The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that many office buildings – new and renovated - in the United States may actually be making their occupants sick.
To attract and retain top talent and to increase workplace productivity firms must invest in the health and Wellness Program. Happy and healthy employees are the biggest asset.
Benefits of Health and Wellness programs are still seen by the majority of European employers as primarily efficiency-related. In Ireland, employees feel that health and wellness programs should be an almost mandatory part of the employer offerings.
To make people understand and achieve their well-being goals, one factor is harnessing the power of personalized secure data. The collection and interpretation of personal data has been a hot topic that has stirred serious debate recently.
The top 20 well-being professionals from various industries were honored at the Well-being 100® Awards Ceremony. Individuals are nominated from 27 categories and various cities across the US and abroad and are honored for their innovative approach.
A collaborative or open work environment may stoke creativity, improve communication and allow for better access to peers. We recognize that open workspaces may actually inhibit productivity because of the lack of privacy and quiet space.
By prevention and healthy behaviors, wellness programs can provide a return on investment through lower direct healthcare costs. To cope with rising healthcare costs, employers are increasingly offering wellness interventions that target health risk factors.
In the name of consumerism advocates are promoting the need for consumers to be better shoppers and have more skin in the game. Even the Feds have concluded regarding Health Literacy Only 12 percent of U.S. adults have proficient health literacy.
ergonomists and safety professionals have been successful in reducing the frequency of workplace injuries across several industries. Employee observed marked success, safety and human resources professionals are struggling with large workers' compensation claims.
Insulin is very important because it is needed to escort sugar into our cells via the insulin receptors on each of our cells. Too much insulin can also harm the kidneys and the vascular system, insulin is a catalyst which can increase the risk for cancers.
A ready-made meal is a prepackaged frozen or fresh meal that requires none or very little preparation besides heating up. The latest and healthiest, are packaged so the container functions as a steamer, allowing rapid cooking of essentially raw ingredients.
For an employer, until employees make meaningful changes in their behavior, there won't be improvements in health or productivity. Establishing and sustaining behavior change is tough for even the best-trained coaches and psychologists to bring about.
Poor medication adherence not only affects patients but the entire healthcare system, and they experience worse outcomes. Initiatives improve medication adherence have demonstrated substantial cost savings, through reduced hospitalization.
The American Psychological Association recently estimated that 43 percent of U.S. adults suffer adverse health effects from stress. A growing body of research shows that stress and its associated unhealthy behaviors have a considerable effect on chronic diseases.
After the introduction of health promotion, people at risk of health due to nutrition, exercise, weight, and stress decreased. The first signs of a culture shift started appearing - from the employee who committed himself to a weight-loss program.
Mental illness accounts for more than 15% of the burden of disease in Canada, allocated about 5.5 percent of public health cost. Mental illness is the second leading cause of disability, each day 500,000 Canadians are absent from work for mental health issues.
Pharmaceutical costs, especially those for the brand name, maintenance drugs, have been a primary driver of health costs. Costs for these drugs vary widely around the world and are on average 44% higher in the United States than elsewhere.
The lifeblood of the business depends on the drive, the energy, and the action the CEO puts in the direction and growth. CEOs are the driving force behind our country's economy and commerce, the doers, the movers and shakers that make it all happen.
You decided to get healthy by changing eating habits, fitness routine, and start getting recommended health physicals. There is a much more effective way to begin a health and wellness makeover. Many Corporate Wellness Programs now offer health coaches.
The American lifestyle and the natural progression of aging consistently show that the health for Americans is declining. As employers struggle with this reality, they search for measurable ways to reduce the trend.
Using creative tools to excite interest on many levels, wellness programs can serve organizations of all sizes and cultures. You can choose components as unique, innovative and fun as the people who make up your organization.
You remember, creating any New Year's resolution and have you ever tried accomplishing that resolution or goal that you set. Think in terms of what you want or need more of and less of beginning with an appreciation of the difference between the two.
A common characteristic of a successful employee health management program is the effective measurement of employee health risk. The purpose of this discussion is to review how a system of risk measurement can fuel a company's EHM program.
Scientific evidence suggests that eating a little better may not be good enough to prevent chronic disease and premature ageing. Centers for Disease Control estimated that over 53 percent of adults have a chronic illness, compared to only 10 percent 60 years ago.
If you stop smoking today, you will lower your risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer, and it will likely add years. If you lose weight, you will lower your risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders, and some cancers.
