Creating a Corporate Culture of Wellness- How to Develop a Wellness Program

Getting buy in for a wellness program is crucial. This needs to occur from the top down as well as from the bottom up. Leaders in the organization must be role models for the new behaviors that are promoted. This means they need to “walk the talk.” Buy in is achieved from the bottom up by surveying employees to capture their opinions about the health of the workplace, identify behaviors they would be motivated to change, determine what incentives are meaningful to them and outline the supports they believe would be most helpful.

These actions provide a base for creating a culture of wellness. The Wellness Council of West Virginia has developed a Health Culture Audit which is available at http://www.wcwv.org. Their audit instrument is a good descriptor of the areas included in a culture of wellness. This tool is also a potential resource for assessing the current level of wellness in your organization. It may also be used annually to assess the progress made toward developing a culture of wellness.

Culture change requires involvement throughout all levels of the organization. This is typically accomplished by developing a wellness committee. Participation should be voluntary. However, it is also important to identify “wellness champions” within the organization and invite these employees to volunteer for the wellness committee. Wellness champions are employees who “walk the talk.” They are role models for others due to their enthusiasm for an active, healthy lifestyle. Employees who have lost significant amounts of weight or given up a sedentary lifestyle often have a commitment to assist others. The wellness committee will also have ideas for making participation in your program fun by including team challenges and contests. Committee members may also contribute ideas for incentives to include at various levels of the wellness program.

Incentives are important. When employees are expected to change behavior, they are tuned into WIIFM (what’s in it for me). Even though we would like for everyone to view their healthcare benefit as a privilege and not as an entitlement, this is typically not the case. Therefore, employees may not be committed to saving money for their employer. They also may not be motivated to change behavior to avoid future medical conditions. Denial is a common human trait and long held habits are difficult to change, but change is more likely to occur in a supportive environment. Employers can provide a supportive environment that encourages positive lifestyle changes.

Some incentives that produce results include the following:
• Time off work—even if it is just getting to leave early one day.
• Monetary reward—this works well for survey, HRA or bio-metric screening completion.
• Athletic equipment—a gift certificate to put toward walking shoes, pedometer, etc.
• Personal training session gift certificate
• Massage gift certificate
• Healthcare discount for those who complete various levels of the wellness programs.

It is important to be clear about incentives that are being offered. Focus on the behaviors do you want to reward. If cost is an issue, consider entering participants in a lottery for an incentive. The following levels should have incentives attached to them:
• Health Risk Assessment
• Bio-metric screening
• Weight loss contest
• Program completion
• Team challenges
• Unused sick days

Low cost wellness activities can also reinforce a culture of wellness. These include healthy potlucks or healthy recipe contests, walking programs, biggest loser contests and newsletters/wellness tips. Once you start focusing on creating a culture of wellness, you will be surprised at the ideas that are generated by your wellness committee.

Employees want to feel valued and wellness programs send a clear message in that regard. An investment in wellness pays dividends in all aspects of your business!


Our guest blogger this week is Patsy Deerhake, M.ED, Wellness Educator/Coach. She owns Wellness Within Reach. You can reach her at patsy@wwrcoach.com or 614-880-2639.

Creating a Corporate Culture of Wellness - Why We Need Corporate Wellness Programs

It is critical that our nation as a whole move from a focus on illness to a focus on wellness. This is not just the responsibility of employers. A change needs to take place on many levels. Individuals must be held accountable for behaviors that contribute to medical conditions. Families need to work together to address lifestyle issues. Communities should explore ways to reinforce healthy choices. Our entire country will benefit from making a culture shift.

Why a change is necessary:
• More than half of all Americans live with at least one chronic medical condition, accounting for 75% of all health care spending each year.
• Five chronic diseases--heart disease, cancer, stroke, COPD and diabetes--are responsible for 2/3 of all deaths in the U.S.
• We spend more than $2 trillion on health care each year but only 4 cents of every dollar is invested in prevention and public health.

Unfortunately, given our system of health insurance, most of us receive our medical benefits from our employers. It makes sense, then, that employers must take the lead in a change effort. The majority of employers, large and small, have implemented some level of wellness initiative in the past few years. Depending upon how these programs are developed and introduced in the workplace, they may be welcomed as a helpful tool for improvement or resisted as a type of “big brother” invasion of privacy.

The purpose for creating a culture of wellness is to improve the chances of wellness initiatives being successful with careful planning and expectations. One of the biggest complaints I’m currently hearing from employers is that they are not getting employee participation. Many organizations view this as a motivation issue. Other businesses operate from the belief that they don’t have the budget for a “state of the art” wellness program and therefore can only expect limited results. Creating a culture of wellness addresses these issues.

