Chronic Pain: Your Options for Healing Without Invasive Surgery

Most of us will experience the distress caused by chronic pain at some point in our lives. Due to illness, injury, or age, chronic pain can linger on for months or even years and severely affect your quality of life.

There are a variety of different methods to treat the chronic pain you or a loved one may be suffering. Some may involve medication, or possibly even surgery to correct the problem. However, there are also a number of options available that do not involve medication or invasive surgery techniques. Here are a few ideas to consider.

 

PRP Treatments

One of the exciting new methods of healing chronic pain that has become popular in recent years is Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment. PRP treatments work by using components of blood plasma to induce healing.

Blood is taken from the individual who requires the treatment, and is then analyzed and separated into its component parts (plasma, red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets). The platelets have an important function of clotting blood and contain proteins called growth factors, which are essential in the healing process of injuries. Nexus pain specialists from Utah say the concentration of these platelets is increased, before being combined once again with the remaining blood. The blood is then re-injected into the affected area to stimulate healing. This treatment has become particularly popular amongst athletes to effectively recover from chronic pain caused by sprains and tendon injuries.

 

Manual Techniques

A well-proven method of healing chronic pain without surgery is to use manual stimulation techniques, such as massage to promote healing. A chiropractor or osteopathic doctor can manipulate joints and apply pressure to muscles, tendons and ligaments. This improves blood flow and reduces muscle stiffness, allowing chronic pain to be treated effectively in many cases. It’s great for reducing swollen joints and if done regularly can be a good treatment for those who want to skip time spent recovering from surgery.

 

Electrotherapy

This method can be useful to suffers of chronic joint pain and has proved to be particularly effective when treating back pain. The most commonly used type of electrotherapy is known as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). This therapy works by stimulating muscles in areas that are causing pain by sending a low-voltage electric signal into the tissue. You should ask your doctor if this kind of treatment could work for you.

Electrotherapy has the effect of changing the way the nervous system interprets pain signals and can temporarily relieve chronic back pain, making it effective for many people. Portable TENS machines can also be purchased for use within the home.

 

The type of treatment you choose will depend largely on the type of pain you are experiencing and where you get it most. Thankfully, with the amazing range of treatments now available for the management of chronic pain, you should be able to find something that works for you without the need for invasive surgery or dependence on medications. Talk with your physician and see if they can suggest any other treatments that may be helpful for your situation.

 

Categories: chronic pain, electrotherapy, health, Pain, prp treatment, Therapies, Treatments, Wellness

Broken Back: How to Help Your Posture at a Desk Job

 

Spending all day in a seated position can devastate your posture over time. People who work in offices often find their posture slowly deteriorating, and has been known to cause pain, sap your energy, and cut off your circulation. When you combine this with the hazards of remaining seated for a long time, your office job can be a hazard to your health. It takes a while to improve your sitting posture, but we’ve compiled some tips to help make the process a little easier.

 

Buy A Wrist Rest

A wrist rest helps you reduce the stress you put on your wrists when typing. The rests do this by helping you avoid awkward hand positions which can affect your back. Use your rests by keeping your hands and wrists above them when typing and take strain off of your arms, shoulders and forearms. This will greatly improve your posture while you type.

 

Rest Your Feet Correctly

A chair that makes it hard for you to comfortably rest your feet on the ground is a recipe for disaster when it comes to your posture. Adjust your chair so you can comfortably rest your feet flat on the ground when sitting. This aligns your back, and it prevents you from slouching. If your chair is too high for you to properly adjust it, get creative and use a small stool or a stack of books to rest your feet on.

 

Get A Good Chair

A chair from a high-quality furniture supplier like Alexander Brothers Ltd can easily help you fix your posture. Look for a chair that provides lumbar support, you can rest your feet on the ground comfortably, and your knees are level with your hips when seated. If you experience pain and posture problems, your chair should be one of the first places you look. Find an office furniture store in Honolulu HI or similar place where they can help you find something perfect for your stature.

 

Adjust Your Monitor

Adjusting your monitor helps you straighten out your posture by relieving stress on your neck and shoulders. Make sure your monitor is straight in front of you, and adjust it until it is slightly below eye level; this helps you keep your neck in a natural position while working, and does wonders for your posture.

 

Good posture isn’t something that comes naturally, but with a little work, you can adjust it enough to prevent the health risks that come along with staying seated for long stretches of time. Follow our simple tips, and you’ll notice your posture improve with almost no effort.

 

Categories: back, chair, desk, Neck, spine, Stress, Wellness

Surgery Recovery Time and What to Consider as You Get Older

 

The recovery time after surgery, depending on a person’s age and health, is an important part of the overall surgical experience. The ease, or difficulty, in which a person moves through recovery time can determine the success of the surgery, and overall health afterward. We all know how much a surgery can affect us, especially as our bodies’ age and take more time to heal. Hopefully though, with the right tips and a smart routine, you can avoid additional surgery that may be required.

Surgery complications may occur within the first weeks, so it’s wise for patients to be thoroughly prepared. Many have a tendency to make the bulk of their surgery preparations on the day of surgery, while neglecting to make similar preparations afterwards.

 

Predicting Recovery Is an Inexact Science

Surgeons are constantly faced with the task of trying to evaluate the outcome of a patient’s surgery. For the most part, the usual means of evaluation are crude. The normal standard for estimating the length of a hospital stay and mortality are different and elusive for patients over 40 years of age. However, doctors are now able to give answers that are more informative to older patients and their families about a particular operation. Know that your particular case may take longer or shorter depending on your health, rest, and age. Take it easy and know the signs for when you feel well enough to get back to normal.

 

Recovery Indicators

There is no exact prediction for an elderly patient’s recovery time. However, there are indicators that can help determine the difficulty for recovery, like weight loss in the past year, the strength of the patient’s grip, over-exhaustion, and a patient’s level of physical activity.

Using this information, doctors are able to assign a score from 1 to 5: Zero to 1 gives the patient a passing grade for a robust recovery; 2 to 3 determines that a patient is intermediately frail, and a score of 4 to 5 labels a patient as being frail.

According to the Courtyard at Jamestown, an assisted living in Orem, UT, frail patients have far less reserve to help them recover quickly. The results are obvious. People, considered frail, are much more likely to risk poor outcomes after surgery. The odds of a patient being assigned to a rest, nursing, or assisted living home, is also rise in proportion to their level of frailty.

 

Families and elderly patients should routinely ask doctors if a patient is too frail for surgery. A surgeon can give an honest assessment, but it’s still up to family members or the patient to decide on the surgery. There are simply too many critical factors for a lay person to consider. After assessing the situation in terms of surgical costs, state of health, and recovery time, individuals and their families can make a better-informed decision.

