Wellness Programs : Starting a Wellness Program.

Create a culture of wellness within your business

Create Exemplary Management Support

In the most successful Health Promotion Programs, upper-level managers lead their businesses by example.  And they work to ensure that the upper management structure not only allows, but actively encourages their workforce to participate.

Organize a Wellness Advisory Team

Health Promotion committees serve as the eyes, ears, arms and legs of the health promotion program, representing coworkers ideas and concerns, and assisting reshape the organizational culture toward health.

Conduct an Assessment of Financial and Human Assets and Liabilities

Successful Health Promotion Programs are built upon a foundation of information, including claims review, demographic analysis of the workforce, executive management and employee surveys, health risk data, history of organizational wellness, and health benefit plan design.

Create Clearly Stated Vision, Mission and Outcomes

Establish a clear vision of wellness program direction, expectations and measures to answer the questions, “Where are we going and how’ll we know when we get there?”

Create a Robust and Strategic Health Promotion Program

A multi-component plan should consist of strategically created and implemented awareness, lifestyle change, and supportive environment programs, as well as policies and activities that target appropriate health risk behaviors and needs of the employees.

Identify an Incentive and Reward Strategy

Incentives show the organizational commitment to the health promotion program and motivate individuals to participate. Incentives vary widely from program to program, but can include such things as time off, reduction in medical insurance premiums or co-pays, cash incentives, discounts to fitness centers, free pedometers, etc.

Communicate to Employees

Your health promotion program ought to be simple and concise, use an identifiable brand, and rely on a variety of media to communicate with staff and managers.

Evaluate Outcomes

Evaluate health promotion program participation, satisfaction levels and behavioral change. You could want to track the number of workers’ compensation claims, productivity, turnover morale and absenteeism.

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Wellness Program - Management Support.

Develop Exemplary Management Support

Goal -  A Health Promotion Program established into the organization’s culture.

Focus - Develop support and excitement for the wellness program from all levels of the corporation -  upper management, mid-level management, and grass-roots employees.

Obtaining upper management’s buy-in is essential to launching an effective health promotion program.  The staff members must understand that upper management is supportive of the health promotion program.

Actions -

Create an Senior Management Executive Team to determine high-level decisions - positions that must be included are the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Communications Officer, and other appropriate division-level managers and wellness program specialists, as necessary.

The Upper-Level Management Executive Team will -

• Communicate to all levels of senior management about the wellness program and drive the integration of the Health Promotion Program as a part of the company culture.

• Ensure that organizational resources are available for health promotion program planning and implementation.

• Be sure to encourage workforce to participate and to assist in “recruiting” other workforce, get the momentum going, and keep it growing.

• Share success stories within the corporation, and continue to increase the perceived value of participation.

Organize a Wellness Advisory Team

Goal - Develop a working committee that consists of personnel and essential functional parts of the company.

Focus -  to assist in reshaping the organizational culture to support employee-wellness activities by serving as couriers and supporters for the wellness program.

Health Promotion Advisory Committees serve as an essential part of the infrastructure of your Health Promotion Program.  The team members are the eyes, ears, arms, and legs of the wellness program.

They represent their peers by sharing ideas and concerns about the wellness program.

Actions -

The Wellness Advisory Committee will -

• Make certain to work with upper-level management and the Health Promotion Program coordinator in the design, implementation, and analysis of the health promotion program.

• Create methods to enhance the acceptance and success of the activities of your Wellness Program by stimulating employee ownership of the wellness program.

• Hold periodic meetings to keep the committee informed of upcoming plans and events and to provide feedback to the wellness program coordinator about their thoughts, ideas, and suggestions, and those of their coworkers.

• Recommend policy and environmental changes that are aimed at bettering the safety and health of staff.

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Wellness Program - Vision and Mission.

Goal - Create a baseline of information and identify human and organizational needs.

Focus -  Review a selection of information to better understand past and current conditions regarding health care utilization, organizational culture, demographic overview, and wellness programs.

Data collection plays an important role in planning, monitoring, and investigating  a health promotion program. It will also set the baseline for continued and future evaluations of health promotion program efficiency, effectiveness, and feasibility.

Actions -

• Claims review (health care, pharmaceutical) -

• What have been the 10 most expensive major illness categories in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars compensated for each?

• What have been the 10 most costly therapeutic classes of drugs in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars paid for each?

• What have been the 10 most frequently prescribed and filled therapeutic classes of drugs in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars compensated for each?

• Demographic analysis of staff member population (may include dependents) -

• List your number of personnel, by gender, for each of the past five years and the percentages of males and females by age groups.

• Think about any other factors that may have affected the health of your staff and their use of the health care system.

This might include mergers, acquisitions, worksite trauma, staff member strikes, layoffs, early retirement offers, etc.

Management survey -

• Conduct surveys of mid-level management to understand their concerns and measure their level of interest and buy-in.

• Employee-interest survey -  Gather information to determine what the staff want and to measure the level of participation, satisfaction, and “success” of any previous activities.

Risk data (health-risk assessments) -

• Is there any data from health-risk appraisals over the past five years?

Participation in similar activities -

• List and describe all health promotion programs that have been implemented over the past five years, including participation rates.

Design of the health plan, and anticipated changes -

• Have there been any meaningful changes in the health plan’s design in each of the past five years, such as a change from an health maintenance organization to a PPO, increased co-payments or deductibles, or increased staff member contributions?

Develop Clearly Stated Vision, Mission and Outcomes

Goal -  Establish a clear vision of health promotion program direction, expectations, and measures.

Focus - Establishing a vision, mission, objectives and objectives to keep your Health Promotion Program focused toward its desired outcomes. It’ll answer the questions, “Where are we going?” and “How’ll we know when we get there?”