Here are some key areas that must be addressed by a successful wellness program:
• Smoking/tobacco cessation & prevention
• Regular physical activity
• Stress management/reduction
• Early detection/screening
• Nutrition education & promotion
• Weight management
• Work environment changes that encourage healthy behaviors

Most of us are familiar with these areas. My contention is that not enough attention has been paid to the last key area and this area needs to be addressed prior to outlining the features of a workplace wellness program.

It is more important that wellness programs be well-planned than well-funded. A study by the Trust for America’s Health found that by investing $10 a person per year in programs that increase physical activity, improve nutrition and prevent smoking and other tobacco use, we could save more than $16 billion annually within five years. Anyone who deals with employer sponsored benefits knows that this is a very small investment.

Successful wellness initiatives address three critical areas. The initiatives must follow a long-term plan, reinforce healthy behaviors and be phased in gradually. The long-term plan starts with a vision. How do you envision your healthy workforce? What is your long-range goal? Do you want a percentage of employees within a healthy weight range? Would you like to have a tobacco-free workforce? Define your key long-term goals and break them down into steps. Each step is an objective.

Since it takes 3-5 years to realize a return on your investment with wellness measures, it is helpful to develop a five year plan. Develop objectives for the first year that you can build upon in consecutive years. All behavior change occurs via small steps forward. It is important to focus on education and communication at each step. Avoid trying to accomplish too much, too quickly. People need time to adapt to changing expectations.

Next week: Creating a Corporate Culture of Wellness- How to Develop a Wellness Program

Our guest blogger this week is Patsy Deerhake, M.ED, Wellness Educator/Coach. She owns Wellness Within Reach. You can reach her at patsy@wwrcoach.com or 614-880-2639.

Laughing Just for the Health of It

Stressed? Need a lift? Just open wide and say HA! No prescription necessary. Just laugh. We’ve all heard that laughter is the best medicine, and that’s no joke! Laughter boosts the immune system, reduces the effects of stress, lowers blood pressure, lifts spirits, eases anxiety, improves circulation and even helps reduce pain. A hearty laugh exercises the diaphragm and abdominal muscles. Laughter Yoga professionals like to call it “jogging” for your insides. It’s energizing. It even burns calories. Preliminary studies have shown that even anticipating laughter helps raise our endorphin levels, promotes relaxation and reduces stress levels.

When we breathe, especially when under stress, we typically replace only about a third of the air in our lungs. At times, we even unwittingly hold our breath. Practicing laughter helps expand lung capacity to increase the intake of vital oxygen. This renewed air supply feeds the brain, bloodstream and every cell in the body. It helps with detoxification. It trains us to be more conscious of our breathing.

Laughter is an example of the mind-body connection. Laughter sends our body messages to relax, be happy and be present. It also improves our skills for coping with life’s challenges by reminding us not to take our minor problems and ourselves so seriously. Laughter, a natural expression of joy, creates positive energy that flows out into the world having a favorable effect on others.

All we need is to give ourselves permission to let go and laugh. Laughter helps us connect with our playful side, our little inner five year old.

In truth, we can laugh as an exercise just for the health of it. Once we open our “laughter channel”, laughing will become easier and we will start to laugh more often.

Tips to find more laughter in your life:

• Rent funny movies, read comics and funny books.
• Spend time with fun friends or family members
• Go to a comedy club
• Dial a smile. Call the Laugh Line, a free conference call where you can laugh 12 times a day with a Laughter Yoga Leader and people from all over the US.
Visit http://www.laughteryogaonthephone.com/ for details.
• Join a laughter group http://www.laughteryoga.org/
• Laugh alone. Laugh in your car on your way to work. You can reduce your stress in just a matter of a minute or two. Once you start you may not want to stop.

Performing laughter exercises prior to public speaking, taking an exam, interviewing for a job or any stressful situation can help reduce tension and build confidence. Like any exercise, the more we practice, the easier it gets.
Wow! Isn’t it wonderful that something so fun and easy is healthy too?



Our guest blogger this week is Meg Scott. Meg is a Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher. Her 2-day Laughter Yoga Leader training workshop is designed for individuals interested in leading Laughter Clubs or incorporating the techniques in existing exercise or group programs. You can reach her at megscott35@gmail.com or call 614-216-9371. Her work can be seen at her website, http://www.laughteryogawithmegscott.com/ .