Employee Health Screening

• childcare Initiatives and information
• family planning information
• parenting classes
• elder care Initiatives and information
• retirement planning
• personal responsibility leave
• alternative work arrangements such as telecommuting, job sharing
• work-family-life transition support
• anger management and family violence
• family counselling initiatives
• budgeting and financial counselling
• understanding credit reports
• money safety tips – ATMS, credit cards
• advertising and promotion of community support groups
• cafeteria take-out program
• tax preparation initiatives
• will, power of attorney, and estate experts
• vacation planning and safe travel
• interpersonal relationship speakers
• motivational speakers
• bereavement information
• shift work and lifestyle Initiatives
• limit overtime
• balance on-line suggestions such as SC Johnson
• family days – bike rodeos, BBQ, picnics
• swimming pool safety
• charity information – United Way, MADD
• other information sessions on:
• chemical free lawn and garden care,
• menopause,
• infertility,
• lice prevention,
• poisoning,
• fire safety initiatives
• seat belts and booster seats,
• playground safety,
• internet safety,
• home safety and energy efficiency

• violence in the workplace
• equity in the workplace initiatives
• harassment policy and training
• literacy/numeracy Initiatives
• professional development and skill enhancing training
• air quality and sick building testing
• smoke-free workplace
• fire safety initiatives
• hazard control and WHIMS Training
• injury prevention, CPR/First Aid, emergency response Initiatives
• improved signage
• installing guard rails
• work station design, ergonomic and repetitive strain reduction training
• stretching initiatives
• health and safety written and implemented policies
• Safety Audits
• access to bike racks, showers and change areas
• make stairs attractive and post signs to promote their use
• proper lighting
• monitoring noise levels
• shift work strategies related to lighting, noise, air, breaks etc.

• Provide Stress management and mental health Initiatives
• Provide substance use and abuse Initiatives
• Provide smoking cessation and control
• Provide nutrition counselling
• Provide weight control Initiatives and counselling
• Provide promote use of food logs
• Provide posting BMI charts
• Provide juice dispensing machines
• Provide water coolers
• Provide vending machines with low-calorie snack choices
• Provide vending machines with fruit, vegetable and calcium choices
• Posting nutritional information on vending machines
• Provide color-coded cafeteria choices
• Encourage breakfast – suggest choices to start the day
• healthy packed lunch ideas for adults and kids
• partnering with local restaurants for healthy lunch choices
• healthy recipes on-line
• healthy or low-cost cooking Initiatives
• healthy shopping instruction
• naturopaths, homeopaths, herbal remedies and vitamins
• Provide information sessions on fad diets
• Provide disease prevention information
• STD’s
• active living and fitness Initiatives such as a aerobics, walking or cycling clubs
• Provide self-defense training
• Provide relaxation training
• chiropractors
• relaxation and energy specialists
• Provide stretching classes such as yoga, tai chi
• Provide active living challenges
• walking challenges with pedometers
• stair climbing challenge
• sleep and sleep disorders e.g. snoring
• napping information and sleep rooms
• alertness and driving sessions
• encouraging light breaks
• create a wellness Yellow Pages
• information sessions on
• insect bites,
• memory enhancement,
• motion sickness,
• nose bleeds,
• healthy skin,
• frost bite,
• gingivitis and mouth care,
• hair loss,
• ear infections,
• fever,
• psoriasis,
• TMJ,
• varicose veins,
• shingles,
• defensive driving,
• sun safety,
• avoiding home and vehicle theft,
• food safety
• handwashing

**Healthy Living Initiatives should assist in the development of self-efficacy which means that the individual has a senses that they can influence the course of events in their normal daily life, that they can deal with their normal consequences, that they feel confident and sure of themselves.

Why Complete a Employee Health and Wellness Program Environment Assessment?

