Employee Health Screening

Benefits of Smoking Cessation Programs

Instances of respiratory illnesses, cancer and other illnesses may be reduced through use of tobacco cessation efforts. Tobacco use cessation programs can provide enormous opportunities for improved health.

The American Cancer Society reports that tobacco use staff members cost companies an typical of $1,429 per smoker a year in increased health care costs over non-tobacco use staff members.

Beginning a use of tobacco cessation program costs an typical of $45 per staff member annually, saving companies an typical of $1,383 annually for each staff member who quits use of tobacco. Also, the American Cancer Society reports that smokers are absent from work 50 percent more often than nonsmokers.

They are also 50% more likely to be hospitalized and have 15% higher disability rates. Use of tobacco reduces onthe- job productivity as well. Employees who take four 10- minute smoking breaks a day work more than a month less each year than personnel who do not take smoke breaks.

Places to begin with tobacco use cessation programs -

o  Create a “buddy” program to provide encouragement for those who commit to stop tobacco use.

o  Offer lung capacity tests at corporation wellness fairs.

o  Consider reimbursement for use of tobacco cessation tools –  nicotine gum, patches and inhalers.

o  Limit tobacco use areas in the workplace.

o  Present onsite smoking cessation sessions.

Advantages of Nutrition Programs

Nutrition directly impacts nearly every aspect of physical and mental health. A healthy diet can help protect against such conditions as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, stroke, certain cancers and depression. Obesity, which is among the most common conditions linked to diet, affects a record number of American Citizens.

The American Journal of Wellness estimates the cost of obesity to USA corporation to exceed $12.5 billion in health care, sick time, and life and disability insurance.

Moreover, one study reports that obesity raises healthcare costs by 36 percent and medication costs by 77 percent.  To offset the health risks of obesity and poor diet, many businesses have committed to assisting staff members ensure proper nutrition and undertake weight control programs.

Popular nutrition programs -

o  Give workforce with educational materials or classes on proper nutrition provided by a registered dietitian.

o  Give onsite Weight Watchers meetings or other weight management programs.

o  Give nutritious and health conscience meal choices in the cafeteria and vending machines.

o  Obviously post nutrition information for all cafeteria and vending machine items.

o  Provide low cost, healthy, take-home dinner choices for workforce and their families.

o  Draw attention to healthy eating habits by providing token incentives, like pencils or ID holders, for achieving five fruits or vegetable servings a day for a week.

Nutrition programs in action

While many corporations address weight control through fitness initiatives, corporations are increasingly focusing on nutrition through separate programming. Recognizing the productivity increase and reduced medical expenditures that come with maintaining a healthful weight, many corporations might help pay for obesity treatments for workforce.

For  instance, to enhance the health of dangerously obese workers, drug maker Wyeth reportedly compensates for stomach-shrinking surgeries that carry price tags of up to $40,000.

A 2003 Society of Human Resource (HR) Management study shows that 24 percent of businesss offer weight loss programs. In Ohio, Honda offers an onsite, registered dietitian who provides individual or group consultations on weight control. Body fat analysis and BMI  measurements are available to workers at any time.

At Grange Insurance’s Columbus headquarters, the cafeteria chef evaluates meals and provides staff basic nutrition information, including Weight Watchers points.

Many organizations partner with the American Cancer Society to offer nutrition information through the “5-ADay” program, which provides employers free signage and educational materials about the importance of consuming five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

The program also offers a fruit and vegetable “frequency card” that gives workers a free portion of fruit or vegetables after he or she has purchased a preset number.

Advantages of Fitness Plans

Exercise reduces weight, reduces risks of heart attack and stroke, helps to control blood pressure (BP) and diabetes, and improves mood. Studies increasingly show that exercise might also help reduce the occurrence of certain types of cancer.

Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Avoidance (CDC) lately documented another major advantage –  exercise improves the health of the nation’s medical care expenditures.3 As reported by the CDC, physically active individuals incur $865 less annually in medical costs than inactive people .

Dr. Michael Moore, vice president and chief medical director at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, maintains that exercise is the most effective tool in health maintenance. “If you may prescribe exercise in a pill, it’d be the number-one prescribed treatment in the world,” he said.

