I Can Benefit

o  Commit to workplace physical activity in policy statements and commit funding to physical activity initiatives.

o  Clearly communicating the advantages of being physically active during the workday reinforces the corporation’s commitment to helping all staff be active.

Use meetings, bulletin boards, newsletters and e-mail to reach as many workers as possible at least once a year.

o  Make available flex time for exercise. Invite personnel who actively commute to work or exercise at lunchtime to make up any missed time later in the day.

o  Allow staff to work part time, so that they can take part in physical activity.

o  Include a physical activity account in your benefit plan to pay for or subsidize fitness memberships, assessments, classes, counselling or instruction.

o  Give interest-free loans for employees to purchase bikes or good walking footwear/runners.

o  Conduct periodic surveys of staff exercise preferences, and offer a selection of choices to suit those interests and needs.

o  Hire certified people  to lead stretch breaks or physical activity programs or classes. for help in finding accredited fitness leaders, visit Alberta’s Provincial Fitness Unit.

o  Recognize workforce who take part in physical activity. Survey workforce first to determine how they prefer to be recognized, e.g., through corporation newsletters, appreciation lunches, rewards and/or thank you notes.

o  Give child care and other family-friendly amenities during physical activities that occur after work.

o  Avoid scheduling meetings over lunch.

o  Be sure to encourage active breaks instead of coffee breaks.

o  Have active fundraisers rather than bingos. for  instance, employees might climb the Calgary Tower stairs or take turns riding a stationary bicycle for 24 hours.

o  Make birthday celebrations active times. Instead of a lunch, invite the birthday person to pick an activity. Options could include a session with a yoga instructor or an evening ski trip.

o  Promote a casual dress day. One study found that staff who dress casually were more physically active.

o  Be certain that your building’s stairwells are clean, attractive and safe, and post signs stimulating workforce to use the stairs.

o  Launch a wellness newsletter or intranet.

o  Promote the Activity Tracker and encourage staff members to track their physical activity every week.

o  be creative, and make the most of the workspace you have. for example, mark off a safe walking path inside or around the building.

You could also set up a training circuit, highlighting features of the worksite such as stairs.

o  Give exercise opportunities at different times to accommodate night-, shift-, and part-time staff members.

o  For workers in remote or satellite offices, offer equal access to key wellness programs via the intranet. Adapt challenges to suit their environment and take benefit of local facilities and resources.

o  Make physical activity available to workers with special needs. Adapt information and activities for any staff who are visually impaired or physically disabled in addition to for individuals  who speak English as a second language.

o  Educate personnel about exercise using information from reputable sources like the Alberta Center for Active Living.

o  Make available facilities that invite onsite exercise. Possibilities include bicycle racks, an exercise room, change rooms with lockers and showers, and safe and attractive grounds for walking.

o  Hold walking meetings.

o  Be sure to encourage employees to walk to coworkers’ offices in lieu of e-mailing or phoning.

o  Be certain to set up a stretching room. This low-cost initiative requires only a room, stretching mats, stability balls and medicine balls. Put up posters that show stretches and exercises.

o  Provide incentives such as shoe bags, ball caps, T-shirts or water bottles to reward staff participation.

o  Loan out pedometers for three months, so that employees can figure out how many steps they normally take and how much activity they need to add to get basic health benefits.

o  Make space for staff to plant and maintain a flowerbed or garden at the workplace. Use any resulting produce for meetings and potluck lunches or donate it to charity.

o  Plan a worksite health fair.

o  Hire a licensed fitness expert to design and manage an on-site fitness facility.

o  Supply staff with active wear that shows off the company logo.

o  Organize a launch event to create excitement about upcoming activities and to create a social climate that establishes being active as the norm.

o  Organize and promote monthly or bi-monthly corporation events that are fun and active, e.g., picnics with physical games, staff tournaments and dragon boat racing.

