Corporate Wellness Program Proposal

When it comes to working wellness into your workforce, you want someone who knows the ins and outs of health promotion, and who can counsel staff members and provide primary care – all within the context of the current regulatory and legal environment.

AAOHN’s survey found that more than half of staff members (61%) want to receive health and wellness information from a medical professional, such as a consultant or an onsite occupational health nurse (OHN), compared to pamphlets or brochures (18%) or human resources staff (15%).

OHNs can develop, implement and evaluate components of work site Corporate Wellness Programs such as screening initiatives, exercise/fitness courses, Stress Management Programs, tobacco use cessation, nutrition and weight control initiatives, and chronic illness management initiatives. Plus, OHNs can help staff members navigate through complicated health plans and may even serve as a triage point between staff members and their personal medical providers.

Employees might refrain from seeing their medical provider when it means time away from work, inconvenient parking, waiting time in the office and co-pays. In situations where staff members are under treatment for chronic diseases like heart disease, onsite nurses can routinely monitor risk factors such as blood pressure or cholesterol on a regular basis.

It’s often easier for an employee to ask an onsite nurse for information about symptoms or prescription medication than it is to schedule a follow-up visit to a personal medical provider. Benefits realized by employers include enhanced employee morale and retention, a recruitment advantage, increased productivity and decreased time away from work.

In employers with a safety department, the OHN can evaluate and address work-related health issues, including participation in workstation evaluations to correct potential ergonomic problems, and proactively addressing muscle strains by developing stretching initiatives and involving staff members in leading stretches.

<h2>Good for waistlines & your bottom line</h2>

By Sandra Simpson, APRN, BC, COHN-S, manager in Occupational Health Services at a Fortune 500 business in Memphis, Tenn., and a member of the board of directors of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN). For a copy of the AAOHN wellness survey, visit www.aaohn.org, or call (800) 241-8014, x0.

In today’s hectic world, most of us are spending more time at work, and have increasingly less time to look after our health. For a long time, employers have understood the benefits associated with keeping workers well – increased productivity from reduced absenteeism and lowered disability claims. For these reasons, coupled with the fact that many employers realized double-digit medical costs last year, employers should consider Corporate Wellness Programs as a way to keep staff members healthy.

But just how important are these initiatives to staff members? How often are they willing to participate in initiatives designed to positively impact their health and wellness? Who do staff members trust to provide them with important information about their health?

Answers to these questions and more were recently garnered from a study commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Inc. (AAOHN).

The AAOHN survey questioned 500 staff members nationwide about their perceptions of Corporate Wellness Programs. More than three-quarters of all members indicated these initiatives are a good way to improve their overall health, and nearly 60% consider these offerings an incentive to remain with their current employer. employee retention and turnover impact the bottom line, so building Corporate Wellness Programs into the work site culture is a valuable way to help retain talented staff members in addition to enhancing personal health and workplace productivity.

<h3>Health wish list </h3>

Employees appear to have their own agenda when it comes to their health. With new pressures resulting from an unstable economy, national security threats and work/balance issues, it’s not surprising that 85% of survey respondents cited Stress Management Programs as a priority topic for work site wellness.

In addition to stress, other preferred topic areas include screening initiatives (84%), exercise/physical fitness initiatives (84%), health insurance education (81%) and disease management seminars (80%).

In addition to lifestyle and personal health issues, those asked expressed concern about work-related health issues, including strains and injuries resulting from lifting or task-oriented muscle repetition, exposure to harmful substances, personal injury, vision changes due to computer work and workplace violence.

<h3>What you should do </h3>

With such a broad range of health concerns, a key goal for employers is finding a way to proactively address the health needs of the largest number of staff members, and effectively change unhealthy behaviors, promote wellness and ward off disease and illness.

Printed materials such as brochures, posters, fliers or pamphlets present an easy solution. But it’s important to remember that different employees require different formats for learning. A good rule of thumb: provide information in a variety of learning formats such as videos, pamphlets, health-related quizzes, display boards, lunch-and-learn presentations and reimbursement or incentive programs.