The purpose of completing the assessment is to identify your worksite’s strengths and areas in need of improvement. The assessment will lead your workgroup to recommend actions for changes to make the worksite more supportive of healthy behaviors (i.e. healthy food choices in vending machines, policies to enforce no tobacco use on worksite grounds or encouraging walking during break times). You may find some of the actions for supporting healthy behaviors are easy to do and others may not be feasible or efficient in your worksite.  The assessment results can also be used as a baseline measure for evaluation.  The initial assessment can later be compared with a follow-up assessment several months later to note progress.

Who should do the Employee Health and Wellness Program Environment Assessment?

Identify a workgroup (at least 4-5 staff members) who will be responsible for completing the assessment.  This may be a subset of your wellness workgroup.  Forming a diverse group from all areas and levels of your organization is important for meaningful assessment and successful planning and implementation. Suggested participants include: human resources, workers from various departments, administrators, supervisors, staff member or wellness staff.

When should the Employee Health and Wellness Program Environment Assessment be Done?

Use the assessment as a starting point for your wellness initiative. Once you have completed the assessment, determine which areas the workgroup will focus on (i.e. healthy eating, physical activity, general health, etc.). Start a time for the workgroup to meet and monitor the progress. Also determine a schedule for annual assessments, so that the assessment can serve as a tool for continuous improvement and accountability over time.

Part 1 – Wellness Assessment Checklist

Complete a Worksite Wellness Assessment Checklist to determine what wellness components you currently have at your worksite.   This can be done with the full workgroup or you may want a few key personnel (such as the Human Resources lead, Wellness Coordinator or Workgroup Coordinator) to do a preliminary scan based on information they gather and then let the full workgroup react to their findings. Ask your broker for a sample wellness assessment checklist or create your own.

Completion of the checklist provides a reference point of the wellness functions that are currently in place or in process and it provides an overview of some of the items that should be considered for a broad-based Employee Health and Wellness Program.

Checklist Components:

Categories. There are six major categories (General, Physical Activity, Nutrition, Health Screening, Tobacco Use and Emergency Response Plan).  Each category has several questions that address what you currently have in place at your worksite.

Current Status. Initially, list whether you have the component (Yes), are in the process of instituting the component or you are planning for the component (In Process) or don’t have the component at all (No).  At the end of each category, sub-total the number in each column and then total all of the categories at the end of the checklist to get an overview of where your worksite Employee Health and Wellness Program currently rates. You should also use this baseline measure as a benchmark for later evaluation.  By evaluating where your worksite is on each wellness component, you will be able to get a general idea of your status across each category and all 57 items.

Potential Priorities. After you have completed the assessment and the employee interest survey, you can use the potential priority column to indicate what components you might want to focus on that are either currently in process or don’t exist.  This can serve as a first screening of possible areas to focus on as you develop your action plan.

Part 2: staff member Input

Why would we want to do an employee survey?

You should conduct an employee survey to get a better understanding of your target audience (your organization’s workers) and get an initial idea of their current health habits and interest areas.  The survey can be tailored to your worksite and can be done in paper form or through the use of survey instruments on the internet or that can be purchased.   You can create your own employee survey or ask your broker for a Workplace Wellness Needs and Interest Survey.

As was the case with the worksite environmental assessment, the employee survey results can also be used as a baseline measure for later evaluation.  The initial survey results can later be compared with a follow-up survey several months later to note progress.

You should also consider engaging workers in focus groups or informal interviews to gather information on their wants and needs.  This can be done either before or after the survey, or if you don’t have the resources to survey workers, you could use this method to gather information in place of the survey.

Whatever method you use to gather information, make it as easy as possible for workers to complete and submit the information so you get a high return rate.  Consider offering an incentive or prize for staff members who complete the survey.

Once you start a program you will have a range of staff member participants.  Some will already be very engaged in being active and eating well and your program will only reinforce and enhance their health.  On the other end of the spectrum will be staff members who may not engage no matter what you do.  The remaining group is probably the largest group in most companies: staff members who are at various stages of readiness to improve their health given the right type of programming and motivation.   Summarized below are some tips you may want to employ once your program is up and running.