Make certain to encourage families to join in by including all-ages events like relay races, soccer matches, bocce ball and baseball games.

o  Begin a swim club at a local pool. Invite groups of staff members to swim the distance of a nearby lake. Convert kilometres to lengths and reward staff members who complete the swim.

Be sure to set up a challenge between workers and managers to see who covers the greatest distance.

o  Post a sign-up board where staff can enroll in a group or find a buddy to take part in activities of interest.

o  Arrange a corporation badminton tournament that lasts a few months, with each employee playing once a week. Post the results as the tournament progresses.

o  Organize an office Olympics, World Cup, Wimbledon or Masters Games. Invite teams to compete in several activities over a month. Reward everyone who participates.

o  Create a point system in which one minute of activity equals one point. Be sure to set a target, and post a chart where all personnel can track their points. Reward the first group to reach that target.

o  Co-ordinate a stair climb challenge. Post a chart at the top of the stairwell, and encourage staff members to track the number of flights of stairs they climb each workday.

Make sure to set up teams, and award a prize to the first team to climb the equivalent of Mount Everest.

o  Post and promote a sign-up board for lunchtime walking groups.

o  Organize a walk “across the United States ” Pick a route, find out how many steps it’d take to walk that distance and challenge personnel to do it.

Provide or loan pedometers to workers, and ask them to record the number of steps they take. Or, if you cannot afford pedometers, track the minutes walked. Make sure to set up a challenge between workers and managers to see who can walk across the U.S.  first.

o  Co-ordinate a walk to work club. Acknowledge personnel who either walk to work or walk to public transit.

o  Have a volunteer group leader guide weekly lunchtime power walks.

o  Coordinate a million-step challenge. Form groups, challenge each group to walk a combined sum of a million steps and reward the winner. Departments or sites could compete with each other and with management.

o  Challenge workers to walk 10,000 steps a day. Purchase pedometers for all participating workers or, if you can’t afford that, make pedometers available at a reduced rate.

Provide tips for increasing daily steps, and reward workers who succeed.

There’s no single right way to approach wellness programs but winning wellness programs share common success factors. These include commitment from management, staff member involvement, adequate resources, and a health policy that goes hand in hand with the company’s mission, vision and values.

Health Promotion Program -  A Range of Approaches

Although the goal is to eventually have a long-term, comprehensive wellness program, some corporations prefer to start with a single program at a basic level.

For  instance, the first steps could be as simple as offering lunch-hour sessions on first aid or healthy eating; or they may launch a pilot project to figure out how interested personnel are to ensure personnel needs are being met before taking on anything more ambitious.

This approach provides a chance to show the impact on personnel and the worksite so senior level management will be more willing to consider a bigger and more far-reaching strategy.

Other companies plan a selection of health promotion programs to meet the needs of the different kinds of individuals  that make up their workforce.  And some decide to create a sound company case, complete with a health strategy, before attempting any type of health promotion program.

Organizations want to ensure that a new health promotion program is fully integrated with their overall company vision and mission.

Wellness Program -  Success Factors

Regardless of whether your organization chooses to think large from the outset or to start with something smaller, always rememberthe following key success factors -

o  support and participation from management;

o  employee involvement in planning;

o  health promotion programs that meet staff member needs;

o  A realistic budget; and

o  continuous review.

In sports, a game plan is a series of steps that a team must follow to accomplish its goal of winning. Most winning teams plan to win. Organizations also need game plans, even if they don’t call them by that name.

Good planning will help to ensure that your wellness program happens the way you want it to, and that costs can be identified in advance and kept within budget. Good planning avoids small problems from becoming bigger.

Steps in Planning a Health Promotion Program

Obtain senior level management support. You may need to develop a organization case to convince managers that the health promotion program is a organization strategyâ.”that employee health and job satisfaction affects their productivity. Staff Members need to see evidence that senior level management believes in and is committed to employee health.

Establish a planning committee. Members can include representatives from worker groups in addition to from HR, safety and health, and communications.

