Wellness in the worksite
Good for waistlines & your bottom line
By Sandra Simpson, APRN, BC, COHN-S, manager in Occupational Health Services at a Fortune 500 employer in Memphis, Tenn., and a member of the board of directors of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN). For a copy of the AAOHN wellness survey, visit www.aaohn.org, or call (800) 241-8014, x0.
In today’s hectic world, most of us are spending more time at work, and have increasingly less time to look after our health. For a long time, employers have understood the benefits associated with keeping workers well – increased productivity from reduced absenteeism and lowered disability claims. For these reasons, coupled with the fact that many corporations realized double-digit medical costs last year, corporations should consider Workplace Health Promotion Programs as a way to keep employees healthy.
But just how important are these initiatives to employees? How frequently are they willing to participate in initiatives designed to positively impact their health and wellness? Who do employees trust to provide them with important information about their health?
Answers to these questions and more were recently garnered from a study commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Inc. (AAOHN).
The AAOHN survey questioned 500 employees nationwide about their perceptions of Workplace Health Promotion Programs. More than three-quarters of all members indicated these initiatives are a good way to improve their overall health, and nearly 60% consider these offerings an incentive to remain with their current employer. employee retention and turnover impact the bottom line, so building Workplace Health Promotion Programs into the work site culture is a valuable way to help retain talented employees in addition to enhancing personal health and worksite productivity.
Health wish list
Employees appear to have their own agenda when it comes to their health. With new pressures resulting from an unstable economy, national security threats and work/balance issues, it’s not surprising that 85% of survey respondents cited Stress management as a priority topic for work site wellness.
In addition to stress, other preferred topic areas include testing initiatives (84%), exercise/physical fitness initiatives (84%), medical insurance education (81%) and disease management lunch and learns (80%).
In addition to lifestyle and personal health issues, those asked expressed concern about work-related health issues, including strains and injuries resulting from lifting or task-oriented muscle repetition, exposure to harmful substances, personal injury, vision changes due to computer work and worksite violence.
What you should do
With such a broad range of health concerns, a key goal for employers is finding a way to proactively address the health needs of the largest number of employees, and effectively change unhealthy behaviors, promote wellness and ward off disease and illness.
Printed materials such as brochures, posters, fliers or pamphlets present an easy solution. But it’s important to remember that different employees require different formats for learning. A good rule of thumb: provide information in a variety of learning formats such as videos, pamphlets, health-related quizzes, display boards, lunch-and-learn presentations and reimbursement or incentive programs.
This assumes you’ve overcome the first hurdle – getting employees to sign on to a Workplace Health Promotion Program. While survey respondents indicated health and Workplace Health Promotion Programs are important, just six out of 10 (60%) reported that they participated in the Workplace Health Promotion Programs at their corporations. The other 40% cited lack of interest and lack of time as deterrents.
This points to the need for a broad-based, structured Workplace Health Promotion Program using a innovative approach, with an incentive for participation and effective program marketing.
By investing in an organized Workplace Health Promotion Program headed by a qualified medical professional such as an worksite nurse, corporations can give employees the access to the health information they want, and increase participation and generate interest at the same time.
The result: employees become savvier medical consumers who feel more in charge of their personal health. And healthier employees make for a healthier bottom line.