Key Factors in Employee Health and Wellness Program

In today’s society there are many primary factors that influence people’s health behaviors.  Consider the following list in maintaining participation in your program:

1.    TIME. Workers are busy, so the more you can work activity and healthy eating into their existing schedules, the better your chances for success.  Example: A walk at lunch doesn’t take away from existing time, it just uses it differently.  Also review the time of the day and length of any activity you might be promoting, since both time components may be factors.
2.    ACCESS. How accessible is your Employee Health and Wellness Program.  Is it onsite or at a nearby site?  Do you offer access at breaks or outside of normal work hours?
3.    KNOWLEDGE. Workers need to know “Why” they are participating (the benefits) and also will need information about the “How to” in areas that are not commonly known.
4.    COST. Make sure that you can provide no cost or decreased cost Employee Health and Wellness Programs will help participation rates.  Coupled with incentives for participation, rates of participation will likely increase dramatically.
5.    INCENTIVES. Some staff members need incentives to get started in a Employee Health and Wellness Program.  A full list of Employee Health and Wellness Program incentive options can be on the website.

Key Time Periods in Employee Health and Wellness Program

Good habits are frequently difficult to develop.  There tends to be some critical times when staff members drop out or fall off of a physical activity or diet program.   The first key time zone seems to be around 6 weeks.   If staff members can start and stay consistent with a program through the first 6 weeks, they have made a fairly serious commitment to incorporate the habits into their lifestyle.  The second key time is at about 6 months.  Those who made it past 6 weeks may get bored and/or distracted from their program after several months.  If staff members can get past 6 months and sustain behavior through a full set of weather seasons, they have a very good chance of making the changes permanent.

Consider these time periods and think about how you can “boost” your workers to get them past these critical time markers.  Promoting individual or group “challenges”, using incentives, or increased publicity/marketing are a few of the things you can do to help get your workers through these key time periods

Goal Setting for Employee Health and Wellness Program

Setting goals has been shown to lead to better participation and more staff members making a strong commitment.  Whether it be a team goal of walking the equivalent of once around your state or an individual goal of so many miles or minutes of activity, the fact that there is something concrete to shoot for increases the likelihood staff members will stick with the program.

Buddy Systems or Team Goals for Employee Health and Wellness Program

The social aspects of improving one’s health cannot be underestimated.  Many studies point to tight social groups being the backbone for a successful campaign because each individual has a commitment to something bigger than themselves and besides, it’s just more fun for most staff members. Build your program around some type of teams or partners and see what happens.

Team “Campaigns” for Employee Health and Wellness Program

Some staff members like competition and others don’t.  Nevertheless, a worksite wide campaign has the advantage of keeping the message more visible and alive.  Encourage campaign participation, but make it voluntary so that those who prefer that type of motivation can join while others can participate in their own way and at their own pace.  If the idea of a campaign seems like too much work, consider tapping into existing campaigns where someone else provides resources for you.

Incentives for Employee Health and Wellness Program

Incentives are frequently helpful in maintaining or raising interest.  Significant incentives such as cash or health insurance rebates have proven to be very strong motivators for staff member participation.  However, even smaller incentives can be beneficial.  Listed below are some sample incentives:
• Achievement awards. Verbal praise and a pat on the back are motivational to some, but a token of recognition of achievement may offer more. A colorful certificate to congratulate an staff member for achieving a health-related goal is one example.
• Public recognition. Announced recognition at campaign mid-point or wrap-up festivities.
• Food. Include some healthy foods to kick-off, revitalize or wrap up a wellness campaign.
• Entertainment. Events serve a purpose in jump-starting, reenergizing or wrapping up a campaign.  Having entertainment of any kind can boost morale.
• Merchandise.  There is a long list of merchandise incentives, including sports equipment and small gift certificates to use at local merchants.
• Monetary rewards. Nothing says incentive better than cash.  Worksites that have used cash or rebates as an incentive have shown much higher participation rates.
• Time off. Maybe the next best incentive to cash, or for some staff members even better.  This type of incentive makes good business sense if the number of absences drops significantly and attendance is used as one of the criteria.