Collect information.  To prove that your health promotion program is beneficial, establish a benchmark before the health promotion program begins. You could wish to look at employee satisfaction, absenteeism rates, stress levels, drug costs or WCB costs.

Assess what worksite facilities are available to support workforce to make healthy choices like showers and change areas or a secure place to store a bicycle. Assess employee needs through a recent survey or questionnaire, suggestion box or focus group. Communicate the results.

Develop the plan to reflect the information accumulated. Include health promotion program goals, activities and how you’re going to measure whether your goals were met.

Keep the plan flexible. You may have to change direction in response to staff member feedback or changes in the company’s structure.

Get executive management approval. Support for staff time and a budget are needed.

Put activities in place. Provide a selection of activities that create awareness, increase knowledge, create skills, and provide social interaction.

Activities could include walking clubs, participation in national campaigns like Company Wellness Week, SummerActive, WinterActive, corporate challenge, golf days, and newsletters that provide information about community resources.

Worksites can also make it easier for employees to make healthful options by providing flextime to allow employees to fit activity in when it’s convenient or by subsidizing health promotion programs in cooperation with community or private fitness facilities. A policy on catering for meetings can ensure that healthful foods are offered.

Evaluate the plan. Share your successes with others, learn from your mistakes and modify activities.

A wellness program does not have to be complicated or a enormous investment. Just do it. Get support from management, bring several committed individuals  together to generate some ideas and get began.

Exactly how does it feel to walk into your worksite? Do individuals  look happy? is the place well lit and cheerful? Do you feel welcome, wanted and energized? Or do you feel a gloom come over you, and count the hours until you can leave?

The influence of the worksite environment on the wellness of workers is profound. First there is the physical look, feel, smell, and sounds of the place. Then you are affected by the policies, like whether others are allowed to smoke around you.

After awhile, more subtle factors begin to affect you. Do your attempts to adopt a healthier lifestyle get recognized at work, or are they sabotaged? Are your managers inspiring you by being healthy role models? Do you get regular opportunities to learn healthier behavior?

In a supportive environment, workers feel that the business they work for provides them with encouragement, opportunity, and rewards for healthy lifestyles.

And the spirit that results is highly contagious. Employees who feel cared are naturally more loyal and productive.

The following ideas will help you transform your workplace environment into one that truly supports the wellness of your personnel and organization.

Health Promotion Program Ideas for Creating Supportive Environments

Health Promotion Friendly Facilities

When you enter a workplace, do you feel comfortable? Could you be happy working there? is there enough light and clean air? Are there pleasant work areas, places to eat decent food, take a walk before lunch? Close your eyes. Precisely how does it smell? Sound? Do the personnel have enough space?

There’s no doubt that our physical environment affects us, from basic safety matters to subtle factors that may cause  or reduce stress. Healthy environments often have these features -

o  Vending machines with healthful food options like low-fat milk, fruits, sugar-free and caffeine-free beverages and low-calorie snacks

o  Workout area, walking paths, playing fields, basketball hoop, or other exercise opportunities on-site or nearby

o  Cafeteria offers healthy foods including a salad bar with low-fat dressing

o  Natural light is used whenever possible; all lighting is appropriate and adequate

o  Heating and ventilation is adjustable, comfortable and healthful

o  No cigarette machines, ashtrays, or tobacco use areas onsite

o  Noise levels are safe and conducive to concentration

o  Be sure to work station furniture conforms to ergometric standards

o  Safety hazards have been eliminated

o  Lockers and showers are available for workers who workout before work or during breaks

o  Stairs are clean and well lit, convenient and pleasant to use

Familiarity could make it hard to evaluate a workplace. People  get used to stressful conditions and forget that conditions ever bothered them.

It might be useful to ask individuals  who are unfamiliar with your worksite to walk through with you. Specialist consultants can also help.

Proactive Wellness Policies

One clear way to influence behavior is through policies and procedures. If nurses are not allowed to work more than twelve hours in a row, there will be fewer medication errors.