In step with Dr. Moore’s prescription, almost one-third of United States companies help staff pay for fitness club memberships, as reported by an Associated Press report. Subsidizing fitness club memberships is just one way companies encourage active life choices.

Popular fitness-forward initiatives -

o  Start a corporation softball or volleyball league.

o  Compile and distribute information about opportunities to join athletic groups in your community.

o  Offer partial or complete reimbursement for fitness facility memberships.

o  Hold aerobics, karate, yoga or other types of fitness classes on-site.

o  Provide extended lunch hours for personnel who commit to lunchtime exercise plans.

o  Introduce an on-site fitness facility that is free, or available at a nominal cost, to staff and their families.

o  Conduct on-site wellness fairs that include fitness demonstrations and promote fitness activities and resources.

Wellness program means different things to different corporations. Effective wellness programs could be as simple as bringing bushel baskets of fresh fruit into break rooms to encourage better eating. They could be as comprehensive as building fitness facilities on-site or paying for obesity treatments.

A driving factor behind the push toward wellness spans corporations of all types, sizes and cultures –  that is, health care costs are spilling over the corporate belt buckle.

The annual cost of medical services in the U.S. is rising at seven times the rate of inflation.  And the rise in health care costs is one boom pundits expect our economy to sustain.1

This trend makes it increasingly challenging for employers to maintain current levels of insurance coverage. In 2003, health care inflation forced 65 percent of businesses to raise employees’ share of healthcare costs.

Seventy-nine percent of large firms said they will increase workers’ share of health care costs in 2004.2 But with lost benefits and increased financial burdens come lost morale and productivity.

Companys are searching for another way. While corporations cannot control many of the supply-side elements contributing to rising health care costsâ.”malpractice insurance rates, the nursing shortageâ.”they can help curb demand. That’s why efforts are being redirected from disease to wellness.

The case for wellness is supported by an ever growing body of evidence demonstrating the high costs associated with controllable health risks -

o  One study reports that obesity raises healthcare costs by 36% and medication costs by 77%.

o  Michigan officials estimate lack of exercise cost the state almost $8.9 billion in 2002, a cost estimated to be largely borne by corporations through insurance premiums and lost productivity.

o  The not-for-profit National Committee for Quality Assurance reports that the estimated typical cost for postnatal care for women who did not receive prenatal care was $2,341 more than for women who had.  And the indirect costs of unhealthful behavior can be just as high.

Data shows that healthier staff members are more productive, spending more time at work and showing increased “presenteeism,” or productivity, while there. Further, healthier staff members use fewer medical services.

The five leading causes of death in the U.S. â.” heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes â.”  are directly linked to unhealthful life choices. Obviously, encouraging healthful habits presents an opportunity to improve employees’ well being, reduce the need for healthcare services and help control costs.

Offering worker wellness benefits â.” large or small â.” represents an intersection between corporate social responsibility and responsibility to stakeholders. Between worker health and corporate health. It is often the right thing to do for workers and corporations.

Research by Traveler’s Corp. shows a $3.40 return for every dollar invested in Wellness Programs. for many corporations, the choice to offer employee wellness benefits is easyâ.”one where conscience and pragmatism align.

The challenge arises in selecting  the health promotion programs that’ll deliver the most impact based on trends in your employees’ health risks and medical claims costs.

From large businesses to the corner deli, business owners welcome ways to increase productivity, lower rates of absenteeism and cut costs. Likewise, health promotion programs can range from modest to elaborate.

In determining where to focus a corporation’s limited resources, looking at costs, benefits and best practices is a good beginning point. This section profiles six aspects of wellness and explores their benefits to employees and employers.

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

AAOHN’s survey reported that more than half of staff members (61 percent) want to receive wellness information from a healthcare professional, such as a consultant or an on-site occupational health nurse (OHN), compared to flyers or flyers (18 percent) or human resources staff (15 percent).

OHNs can develop, implement and evaluate components of work site wellness programs like screening programs, exercise/fitness courses, stress management, use of tobacco cessation, nutrition and weight control programs, in addition to chronic disease management programs.