Corporate wellness programs focus on reducing employer healthcare costs by encouraging employees to make healthy lifestyle choices. Incentives, in-house facilities, and education are the key components of corporate wellness programs.
When you walk into the lobby of any company, you immediately get a vibe, there's a lot of energy, but it feels frantic. This might be a sign of boredom and disengagement or a sense of calm and purpose.
The first thoughts that enter the mind of aspirant retiree involve defined contribution accounts, pensions, and investments. Although the population of our country and the number of inhabitants on our planet continues to swell, they aren't getting any younger.
Watch Colin Sparks and Joelle Sawaya review Focal Upright Furniture's standing desk and the Level by FluidStance. The Focal Upright standing desk offers great functionality, with everything in easy reach while making it easy to work while active.
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than morphine, is responsible for a recent uptick in drug overdoses. It is crucial that we examine this problem and take steps to eliminate these deaths and get to the root causes of the opioid crisis.
The existing healthcare system is based on the treatment of symptoms, individuals and doctors are doing little to prevent disease. This has led to a declining state of health, as well as outrageously high health costs, which are rising every year.
Employer Healthcare & Benefits Congress, Michael Susi, Global Wellness Manager for LinkedIn took the time to speak with CWM. She discussed about the importance of learning these individuals needs of all people and creating a wellness program.
Join Jenny Dodson, as she helps you get into the productivity zone and inform you how becoming a Certified Corporate Wellness Specialist can get you there!
By making genetic tests more available and affordable, employers and insurers can capitalize and improve employee wellbeing. Genomics can be added to employee benefits and incorporated into insurance products to further champion this noble cause.
Consumers are getting more health-conscious and are willing to be more involved in decision making and managing their healthcare. Over the past few decades, the market for DTCs has increased significantly and is expected to grow even more in the coming years.
About 40% of persons diagnosed with cancer each year are working-age adults. The survival rate for cancer continues to improve. Today there are more employees with cancer and cancer survivors in the workplace than ever before.
Cancer does not discriminate; all races, geographic locations, and socioeconomic classes are at risk whether strong or weak. New studies show that certain cancers can be prevented through healthier lifestyle choices, including regular exercise and a good nutritious diet.
Parabens are chemicals that have been shown to have estrogen-like properties and estrogen is involved in breast cancer. Parabens can be found in a wide variety of consumer products such as deodorants, antiperspirants, shampoos, and conditioner.
Nearly 36,000 Americans will be diagnosed with oral cancer and another 7,600 will die from the disease this year alone. Oral cancer is one of the most deadly and disfiguring forms of cancer, yet it is also one of the most preventable.
GfK, a leading independent research firm, surveyed benefit decision makers about what they expect from their health programs. These employers offered disease-management programs for asthma, diabetes, coronary artery disease, or other chronic conditions.
Many employers have intentions when it comes to initiating a corporate wellness program, struggle to make their efforts successful. A solid wellness provider will take these setbacks into account and create effective, inclusive and successful programs.
There have been some significant medical breakthroughs in multiple chronic disease states, still cancer lags behind. There have been little wins here and there against specific cancers like chronic myelogenous leukemia which was earlier life-threatening.
Providing screening and preventive care services is a great way to improve the health and productivity of your workforce. Taking advantage of company-provided programs can also be a life saver.
In this busy and high-performance work environment, employees expect employers to provide a range of high quality wellness options. No matter what business you own, there is no doubt that a well-designed program simply save more money.
If employers are going to make multiple yearly investments, senior leaders can not afford to waste time or dollar on programs. Employers also need to know that their investment in wellness programs is being used to efficiently and effectively.
Since its introduction in 2009, HUB International's wellness program has offered employees support for all identified health risks. The wellness program includes on and off-site wellness screenings, telephonic health coaching.
75 percent of healthcare costs are attributable too often preventable and highly manageable chronic diseases and cancers. Forward-thinking organizations across the U.S. are taking action to control these costs and they're focusing on prevention.
How many of you have sat through a long certification course and come back inspired with new ideas and concepts to implement? You really can't accomplish much in such a short amount of time, so no point sitting through basic one hour presentation.
Most patients only understand and retain about half of what a provider tells them, and do not feel comfortable to clarify. Almost 90 million people in the U.S. lack the basic skills or proficiency necessary to understand and use health information as reported.
You believe what happens to you in life is largely determined by fate, luck or other external conditions. If you think you're in charge of your own destiny - had I prepared better I might have gotten the promotion - you're an internal.