If parents are allowed flextime to attend to their children’s needs, they will be less stressed. If staff can apply unused sick days to planned vacation time, they will save them up in lieu of calling in sick to use them all.

Supportive corporate policies could include -

o  Seatbelt use required in corporation cars

o  Drug and alcohol policies are appropriate to the industry

o  Emergency procedures are developed, known, and practiced

o  Flexible work schedules allow staff to exercise, attend children’s school conferences, etc.

o  Nontobacco use policy is enforced

o  Excessive overtime is discouraged

o  Membership at exercise facility is partially reimbursed

o  Shift workforce are scheduled to allow adequate rest

o  Medical care coverage rewards good health

o  Absenteeism policy rewards workers who don’t use sick days

o  Employee assistance program available to help staff with chemical dependencies, depression, family problems

o  Significant consequences are given for unsafe, unhealthy, prohibited behavior.  Your corporation may have a policy against alcohol use during work hours, but if everybody looks the other way when someone comes back from lunch smelling like beer, the culture is one that permits drinking at lunch-and one in which written policies can be safely ignored.

Prohibited behaviors must be confronted promptly. Otherwise your policies become mere lip service instead of springboards to health.

Consistent Recognition and Rewards for Success

Attention, praise, and rewards are given for wellness achievements.

You can show you value wellness by celebrating your health promotion programs and those who’ve made lifestyle improvements in company newsletters, on bulletin boards, and at annual banquets, meetings, and celebrations. Incentives are a direct way to show appreciation, too.

Health Promotion mentors are sought and applauded, too. Workers who support others’ efforts to improve their health are noticed and appreciated. Colleague modeling and mentoring courses can encourage those who enjoy assisting others to step forward into a new role.

Managers Model and Support Healthful Behavior

Nothing could say “We encourage you to exercise often” better than a manager going on a bike ride during the lunch hour–or your supervisor sitting next to you in a weight management class.

Wellness activities promote relaxed interaction between individuals  from different departments and at different levels in the chain of command. That promotes relaxed communication and a feeling of solidarity that is pure gold.

Managers can also provide support for staff members who are working on bettering their health. It does not take anything fancy-just a “good job” or “nice to see you at the health and fitness center” can put a glow on the cheeks of most of us.

Managers can also help by allowing employees the flexibility to attend wellness events.

Ongoing Health Promotion Programs

It is vital that you give employees the sense that the wellness program is a permanent and important part of the corporation, not a corporation fad. That can begin as soon as a new worker is hired.

New staff members are oriented to the wellness program as one of the staff member benefits. Information about the wellness program ought to be presented by an enthusiastic and knowledgeable individuals who invites the new staff member to participate.

The staff are familiar with the ongoing wellness programs.

The wellness programs and wellness staff are well known in the corporation. Opportunities to participate are abundant and it is easy to sign up.

A broad variety of awareness courses are offered. There are topics of interest for everybody.

These are fun and easy events that can be done within your corporation to motivate healthy behaviors during a contest or during other times.  The goal is to encourage worker participation. Some examples -

o  Create a sub-committee of enthusiastic staff who will help promote the fitness program by offering ideas, suggestions and encouragement to fellow employees.

o  Develop monthly mailbox flyers to promote a contest or provide fitness-related education/encouragement information.

o  Send a weekly voicemail on each participant’s telephone with stimulating wellness messages.

o  Provide regular cumulative health progress reports.

o  Give low-fat or heart-healthy lunch selections once a week in your cafeteria or have workers bring a healthy snack to share, with a recipe book compiled after the contest or specified time period (such as a National Nutrition Month in March).

o  Distribute employee gifts (pedometers or other novelty item related to some aspect of your contest theme) as registration begins.

o  Allow staff members “Fitness15-Minute Walk Breaks;” company time to walk, exercise, etc. When appropriate, you may use a space not currently used to set up a treadmill, elliptical bike, some free weights and meditation music.

o  Hold a T-shirt design contest.