 

Categories: aging, health, recovery, science, surgery, Wellness

How the Environment can Affect your Wellness

 

 

Many people are not aware of the effects that the environment has on their overall health. The environment can be defined as all things that are living and non-living that are all around you. When you take a close look at this situation, you, your relatives, and friends are only a minute percentage of the entire situation.

 

Air Pollution

 

Air pollution is a primary concern of the environment. Although there have been several improvements within factories and products, air pollution is still a problem. Air pollution can cause your allergies to flare up, and if you suffer from asthma, it could worsen. Secondhand smoke is a form of air pollution that kills 53,800 people each year, according to no-smoke.org.

 

Noise Pollution

 

There are many different types of noise pollution, which includes neighborhood, commercial, construction, and street and traffic noise. Other noise pollution could include parties, barking dogs, and car and house alarms. Noise pollution makes it difficult to think and concentrate, which affects your mental health.

 

Noise pollution is a hazard because it can affect an individual’s health and behavior. Unwanted sound, also referred to as “noise”, can damage a person’s psychological health. Many people are not aware that noise pollution can cause many different problems, such as high stress levels, hypertension, sleep disturbances, tinnitus, and hearing loss.

 

Unclean Environment

 

An unclean environment has many harmful effects on the human body. An unclean environment is the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and other harmful parasites. When bacteria thrives, diseases form, which infects millions of people. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), over 23% of global disease is due to environmental exposures. These exposures and diseases can be avoided if the environment is cleaner.

According to the WHO, the number of disabilities, illnesses, and deaths can be decreased by a significant amount each year if the environment was clean and healthy. In another report by the WHO, they revealed that more than 32% of children who are under the age of 5 years old contract diseases and become ill due to environmental exposures.

 

Cleaning the Environment

 

There are many efforts in today’s society to help the environment return to a safe and cleaner place to live. One of the most recognizable ways society is helping the environment is by recycling. A few other ways that you can help the environment are to reduce carbon footprints, grow food locally, drive your car less, maintain a healthy ecosystem, reduce contaminants, reduce the usage of your electrical appliances and wooden stove, and reduce your usage of pesticides and chemicals. You can also buy goods from entrepreneurs like Frank L. Vandersloot and many others that run companies that sell environmentally safe products.

Categories: affect, environment, Wellness

Wellness Programmes: How To Build And Sustain Them

Workplace wellness schemes are becoming increasingly popular in companies, but there are unforeseen challenges in creating a successful programme which benefits everyone. Both employers and employees benefits from having a wellness scheme in place, such as better morale in the workplace, lower rate of absences and a higher rate of employee productivity. In particular, for employees, wellness programmes can become an important part of being physically active and leading a healthy lifestyle. There are often cases where a wellness scheme triggers an interest in healthier living, such as yoga sessions bringing a personal sense of satisfaction to an employee or cycling to work improving one’s health and wellbeing. Unfortunately, there is no right way to approach developing a wellness scheme, but there are many common factors in programmes which are currently very successful. The main factors to remember are a commitment from management, involvement from employees, adequate resources and a focus on policies regarding workplace health, wellness and safety. Careful planning is required if you are to set up a successful scheme. Why not invite employees to input their ideas? A suggestion box or staff meetings can be a great forum for these ideas. You may need to develop a business case to convince senior members of staff that a wellness programme would be useful within your company. There are many stats to support the benefits of having a wellness scheme but it’s important that you make it clear why your company should develop one to help both employees and employers.

 

Your messages to management should communicate the benefits of such a programme, including the facts and figures on employee health and job satisfaction, and how this affects productivity. Be sure to collect information to prove that the scheme is beneficial; establish a planning committee to represent the views of different departments; be sure to know the facts on what your company is already offering in the way of health benefits and such. You should put activities into place, such as those which increase awareness and knowledge, develop skills and provide social interaction. These could be activities such as walking clubs, golf tourneys, corporate challenge events and national campaigns which your company can get involved in. Healthy eating should also be part of the plan so develop a policy on food catering for the meetings, so that healthy foods are available – perhaps you can look to develop a healthier menu in the company cafeteria. Your wellness programme should take steps to regularly monitor the progress of employees and evaluate how successful the programme is. You can do this, for example, by tracking the number of participants in a given activity, or the number of employees who support some or all components of a programme. It’s important that you identify all areas of excellence, as well as looking at the factors which affect the participation in your programme. Mistakes will happen but the important thing is that you learn from them and develop a stronger programme for the future. As the scheme develops, continue to evaluate it and make changes as you and the company require them. If you pay close attention to the key elements of a wellness programme within your company, and you ensure that the lines of the communication remain open at all times, you can develop a strong foundation from which to sustain an effective wellness programme which will leave a lasting legacy.

Categories: Advice, company, Corporate, employees, Programme, scheme, Wellness, Wellness Programme, Wellness programmes, wellness scheme

What Does The Future Of Workplace Wellness Hold?

Workplace wellness schemes have become immensely popular over recent years, including everything from work-sponsored biometric screenings to programmes to help you quit smoking and health coaching. There are even exercise classes involved but things are changing, despite workplace wellness becoming increasingly popular additions to employer portfolios. Because the market has evolved to not just include a phone call and a meeting with a coach, schemes are now moving into the technology realm. When the industry started, there was a fear in asking employees to disclose information about their health, and as that portion of the programme has moved on, things have changed. The uneasiness on the part of the employers has been subsumed by the reality that offering health coverage now costs so much more. Workplace wellness is now an industry worth billions of pounds and recent surveys suggest that around half of all companies with at least 50 workers have some sort of scheme in place. But at the backdrop to this is the crisis state of the healthcare market, with many chronic conditions being lifestyle diseases. The concept behind the workplace wellness programme is to help people to navigate the complex nature of lifestyle and health, by giving them the support they need to make healthier changes and the tools they need to improve their lives. In the process, they may help their employer avoid costly health claims down the road, but is this really how companies save money? Just how valuable is it to employers to have a workplace wellness scheme in place?