Plus, OHNs can help employees navigate through complicated health care plans and may even serve as a triage point between employees and their personal health care providers.

Workers might refrain from seeing their health care provider when it means time away from work, inconvenient parking, waiting time in the office and co-pays.

In situations where personnel are under treatment for chronic conditions like heart illness, onsite nurses can routinely monitor risk factors like blood pressure (BP) or cholesterol on a regular basis.

It is often easier for an staff member to ask an onsite nurse for information about symptoms or prescription medication than it is to schedule a follow-up visit to a personal health care provider.

Benefits realized by employers include enhanced staff member morale and retention, a recruitment advantage, increased productivity and decreased time away from work.

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

Health Promotion Programs are excellent for waistlines and your bottom line

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 staff well – increased productivity from decreased absenteeism and decreased disability claims.

For these reasons, coupled with the fact that many corporations realized double-digit health care costs last year, corporations should consider Health Promotion Programs as a way to keep personnel healthy.

But just how important are these health promotion programs to employees? Precisely how often are they willing to participate in health promotion programs designed to positively impact their wellness? Who do workers trust to provide them with important information about their health?

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

The AAOHN survey questioned 500 staff members nationwide about their perceptions of Wellness Programs. Greater than three-quarters of all participants indicated these health promotion programs are a good way to improve their overall health, and almost 60% consider these offerings an incentive to remain with their current company.

Worker retention and turnover impact the bottom line, so building wellness programs into the work site culture is a valuable way to help retain talented workers also to enhancing personal health and workplace productivity.

Health Promotion wish list

Workers 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 is not surprising that 85% of survey respondents cited stress management as a priority topic for work site wellness.

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

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 because of computer work and worksite violence.

Starting a Health Promotion Program

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

Printed materials like handouts, posters, fliers or handouts present an easy solution. But it is crucial that you remember that different people  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 have overcome the first hurdle – getting people  to sign on to a health promotion program. While survey respondents indicated health promotion programs are important, just six out of 10 (60 percent) announced that they participated in the health promotion programs at their companies.  The other 40% cited lack of interest and lack of time as deterrents.

This points to the need for a extensive, structured health promotion program using a creative approach, with an incentive for participation and effective health promotion program marketing.

By investing in an organized wellness program headed by a certified health care professional like an on-site nurse, corporations can give staff the access to the medical information they want, and increase participation and generate interest at the same time.

The result – workers become savvier healthcare consumers who feel more in charge of their personal health.  And healthier workers make for a healthier bottom line.

Health promotion programs are designed to help improve the overall health and awareness of health related issues of workforce in the worksite.

Although these health promotion programs are set up to help individuals set, work toward and maintain healthful lifestyle choices, they sometimes fail.

There are five main reasons health promotion programs are unsuccessful.  The first reason is because of lack of staff member interest. It is very important when presenting a new health promotion program to staff members that every effort is made to communicate the all encompassing advantages of the health promotion program to the company and to the individual.

Next, health promotion programs can fail because of lack of staff resources. When a health promotion program is introduced but there are few resources to offer with the health promotion program, it will be difficult for an staff member to want to take benefit of it.

As part of the previous reason for failure of a wellness program, inadequate funding also can set a wellness program up for failure. With little money to promote a wellness program, it may be challenging to spread the word about the advantages of a wellness program.

An all too frequent reason that health promotion programs don’t reach optimal success is because the health promotion program and its coordinators fail to engage high risk personnel. If high risk personnel have the majority of the health issues in a workplace, they ought to be the most targeted individuals for a health promotion program.

To see 100% participation is the optimal goal, but to engage those with the most severe health concerns is a huge priority.

Lastly, the inability to enlist the support of senior level management is a significant reason why wellness programs might not be successful. Without the endorsement, support and flexibility that senior level management can offer a wellness program, it’s far less likely that it will actually succeed.

Health promotion programs succeed for just as many reasons as they fail. With engaged and motivated staff members, obtaining wellness goals is attainable and promising.

Employee health promotion involves many aspects of the worksite and can look dramatically different based upon the shared wellness vision.

