Category — Employee Wellness

The Facts Speak for Themselves - Wellness Helps Reduce Costs

• A 2003 analysis of one big USA corporation found that simply assisting employees control their blood pressure (BP) alone can save $547 per person each year.

• Johnson and Johnson claims to have saved $38 million in healthcare costs for its workers between 1995 and 1999 by promoting healthful lifestyles.

Healthcare costs decreased $224 per worker a year (averaged over four years), and this rate improved over time.  The corporation found most benefits in the third and fourth years after wellness program initiation.

• A 2004 Univ. of Michigan study of 23,500 General Motors employees showed that nonexercising employees claimed at least $100 more a year in healthcare costs than exercisers.

The published study  also reported that obese, sedentary staff who started exercising at least twice a week lowered their costs by an typical of $500 a year.

• The Washoe County School District in Nevada estimated that, in a single year, it spent $300,000 on direct costs associated with obesity and $1 million for gastric-bypass surgeries. It instituted a weight-loss program that paid staff $10 per pound lost, up to 25 pounds.

Program participants missed three fewer workdays annually, producing a cost savings of $15.60 per program dollar spent.

Staff Time
Building a successful Health Promotion Program requires staff time as well as money. Some larger corporations may spend 20 hours per week for three to six months preparing all the steps before launching a Health Promotion Program.
Company Costs
Monetary costs can fluctuate commonly, depending on whether the employer compensates all costs, the workers pay all costs, or the costs are shared.
A 1992 study indicated that 28% of companies spent $5 or less per employee, and 19% spent between $6-10 per employee.
The Health Promotion Council of America estimates the cost per staff member to be between $100 and $150 a year for an effective health promotion program that produces a return on investment of $300 to $450. A sample expenditure for various levels of health promotion programs include -
Program Type
A minimal (largely paper) wellness program          $1 - $7         

A moderate health promotion program
A medium wellness program with a few activities       $16 - $35            

A fairly extensive health promotion program             $36 - $75      

A very robust, effective wellness program       $76 - $112            

• The news isn’t encouraging. As reported by Corporation Week, family health care premiums increased 49 percent from 2000 to 2004.

Another increase of 12-15% is expected in 2005. General Motors expects to spend $5.6 billion on health care costs in 2005, or 40% more than it earned in profits in 2004.

• More and more research shows that poor diet andlack of exercise are major drivers of increases in health care costs for businesss.  The number of obese adults has doubled since the 1970s.

• The rise in obesity has a significant impact on healthcare costs. on average, 2002 healthcare costs for an obese individuals were $1,244 higher than for a individuals with a healthy weight.

• Obesity is causing rapid increases in type 2 diabetes and contributes directly to a 65% increase in diabetes treatment from 1987 to 2002. Almost $1 of every $5 spent on healthcare in the USA is for a person with diabetes.

Treating employee healthcare as an investment, rather than a cost, can yield long-term dividends

• At least 50 percent of your organization’s healthcare costs are driven by the lifestyle related behaviors of your workforce, such as smoking, poor diet, and lack of exercise.

• In the past 10 years, the annual return on investment for Wellness Programs has been as much as $6 saved for every $1 spent, doubling the return on investment of earlier wellness programs.

• The typical reduction in health-plan costs, sick time, disability costs, and workers’ compensation is more than 25 percent for well-designed Wellness Programs.

• Fit workforce are more productive workforce, with fewer sick days, fewer accidents, higher morale, and lower job turnover.

The concern for employee wellness is an increasing trend for American company. Why? the link between employee wellness and the bottom line is clear and consistent.

Corporations who integrate wellness in their overall goals find they experience reduced absences, better morale, reduced health risks, and reduced health care costs.

The purpose of this guide to is to encourage and help you launch your own Health Promotion Program. If you already have a wellness program, but aren’t receiving the results you expected, perhaps some ideas and best practices in this toolkit will help you and your personnel reap the benefits of a healthier workforce.

