Worksite Wellness Works for Workers and Employers
Managing to balance a full time work schedule with a healthy lifestyle can be a real challenge. We spend a lot of time at the office — 2,000 hours a year if you work full time. A worksite wellness program can help make the balancing act just a little easier.
In recent years, worksite wellness programs have become more common as part of the growing national interest in disease prevention and health promotion.
As the name suggests, these types of programs strive to make the workplace healthier. An ideal, healthy worksite provides opportunities for employees to be physically active, support healthy eating and encourage employees to live healthy lifestyles. For many companies this approach has become an integral part of their corporate health care policies.
Worksite wellness policies and programs generally combine educational classes and organizational and environmental activities designed to support behavior that is conducive to the health of employees.
Such programs can range from single intervention (such as blood pressure screening) to comprehensive health and fitness programs and education and support around smoking cessation, stress management and nutritional consulting. Many programs use a health risk assessment that can help the employee identify his or her own health risks, and assist them in developing a program to reduce their risk and improve overall health.
Employees are not the only ones who gain from such programs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notes that employers with wellness programs can significantly reduce health care costs and short-term sick leave, as well as increase employee productivity. In addition, wellness programs are an added benefit that can encourage employees to stay, reducing turnover costs in a company or business.
Several Rutland County companies recently received recognition from the state for their wellness programs. The award recipients were: the Towns of Mendon and Killington; Rutland Housing Authority; Heritage Family Credit Union, Rutland Mental Health Services Community Care Network, CVPS and Rutland Regional Medical Center.
While these businesses range in size and number of employees, each had a program in place committed to improving the health and wellbeing of their employees.
"Our Worksite Well Being program supports our employees to assist them in making healthy lifestyle choices that can have an enormous impact on their personal wellness," said Tom Pour, CFO of Rutland Mental Health Services, one of the 2009 Worksite Wellness award recipients. "When our employees are happy and healthy, we see that extend to the overall well-being of the company as a whole."
If you are an employer interested in starting a wellness program, there are many free resources available. Some initial research on the Web or discussions with other businesses that have wellness programs in place is a great way to get started exploring the development of such a program.
If you are an employee of a site that has a wellness program, sign up and participate. This may be a way to keep your own health care costs lower, as well as keep you on the path to wellness.
(Jenny Nixon Carter is the executive director of the Rutland Area Physical Activity Coalition. For more information on RAPAC go to: www.rapac.info.)