 

There’s an underlying concept of building a stock exchange for your health, and as such you treat your health as a stock which can go up or down depending on how you treat it. You need to go to the screenings and track your health so, for example, if your blood pressure goes down, your stock goes up. Technology offers an instant form of feedback, so if you light up on your lunch break, it will give you the hard facts – it cost you £5, you lost 146 days from your life expectancy, and all because of one cigarette. These are facts which are harder to shrug off. LifeVest is a start-up from Philadelphia which has now added a number of companies to its roster. What makes LifeVest different is the association of money to your health. Having an investment in your health is bound to affect your behaviour, and direct financial incentives for workplace wellness schemes are still quite rare, but studies show that money is a great motivator. It’s early days, but companies are seeing a rise in engagement numbers which is rooted in economics. Using competition and financial motivators helps to add to the accountability tools – you’ve got competition with your friends, your family are holding you accountable and you’ve got your financial incentives. In fact, smokers have as much as a 50 per cent higher premium than non-smokers. But people are ok penalising smokers as a way of encouraging them to quit their addiction. Looking at obesity though, this is a more complex problem and finding the right balance between incentivising weight control and simply imposing a tax on obesity is very difficult. Workplace wellness schemes have a long way to go before they find the right balance between helping both the employer and the employee, but this new way of working, by offering financial incentives, could well be the answer to this problem.

Categories: Companies, financial, financial incentives, health, incentives, Wellness, wellness schemes, workplace, Workplace Wellness

Four Steps for Implementing a Corporate Culture of Wellness

Many businesses are implementing corporate wellness programmes, but there are those for whom such plans are a privilege, or optional extra. According to Joshua Love, the president of national corporate wellness company Kinema Fitness, ‘When I stop and think about employee wellness, I have to step away from my day to day responsibilities and take a look from the employer perspective. I think it’s a no-brainer to install a wellness programme at every company, no matter the size, demographic, location or what service or product the company provides. My belief is that no company can be successful without paying attention to the wellbeing of their people — and people can’t be successful without feeling good every day.’

 

Love continues, ‘We live in a fast-paced, busy world, full of constant distractions. We’re constantly dialed in with technology and always on the move. Which is why it’s so refreshing to walk into a company where you feel the environment is different, one where people seem motivated, excited, inspired and really love what they do. My experience with corporate wellness leads me back to Google in Mountain View, CA (and how Google maintains its status as one of the top 100 best companies to work for year after year). Google doesn’t just create jobs, they create a culture, one in which people are valued and appreciated every day. Google’s locations have full fitness facilities, daily classes and healthy food available throughout the day; as a result, employees feel cared for and valued.’

 

Do you have to be as lucrative or as large as Google to create a culture of wellness? Of course not; every company has the ability to implement some kind of wellness programme. But how do you do it? Love has a four-step process to help you install a wellness programme that‘s efficient, smart, scalable and goal-oriented:

 

1. Determine the Needs of Employer AND Employee: ‘First, we ask a simple question,’ says Love. ‘What do employees need, and how do those needs fit with the goals of the employer? It’s impossible to answer these questions without assessing both sides. It is essential to understand the mindsets, challenges, and your audience first before laying out a framework for its path. This includes surveying not only the employees, but also the employer. A simple health risk assessment (which your insurance carrier may offer) followed by biometric screens is a good way to assess problem areas.’

 

2. Analyze the Data and Create a Plan: Love details, ‘Based on our survey data, we try to determine what elements will work for the existing culture. Is it fitness classes that will motivate the employees, wellness workshops, individual health assessments, or some combination of the above? We always recommend combining wellness education with physical activity — otherwise, many employees will not take advantage of classes and programmes they need to see real benefits.’

 

3. Create a Communication Plan: ‘A culture of wellness doesn’t happen without reinforcement,’ Love asserts. ‘Employers must create a communication plan that lays out the programme’s framework and different methods (and times) to communicate the information to employees. This keeps wellness at the forefront.’

 

4. Put an Incentive Plan in Place: Love comments, ‘We have found, time and again, that rewarding employees for getting healthy and achieving results encourages the type of change needed to get a programme off the ground and encourage a real shift in employee culture. However, because the required behaviour changes are new, challenging, and difficult to sustain, programmes must include incentives and rewards throughout the year in order to drive long-term engagement.’

Categories: Communication, company, corporate wellness, culture, employees, incentives, nbsp, Wellness, Wellness Programme

Why Perception is Everything to Corporate Wellness

When it comes to the work-life balance debate, perception is everything. If your employees perceive themselves to be cared for in a workplace culture that encourages wellness, you might be able to boast a more committed and happy workforce in the new world of work which is arguably hi-tech, global and 24/7. According to a new survey by Virgin HealthMiles Inc. and Workforce Management Magazine, 77% of employees felt that ‘health and wellness programmes positively impact the culture at work.’

 

Judy Martin, of WorkLifeNation.com, details, ‘HealthMiles, a workplace health engagement company and part of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, surveyed about 1,300 businesses and 10,000 employees for its annual survey kicking off National Employee Wellness Month in June. The study found a strong link between the wellness and vitality of an organistion, and the wellness of employees. The result of which was increased job morale, satisfaction, commitment and performance…But measuring a culture of wellness in terms of spreadsheets still evades the bean counters to a degree. And while quantifying the bottom-line impact of such programmes is challenging…the trends in the survey are key to the bigger picture.’

 

Chris Boyce, CEO of Virgin HealthMiles, comments, ‘Creating a culture-first mentality is a critical step for employers when it comes to building a highly engaged workforce. Employees become much more motivated and productive when they know that their employer cares about their total quality of life, which goes beyond traditional wellness and includes physical, emotional, financial and social health.’ David Ballard PsyD, MBA, director of the Centre for Organisational Excellence of the American Psychological Association, adds, ‘The impact of wellbeing on the bottom line can be difficult to tease out, since human behaviour is complex and determined by multiple factors. Even hard data like health care claims can be affected by plan design and other changes.’

 

The results of the survey also revealed that just 31% of organisations were ‘satisfied with their health and wellness metrics.’ However, ‘Quantifying such efforts also requires a change in perspective,’ says Martin. She notes, there are employers ‘who understand that wellbeing and performance are inextricably linked, although a return-on-investment might not be directly revealed on the spreadsheets. Every year the APA’s Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award highlights organisations that are putting more emphasis on the bigger picture of employee wellbeing. According to statistics from the APA, companies that meet the criterion of a “psychologically healthy workplace” benefit from improved work quality and productivity, lower absenteeism, presenteeism, less turnover, and better customer service ratings.’

 

Ballard points out, ‘Forward-thinking organisations are re-evaluating work practices and providing employees with resources that support wellbeing and performance. They are creating psychologically healthy workplaces that are diverse and productive, resilient and successful.’ However, Martin warns, ‘Alas, communicating those workplace initiatives to employees has been challenging. The Virgin HealthMiles/Workforce survey found that only 51% of employees surveyed said they have a good understanding of how to participate in health and wellness programmes being offered by their employers.’