Health Promotion efforts can also be uniquely tailored to women and men, old and young or to special health needs. Health Promotion in the workplace must be a top priority regardless of gender, age or special needs.

Living healthful requires time and attention and often special wellness activities designed by a wellness committee can help reach certain health goals.

Most health promotion programs allow for each employee to dictate the objectives and activities that will make up their wellness objectives.

Often, the business will jump in with wellness programs or incentives.  As if sponsoring a competition, some businesss will pay workers for reaching losing weight objectives.

Other wellness ideas might include special benefits or compensation for reaching health goals. It could be challenging to gage what’ll motivate some employees, but knowing that most employees do not want to pay more for healthcare is a good begin.

A solid wellness program is a surefire way to reduce healthcare costs, lost vacation time, and other miscellaneous medical testing.

With a unified wellness committee taking staff opinions into account, there must be objectives set up across the board that’ll help focus and monitor health care objectives for all involved staff.

Some personnel may pick to focus on specific health concerns while others may want to improve their overall health through diet, exercise and stress relief techniques.

When some personnel seem adamant about admitting health concerns, it may be helpful to reaffirm confidentiality with each staff member.

Other staff might find it helpful to join a group or a partner in working toward health care goals. Studies have proven that working on any type of goal with another individual increases the percentage of completion and success.

Corporate health promotion can come in any shape, form or timeframe. It is more imperative that you have resources in place for personnel to ensure a balanced and healthful lifestyle.

Wellness programs encourage people  to begin taking steps toward health care avoidance by teaching healthful decision making. These wellness programs are designed to decrease health care costs, lower absenteeism, and increase productivity.

It is believed that many diseases in America are preventable by proper biometric testings and small changes toward a healthier lifestyle.  The most valuable resource a business has is its staff.

By investing time and money into them, the corporation would reap the benefits of having more focused and healthier employees.

For an staff member, wellness programs can lead you towards living a healthier lifestyle and becoming a much healthier person. Depending on what a corporation offers you can learn how to reduce stress, keep your sugar levels in control, and even lose weight.

The support you will receive from your colleagues will help you reachyour health goals. From eating a healthful lunch together to forming a racquetball tournament, you will create a feeling of camaraderie between colleagues.

Social influences are a major part of a healthful life style. You’ll be getting encouragement from peers as well as encouraging others around you to live healthful.

For companys, these wellness programs proved to have a considerable return on the investment put into them.

The small amount of funds it costs to begin these health promotion programs and continue with them is insurmountable compared to what they save with increased productivity and lowered costs spent on sick time and insurance premiums.

Having corporation support is a good start to living a healthier lifestyle. Whatever the approach, Wellness programs can help make a positive change in your job, life and the community.

Implementing these health promotion programs is just one way corporations around the country are building a healthier and more productive workforce.

Around the U.S. corporations everywhere are implementing health promotion programs. There are several advantages to offering employee health promotion programs.

These wellness programs vary in intricacy, from only offering information to employees on staying healthy to offering a business fitness club and nutritious meal plans.  The bottom line of wellness programs is that healthy employees are happy employees, and they are what make a business run.

As an staff member, health promotion programs have several wellness benefits including helping you live a healthful lifestyle. Depending on the wellness efforts your corporation has put into place you are able to learn how to reduce stress, keep your sugar levels in control, and even lose weight if desired.

The support coworkers will give each other will help in bettering staff member health. Social influences are a major part of a healthy life style. You’ll be getting encouragement from coworkers in addition to stimulating others around you to promote wellness in the workplace.

There are several barriers to wellness programming in the workplace. Aligning cultural touch points will aid in the effort to promote employee wellness. From resource commitment to rewards and recognition it is the job of the corporation to support a healthful lifestyle as much as possible.

Hiring wellness experts that have a shared wellness vision with the company’s upper management is another choice to promote wellness in the worksite. They can give wellness coaching and advice on how to live healthful and make healthful decisions.

Staff Members are a corporation’s most valuable assets and it’s important to develop opportunities for personal health management, with an emphasis on shared responsibility. A healthful workforce is crucial to the growth of the American company and in the long run is fundamental for the progress of the American economy.