There are a number of reasons why Employee Health and Wellness Programs are beneficial.

1. Improved Morale – When the organizational culture begins to change as a result of your health promotion efforts, you and your workers may actually begin to see and feel a new level of energy within the organization.  Ultimately, one of the most ambitious goals of any broad-based health promotion program is to attempt to influence the attitudes and actions of the organization’s most valuable resource — its workers.
2. Reduced Turnover – As we all know, staff member replacement costs can be quite high for any kind of organization.  The effort and expense associated with running employment ads, reading applications, checking references, interviewing qualified candidates, hiring and training a new staff member can be a serious burden on any organization.  In light of the challenges that high staff member turnover pose, many companies are looking to health promotion programs as an additional perk that can help to prevent workers from jumping ship.
3. Increased Recruitment Potential – In the midst of a very tight labor market, companies are forced to pull out the stops in order to recruit new talent.  In some instances, health promotion can prove to be a very valuable tool in sealing the deal.
4. Reduced Absenteeism - When an staff member misses work in a organization setting, the entire organization is forced to absorb his/her responsibilities.  Even in the event of the occasional absence caused by things like colds and the flu, work can back-up and tensions can build.  Even worse is a long-term absence caused by a major health event that requires hospitalization and/or rehabilitation.  By preventing certain types of illness caused by poor lifestyle habits, health promotion programs can play an important role in decreasing rates of absence.
5. Health Care Cost Containment - Most companies don’t start a health promotion program with cost containment in mind.  However, cost containment for certain health problems should be considered a viable goal by many companies.
6. Improved staff member Health Status – One of the greatest advantages of a well-designed health promotion initiative is the promise of improved health.  There is a growing body of evidence that suggests well-designed health promotion initiatives can successfully impact such behaviors as tobacco use, high-risk alcohol use, and more.

1.    Have a current policy outlining the requirements and functions of a broad-based Employee Health and Wellness Program.
2.    Have a wellness plan in place that addresses the purpose, nature, duration, resources required, participants in, and expected results of a Employee Health and Wellness Program.
3.    Orient workers to the Employee Health and Wellness Program and give them copies of the physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use policies.
4.    Promote and encourage staff member participation in the physical activity/fitness and nutrition education/weight management program.
5.    Offer health education information to workers.
6.    Have a committee that meets at least once a month to oversee the Employee Health and Wellness Program.
7.    Offer regular health education presentations on various physical activity, nutrition, and wellness-related topics. Ask voluntary health associations, health care providers, and/or public health agencies to offer onsite education classes.
8.    Host a Wellness Fair as a kick-off event or as a celebration for completion of a wellness campaign.
9.    Designate specific areas to support workers such as diabetics and nursing mothers.
10.    Conduct preventive wellness screenings for blood pressure, body composition, blood cholesterol, and diabetes.
11.    Offer confidential Health risk appraisals.
12.    Offer onsite weight management/maintenance initiatives for workers.
13.    Provide weight management/maintenance, nutrition, and physical activity counseling as a member benefit in health insurance contracts.

Ten Steps Toward Strategic Employee Health and Wellness Programs

The Employee Health and Wellness Program management world is evolving rapidly. Each month, there are new research findings that support the premise that Employee Health and Wellness Programs and disease management have a long-term impact on health care costs. Many large companies that started Employee Health and Wellness Programs three to five years ago are showing savings in health, disability, and workers compensation costs. Small to mid-size companies are watching all this and wondering where to start with wellness.

Getting upper management support and budget approval is one of the challenges at the beginning of a Employee Health and Wellness Program. This is the case because Employee Health and Wellness Programs can be expensive, averaging $150-300 per staff member per year in large companies. Most of the savings are not realized for a number of years. This long-term investing is hard for companies on the move.

The key to success for Employee Health and Wellness Programs is to take a strategic approach. Here are ten steps to consider when starting a Employee Health and Wellness Program.