Actions -

• Identify two to five clearly announced objectives. Be certain that your wellness program is capable of having an impact in the area desired, and be certain that you’re capable of measuring that impact.

Example Goal - Workers having access to healthier food options

• Establish two to five measurable goals that in particular state what your health promotion program is going to accomplish, by when, how, and how it’ll be measured.

Example Objective -  Modify all vending machines to include 50% healthy food options.

• Identify several activities that will help you achieveyour objective. Activities are very specific.

Example Activity - Make sure to work with vending machine owners to identify healthful food options and restock with 50% of items that are healthier food options.

• Identify who’s going to do what, by when, and what resources are needed.

Example Detail -  the Program coordinator will contact XXX Vending Corporation by September 30.

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Wellness Program Incentives.

Create a Comprehensive and Strategic Wellness Program

Goal -  A comprehensive Health Promotion Program plan.

Focus -  Development of a plan that consists of a selection of awareness, lifestyle change, and supportive environment program, policies, and activities that’ll target risk behaviors, needs, and interests of employees.

Your Health Promotion Program should provide an integrated, strategic approach specific to the needs, objectives, and culture of your company, designed throughout an annual cycle.

It will be crucial that you review and revise existing policies governing such areas as use of tobacco, vending machines, and the staff cafeteria. Moreover, it’s useful to examine what employee wellness or health-promotion activities are offered under your existing health-benefit plan.

Actions -

• Create activities based on your wellness program objectives and the specific needs of your employees. Focus on those topics that are of greatest interest to your employees and the greatest needs of your company, in that order. Avoid topics with narrow appeal.

• Keep it simple. Design the health promotion program so it’s easy for the participants to understand and track. Let employees focus their learning efforts on their own behavior, not on the rules and regulations of the health promotion program.

Furthermore, simplify the wellness program administration. Let individuals  record their own activities when possible; create a mixture of self-reported activities along with verified activities.

• Integrate a combination of activities to include awareness, educational, and behavior elements. Link the activities throughout the year to allow for desired behavior repetition.

• Pick activities that every employee can participate in.

Examples -

• Challenges -  Activities that focus on practicing a desired behavior and continue for 4-8 weeks and focus on specific topics (such as physical activity, nutrition, or stress management).

• Learning experiences (seminars, videos, classes) -  One-time activities that last for a relatively short time and focus on a specific topic; these can precede “challenge activities” to prepare participants for behavior change.

• Behavior changes (such as smoking cessation) -  Interventions may or may not be offered at the workplace; individuals should be encouraged to make lifestyle changes that they wanted to make even without the incentive.

• Disease management (support and education groups for diabetes and hypertension) -  These may  be provided or supported by the business through disease-management vendors, or by community, health, or religious companies.

• New skills (first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation) -  These could  be provided or supported by the business, or by community, health, or religious corporations.

• Screenings, wellness assessments, physical exams -  A wellness assessment provides the corporation with aggregate data that could be used in wellness program planning and investigation; preventive screenings and physical exams could be encouraged by awarding credits to employees.

• Program support (membership or leadership in wellness committee or challenge team) -  Reward those who work with you to help make your Wellness Program a success.

• Community events -  Reward participation in events like the Heart Walk or March of Dimes Walk; limit the number of these events that may be counted toward the annual total, and be selective about which events you allow to be counted.

Create an Incentive Strategy

Goal -  to motivate and reward worker participation and completion.

Focus - Develop a sense of interest in participation and completion of wellness activities.

Providing incentives and rewards will send an important message to the workers that the corporation is committed to improving their health and will share the rewards that these changes will bring. It also plays a significant role in arousing person to participate.

Actions -

• Identify through employees what incentives they value most.

• Identify what incentives the organization can provide.

• Integrate your incentives into your benefits strategy.

• Ensure that every participant who achieves a goal receives some recognition.

• Give participation incentives.

• Avoid offering incentives for the “best” or the “most.”

• Avoid rewards for biometric changes.

• Use incentives to promote your Wellness Program, through logos and branding.

Examples -

Compensated time off, reduction in health insurance premiums or co-pays, cash incentives, discounts to health clubs, free pedometers, etc.

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Health Promotion Program Communication.

Goal -  Increase awareness of and participation in the Wellness Program.

Focus -  Promote the Health Promotion Program to workforce to encourage participation in activities and benefits.

A well-designed communications strategy is paramount to successful wellness program awareness and participation. Even a “world class” wellness program design won’t succeed when nobody knows that it is available or how to get involved.

Workers who don’t get involved in the health promotion program should be doing so because they select not to participate, not because they didn’t know about how, when, or where to participate.

Actions -

• Conduct a Resources and Communications Audit to identify internal and external resources available to support your Health Promotion Program, as well as knowing how information will be disseminated.

• Keep the health promotion program simple and concise -  easy to peruse about, understand, and act upon.

• Build the brand; be sure it’s something that employees can identify with. Add the brand to T-shirts, water bottles, mouse pads, stress balls, etc.

Use a variety of media -

• Print - flyers, fliers, posters, banners, paycheck inserts, newsletter articles, bulletin boards, literature racks, post cards.

• Electronic - Web, intranet, e-mail, closed-circuit TVs, sign lines, audiovideo productions.

• Staff meetings and company events; word of mouth.

• Use existing channels of communication - what works best in your company - and make certain to know about all points of contact and systems of distribution.

Timing for communications -

• Prior to activity to create awareness and to educate.

• During activity to stimulate participation.

• After an activity to report results.

• Between activities to maintain momentum and interest.

Consistency of communications -

• Use branding; maintain a consistent look, feel, and tone of messages.

• Maintain this consistency throughout the health promotion program.

Surveys and forms -

• Collect information.

• Disseminate information.