 

That said, Fran Melmed, Founder of Context Communication Consulting (a communication and change management firm specialising in workplace wellness), argues that while the wellness argument can sometimes be a hard sell and tricky fodder for those in HR who have to communicate the benefits of such programmes, it doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable. ‘I’ve seen health and wellness programmes keep morale up and people on track during seismic change like downsizing, off–shoring, downturns in economy and business slowdowns – and those things can’t be discounted,’ she says. Martin concludes, ‘Perhaps [perception is] a harbinger of things to come in a competitive global marketplace where attracting and retaining skilled talent is crucial for the bottom-line.’

Categories: corporate wellness programme, employees, health, healthy workplace, perception, psychologically healthy, Research, Survey, virgin healthmiles, Wellness, Wellness programmes, workplace

Employers – Do You Know Enough About Corporate Wellness?

Corporate wellness and wellbeing is a hot topic with employers at the moment, with around 67 percent of all employers offering some sort of wellness programme. These programmes are based around the idea that employees can receive breaks on their health insurance if they undertake certain tasks to increase their health, such as giving up smoking, changing their diet, losing weight or increasing their exercise. They also have to have health tests to find out about their current state of health and receive personalised wellness programmes to help them improve.

 

A recent survey showed that around 18 percent of employers are now offering a financial incentive to those who achieve a certain health standard, and around 15 percent offer a lower health premium to those who do not smoke.

 

Savings vary hugely from employer to employer, but the programmes themselves are on the increase, as there is a growing body of evidence showing that when employers use these wellness programmes, the costs of medical expenses and employee absenteeism for illness are greatly reduced. One study even showed that the average employer has seen a reduction in medical costs of $3.27 for every dollar spent on a wellness programme and a reduction of $2.73 in absenteeism for every dollar spent on the wellness programmes.

 

If you are an employer and you are thinking of putting into place a wellness programme, or improving an established one, it is important to carefully evaluate the design of the programme and consider carefully what the goals should be. This reduces the risk of discrimination claims and also makes it more likely that the whole workforce will want to and be able to participate in the wellness programme. Employers should also read up on the law in their area, relating to sickness, health in the workplace and absenteeism.

 

Categories: Corporate, corporate wellness, dollar spent, employers, health, Programme, Programmes, Wellness, Wellness Programme, Wellness programmes

Trend Setters: What’s Shaping Your Wellness Programme?

Businesses of all sizes are being impacted by the trend of corporate wellness programmes, integrating strategies to help create an overall wellbeing-enhancing experience in the workplace. Corporate wellness programmes also use incentives to increase participation and awareness. Let’s take a look at five trends that are helping shape health and wellness at the workplace:

 

1. Lifestyle Management: Finding time to workout or visit the doctor can be problematic in today’s hectic world. You need to rush home, make dinner, help your kids with their homework, clean the house, make time for your relationship and somehow get to bed at a decent hour; where’s the time for wellness? This is why more and more corporate wellness programmes are focusing on lifestyle management, and including efforts such as biometric screenings, flu shots and cholesterol screenings in the workplace to help you make time for your health. Such measures can help you prevent the risks for common, yet dangerous, health problems including diabetes, stroke and coronary disease – without having to leave the office!

 

2. Weight Loss: More companies are now offering free yoga, Zumba classes or individual workouts onsite or at a nearby facility to make fitness opportunities more accessible for those looking to lose or manage their weight. Doing your diet plan alongside your colleagues brings with it a sense of camaraderie, with your workmates encouraging you to keep going along to workout sessions. Moreover, companies that offer weight loss programmes tend to have vending machine options with fresh, healthy snacks, as well as fruit and veggies at meetings instead of unhealthy treats. With such a variety of healthy food options and fitness classes available, you have the opportunity to try several options to find the best fit for your lifestyle.

 

3. Redesigning the Workspace: In order to encourage you to become healthier, many businesses are rethinking the design and layout of the office. This may incorporate a variety of design options, such as fitting out desks with exercise balls or standing or treadmill workstations instead of chairs. Some employers offer anti-fatigue mats for employees to stand on while they work, while others give employees ergonomic telephone headsets and keyboards. Then you have wireless personal trainers such as BodyBugg and FitBit, which accurately tracking calories burned, steps taken, walking distance, etc to help keep employees in the mindset of fitness.

 

4.  Smoking Cessation: It’s often a wise investment for companies to introduce smoking cessation programmes, which is why so many businesses do exactly that. Many wellness experts view such programmes as a necessity that provides a direct correlation with good health, helping employers to foster a healthier workforce. As an employee, you need motivation, social support, an understanding of what to expect and a personal game plan to increase your chances of quitting smoking, and many companies offer all of this and more. In fact, some companies execute smoke-free campuses, and even go so far as to avoid hiring smokers.

 

5. Stress Management: While programmes focusing on physical fitness have been proven to decrease stress and increase energy, mental fitness programmes are increasingly being recognised as equally important. The point of a stress management programme is to allow employees to dedicate a short time every day to mental fitness through volunteering, journal writing or even daydreaming. This, in turn, helps you to feel rejuvenated and more confident, which shows in your work and overall lifestyle. One of the strongest efforts being used to manage daily pressures is meditation, which many companies use as a daily tool to help employees cope with stress.

Categories: corporate wellness, corporate wellness programmes, lifestyle management, mental fitness, Programmes, smoking cessation, stress management, Weight Loss, Wellness, Wellness programmes

What Everyone Ought to Know About Corporate Wellness

Throughout the country, corporate wellness and wellbeing programmes are becoming more widespread. The buzz is catching on and the news is spreading that these programmes lead to healthier employees, cuts in healthcare costs and an overall happier and healthier working environment. The programmes themselves vary widely from simply offering healthcare information to employees, to fitness education, to subsidised healthy lunches to a company gym. Some employees are even offered financial rewards for reaching certain health standards.

 

If you are an employer who is thinking of implementing or improving a wellness programme in your workplace, then the results really speak for themselves. It is a simple matter of fact that healthy employees work more productively, but it has also been shown that employees who are involved in wellness programmes are more likely to be hard workers because they feel valued by their employers.

 

The financial incentives for running a wellness programme have also been well proved. Healthier workers have lower levels of absenteeism, which tends to cost the company money. They also need less time off for medical appointments, and have lower costs of health care. On top of that, retention rates tend to be higher and employee job satisfaction is increased, reducing the costs associated with a high staff turnover.

 

The health problems that employees are helped with through a wellness programme can vary hugely. For some it is a case of increasing their levels of exercise and physical activity. For many it is a case of losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight. Smoking cessation is always a big one, and some employers offer a lower level of health insurance premium to those who do not smoke. Some employees have problems with sleep, and this can be helped through some of the channels that wellness programmes open up.