o  Develop posters to map contest (or fitness) progress and to serve as reminder of your goals -

o  Use push pins or other identifiers for each individual to put up in the office showing how they have progressed â.” staff can get very creative with this and design pins that reflect their personalities.

o  Use a bar graph to compare progress.

o  Use a “thermometer” kind graphic and color in progress â.” consider a different, fitness-related graphic all together and color it in as you progress.

o  Provide aerobic dance or walking videos in your conference or break rooms.

o  Compile a list of organized events in the community that offer opportunities to get personnel exercising by participating as a team (below are just a few) -

o  Race for the Cure

o  March of Dimes Walk America event

o  Juvenile Diabetes Research

o  Foundation Walk to Cure

o  American Heart Association’s Heart Walk

o  American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life

o  American Lung Association’s Lung Run

o  Local marathons or special community walks or runs

o  Create or attend a health-and-fitness retreat or workshop.

o  Hold a soup-and-salad luncheon followed by a hula-hoop contest!

o  Use the mall as an alternate walking location during inclement weather.

o  Designate “Move it Mondays” â.” allow staff members to take an additional 10 minutes during lunch for exercise.

o  Designate “Tasty Tuesdays” â.” provide employees with low-calorie treats/snacks.

o  Designate “Walking Wednesdays”â.” allow workers to take an extra 10 minutes during lunch to walk, or “Wacky Wednesdays” that allow workers to explore new exercises.

o  Designate “Thirsty Thursdays” â.” make healthful smoothies or juice drinks for personnel.

o  Designate “Fresh Fruit Fridays” for staff â.” offer seasonal fruit treats.

o  Send weekly exercise tips to workforce via the most effective communications car in your worksite.

o  Partner with another corporation representative for local media events coordinated through your advertising and marketing or communication department.

o  Make certain to encourage departmental teams to challenge each other (examples - Patron Service, Marketing and Advertising, Medical Support).

o  Establish walking clubs with executive/supervisory leadership.

o  Seek out local aerobic opportunities or classes through churches, community groups, college, YMCA, etc.

o  Contact several local area health clubs and ask if they can or will offer group discounts for fitness plans, waive enrollment fees, or set up a 12â.”week program as opposed to signing an extended contract.

o  Hold a Frozen Yogurt Social â.” “Reap the Advantages of Fitness.”

o  Map out a walking track around the building including the number of laps required for one mile.

These are short informational “Health Tips” in an e-mail format on many different health-related topics. You can appoint someone within your company to find specific topics on the Internet from sites that are in the public domain or topics may be purchased from corporations.

Some qualified sources include -

o  Hope Health

o  Sound Ideas, Inc.

o  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

o  National Institutes of Health

These e-mails could be sent daily, weekly or monthly. Our experience indicates weekly is the best frequency.

When the majority of your staff members don’t have e-mail, consider providing the information to them through -

o  Bulletin boards

o  Check stuffers

o  Mailbox stuffers

o  Newsletters

SAMPLE #1 Company Wellness E-mail Messages

From - Wellness Program

To - Wellness Team

Subject -  Layering for Exercise

One way to help ensure enjoyment of a winter walk (or run) is to be certain you are dressed properly for the weather.  And the secret to that, for a winter workout, is to dress in layers.

Layer 1 — Prevent 100 percent cotton in the first layer, next to your skin. Cotton holds perspiration. Wear underwear made from manmade fabrics to wick perspiration away from skin.

Layer 2 — A zippered sweatshirt and sweatpants will keep you warm. Just open the zipper when you get too warm.

Layer 3 — When needed, over the sweatsuit, you are able to add a waterproof and windproof jacket. When it’s very cold, you may want to wear a jacket made with goose down.

Hands — Mittens will keep your hands warmer than gloves.

Feet — Wear socks made from wool or manmade fabrics that keep your feet dry and warm. Avoid 100 percent cotton socks. Do not wear sneakers or boots that fit too tightly …  This will restrict blood flow and your feet will end up feeling colder.