At least 50% of health care expenditures are lifestyle-related, and therefore, potentially preventable. Yet despite the $5,000 an typical company spends on health care per employee each year, most companys are spending less than 5% of that on health testings and prevention.

The most robust meta-evaluation of Wellness Program studies shows something very exciting! It shows that Wellness Programs are not only effective at assisting to reverse the rising spiral of healthcare costs, but these health promotion programs are also becoming more effective.  The average cost-benefit ratio has increased from 1 - 3 for earlier health promotion programs to 1 - 6 today.

Simply put, the typical reduction in health care costs, sick leave, disability costs, and workers’ compensation is more than 25% for well designed wellness programs.

Corporate health promotion provides a long-term approach for helping keep employees well.  The single most important thing you are able to do for your employees is to start a Health Promotion Program now.

In our modern and hectic lives filled with the demands of family, work, and much more, it might seem difficult to tackle our wellness on our own.  

Many of us create goals that seem beyond reach and we cannot seem to stick to a specific wellness program for an extended period of time.  

With the numerous struggles that prevent us from reaching our optimum individual wellness, many of us would welcome the assistance and guidance of a professional wellness coach.  

A wellness coach is a trained expert who works with individuals to help them to reach their wellness goals by developing and implementing personal health promotion programs.  

A wellness coach is highly educated and usually maintains advanced degrees in areas such as Exercise Physiology, Occupational or Physical Therapy, Athletic Training, and Nutrition.  

A wellness coach sets achievable objectives for the client, holds them accountable, and acts as a guide, motivator, and support system for that individual.  They focus on behavioral change by using individually designed health promotion programs to meet the unique needs of the client while offering creative solutions to help them achieve their objectives.  

In order to fully understand the role of a wellness coach it is imperative that you understand the various factors that involved in overall wellness.  The five major components of wellness are health risks, physical activity, stress management, weight control, and nutrition.  

A wellness coach focuses on each of these areas of wellness while meeting the specific needs of the client whether they’re trying to lose weight, get in shape, reduce stress, or quit tobacco use.  

They evaluate a person’s needs based on a highly scientific study known as a Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) .  After a wellness coach has determined the specific needs of the patron, he or she is able to develop the wellness program, set achievable objectives for that individual, and monitor them while they reach success.  

Wellness coaches focus on physical health in addition to mental and emotional health for develop a balance in the patron’s life.  They not only work on helping the patron with their current wellness issues, but they assist the patron to maintain their individual health by creating future objectives in their wellness program.  

Every individual has unique needs and time constraints that require attention in different ways.  A wellness coach provides convenience with their services by working with patrons in a variety of ways.  

The customer and coach may use telephone meetings, e-mails and instant messaging (electronic coaching), face-to-face interactions, or a combination of these various forms of communication.  

Even though electronic coaching is becoming the most popular method because of its lower cost and efficiency, each patron may choose the method or methods will work best for them.  

The wellness coach is available 24 hours a day through online communication to make it even more convenient for the customer to reach his or her goals.  

Health Promotion coaches offer the kind of assistance that fits the needs of each client in order to make it easier for the client to embrace their personal health promotion program.  

Based on the convenience, knowledge, and assistance that is offered by a wellness coach, it is easy to see why more and more individuals  are taking advantage of these coaches to assist them in achieving their ultimate wellness goals.  

Precisely how to Take Control of Stress and Improve Your Wellness

What’s Stress?

Stress is the emotional, physiological, and psychological effects caused by internal or external mental pressure. It’s an unavoidable part of life, but despite its negative connotation, it is not necessarily a bad thing.  

Stress may even be advantageous in cases when it enhances performance and assists individuals  to achieve challenging objectives. Nevertheless, when stress is excessive and causes a personal to feel loss of control, medical problems can occur such as headaches, tension, anxiety, depression, exhaustion, irritability, and digestive problems.  

When stress levels elevate to this point, wellness is compromised. Person may seek the assistance of a stress management coach in order to help them take control of their lives and improve their wellness.  

