related issues. These professionals work with customers in a variety of ways including; face-to-face, telephone, instant messaging and / or via email.

The latter of those is also referred to as electronic coaching and is the most efficient and cost effective method of working with a wellness Coach.

Whatever method is used for communication a health coach provides a personalized program namely designed to address the needs and concerns of each individual client.

How can a health coach help me?

A lot of person maintain a few healthful habits in their lives. One person could  be a fitness enthusiast; another may abstain from alcohol and tobacco; while another may maintain a healthful daily diet.

Notwithstanding, overall wellness is much like a puzzle, and a high level of health is only achieved when each piece of this puzzle is in place. A wellness coach will assist an individual in correcting his or her missing piece of the puzzle.

An internet based health coach may address the needs of sleep deprivation, stress management, diet, or any number of health related issues.  The health coach will motivate, guide, and provide valuable resources to provide customers with the necessary tools to make life changes.

How’s a health coach unique?

A wellness coach serves a distinctly different purpose than a fitness trainer, a counselor, or a supportive family member or friend. First, a wellness coach is an specialist in his or her specific field.

When a customer decides the need for a health coach he or she will complete a health risk assessment. Based on this assessment the customer are going to be assigned a health coach specifically selected to address his or her individual needs.

Next, a health coach is available electronically 24 hours per day. Through online communication patrons have the opportunity to consult a health coach as much or as little as he might like.

Communication with a health coach may range from daily to weekly, and can occur by e-mail, journal or a combination of both. Finally, a health coach is trained to assist in changing the way that the client thinks and the way that they view themselves.

A health coach maintains the purpose of assisting the client to work towards achieving a higher quality in life. This happens by addressing the cause of a certain problem rather than simply addressing the effects of a problem.

A health coach will help person recognize their needs, determine objectives, and take the necessary steps towards achieving these objectives.

While wellness are growing concerns in our daily lives, it may seem difficult to make the time to educate oneself and address the needs or our well being.

Working with the assistance of a wellness coach empowers us to focus on our specific needs and make progress towards changing.

Do you find it difficult to stay aroused when trying to make changes to your health? Are you aware that changes ought to be made in your daily life but you don’t know where to begin? If so then wellness coaching might just be the solution you’ve been seeking.

Wellness coaching is a service provided by trained specialists who work with you individually to help you reach your wellness goals. Wellness coaching motivates, guides, and supports individual’s in order to reach sustainable behavioral changes by offering creative solutions to their problems.

Health Promotion coaching provides individually designed wellness programs to meet your unique needs by focusing on physical, mental, and emotional health. They help you become proactive in your life by eliminating unhealthful behaviors and making wellness a priority.

Advantages of Health Promotion Coaching for Your Employees

Workers could benefit  from wellness coaching in a selection of ways. Health Promotion coaching can help individuals decrease major health risks in their lives by changing high risk behaviors.

Some of the many reasons why workforce work with wellness coaches are to get in shape, lose weight, reduce stress, quit tobacco use, and develop balance in their lives. Health Promotion coaches assist person with current medical problems in addition to preventing future health issues.

Because each wellness program that a wellness coach creates is unique to suit the needs of the patron, they can make certain that it’ll be a program that is right for them. A lot of busy staff members mistakenly believe that they do not have the time for wellness coaching.

Fortunately wellness coaching specialists can provide their services in a variety of convenient ways. While electronic coaching through the use of e-mails and instant messaging has become a well-liked method as a result of its convenience, telephone and face-to-face interactions may also be used.

Workers have the ability to achieve their objectives and improve their lives through the assistance of wellness coaching.

Advantages of Wellness Coaching for the Company

The overall benefits of wellness coaching for a corporation are remarkable. Worker high risk behaviors such as smoking and obesity cost corporations millions of dollars every year.

These high risk behaviors often cause preventable illness and keep personnel from coming to work. Wellness coaching guides, supports, hold patrons accountable, and ensures that they receive continued motivation to help them achieve their wellness objectives and eliminate unhealthy behaviors in their lives.

By beginning wellness programs and using wellness coaching in their corporations, employers reduce the risk of avoidable disease in their corporations.

This improves the overall health of staff members, decreases healthcare and insurance costs, decreases absenteeism, and ultimately enhances performance and productivity.

When workforce experience the advantages of higher levels wellness in their lives it causes an improvement in job attitude, energy, and morale.

Organizations that utilize wellness coaching for their workers experience the benefits of higher productivity.

In today’s fast paced world our busy lives leave little time, energy, or motivation for people  to focus on their own needs.

Those that do seek to improve their wellness traditionally turn to friends, family, professionals and published materials for support and information. All too often those support structures fail to make a lasting difference.

This happens for a number of reasons. Friends and family may not be capable of helping. Working with professionals is time consuming and expensive and very few of us are effective at taking published, generic information and applying it to our own lives.

Gold’s Gym Winston-Salem has developed a new online health promotion program that expands the range of support available to those wishing to make healthful lifestyle changes.