Head — About 40% of your body heat is lost through your head. Wear a hat and cover your ears.

Lips — Don’t forget lip balm with sunscreen … even in winter!

SAMPLE #2 Corporate Wellness E-mail Messages

From - Wellness Program

To - Wellness Team

Subject -  Energy Boosts

Need an energy improve? Here are some ideas for tapping into your own energy sources — and most require little effort.

o  Get an extra hour of sleep. No surprise here — it can make a big difference in your energy level the next day.

o  Eat less more often. Have small, balanced meals or snacks throughout your day for a steady supply of fuel and energy. Make note of which foods seem to boost your energy level.

o  Drink plenty of water. Dehydration contributes to fatigue, which you can offset by drinking water throughout the day.

o  Avoid alcohol and caffeine. Both could contribute  to dehydration and fatigue. They also tend to disrupt sleep patterns.

Wellness Seminars are learning sessions planned and organized by you to meet specific objectives. Decide on a topic and pick a speaker. Select a site for the “Lunch and Learn” session, ordinarily a lunchroom or break room.

Depending on your budget and objectives, employees can brown bag the lunch or you may provide the meal. Meetings may be mandatory or elective, your option.

Experience tells us the most success will be achieved if these Health Promotion Seminars are elective and if the company provides lunch.

Objectives for Wellness Workshops

Education on a specific health problem. You could want to choose one of your group’s top diagnoses. Examples are -

o  Diabetes â.” diabetes avoidance and care by a licensed diabetic educator

o  Heart disease â.” cardiovascular health (individual counseling sessions with a nutritionist)

o  High blood pressure

o  High cholesterol

o  Flu and pneumonia

o  Breast cancer â.” breast health or breast self-exam sessions may be taught by a trained instructor

Education on health insurance benefits -

o  Diabetes â.” what are the covered benefits, where to buy diabetic supplies, support groups for employees with diabetes.

o  Health Promotion Program Benefits

o  Well baby/child care.

Education on the importance of enrolling in your health plan or local health department’s health education programs or disease management programs. Example programs -

o  Diabetes

o  Respiratory

o  Low-Back Pain

o  Cardiovascular

o  Tobacco use

Community Resource Speakers for Wellness Seminars

o  Local medical plan office

o  Local heart association

o  Local cancer society

o  Pharmacies â.” many pharmacists are available to speak on pharmacy-related issues.

o  Pharmaceutical Companies â.” many companies have standard presentations created for employers that are provided free of charge to use at your own direction. Some examples are -

o  Know Your Numbers (high cholesterol) â.” Pfizer

o  Respiratory Health Promotion (flu and pneumonia) â.” Pfizer

o  Men’s and Women’s Health â.” Pfizer

o  Local gyms/fitness trainers/YMCA â.” can discuss walking safety, benefits of walking, swimming and aerobics.

o  Yoga and/or Pilates instructors

o  Running, cycling club representatives

o  Local hospital nutritionists

o  Stamp Out Smoking â.” Tobacco Coalition representatives

Topics for Wellness Workshops

o  Biking â.” benefits and opportunities for cycling

o  Nutrition and health (Heart Healthy lunch for all attendees)

o  Cardiovascular health

o  Women’s health issues

o  Just how to recognize the signs and signs of heart attack and stroke

o  National Staff Member Fitness Day within the office establishing â.” Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness representatives can promote event

o  Exercise tolerance and healthy heart issues

o  Starting a fitness plan â.” include the importance of seeing the doctor prior to the starting of any new exercise program

o  Self-defense

o  Domestic abuse

o  Safety in general

o  Exercise safety

o  Walking/running benefits and safety tips Tobacco dangers and avoidance

Conducting an Employee Fitness Challenge at your workplace is a fun and arousing way to elevate awareness among workforce about the importance of beginning and sustaining an exercise program.

It is a concentrated effort in which to engage them in exercise for a specific time that, hopefully, will help them start a healthful habit that will last a lifetime.