Political correctness may just be The Emperor's New Clothes of our time, as someone has diabetes we say they have diabetes. If the afflicted individual is fat, which is the cause of disease and death in the U.S.; it's not okay to say that they're fat.
Corporate fitness programs improve health-related fitness components of workers and solve musculoskeletal disturbances. All corporate fitness and wellness studies and their relationship on key performance indicators, have been done at sea level.
Corporate wellness programs are very popular but hampered by low engagement rates, less desirable efficiency, lack of integration. Incorporating wellness services in a workplace health center offers enormous potential to drive much greater ROI for employers.
Wellness programs have focused on targeted health areas such as smoking cessation, weight management, and physical activity. The percentage of overweight Americans has been steadily increasing for the past decade to near 75 percent.
I exercised myself right into back surgery and chronic pain, food, exercise, spending on alcohol and drugs have been rotating. This article is not going to offer you a bundle of statistics, the return on your investment for wellness programs is well documented.
Health Risk Assessment (HRA) has been deemed as one of the foundational measurement tools of a wellness program. There are a variety of alternative measurement tools and data storage mechanisms that employers can utilize to measure the success of wellness programs.
The U.S. Department of Labor summarized the goal of the recent initiatives- Implementing and expanding employer programs. Changes to wellness programs proposed rules to encourage designed, consumer-protective wellness programs in group coverage.
Many of us may fall into the trap of not eating at all for long stretches of the day, breaking for high sugar, high fat snacks. Eating habits like this will make the effects of a hectic lifestyle worse by decreasing energy, mental engagement, weight gain.
Many people make financial New Year's resolutions and bankruptcy is an option that they have pondered. Till 2005 bankruptcy was simple, but Bush signed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 into law.
A typical American life work too hard, treat time like an enemy, amass too much stuff, and watch TV while eating bad food. We're a society of obesity and diabetes, heart attacks and strokes, sleep deprivation and exhaustion, road rage and depression.
In a rapidly changing economy, corporations may have to reduce the size of the full-time workforce and thus reduced wellness cost. Corporate downsizing and the widespread effects of this organizational change are commonplace today.
We are good at consoling our friends and family when they are in a crisis, but we never bother to help ourselves to be healthy. Let's give ourselves a chance to eat well with foods that nourish our bodies, not fad diets that brings depression and stress.
Improve in employee wellness decreases healthcare costs and research directly relates employee benefits with overall satisfaction. Now employees can combine employee wellness and benefits into one integrated package.
More companies have implemented wellness programs to address the continued rise in healthcare costs and the need for healthier employees. They are constantly trying to address the issue of creating a Culture of wellness.
Building a wellness program that gets used by your population while generating measurable results for your organization. Achieving this requires sustained participation over a long enough period of time to lead to genuine behavior change.
Aging is an inevitable disease that plagues us all st some point, and for executives age become their biggest competitor and threat. It is crucial that you empower your employees and executives with knowledge and preventive healthcare measures.
A comprehensive workplace wellness program can positively impact the wealth of businesses and 60% have used this concept. Almost 95% of the existing wellness programs are not meeting their potential.
When you see kids playing, you wish to have the same level of energy and freedom as they are having at the moment of life. Taking proper nutrition is the key to energy, as most of our food is processed, irradiated, genetically modified, or artificial.
New Year's resolutions may often fail, but the momentum, excitement, behind them demonstrate an interest in health transformation. It requires consistent engagement, motivation, and support is a challenge for those people.
The Health Cares Exchange Initiative creates supportive networks of caregivers in diverse geographic areas and educates them. HCEI created its own moderator's guide and hosted the first-ever nationwide focus groups with paid and free care providers.
1 in every 15 people in the workforce is employed in the trucking industry, including over 7 million truck drivers on our roads. Unhealthy lifestyle and lack of good nutritional while traveling, truck drivers are one of the unhealthiest populations.
Companies in the U.S. have been instituting wellness programs following concepts that Asian companies are using successfully. Many programs take 18 months or more to appreciate or realize returns on the initial investments by the company.
Bullying and harassment in the workplace deliver a negative impact on employee well-being, corporate morale, and productivity. Bullying plays a key role in threatening workplace wellness, emotional health, and perceived safety.
Imagine yourself with the team in a room full of drums and each member is assigned a particular drum to play, music, and laugh. The idea of drumming in the workplace sounds like fun to some people, yet also they may see it as a form of entertainment.
Researchers estimate that at any one time 15% or more of an employers' workforce is struggling with personal finance wellness. The current economic downturn is only matched by the financial crisis of the late 1970s and early 1980s.