Who are Stress Management Coaches?

Stress management coaches are educated professionals who develop wellness programs to assist individuals in developing coping strategies to manage stress and minimize the presence of stressors in daily life.  

Coaches explore the reasons why a personal may react in certain ways to various situations by using health assessments in addition to depression and anxiety screenings.  

After determining an individual’s causes for their feelings, stress management coaches are better able to develop wellness programs tailored to meet specific needs.  

Coaches set attainable objectives, act as a mentor and a support system, and use techniques that are most suitable for each specific individual.  

There are lots of effective methods to reduce stress, and stress management coaches can help you to achieve your objectives to make yourself happier and healthier.  

Just how Controlling Stress Improves Your Health

When individuals are faced with chronic stress it begins to cause physical symptoms which can range in severity.  Chronic stress can weaken the immune system, as a result making the individual more susceptible to colds and the flu as well as more serious medical problems such as heart disease and diabetes.  

Wellness may also suffer since the maintenance of healthful habits is often diminished in priority in the presence of stress.  There are many helpful techniques that a stress management coach can help you create to protect your health from the dangers of excessive stress.  

Take Control

Stress can be as detrimental to individual health as a poor diet or even use of tobacco when it’s out of control.  Managing stress is an achievable goal and will definitely be a reality with the help of a expert.  

With a stress management coach person might work to accept that stress and take action to manage it.  Learning to effectively deal with stress will improve current daily life and protect your wellness in the future.  

Do you find it difficult to stay excited when trying to make changes to your health? Are you aware that changes ought to be made in your daily life but you do not know where to begin?

Wellness coaches are trained professionals who work with you individually to help you reach your wellness objectives by developing and beginning personal health promotion programs.  

They motivate, guide, and support you in order to reach sustainable behavioral changes by offering creative wellness solutions.  

Wellness coaches provide 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 Wellness Coaching for Your Employees

Workers can benefit  greatly from wellness coaching in a variety of ways. Wellness coaching is one aspect of a wellness program that can help person 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 smoking, and develop balance in their lives. Wellness coaches assist individuals with current health problems as well as preventing future wellness issues.  

Because each wellness program that a wellness coach creates is unique to suit the needs of the client, they can make certain that it’ll be a wellness program that is right for them.

A lot of busy employees may feel that they don’t have the time to spend working individually with a coach so these wellness professionals offer coaching sessions in a selection of 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 might also be used.  

Employees have the ability to achieve their wellness objectives and improve their health and well being through the assistance of their wellness coach.

Benefits of Health Promotion Coaching for the Company

The overall benefits of wellness coaching for a organization are remarkable. Employee high risk behaviors such as use of tobacco and obesity cost corporations millions of dollars every year.  

These high risk behaviors often cause preventable illness and keep employees from coming to work. Wellness coaches guide, support, hold clients accountable, and ensure that they receive continued motivation to help them achieve their wellness objectives and eliminate unhealthful behaviors in their lives.  

By starting health promotion programs and using wellness coaching in their companies, corporations reduce the risk of avoidable disease in their companies.  

This improves the overall health of workers, decreases health care and insurance costs, decreases absenteeism, and ultimately enhances performance and productivity.  

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

Businesses that utilize wellness coaching for their workers experience the advantages of higher productivity.

Hiring a wellness coach will affect your life in more ways than you can imagine.  The advantages of hiring a wellness coach are so great that even the largest companies in the world are getting in on the action.

But before you get began, you owe it to yourself to consider the ways that your life will change. After all, anytime that you’re faced with a major life change you should really consider everything that is going to be brought to the forefront.

There are three main ways that a wellness coach will affect your life. of course, everyone is different, but mostly these details will come into play.

And the good thing is that they’re all beneficial to your life in one way or the next. In other words, hiring a health coach is not something that will have a negative impact on your lifestyle.

