Employee Health Promotion

A Employee Health Promotion is an all-inclusive program to help and support employees in establishing healthier lifestyles. This can include increasing employee awareness on health issues, scheduling behavior modification programs, and/or establishing business policies that support health-related objectives. Programs and policies that encourage increased physical activity, tobacco use prevention and cessation, and healthy diet selections are a few examples.

Dimensions of Wellness

Wellness is more than just physical fitness alone. In addition to physical fitness, the scope of optimal health include:

• Spiritual Wellness
• Emotional Wellness
• Social Wellness
• Intellectual Wellness

These dimensions are often depicted as a “life wheel” with examples of health dimensions that include fitness, diet, purpose in life, financial health, social health & backing systems, stress management, mind-body health, career planning and continued learning. The key to personal health is keeping the “life wheel” in allignment. A inclusive wellness program addresses most, if not all, of these dimensions.

Why Employee Health Promotion Programs?

employees spend a great deal of time working, and the fact of the matter is that our traditional work-week is growing. In fact, the typical American now works about 47 hours every week. Plus, items such as modems, laptop computers, cellular phones, voice and email have made vague the line between life and work. These realities cut down on the amount of time that the average individual is able to devote to wellbeing and health pursuits, and yet employees are predicted to be at top performance when at work. A current study conducted by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses observed that workplace wellness or Employee Health Promotion Programs are successful in supporting employees to make positive health changes due to several factors such as convenience, environmental backing, and co-worker or social acceptance.

What’s the Association between Wellness and the Workplace?

Programs and policies that encourage healthy lifestyles have the potential to make a large difference on employee wellness AND have an influence on the business’s bottom line. Studies show that for each dollar invested by employers in Employee Health Promotion Programs/wellness programs, there were savings between $1.49 to $4.91 with a median savings of $3.14*. In business jargon, that’s more than a 3:1 minimum ROI – a number that is hard to ignore, and a best practice that ought to draw serious consideration from employers. In fact, a Employee Health Promotion literature review posted in Health Promotion Practitioner Journal observed:

• 19 studies observed a 28.3% decrease in sick leave
• 16 studies shown a 5.6:1 ROI
• 23 showed a 26.1% decline in healthcare costs

4 observed a 30% decline in direct healthcare and workers’ compensation claims There is little doubt that a inclusive wellness program designed to meet a business’s specific needs can save money by reducing absenteeism, lowering healthcare expenditures, lowering employee turnover, and increasing productivity. The United States Department of Health & Human Services, 2003