Categories: Corporate, corporate wellness, employees, health, Healthier, Programme, Programmes, Wellness, Wellness Programme, Wellness programmes

Could Wellness Programmes Be Costing The Sick?

Workplace wellness schemes sound like the answer to all of our prayers – a discounted gym membership or help quitting cigarettes, all for less money and right on-site at work? Great news to many. And this great news is something that’s becoming increasingly popular for a number of large companies who are offering this as an incentive to work for the company itself. But for businesses, the deal is about to get even sweeter – not such great news for the employees. A new health reform law will soon let employers reward their workers’ efforts to get healthy with discounts of up to 30 per cent of their healthcare costs, up from 20 per cent previously. They’ll also be able to penalise employees who fail to meet their health goals by the same amount, which has been designed to ‘weed out’ sick workers and lower the amount of days companies need to pay for employees being off sick.

Around 61 per cent of employers give workers financial incentives to get healthier, which is up from 36 per cent three years ago according to surveys. One in five uses penalties, and many more companies say they’re going to introduce this plan next year. Most current plans offer the carrot rather than the stick, but if poorly designed workplace wellness programmes can shift the cost towards those with the greatest healthcare needs, it could potentially discriminate against sick workers. This way of working would work similarly to this – if employers raise deductibles from £500 to £2500, workers can then earn ‘credits’ worth £500 each to lower the deductible if they meet certain targets for four factors, such as body-mass index, blood pressure, cholesterol and blood pressure. This will wind up back to a £500 deductible, but if you’re on the wrong end of those tests, then your costs have immediately gone up.

Some people claim that the only way to reduce health costs is to motivate people with money, which will mean incentives will only apply to things workers have control over. But there’s a fundamental question behind all of this: how much should people bear the cost of their own healthcare? People are buying health insurance on their own and pay as much as 23 per cent higher premiums if they smoke or are obese, according to research. Such incentives are routine in other insurance markets – no-one questions why good drivers pay lower rates than the teens who smashed up their first car. Workplace wellness incentives should actually make people healthier and shouldn’t just be a way of shifting costs onto sick workers. There’s strong research to back up the fact that the higher the deductible, the greater the barrier is to accessing care. Someone may not be getting the basic primary care or care they need to treat a chronic condition, and if that’s the case, the sick workers within a company actually get sicker. This costs the health system in the long run, which is a lose-lose situation.

 

In order to tackle this situation, companies need to put more thought into their workplace wellness programmes and ensure that the result of the plans are to encourage healthier lifestyles in their employees. Tricking employees into doing something just to make your company more money could wind up being foolish in the long run, as it will come back as a cost in another way and could end up making your employees even more sick than they were to begin with.

Categories: blood pressure, employees, health, illness, people, sick, sick workers, Wellness, Wellness programmes, work, workers, Workplace Wellness

Could Workplace Wellness Programmes Be Harming Your Health?

For some companies, it’s perfectly legal for your employer to require you to answer intrusive health questions in order to ascertain just how healthy you are, in relation to the workplace wellness schemes they’re running. Wellness programmes are a multi-billion pound industry that seems to have sprung up overnight, with over 90 per cent of all large employers reportedly offering one for their employees. It’s nice for an employer to take an interest in your health, exercise and smoking, but if the programme is badly designed it could actually be detrimental to your health. Workplace wellness, it seems, is not only a privacy hazard but also a hazard to your health and career to boot. It’s fair to say that many people may be willing to tolerate a certain level of privacy loss in favour of boosting our health, but that’s not always the case. So what are they doing to your health and lifestyle? Here are three reasons why your workplace wellness scheme could be bad for you.

Dismaying and Alienating Employees

Bad wellness programmes give the notion that your boss thinks you’re an idiot. It doesn’t boost morale and it sends your motivation plummeting. For example, some employers tell employees who smoke that tobacco isn’t healthy, sending the message that anyone who smokes hasn’t been educated enough to read the many health warnings about smoking and its risks. The reality is that public health is a complex venture and while it’s easy to condescend, good wellness programmes focus on encouraging you to make better choices. If your programme isn’t doing that, you need to question why you have it in place.

Bad Programs Don’t Save Money

Wellness marketers make claims that quite literally don’t add up, such as claiming savings exceeding 100 per cent which is a mathematical impossibility, or suggesting that an employer can save more money than they spent in the first place. There’s a compelling case that claims that bad wellness programmes don’t save money because the programmes themselves cost so much money in the first place. Add in the added cost of screenings and educations, and the other services which aren’t free either, and you have a costly venture. The benefits of a wellness programme is that it help your employees to improve their health, morale and motivation, but if it winds up costing you so much money for nothing, it really doesn’t serve the purpose you’d hope for.

Potential Harm To Employee Health

Even if wellness programmes cost a bit more money in the short run, it’s considered a given that they will improve your health in the long run. But this isn’t always the case and it could be misleading. Many of us are reluctant to question the design of a company wellness programme because it sounds like we’re challenging something we know nothing about and which sounds like something so wholesome. But in reality, these programmes don’t always focus on the things they should, such as employee performance and exercise. Poorly-designed wellness programmes can violate the very essence of good management – focusing on people’s private lives doesn’t do anyone any favours and can do more harm than good. These programmes apply equal measure of coercion and disparagement towards the people who the programme is meant to help. This simply discredits the employer benefits programmes and undermines employee loyalty and trust. If employers are going to invest in a scheme, it needs to be in promotion of the wellbeing of their employees.

Categories: Corporate, health, money, Programmes, programmes don, save money, Wellness, Wellness Programme, Wellness programmes, Workplace Wellness

Don’t Go Down Without a Fight: Combating the Ageing Process

Ageing is an inevitable process, but that doesn’t mean you have to go down without a fight! It’s never too early or too late to start taking care of your anti-ageing wellness, and, luckily, there are several steps and products that you can use.

 

1. Alternative Treatments: Although alternative treatments are by no means a replacement for a healthy diet and exercise programme, they can help you to feel your best, which encourages you to take better care of your wellbeing. A better term would be “complementary wellness” rather than “alternative,” as these treatments should be used in partnership with your healthy lifestyle. Start off with a good overall system cleansing treatment, as this can get rid of any toxins that may be dragging you down. This lays the groundwork for other treatments, such as acupuncture and hypnosis. If you, as many of us do, suffer from more aches and pains as you age, acupuncture and hypnosis can be a great substitute for using prescription drugs, with none of the associated side effects.