A health coach will help you to take the way that you look and feel to the next level. Not only will this help with the way that individuals  perceive you, but it’ll also do a lot for your inner emotions as well.

When you look better and feel good about what you’re doing, this is going to show in the way that you act in addition to the way that you see yourself. All in all, a health coach will allow you to gain more self esteem than you ever thought possible.

You only have one life, so making the most of it is important. A wellness coach will be certain that you are doing what is best to help you live a long and healthy life.

This could  be the largest impact that a health coach has on the way that you live. After all, when minor changes in your lifestyle can help you to live healthier and longer you would be a fool to pass this by.

In most cases, working with a health coach will change the way that you see the world around you. Do not forget, not only do they take excellent pride in shaping your body but the same thing holds true when it comes to your mental state.

Not everyone may be a model, but everyone can feel good about themselves. With a health Coach, you will realize the good that is within in addition to the good in others.  

A wellness coach can and will affect your life from day one. When you’re looking for a positive influence to shape your mind and body and also help you to live healthful, a wellness coach is right for you.

Precisely how can a health coach help me? This is a question that many people  ask themselves time and time again. After all, the thought of having somebody to help reach your objectives 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.

Ordinarily speaking, the most basic way that a health 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 health coach can come into play. They will be able to assess your objectives, let you know when they’re 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 wellness coach can assist you.  As you can imagine, a wellness coach devotes most of their time to coaching others as far as their physical and sometimes psychological 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 begin to get older and time gets tight, keeping in shape is not always the easiest thing to do.

This is specifically true if 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 person, 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 will work with any type of customer. If you think that your problem is too simple, you are wrong.  And in the same thought, there’s no issue that is too large either.

The fact of the matter is that a health coach takes excellent pride in helping anybody who needs it. So before you pass this opportunity by, rememberthat whatever you are 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’ll 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 for 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 might be a healthier you, then you can benefit  from a fitness program.  

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

When selecting  a fitness program, the most challenging aspect may  be locating an activity or exercise that is fun as opposed to one that does not motivate you.  

Person are aroused in different ways which is why there are so many fitness programs out there. If you try something that you do not like, you can always move on and try something different until you discover a certain activity that appeals to you.  

A lot of times, person create their own plans for exercise but lose interest in the wellness program and accordingly find themselves steering away from their good intentions.  This is why a wellness coach could  be exactly what an individual needs in order to keep them on the right track to achieve fitness for life.

Exactly how a Health Coach can make it Possible

Wellness coaches are trained professionals that assist customers in achieving fitness for life in a variety of ways. a personal can hire a personal trainer to work with them at the health club and help them with their fitness goals; nevertheless, a wellness coach does a great deal more to help their customers reach success.  

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

A health coach not only motivates 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’re also available 24 hours a day through online communication and hold sessions as often or as little as the client needs. Health coaches may assist their clients by telephone, e-mail and instant messaging, or face-to-face meetings.  

While wellness Coaches focus on other aspects of a person’s wellness like nutrition, stress management, and sleep management, it is vital that you 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 may want to consider what a wellness coach can do for you. Many 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 have been dreaming of. But before you jump forward too far, you need to know what a wellness coach is as well as what one can do for you.

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

These specialists 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 primary goal of any health coach is to work with you so that you are able to reach the objectives that you’ve set forth for yourself.  And guess what?

When you don’t know what you want to accomplish your health coach can help in that area as well. Simply put, they are there to make certain that you are on the right path to success.

Health coaches come from a selection of different backgrounds. Despite the fact that most people do not go through schooling thinking that they want to be a health Coach, over time they start to transform into this career.

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

When you hire a wellness Coach, he or she will 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, online wellness Coaches are becoming more and more popular as a result of busy schedules.

So before you think that you do not have time to work with a health Coach, you should really reconsider. They’ll 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 expert advice on reaching your goals. If you want to lose weight, you’ll be supplied with a fitness 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 are trained in multiple disciplines, and work with customers for help them reach their objectives.