The wellness program, Gold’s Fitness Center Health Coach, focuses on the everyday challenges of making positive lifestyle changes and has the advantages of being more customized and efficient than generic, published information and less intense and expensive than specialist face-to-face counseling.

Utilizing a collaborative problem-solving model the goal is not to give advice, but rather to help individuals think through the issues and come to their own conclusions.

The coach offers ideas for consideration, assists the individual generate ideas of their own, assists the individual consider the various ideas, choose a direction, and then supports them in the implementation of their decision.

Challenging the conventional wisdom that relationship formation requires in-person interaction; Gold’s Health Club has found that members and coaches can easily build significant relationships via internet based communication.

Utilizing industry leading technology a Gold’s Health Club Wellness Coach can offer members a secure, user-friendly personal website where they can access their coach in a real-time or via email with responses delivered in less than 24 hours.

The site authorizes coaches to hand pick relevant articles that are written on a consumer level and that are targeted to the issue at hand and add them to a member’s online personal library.

The site also contains various health promotion programs and tools which are designed to assist the coach and member to set, implement and track specific goals.

The collaborative relationship formed between member and coach enhances the quality ice and efficiency of service.  The familiarity that a coach develops with a member’s circumstances and meaningful relationships authorizes them over time to more rapidly offer useful ideas and assistance.

With traditional call-in assistance lines, the time intensive exercise of getting background and contextual information is repeated each time. IN that scenario efficiency is lost.

Furthermore, Gold’s Fitness Center Health Coach has developed a protocol based on key principals from the field of psychotherapy and behavior modification.

The protocol is embedded within a proprietary problem-solving that is based on the theory that individuals  often act without a good understanding of a problem. Their responses then complicate matters and often make matters worse.

Gold’s Gym Health Coach offers the opportunity to step back, take a second look at what has going on, and rapidly asses the factors influencing the situation. But, having an idea of “what” to do is very different than actually “doing” something about it.

Individuals  need help with the follow-through. So, after figuring out “what” to do, Gold’s Gym Health Coach focuses on implementation.

Here Gold’s Fitness Club Health Coach builds on sound research and experience from the field of behavior modification that has to do with goal-establishing and with implementation support.

The end result is a highly customized, effective, user-friendly way of improving the wellness of an individual.  The efficient nature of the web-based relationship permits Gold’s Fitness Club Wellness Coach to keep the price point within reach of virtually anybody.

Information to evaluate your health promotion program comes from routinely gathered screening and follow-up data of your health promotion program that look at process and outcomes of your program.

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

Process Evaluation

Process evaluation looks at the wellness program’s impact as seen at various points in time.

Information that is accumulated from the various forms that wellness staff members fill out should supply you with the following -

o  How many workforce were screened?

o  Just how many employees who were referred to a physician went?

o  How many workforce who expressed interest in health promotion programs went?

o  Exactly how many staff who were referred to health promotion programs went?

o  Precisely how many employees who went to wellness programs completed them?

o  Precisely how many personnel are in follow-up caseload?

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

Health Promotion Program Outcome Evaluation

A central objective of the health promotion program is to increase the health of workforce. Information on how to judge how well your health promotion program is meeting this objective is called “outcome evaluation” because you’re evaluating  the end results or outcome of your health promotion program.

In health promotion programs, goals are measured by specific (outcomes) behavior changes and reductions in health risk levels. Have personnel reduced their blood pressure? Have they lost weight? Are they exercising more? is alcohol consumption at a safe level?

For example these are the types of questions you are able to ask to determine if you’re reaching your goals -

o  For staff members with high blood pressure (140 / 90 or higher or on medication) at screening, what percentage have it under control (below 140 / 90) a year later?

o  What is the change in average blood pressure levels among all employees with high blood pressure 1 year after screening? Two years later?

o  For personnel with high blood cholesterol levels (above 240) at screening, what percentage has reduced their cholesterol to borderline-high levels (200-239)?

o  For personnel with borderline-high blood cholesterol levels, what percentages have reduced their cholesterol to the desirable range (below 200)?

o  What is the change in average cholesterol levels among all staff with high and borderline-high blood cholesterol levels 1 year after screening? Two years later?

o  For employees who were overweight at screening, what percentage have lost 20 pounds or more a year later? Ten pounds or more? What is the typical weight loss?

o  For staff who were smokers at screening, what percentages have quit use of tobacco? for at least a year?

o  For workers whose level of alcohol consumption put them at-risk at screening, what percentage have quit drinking alcohol? Are eating alcohol at levels considered safe by CDC guidelines? Have decreased their drinking, but are still at-risk?

o  For workforce, what percentages are exercising at least three times a week for at least 20 minutes?

o  When levels of fitness were measured, what percentages have improved fitness?

Be sure to set a regular time such as every 6 months to look at which workers your wellness program is reaching and how effective it is at helping them reduce their health risks. Use this information to make new decisions about how to direct your wellness program efforts. Then make the change you need to improve your wellness program.

Some might feel that examination is a frill; it’s not. Examination is a necessary part of a health promotion program. You’ll need to know what’s working and what’s not.