 

2. Your Look-Young Diet: To fight off the effects of ageing, as well as disease, you need plenty of antioxidants, fibre and vitamins. For this you can’t go wrong with fruits and vegetables, but nuts, cereals and spices are also excellent choices for a little antioxidant power. Specifically, you’re looking at:

 

• Vegetables – Kale, red cabbage, peppers, beets, broccoli, chilli pepper, artichoke


• Fruits – Berries, kiwi, pineapple, orange, plum, grapefruit, pomegranate


• Nuts – Pecans, peanuts, sunflower seeds, hazelnuts, walnuts


• Cereal – Barley, corn, oats, millet


• Spices – Oregano, cinnamon, turmeric, cloves

 

In addition to this, or, should I say, perhaps more importantly than this, you need to drink a lot of water. The big guy upstairs certainly knew what he was doing when he created helpful H20, as water has monumental wellness benefits. Aside from looking young, drinking lots of water throughout the day can help you lose weight, energise your muscles, aid your bowel function and generally help you to feel better – not bad for something you get out the tap for free.

 

3. Don’t Stray into Temptation: Not only does alcohol and smoking have a disastrous impact on your health, it basically leaves you looking rubbish. This is because indulging in both of these vices significantly dries out your skin, which leads to premature wrinkling. Plus, as we’ve previously covered, your body needs plenty of nutrients to stay young and healthy, but smoking and drinking heavily robs you of these much-needed nutrients, as can some prescription medications. You should avoid alcohol and smoking but you shouldn’t come of the meds if you doctor doesn’t advise it. If you are on medications, make sure to drink plenty of water and try some anti-ageing skin products to combat the skin-drying effects.

 

4. Soak in the Great Outdoors: Getting outside into the fresh air and sun does wonders for your anti-ageing wellness – as long as you do so safely. I’m not saying you should sit outside until you look like an extra from TOWIE, as this will have the opposite you’re looking for. However, while too much sun exposure can have you looking more wrinkly than Yoda, a healthy dose of sunlight can provide some natural vitamin D to your body and mind, which is vital for good health. If you spend more than 15 minutes in the summer sun, or 40 minutes outside in winter, whack on some sun cream, or even sun block. It may not seem necessary in this country, but wearing sun cream every day can be the best thing you do for your anti-ageing wellness.

 

Categories: ageing, ageing wellness, alternative treatments, anti ageing, effects nbsp, nbsp, Sun Cream, Vices, Vitamin D, Water, Wellness

You Are What You Eat - So What Does That Make You?

Everyone’s different and none more so than with what we eat and how we look after ourselves. Some people love eating fresh vegetables and going on daily hikes, whereas others prefer the more relaxed approach of fast food and lounging at home. We usually chalk up our differences to metabolism or personality. But we rarely attribute our physiques to what we eat, despite this being such a valuable way to vary how we look and feel. According to ayurvedic medicine, we really are what we eat and it depends on our different body types and personalities as to what we should be dining on each day. It boils down to your dosha type and keeping this in balance is the best way to stay healthy, regulate your mood and energy, and prevent a range of health conditions which plague western cultures now. Doshas are metabolic currents which drive our bodies and are called vata, pitta and kapha. We inherit these through our genetic make-up and most of us are dominated by one dosha in particular. Too much vata is associated with space, wind and air, which can make you sleepless and indecisive, for example. Eating the right foods can balance this and help you to achieve a regular sleeping pattern.

The ultimate goal of ayurveda, as with yoga, is to achieve balance – to achieve this, hardcore ayurvedics follow a strict combination of diets, meditation, exercises and herbal therapies. Although this is a more complex route to balance, you’ll be surprised what following a certain diet can do for your wellbeing and health. Fresh vegetables, dairy, grains, poultry and fish are all considered both food and medicine There’s no counting your carb intake or tracking fats with this diet, it’s also not vegan or vegetarian. You simply need to eat for your dosha and ignore the calories – your health is valued more than the amount of calories you ingest here. However, regardless of your dosha, there are some eating guidelines which ayurveda can offer to help improve your wellness. These tend to be more common sense-based than about depriving yourself of anything. For example, drink room temperature water with your meal rather than cold water, so that you digest your food properly, as ice water can inhibit proper digestion. It’s also better to avoid canned foods, red meat, white flour, white sugar and junk food – nothing you weren’t already aware of, but handy tips to remember. Once you know what dosha you’re eating for, you can begin to adapt your diet to suit it and achieve balance. To do this, you need to organise your foods into six categories – sour, sweet, salty, bitter, pungent and astringent.

 

Vata is associated with worry, insomnia, constipation, dry skin and anxiety. These can be balanced with warm, heavy foods such as stews or tapioca pudding. Aim for foods which include butter and healthy oils, but avoid astringent foods such as lentils, raw vegetables and cauliflower. Pitta is associated with digestive problems, anger and resentment, so temper those issues with cooling foods like casseroles and grains with limited butter or fat. You also need to minimise pungent foods such as hot and spicy foods, as well as excess salt and sour foods. Lastly, kapha is attributed to weariness, oversleeping, sinus problems and weight gain. Eat light, spicy foods such as grilled vegetables with a mild pepper sauce, and lower your intake of salty foods, red meat, dairy and sweet additions such as maple syrup. Also, pay attention to what your body is craving, as these aren’t considered moral weaknesses in ayurveda but rather your body’s way of trying to tune into your doshas.

Categories: achieve balance, Ayurveda, Balance, diet, dosha, Food, foods, foods red, fresh vegetables, red meat, spicy foods, Wellness

Daycare Wellness: How to Keep Your Child Healthy

Working moms and dads know that daycare is often the best option for their childcare while they’re on the job. Not only do daycare facilities provide your kids with an opportunity to socialize, it helps encourage your children to be more independent, striking out on their own away from their parents. Unfortunately, the benefits also come with some nasty side effects, namely illness. As most parents are aware, kids pick up all manner of illnesses no matter where they are. When you add more kids to the mix, the likelihood that they’ll be picking up colds, flu and other problems increases tenfold. What can you, as a parent, do to help your child avoid getting sick?

The Daycare Dilemma: Illness to Go?

According to TLC’s How Stuff Works blog, early exposure to other children and illnesses may not necessarily be a bad thing. In recent years, there is a theory going around called the “hygiene hypothesis” that puts forward the thought that with all the antibacterial cleansers and washes that children are being exposed also kills off good bacteria that little bodies need to work and develop their immune systems.

Studies have also found that children who are exposed to other children from an early age are less likely to catch certain illnesses, as well as have a lessened chance of developing asthma. While nobody is suggesting that you allow your child to get sick or dirty on purpose, the idea of a more relaxed approach is certainly compelling considering the arguments.

