Health Handouts : Assembling a Worksite Wellness Program

Ideally, you will advance an overall plan for a Corporate Wellness Program before beginning to plan specific wellness programs. For example, you have the potential to start by getting the following components in place:

• reinforcement from senior staff
• a Company Wellness Program Committee or group
• information about the wellness needs and interests of staff members
• a budget
• program objectives
• an evaluation plan

Even if you have few financial and/or human resources, you can still take a “micro” approach. By way of example, you might focus on only one specific issue. Creativity, enthusiasm and planning can help you overcome limitations.

This article will provide you with some ideas for setting up Corporate Health Promotion Programs. Even the smallest steps can have an effect.

Whether you choose to begin with a single program or advance something larger, planning is essential. First think about the big picture and then look after the details.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Identify an action. What health-related program will fit the bill and best suit the staff members and employer?
• Promote. How can you most effectively spread the word to staff members? What are the opportunities for promotion? Consider everything, since staff members have access to and pay attention to different types of messages. In a typical workplace, staff members get information from e-mail, newsletters, bulletins, brochures, meeting announcements and fellow staff members.
• Deliver. Who is the best individual or group to put the program into action? Ask other companies about approaches they have utilized. Solidify your budget before making a decision.
• Assess. What must you evaluate to determine success? Do you need hard data and/or testimonials from individual participants?

We recommend the following when organizing your program:

• creating and communicating clear objectives
• targeting your audience
• deciding on the sort of program or campaign

The Elements of a Employee Health Promotion Program

Plans to promote wellness in the workplace don’t need to be restricted to one area. You might think workplace wellness only involves promoting beneficial personal health, e.g., Blood Pressure clinics, brochures on heart disease, “lunch and learn” sessions on eating habits and short-term physical activity programs.

These activities are significant, but workplace wellness ought to also be part of business’s business plan and go beyond traditional programming.

Taking a broader approach, the National Quality Institute recently detailed 3 key elements of a healthy workplace:

• physical environment
• social environment and personal resources
• health practices

Specific Program Ideas

Physical Environment

Look after workers’ health and safety and establish regulations to support their health and safety. Consider providing the following:

• Safe bike storage and shower and/or change facilities for cyclists and other commuters.
• Fridges for workers to keep snacks and meals fresh and/or healthy snacks in vending machines and cafeterias.
• Ergonomic assessments.
• Subsidies to help staff members join local recreation centres.
• Classrooms/conference rooms available for booking activities such as yoga, pilates, tai chi, meditation and aerobics.
• Safe and pleasant stairways that invite employees to use them.
• Assessing the potential for violence at work with plans to deal with such risks.
• Good lighting and sound and air quality.

Social Environment

Human relationships and communication, as well as ways of doing business, have the potential to affect an employee’s mental and physical health. Corporations must consider the following:

• respectful workplace policies that offer safe worksites
• policies on flex time
• policies on working from home
• employee satisfaction surveys
• leadership coaching
• resiliency training
• EAPs

To cultivate a positive social culture or climate, consider employees’ needs, which include:

• being respected
• a sense of belonging, purpose and mission
• freedom of expression
• protection from harassment and discrimination

What you’ve “always done” may not address current employee needs. Seeing to it that people enjoy being at work is not an easy task, but making the right changes can have a huge effect.

Health Practices

Offer programs and set policies that help staff members remain healthy or better their health while at work. Consider offering the following:

• “Lunch and learn sessions” on healthy habits such as sleeping better, eating on the run, healthy snacks, using a pedometer, pole walking, work-life balance, time management, stress management, resiliency, parenting and reading nutrition labels.
• Stop smoking clinics or subsidies to help employees quit.
• Health risk appraisals, including fitness assessments.
• Programs to address the issues raised in the health risk appraisals.
• Healthier snacks offered at meetings and conferences.

Personal Company Health Promotion Program Tips

If there is no wellness program at your worksite, do not let that stop you from keeping healthy. Perhaps your example will spark a movement toward a healthier workplace.

Here are a few ideas to think about:

• Be active at work. There are countless ways to bring exercise into your workday. Walk to work, even if it’s just one way. Hold walking meetings. Bike to work. Use the stairs. Walk to a workmate’s office rather than sending an e-mail.
• Eat smart at work. Pack a healthy snack. Place a bottle of water at your desk or workstation. Eat breakfast and eat regularly during the day. Take turns bringing a basket of fruit for co-workers’ snacks. Order healthy snacks for meetings.
• Maintain work-life balance. Work efficiently so you can leave on time. Conduct short, effective meetings. Leave your work at work and be sure not to take it home. Minimize social chit-chat. Arrange your office to enhance your work. Avoid clutter. Create and prioritize to be sure that the most significant things get done first.

There is no limit to the number or variety of Employee Health Promotion Programs. A key to success is planning well and ensuring that you can evaluate the results so that you can sustain momentum.

Talk to other wellness practitioners to learn what works well for them. Listen to your co-workers to determine their needs and interests. And do not forget to promote, promote, promote.