Summer is in full swing, but many of us are still working off that extra insulation we accumulated around the middle over the winter. It's a challenge for many to eat healthy and stay active consistently. During the past two decades we've spent more time at work, been tempted by more processed foods, and shown an apparent inability to disconnect from technology and move our bodies, leading to more calories consumed and fewer burned.
The resulting increase in obesity, sedentary behavior and chronic disease significantly affects employers and employees. Employers bear the costs of chronic disease and obesity through their health care plans and indirectly through higher rates of absenteeism, presenteeism (showing up but being unproductive), disability and injury. Employees' share of health insurance premiums has risen nearly eight times faster than the average U.S. income since 1994.
The good news is by implementing effective, comprehensive worksite wellness initiatives, you can achieve meaningful returns. Properly designed wellness policies and programs not only improve employee health and wellness, but also produce more than a $3 return for every dollar invested, according to an article in the March-April 2012 edition of the American Journal of Health Promotion.
These initiatives can effectively lower health care costs and other costs associated with chronic disease and disability, and can reduce absenteeism and increase productivity. Furthermore, there is a wealth of resources, many of them free, to support employers. Additionally, the Affordable Care Act includes incentives to support workplace wellness.
So what makes a worksite wellness initiative effective? There is no one-size-fits-all approach to worksite wellness, but there are some commmonalities. Making healthy choices readily accessible, implementing environmental assessments of the worksite, and engaging employees in completing health risk assessments provide the foundation on which to develop the most strategic approach for your organization.
No Cost or Low Cost
The most successful worksite wellness initiatives include a visible commitment from the leadership; developing a worksite wellness committee with strong employee engagement; and policy development, implementation, and evaluation. Sound expensive or complicated? It's not. Both the American Heart Association (AHA) and the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) provide free worksite wellness organizational assessment tools on their websites (www.startwalkingnow.org and www.the-hero.org), and the AHA's site even has an online tool to track employee participation. Additionally, the AHA's www.myheartmylife.org website provides a free health risk assessment tool. Organizations like NC Prevention Partners (www.ncpreventionpartners.org) and their WorkHealthy America program provide a more sophisticated and slightly more expensive package that includes an assessment tool, webinars, and customized technical assistance. The newly launched HealthLead program at www.ushealthiest.org is the first accreditation program for a higher cost. Local public health departments, like the City of Manchester Health Department often serve as connectors to health screenings and prevention-based services.
Motivating Employees
The City of Manchester Health Department recently did a six-week team-based challenge where teams accumulated points for steps taken, weight loss, increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, and increasing water intake. During each week, teams were responsible for hosting nutritional and physical activities, including doing yoga or walking at lunch.
Director Tim Soucy modeled leadership commitment by participating enthusiastically in almost every offering. He was even the Department's biggest loser at the close of the challenge. Thirty-two employees completed the challenge and lost a total 253 pounds.
The platinum standard for the long-term is initiatives like Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Live Well, Work Well effort. The medical center builds a commitment to employee and community health into the heart of its mission and vision, and embeds it in the operating plan.
Specific changes include eliminating frialators and sugar-sweetened beverages in the cafeteria. Over the last year, Dartmouth-Hitchcock sold 674,029 fewer ounces of these beverages, which equates to 4,754,184 fewer calories or 1,358 pounds of fat-a significant environmental change that supports employees in choosing healthier options like water.
Additional outcomes are being measured through multiple sources of data, including claims and financial data, health risk assessments, biometrics and job satisfaction. The percentage of employees recognized as being at high risk in terms of health has dropped from 41 to 30 percent, a significant change over the course of one year.
Debbie Hornor serves as the community obesity policy manager for the American Heart Association at National Center, providing direct technical assistance and training to communities across the country focused on implementing policy, systems, and environmental change to address obesity through the Center for Disease Control's Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative. She can be reached at 603-724-4763 or debbie dot hornor at heart dot org. For more information, visit www.heart.org.
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