More organizations are now recognizing that healthier employees translate into happier and more productive employees. A good culture in an organization affects the mood, productivity, turnover rate and overall bottom line of the employees.
In 2011, 77 million Baby Boomers are turning 65. Let's face it, we are getting older, but wiser, not so much. Last week we went to dinner with friends who 'don't stay up late' so they couldn't go to the night club.
It is estimated that a full-time desk based employee spends nearly 80,000 hours during their entire working life. With the advancement in technology, the physicality of office work is now highly sedentary and sitting more than 4 hours is getting bad health.
The carrots and sticks that were decided last year to incentivize for the new year are now becoming a reality for the workforce. The list might include stop smoking, losing weight, lowering cholesterol, controlling blood pressure.
The Corporate Health and Wellness Association recently concluded its Annual event that took place October 26th-28th in Chicago, IL. It was a privilege to facilitate the conference titled- Strategies for success for Multinational Corporate Wellness Programs.
Corporate wellness programs focus on helping employees improve their health by creating clinical improvement initiatives. Like blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol, glucose, smoking when achieved can help prevent cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses.
Corporations are burdened by the responsibility of healthcare find themselves in the role of virtual parent. It's a thankless task of trying to get employees to do what's best for their own health, eat well, exercise, and get regular checkups.
Reason for government toughest fight for workplace wellness is ineffective, inefficient, poorly run, out of control spending. If that's the case then it must be the case that the workplace itself is toxuc, so a healthy government workplace doesn't seem likely.
Corporations are implementing Health & Wellness programs seeing the immense potential in healthier, productive employees. 75 percent of a company's healthcare and productivity costs derived from employee lifestyle choices.
Recent industry surveys confirm that employee wellness plan implementation is on the rise, especially result-based incentives. One thing is certain- one size does not fit all, and that disruption of the status quo does not have to mean mass chaos.
The healthcare costs are totally out of control and are taking up more and more of the company's and nation's budget each year. The financial cost for many organizations related to healthcare is in the hundreds of millions to billions dollars each year.
Our reders have given insight and ideas on how to improve our magazine and it's contents and we are working towards that. The final outcome for our magazine in 2012 is a publication designed to provide readers with extended contents.
The workplace and personal life is relatable and we are caught up in the present and we have a hard time looking for the future. We need to take a step back and consider what the consequences are of our quick fixes.
We are inviting some well-known figures to attend the CHWA's 4th annual Corporate Wellness Conference, Oct 24-26th. We are excited to confirm Phylis Borzi, Assistant Secretary for Employee benefits for the U.S. Department of Labor.
You have read about CDHP and watching companies of all sizes and industries adopt them, but not getting ways to implement them. Imagine a solution eliminating the hassle of inappropriate use of debit cards, payment time, transparency at POS.
The science of Behavioral Health Prevention has advanced faster than our ability to systematically fund, absorb, and utilize. To change the trajectory of any behavior we can't only work on the individual but we must also work to change the environment.
Initiatives assisting employees to adopt and maintain healthier lifestyles can certainly and significantly encourage a workforce. The economic pressures forcing increased scrutiny in business expenditure wellness programs present proven merit.
Programs offered help employees adopt healthy lifestyle habits, make informed medical decisions so that they may respond proactively. Vital Lives encourages employees to take an active role in their health and health care.
There are curious one subscribing to more traditional wellness options that require employer-direct engagement at work. Many companies are using the latest technology, mobile, gaming, and social trends to help employees engage one another independently.
Population health management is not a new topic but the notion of wellness and its application has become widespread recently. As the companies go down the path of instituting wellness programs, many will eventually find participation.
Budget-constrained corporate benefits departments are under increasing pressure from senior to justify the value of health programs. Innovations in program evaluation, are helping employers quantify the value of healthcare program more quickly.
To compete against rapidly rising healthcare costs, research continues to prove that getting employees moving and eating better. It can reduce absenteeism, increase executive function, and reduce key risk factors for cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Educating employees about healthy lifestyles and exploring the mind-body connection allows the individual to build a firm foundation. Healing art perfectly align with features already in place like meditation and yoga in good corporate wellness plans.
Many businesses feel like they have no control over what is happening with health care reform as the costs continue to increase. The problem with the new health care reform law is that it does nothing to reduce the actual cost that is spent in the U.S. on health care.
be open to the idea that, as opposed to mere poor habits, food obsession is at work in a significant portion of cases. Food abstinence is similar to the notion of abstinence applied in programs for alcohol and drugs.