This assumes you’ve overcome the first hurdle – getting employees to sign on to a Corporate Wellness Program. While survey respondents indicated health and Corporate Wellness Programs are important, just six out of 10 (60%) reported that they participated in the Corporate Wellness Programs at their employers. The other 40% cited lack of interest and lack of time as deterrents.

This points to the need for a broad-based, structured Corporate Wellness Program using a innovative approach, with an incentive for participation and effective program marketing.

By investing in an organized Corporate Wellness Program headed by a qualified medical professional such as an onsite nurse, employers can give staff members the access to the health information they want, and increase participation and generate interest at the same time.

The result: staff members become savvier medical consumers who feel more in charge of their personal health. And healthier staff members make for a healthier bottom line.<h2>Good for waistlines & your bottom line</h2>

By Sandra Simpson, APRN, BC, COHN-S, manager in Occupational Health Services at a Fortune 500 business in Memphis, Tenn., and a member of the board of directors of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN). For a copy of the AAOHN wellness survey, visit www.aaohn.org, or call (800) 241-8014, x0.

In today’s hectic world, most of us are spending more time at work, and have increasingly less time to look after our health. For a long time, employers have understood the benefits associated with keeping workers well – increased productivity from reduced absenteeism and lowered disability claims. For these reasons, coupled with the fact that many employers realized double-digit medical costs last year, employers should consider Corporate Wellness Programs as a way to keep staff members healthy.

But just how important are these initiatives to staff members? How often are they willing to participate in initiatives designed to positively impact their health and wellness? Who do staff members trust to provide them with important information about their health?

Answers to these questions and more were recently garnered from a study commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Inc. (AAOHN).

The AAOHN survey questioned 500 staff members nationwide about their perceptions of Corporate Wellness Programs. More than three-quarters of all members indicated these initiatives are a good way to improve their overall health, and nearly 60% consider these offerings an incentive to remain with their current employer. employee retention and turnover impact the bottom line, so building Corporate Wellness Programs into the work site culture is a valuable way to help retain talented staff members in addition to enhancing personal health and workplace productivity.

<h3>Health wish list </h3>

Employees appear to have their own agenda when it comes to their health. With new pressures resulting from an unstable economy, national security threats and work/balance issues, it’s not surprising that 85% of survey respondents cited Stress Management Programs as a priority topic for work site wellness.

In addition to stress, other preferred topic areas include screening initiatives (84%), exercise/physical fitness initiatives (84%), health insurance education (81%) and disease management seminars (80%).

In addition to lifestyle and personal health issues, those asked expressed concern about work-related health issues, including strains and injuries resulting from lifting or task-oriented muscle repetition, exposure to harmful substances, personal injury, vision changes due to computer work and workplace violence.

<h3>What you should do </h3>

With such a broad range of health concerns, a key goal for employers is finding a way to proactively address the health needs of the largest number of staff members, and effectively change unhealthy behaviors, promote wellness and ward off disease and illness.

Printed materials such as brochures, posters, fliers or pamphlets present an easy solution. But it’s important to remember that different employees require different formats for learning. A good rule of thumb: provide information in a variety of learning formats such as videos, pamphlets, health-related quizzes, display boards, lunch-and-learn presentations and reimbursement or incentive programs.

This assumes you’ve overcome the first hurdle – getting employees to sign on to a Corporate Wellness Program. While survey respondents indicated health and Corporate Wellness Programs are important, just six out of 10 (60%) reported that they participated in the Corporate Wellness Programs at their employers. The other 40% cited lack of interest and lack of time as deterrents.

This points to the need for a broad-based, structured Corporate Wellness Program using a innovative approach, with an incentive for participation and effective program marketing.

By investing in an organized Corporate Wellness Program headed by a qualified medical professional such as an onsite nurse, employers can give staff members the access to the health information they want, and increase participation and generate interest at the same time.

The result: staff members become savvier medical consumers who feel more in charge of their personal health. And healthier staff members make for a healthier bottom line.