1) Teach your children how to wash their hands.

Though it may seem like a relatively easy task, very few people actually wash their hands correctly to beat infectious material or germs. Teach your children that washing their hands before they eat and after they go to the bathroom is a must. Show them how to use soap and warm water, and explain that they should sing the song “Happy Birthday” to themselves to know how long they should wash for. Taking these simple steps can prevent the spread of sickness, and keep your child more protected than others.

2) Keep your childcare provider in the loop about illnesses and allergies.

If your child suffers from any particular allergies or is coming down with a cold, it’s important that your child care facility knows about it. Allergies are an important factor if the daycare provider gives out snacks, so be specific about what your kid can and cannot eat. Additionally, if you notice that your little one is getting a bit snotty or is coming down with a case of pink eye, let your child care provider know. They can sometimes help with the situation by keeping  him or her away from other children, and thus preventing the spread of illness.

3) Accidents can happen… and can also be prevented.

Kids are clumsy, and it’s only natural that they will occasionally come home with scrapes, cuts and bruises from their daily activities. Teach your children how to play safely on playground equipment and with other children. If you feel that your child’s accident might be a case of negligence on the part of your child care facility, speak to a personal injury attorney with regards to a case. It’s also important you stay local. For example, a child’s accident in Raleigh, NC may have local ordinances that you’re not aware of. It’s always best to check to see if you have a case.  

4) Check out the license.

When you’re seeking a daycare facility, be sure to check the licenses and any other criteria they may have. You may also want to ask them for references so you can talk to other parents who use the facility and get their opinions on the positive and negatives. In one case, according to one Raleigh, NC personal injury lawyer, an 11 -year-old boy was abused by a supervisor who was supposed to be caring for him. You can also take it one step further and do a background check on the employees who will be working with your child. A good facility will be able to provide these on request.

 

Keeping your kid healthy and happy is a parent’s number one priority when they’re growing. If you’re planning on using a child care facility, check out their policies on health and wellness thoroughly. After all, they will be spending quite a lot of time with your little one, and you want to make sure it’s the best possible placement for them.

 

Writer Melanie Fleury has four kids of her own and is always concerned about their health and safety. She was inspired to write this article after reading a blog post on the website of Raleigh, NC personal injury lawyer Auger & Auger. She hopes that parents who read this will exercise due diligence before sending their kids to daycare.

Categories: care facility, Child, child care, Children, daycare, Healthy, injury lawyer, nc personal, personal injury, raleigh nc, Wellness

The Environmental Wellness Test: What Will You Score?

These days, most people would agree that environmental wellness is important. Not only do you need to take care of your wellbeing, but that of the planet and everything and everyone in it. That said, sometimes it can be difficult knowing where to start with environmental wellness. Do you need to join some sort of organisation or get politically involved to help the planet? Of course not. You can help the world in which you live simply by leading an environmentally conscious life.

 

Firstly, let’s check out where you’re at with environmental wellness. Ask yourself the following questions. If the answer is “always or almost always” give yourself two points. If you answer “sometimes or occasionally” award yourself one point. If your answer is “seldom or never” give yourself no points. Answer each question as honestly as you can, and tally up your points at the end to get your environmental wellness score.

 

• Do you conserve energy (i.e., switching off unused lights)?


• Do you recycle paper, cans, and glass as much as possible?


• Do you enjoy spending time outside in natural settings?


• Do you avoid polluting the air, water or earth when possible?


• Do you avoid second-hand smoke?


• Do you consciously try to conserve fuel energy and to lessen the pollution in the atmosphere?


• Do you limit the use of fertilisers and chemicals when managing your outdoor living space?


• Do you avoid using aerosol sprays?


• Do you avoid littering?


• Do you volunteer your time for environmental conservation projects?

 

Score: 15 to 20 Points – Excellent strength in environmental wellness – well done!

 

Score:  9 to 14 Points – There is room for improvement, but you’re still putting in the effort and that’s what counts. What changes can you make to improve your score?

 

Score:  0 to 8 Points – So you may need a bit of help to improve your environmental wellness. Why not challenge yourself to begin making small steps toward growth here?

 

Whether you got 0 points or 20, we’ve got some tips to help you improve your environmental wellness:

1. Spread the word: No matter what you scored on our quiz, you can talk to people about environmental wellness. Speak to your friends and family about the importance of leading an environmentally-aware lifestyle, and get involved with your community’s recycling programmes. Try implementing a recycling programme in your home or workplace if you haven’t got one already, or make sure your existing programmes are as efficient as they can be.

 

2. Stop your junk mail: You receive so much unwanted junk mail every year, which wastes paper as well as being irritating. Contact the major senders of junk mail saying “take me off your list.”  Try stopjunk.com or privatecitizen.com for the major players, or contact senders individually. If you receive catalogues from shops you love, email and ask to be taken off this sending list – everything is viewable online these days anyway!

 

3. Snip your six-pack rings: As six-pack holders are virtually invisible underwater, it’s all-too-easy for seagulls to strangle themselves by catching their neck in a loop while another loop gets snagged on a stationary object. Make sure you snip each circle with a pair of scissors before you throw them in the recycling.

 

4. Don’t leave your water running: Doing the washing up with the tap running can use an average of 30 gallons of water, or three to five gallons of water per minute. The same goes for brushing your teeth, washing your car or watering your garden. Only turn the tap on when you actually need the water to run, or fill the sink or a bowl with water to minimise the damage.

Categories: advocacy, Environmental, Environmental Wellness, junk mail, nbsp, nbsp score, points, saving energy, score nbsp, Water, Wellness

How to Go on a Diet Without Feeling Like You’re Dieting

Keeping an eye on your nutrition is the surest route to wellness and wellbeing. There are various diets that you can try, with varying success rates, but the best kinds of diet are the non-diet diets – the ones that don’t make you feel that you are actually on a diet at all.

 

One such diet is called the Mediterranean diet, and it’s more of an eating plan, or even a way of life than an actual diet as such. It basically involves copying the eating habits of those who live in the Mediterranean all year round. This type of eating has been proved to reduce incidences of heart disease and prologue life.

 

This is most likely because the diet is rich in antioxidants, such as olive oil, almonds, broccoli and a glass of wine here and there. Long term, allowing yourself indulgences such as the occasional glass of wine is actually very sensible, as you can otherwise end up feeling very restricted and deprived, and this is when the willpower gives in and you end up chucking the diet away altogether.