Decision-makers who fund the health promotion program need to be updated on the performance of the health promotion program. Examination will provide you with necessary data to maintain and expand the health promotion program and convince senior management to continue to support the health promotion program.

The keys to a successful wellness program are persistent one-on-one outreach and follow-up counseling to encourage health improvement, adherence to treatment programs, changes in lifestyle behaviors, and to prevent relapse.

Periodic outreach and follow-up procedures provide employees with a safety net which keeps them involved in the health promotion program and prevents treatment dropout and relapse.

Counselors ought to follow up on workers at least every 6 months throughout the career of the worker at the worksite.  The goals of follow-up are to -

o  Involve staff that have health risks in treatment and risk reduction programs.

o  Involve all personnel in wellness programs and workplace-wide wellness activities.

o  Support staff members in carrying out the risk reduction or health improvement activities they have chosen.

o  Make certain to help workers obey their treatment regimens.

o  Prevent relapse.

o  Avoid employees from dropping out.

o  Make certain to help staff members maintain behavior changes.

Follow-up may 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 could do case load management are available to help counselors track information and perform follow-up.

Priorities for Follow-Up

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

Individuals  who need a medical analysis for high blood pressure (BP) or cholesterol should also be targeted early. Many employees will have seen their doctors then of the screening, but some will need more encouragement to do so. Those with no health risks could be followed up annually.

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

It might 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 Doctors

A letter (see forms) should be sent to the doctor or clinic of each staff member who has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or is under a doctor’s care.

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

Along with the letter, send a self-addressed return envelope. Follow-up with the doctor must be repeated every 6 months until it’s determined that the staff member is under satisfactory control.

Contacting the doctor is important for three reasons -

o  The physicians receive employees’ health measurements taken at the workplace.

o  You receive the blood pressure and cholesterol readings the physician takes and information on the treatment the physician prescribes.

Many times the staff member doesn’t have this information or doesn’t remember it.  The information can be used when counseling the staff member.

o  Follow-up encourages physicians to pay closer attention to heart illness risk factors among their patients.

The menu approach offers staff a range of choices to support lifestyle changes. It authorizes individuals  to choose the kind of help that suits their schedules and preferences.

The four basic types of health promotion programs include -

o  Courses

o  Minigroups

o  Guided self help

o  Individual counseling

Classes

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

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

Staff Members could  be very eager to begin a health promotion program but because of lack of participants to meet class quotas, the health promotion program is canceled.

A lot of national corporations such as the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, Weight Watchers, etc. offer classes; you should’ve little trouble in identifying a provider for class type health promotion programs.

You might want to contact your local hospital, health department, or YMCA for possible choices. for choosing  a provider to provide a health promotion program you might want to review the section on health promotion program structure.

Minigroups

When there is not enough interest to create a class, those who are interested in a given health topic may 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 workforce don’t want formal help in making health changes; they prefer to do it on their own. In guided self-help, the wellness counselors provide support, materials, and encouragement.

Meeting times may be arranged and contact may be made either in individuals, by phone, or computer. Materials may 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 person change and improve their health status is counseling (or coaching) on a one-on-one basis.

In published studies, health promotion programs which incorporated individual counseling as part of the health promotion program process achieved significantly higher participation rates and achieved greater risk reduction/risk elimination than standard group programs. Studies have demonstrated that individual counseling is both cost effective and cost beneficial.

A wellness counselor should be trained in screening techniques, for in certain situations, they might be required to both screen individuals and counsel them. They should know how to do the following -

o  Review staff member health risks

o  Contact staff who’ve health risks.

o  Counsel workforce on a one-on-one basis, assisting them set goals, solve problems, and get specialist help when they need it.

o  Make certain to help workers follow their treatment recommendations and make lifestyle and health behavior changes.

o  Recruit staff members into wellness programs, like losing weight and tobacco use cessation.

o  Make sure to work with staff members on a one-on-one basis using guided self-help.

o  Conduct courses and minigroups when necessary.

o  Make certain to work with wellness committee members to plan and conduct worksite-wide wellness activities.

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

Counselors must be able to consult with staff members about their health problems and the treatments prescribed by their physicians.

They should’ve a good overview of nutrition, exercise physiology, pathophysiology of disease, pharmacology, psychology, and behavior modification skills.

The educational program ought to include approaches to stress awareness/reduction at the environmental level and at the individual level.

Social, physical, and organizational stressors must be explained and methods to ease or elevate stressors must be presented.

At the individual level how changes in attitudes and behaviors help one to cope with stressors; learning techniques to minimize stress response, like meditation, relaxation response, and exercise.

Content of the program ought to provide the following -

o  Identifying sources of stress

o  Relationship of stress to health

o  How the individual experiences stress, personal, family, work

o  Solutions for coping and managing stress

o  Techniques for lowering stress

o  Value of stress, both negative and positive

o  Practical steps of incorporating stress reduction into lifestyle

Personnel conducting stress management programs should have training in psychology, behavioral sciences, or related disciplines like psychological health specialists, counselors, health educators, psychologists, and psychiatrists.

Training in a reputable program on how to teach the stress management course including group process skills is a must.