1. Start with upper management. Without upper management support, a health promotion strategy can fall flat. Start with the health of your executive team and discover your wellness champions at the top of the organization.
2. Assess the problem. Look at your health care claims and analyze the trends. Which conditions are driving your medical, disability, and workers’ compensation claims and which are modifiable? What’s worked and what hasn’t thus far? What is the long-term impact of doing nothing?
3. Hold an initial wellness meeting. Invite your primary stakeholders both inside and outside the organization. Ask your broker to facilitate the meeting and invite primary health vendors including health, disability, Employee Assistance Program (EAP), fitness, and occupational nursing. Review claims and utilization information and identify primary areas of concern. Look at current offerings and see how they can be tailored to the needs of the population.
4. Consider both healthy and unhealthy workers. Since 85 percent of claims are usually attributed to 15 percent of claimants, it is essential to reach those with the most costly conditions while also reaching staff members who are at risk for developing preventable diseases in the future. Voluntary Employee Health and Wellness Programs such as lunchtime wellness seminars miss many of the staff members who need them most. Consider initiatives that are population-wide or target intact workgroups. Wellness incentives help but do not motivate everyone.
5. Set short-term goals for the Employee Health and Wellness Programs. Set some realistic short-term goals based on your primary areas of concern. Are there any plan design changes that could have an immediate impact on spending? Are there some programmatic actions that could have immediate results?
6. Determine what workers are thinking. Hold some focus groups to determine where staff members are with wellness. What’s working? What isn’t? How much interest do staff members have in the Employee Health and Wellness Programs? What obstacles and barriers are workers experiencing when they try to change behavior?
7. Make sure you have a high-impact Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Your first wellness dollars should go into upgrading your Employee Assistance Program (EAP). A highly utilized Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide a foundation for all of your future wellness activities. A good Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a trusted link to the hearts and minds of workers. At no additional cost, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) can provide needed follow-up coaching and personal attention for workers who are working on modifiable health behaviors or involved in disease management initiatives. Nutritionists, fitness, pregnancy, and stress management specialists are all part of a high-value Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
8. Set three to five year goals for health care savings and measure them. Get help from your broker and insurance carrier help you on long-term goals for your health, disability, and workers compensation plans. Start program metrics that will help you to measure return on investment. Go beyond participation rates, completion rates and program satisfaction. Measure changes in readiness, changes in behavior, and changes in risk factors. Start rigorous methods to measure health care savings over the long term.
9. Set goals for organizational health. Consider the more intangible benefits of a wellness initiative and quantify them whenever possible. Include staff member turnover rates, cost of new hires, staff member morale, benefit satisfaction information, and employer of choice issues in setting goals. Start ways to measure success in these areas.
10. Add specifics to your short and long-term plan. Include a Employee Health and Wellness Program strategy, a communication strategy, and a Employee Health and Wellness Program incentive strategy that will fit with your corporate culture. Focus on integration of related components along a health continuum with communications that are focused, simple, and human. Start a budget that includes primary components such as consumer education, health promotion, health risk assessments, and regular biometric screens.

Employee Health and Wellness Programs are crucial to improving the health of our nations. Most adults spend more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else, making it a excellent venue for promoting healthful habits. The worksite organizational culture and environment are powerful influences on behavior and this needs to be put to use as a method of assisting workers to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Advantages to Employee Health and Wellness Programs include:
• Weight reduction
• Improved physical fitness
• Increased stamina
• Lower levels of stress
• Increased well-being, self-image and self-esteem

Employers can also benefit from Employee Health and Wellness Programs. According to recent research, employers’ benefits are:

• Enhanced recruitment and retention of healthy workers
• Reduced health care costs
• Decreased rates of illness and injuries
• Reduced staff member rates of absence
• Improved staff member relations and morale
• Increased productivity

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report revealed that at worksites with physical activity initiatives as components of their Employee Health and Wellness Programs have:

• Reduced health care costs by 20 to 55 percent
• Reduced short-term sick leave by six to 32 percent
• Increased productivity by two to 52 percent

Thanks to modern medicine, life expectancy for Americans has continually increased. How much we enjoy these additional years, however, depends greatly on how we have lived our lives. If our quality of life is to remain high so that we can fully enjoy these extra years, we must practice good eating habits, be active and refrain from using tobacco products.