However, it’s imperative that you practice wellness year-round. This section provides a robust list of Health Promotion Program ideas that have been implemented within health promotion programs.

All ideas presented in this section have been successful for one or both of the entities. Each activity/idea may be used as a stand-alone event, even when you don’t conduct a fitness contest, or may be held joined with your Worker Fitness Contest.

You may want to select some of the ideas you think will work for your staff members or think of others and start your initiative to create a better state of health.

Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that extensive wellness programs, or Wellness Programs, can lower healthcare and insurance costs, lower rates of absenteeism, and improve performance and productivity.

Other benefits demonstrated in studies include improved ability to attract and retain key personnel, greater worker allegiance, and improved public image of the business.

Health Care and Insurance Costs

A number of studies provide evidence of lower medical and insurance costs for participants in wellness programs, specifically wellness programs involving exercise.

For $30 per person, the Bank of America conducted a wellness program for retirees using a risk assessment questionnaire, self-care books and other mailed materials. Insurance claims were decreased an average of $164 each year in this group while they increased $15 for the control group.

Since they were able to document significant changes in risk behavior, they anticipate greater savings in future years.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks participants claim $300 less per case for a one-year savings of $700,000. Savings for conditions related to a sedentary lifestyle are $722 per case.

Coca Cola announced a reduction in healthcare claims with a fitness plan alone, saving $500 per employee per year for the workforce (60%) who joined their HealthWorks fitness program.

Prudential Insurance Corporation reports that the company’s major health costs dropped from $574 to $312 for each participant in its wellness program.

Lowered Absenteeism

Absenteeism has been shown to be impacted by employee health promotion and health promotion programs.  The evidence indicates a significant reduction in absenteeism and resultant dollars saved as a result of employee fitness plans.

Pacific Bell’s FitWorks wellness program decreased absent days .8% to save $2 million in one year. FitWorks members also spent 3.3 days less on short-term disability for an additional savings of $4.7 million.

Focusing wellness efforts on high-risk personnel can lead to better results. A national manufacturing company reports a decrease of 12.2% in disease days for these personnel.

A two-year study by the DuPont Business of the effect of its extensive health promotion program on absences among workforce reports that blue-collar workforce at intervention sites had a 14% decline in disability days vs. 5.8% decline for controls. There were a sum of 11,726 fewer net disability days.

Increased Performance, Productivity and Morale

A number of employers with wellness programs report documented improvement in job attitude, work performance, energy level, and/or overall morale among wellness program participants–all vital factors in enhancing productivity.

A Johnson and Johnson study found that employee attitude changes were greater at wellness intervention sites with significant positive attitude changes noted in the categories of organizational commitment, supervision, working conditions, job competence/security, and pay/benefits.

In a Canadian government study, the Canada Life Assurance Company experimental group realized a 4% increase in productivity after starting an employee fitness program, compared to the control group.

Furthermore, 47% of wellness program participants announced that they felt more alert, had better rapport with their peers, and typically enjoyed their work more.

Swedish investigators found that mental performance was significantly better in physically fit workforce than in non-fit workers. Fit workforce committed 27 percent fewer errors on tasks involving concentration and short-term memory, as compared with the performance of non-fit workers.

The Bottom Line

The following sample of company health promotion health promotion program results have been reported by individual employers -

Company -  Dollars Saved/Dollars Spent

o  Bank of America (Fries) -  $5.96/$1

o  PacBell -  $3.10/$1

o  Wisconsin School District Insurance Group -  $4.47/$1

o  Prudential Insurance -  $2.90/$1

o  Bank of America (Leigh) -  $4.73/$1

o  General Mills -  $3.50/$1

Summary

There is compelling evidence that a sizable portion of the billions of dollars currently spent by employers on health-related costs is preventable by means of wellness programming.

Well-planned, robust health promotion programs (health promotion programs and staff member health promotion programs) have been proven to be cost-effective, in particular when the health promotion programming is matched to the health problems of the specific staff member