 

There is another diet called volumetrics, and this one basically involves eating a lot without eating a lot. Confused? To simplify, when you are on this diet, you look at the size and volume of the meal as well as the actual calorie contents. One of the most difficult things about being on a diet is coping with the hunger pangs, and if you are doing volumetrics, this just doesn’t exist. If you fill yourself up with lots of high volume but lower calorie foods (such as vegetables) you will feel full and like you are eating a lot, but you will not be packing in the calories that you might expect from such a quantity of food.

Categories: actual, basically involves, diet, eating, life, Mediterranean, nbsp, Wellness

In-House and Outsourcing: Why Corporate Wellness Needs Both

While some corporate wellness practises have changed over the years, most things have remarkably stayed the same. For years, employers have been told to outsource their wellness promotion, administration and delivery, but does that approach to looking after employee wellbeing still hold true today? For the answer, we turned to Rob J. Thurston, President of HR Consulting Group and Bart Sheeler, co-founder of ActivHealth International, in order to take a real time look at the current approach to Wellness Programmes.

 

According to Thurston and Sheeler, ‘Most companies have heard of, would like to implement, or may have even attempted to offer a wellness programme. However, most have found they are too busy fighting tough economic times and watching expenses trying to make a profit to divert attention or expenses into the intangible world of wellness. While the concept of wellness may seem to be much more philosophical than the task of producing a product or service for a profit, they really have more in common than not. As companies strive to improve their processes and focus on the bottom line “health” of their business, the same happens to be true for their most valued assets, their employees. The happier and healthier the employee population, the better the productivity and lower the health care costs against trend – all of which add up to help improve the company’s bottom line.’

 

So how do you implement your own wellness programme without taking your eye off the day-to-day responsibilities of your business? ‘Respecting your culture and designing a programme that meets the unique needs of your population are essential in building a wellness programme,’ say Thurston and Sheeler. ‘We recommend surveying your employees to see what interests them and noting what the circumstances are specific to your company. Do you have one location, branch offices, multiple shifts and/or remote sales staff? All these factors will ultimately need consideration when you sit down to design your programme.’ So that’s that, then, no need to outsource your company’s wellness needs? Not according to Thurston and Sheeler.

 

The wellness experts write, ‘We believe that certain items must remain under your control, while other features will be better delivered via outsourced solutions. With this in mind, the question is not whether it makes sense for a company to offer a wellness programme, but more importantly, how to incorporate a programme that will capture the attention of the employees, drive engagement on a personal level and ultimately create a culture of health improvement. Every company is different, so the solutions will not all look the same. The key is to match a company’s available “internal” resources with a complimentary set of outsourced “external” resources.’

 

In terms of what you can do internally, it again comes down to culture. ‘Outside influences can be enlisted,’ note Thurston and Sheeler. ‘But in the end, your employees are internal and will shape your culture from the ground up. There are internal components that must be maintained within the company to be effective. Leadership must be involved, “walking the talk” and communications that are reinforced through internal “programme champions” are a necessity to be successful in the integration of healthy living into a company’s culture.’

 

So what do you outsource for? Thurston and Sheeler explain, ‘Employers use outsourcing to maintain or improve service to employees; reduce workload to existing staff; reduce programme costs; and to free up resources to focus on other key objectives, like building their widgets for a profit…Such firms will offer Health Risk Appraisals, Biometric testing, onsite Fitness and Challenges, onsite coaching, online coaching and a variety of platforms that offer real-time programming via internet access.’

Categories: company, corporate wellness, corporate wellness programme, culture, outsourcing, Programme, real time, sheeler, thurston, Wellness, Wellness Programme

Wellness Programmes: Should You Offer Employees Incentives?

It used to be that implementing an employee wellness programme meant simply putting a few posters up in the office encouraging people to take care of their wellbeing. Some companies may have stretched as far as having a gym in the office, but that was really about it. Nowadays, however, businesses are starting to plough real money into programmes, using cash incentives – or even penalties – to get workers in better shape.

 

In fact, according to a recent survey from Fidelity Investments and the National Business Group on Health, nearly 90% of employers offer wellness incentives, or financial rewards or prizes to employees who work toward getting healthier. In 2009, this number was at a mere 57% in comparison, and the perks were lower too. Four years ago, the average US employee might expect an incentive of $260, but now they can rake in an average of $521. Fidelity benefits consultant Adam Stavisky comments, ‘They feel that if they pay more they’ll get a better result.’ But is this really the case? Stephanie Pronk, health and wellness consultant with Aon AON, argues, ‘Incentives themselves are not the silver bullet. It’s really important to change up the incentive design and keep people on their toes.’ With that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the popular incentive programmes in use today.

 

1. Educational/Awareness Incentives: Jen Wieczner, a reporter for The Wall Street Journal’s MarketWatch, explains, ‘Companies offer rewards for completing activities that include an assessment of their personal health and risk factors. These can range from filling out a questionnaire about family medical history, diet and fitness routine, to taking a biometric screening for cholesterol, blood pressure and other factors.’ The Lockton Benefit Group state that your incentives need to be worth at least £60 to get about 75% of employees to participate, otherwise you’re looking at a participation rate of 30-50%. The pros here are that you introduce your workers to healthy behaviour and personal risk factors, as well as being able to tailor future endeavours to employee needs. However, your workers about their health risks won’t necessarily lead them to take action.

 

2. Incentives Based on Actions: In this wellness programme, your employees take action to improve their health to earn awards or to avoid penalties. Houston city employees, for example, have to complete three tasks in order to avoid a $25 monthly payroll surcharge. These include filling out a health-risk assessment, taking a biometric screening, talking to a health coach, signing up for a programme like Weight Watchers or getting a screening such as a mammogram. As a result, 90% of employees have completed three of the tasks or more, so you can see how motivational this model is. However, the con of this model is that the incentives don’t encourage long term healthy behaviour, only enough to complete the required programmes.

 

3. Everything-But-the-Kitchen-Sink Incentives: You offer your employees incentives for an array of tasks, with bigger and complex tasks corresponding to bigger rewards. The plus point of this approach is that you give your workers to freedom to choose their own health activities, which they enjoy. JetBlue Airways Corp is one such company who goes in for DIY incentives, offering anything from $25 for a teeth cleaning, to $400 for completing an Ironman triathlon. Pronk notes that a wellness programme that lays out a tempting trail to follow will have more success keeping people involved. Still, the variety of options can be overwhelming for your employees, and you might be wasting your money on activities that aren’t effectively addressing your workers’ biggest health problems.

Categories: biometric screening, corporate wellness programmes, employees, employees incentives, health, healthy behaviour, incentives, Pros and Cons, risk factors, Wellness, Wellness Programme