Who needs Employee Health and Wellness Programs? If you work in an office or a worksite or are a member of an organization who spends a considerable amount of time at work, you will benefit from a well-designed worker Employee Health and Wellness Program. Employees spend a minimum of about 200 hours a month at work – a considerable amount of time.

Furthermore, stress, distractions and the pressures of the job can take its toll on the staff member, which makes it important that a Employee Health and Wellness Program is implemented. Today, all across America, Canada, Europe and Asia, top Employee Health and Wellness Programs are being used to help improve staff member conditions at work and reduce the cost of worker health care.

Some of the top Employee Health and Wellness Programs currently in use today include:

Health Risk Assessments (HRAs)

Health Risk Assessment is a top Employee Health and Wellness Program currently in use globally. Organizations that implement it determine the safety and health concerns of workers by the assessment of appropriateness of the facilities and equipment against the needs of the workers.

It can, for example, guide the organization into determining how much air quality within an office room affects the users and then help the assessment team to come up with the measures necessary to correct the problem. An HRA can also evaluate the level of exposure workers have to certain hazardous or dangerous materials and practices.

Immunizations

This isn’t always practiced in every country since there are regions where government sponsored immunization shots are available. However, it has also become an important component of the top Employee Health and Wellness Programs in many companies in North America.

Immunization, flu shots, such as those used to combat flu, for example, are offered to workers for free.

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)

Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) consist of a wide variety of services. It can range from providing educational resources to workers regarding health issues to sponsoring health services and medical care. In many companies, medical and insurance have also become a staple part of their benefits system.

Weight Management Programs

This is another Employee Health and Wellness Program that companies use, particularly those that offer in-house commissary or cafeteria services. Instead of serving richer, high-calorie fare, cafeterias offer options for a healthier diet, usually in the form of low-calorie foods and sugar substitutes.

Employee Wellness Newsletters – Health Education Programs

One of the top Employee Health and Wellness Programs that companies can implement is a self-powered tool using a newsletter to promote wellness, coupled with a visible campaign. The campaign may be done periodically and focus on a specific topic, such as tobacco use hazards, cancer, stress, carpal tunnel syndrome, safety in the workplace, etc.

The newsletter in itself can be an effective method to deliver information to workers or members of an organization but it is far from perfect. Some workers, for example, may not read the newsletter in its entirety or even pay attention to it. If the issues outlined in the newsletter are promoted through an active and highly visible campaign, it will be easier to maximize positive results.

Physical Fitness and Exercise Programs

Another top health promotion program for companies is one that involves physical activities. Companies frequently sponsor physical fitness-related events such as marathons and organization sports initiatives to promote workers to remain fit or lose excess weight. In mid- to large-sized companies, companies may even pay for gym memberships or in-house physical fitness facilities.

Employee Health and Wellness Program Incentives

Some of the top Employee Health and Wellness Programs implemented by companies involve incentive rewards. This involves organization-sponsored initiatives that reward workers for achieving specific wellness goals. Participation in health campaigns and signing up for Employee Health and Wellness Programs are two of the most commonly rewarded schemes. Rewards can range from special recognitions to points (for bigger rewards) to specific gifts. In a few cases, cash may also be used.

However, incentive systems have had mixed reactions and levels of success. But it continues to be one of the top choices among companies who are willing to modify it in order to fit their unique needs.

Group Activities

In many companies, companies take advantage of peer pressure in order to encourage workers to participate in Employee Health and Wellness Programs. This is currently one of the favorite worker Employee Health and Wellness Programs currently in use today and growing in popularity. Peer pressure is frequently leveraged to help promote competitions and to persuade workers to be active in organization-sponsored health fairs.