Why Worksite Health Promotion Is Important

Why Worksite Health Promotion???

Employers across the country are asking questions related to why worksite health promotion is so important, the benefits, and why they should get involved. The main reason that employee wellness programs are becoming increasing popular is because most businesses are struggling to keep their heads above water due to the declining economy and the rising cost of health care.

It is not a huge surprise that health care is rising at a fast pace. For most employers they have seen an average of a 12% per year increase, if not more, for several straight years. Now they are searching for ways to continue to provide health insurance for employees while at the same time--keep their doors open.

Not only is the cost of medical treatment skyrocketing but the implications of society's unhealthy lifestyles choices (i.e. physical inactivity, tobacco use, and overweight/obesity) are also a direct hit on these increases in costs.

Over 200 million US adults are active in the workforce today. We spend the majority of our waking hours at work. Lack of time, resources, and often motivation are the key factors as to why the health of workers today continues to decline.

Providing comprehensive worksite health promotion programs is one strategy that the federal government has in place to help improve our nation's health status (i.e.Healthy People 2010). Another one recently proposed but not yet passed is a tax credit for employers implementing employee wellness programs.

Currently, among worksite with 750 employees, only 50% of employers provide health promotion programs to their workforce. The smaller the company, the lesser the prevalence of these type of programs.

For example:

> 38% with 250-749 employees

> 33% with 50-249 employees

> 34% with less than 50 employees

One of the main reasons smaller businesses are hesitant about employee wellness is largely due to lack of funding and other resources (i.e, staff to manage programs). Corporate wellness is a good investment. As time passes and cost continue to rise employers, large or small, will begin to invest in health and wellness.

Here are some of the latest statistics to support the need for corporate health and wellness programs. Feel free to use them while you create support for a wellness program at your organization.

>Approximately 95% of the $1.4 TRILLION that we spend as a nation on health care costs goes directly to medical services while approximately ONLY 5% is allocated to preventing disease and promoting health. Health Needs

>At least 70% of all health care claims are due to modifiable health risks (i.e. smoking, obesity, alcohol use) that are 100% preventable.

>The excess costs of an employee that smokes is $960 per year, $401 for excess weight, $370 for high cholesterol, and $343 for high blood pressure.

>If an employee has 2 out of the 3 of these risks factors, you can see it really adds up to total costs to have them as an employee.

>Healthy employees are generally happier, more satisfied, and more productive in their work as well as their personal life.

>65% of US adults are not actively engaged in regular physical activity and--more than 30% of adult Americans are OBESE!

As you can tell there is a need for employee wellness and not just for adults, but children as well. Worksite health promotion is just a great way to meet the needs of the masses all in one location! When an employee that is also a spouse or parent learns something at work about improving their health they share the information with their family as well.

The most common worksite health promotion programs offered as part of a wellness program include health appraisals and screenings, nutrition, weight loss/management, physical fitness, stress reduction/management, financial wellness, employee assistance programs (EAP), tobacco/smoking cessation, and also environmental policies.

Wellness programs are not all equal

Wellness programs in the workplace vary among all businesses. Cookie cutter wellness do not work for everyone, nor should they! Taking time to collect the appropriate data will ensure that you make the best decisions for your program.

Employers must be willing to invest time, money, and energy into their employee programs. A high return on investment will not be achieved through "chinsy" wellness programming. Take time to review a few successful wellness tips before you get started!

Employers must understand that wellness, like safety, is key to their business's longevity and will save them thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars if done appropriately. Employee wellness has the attention of CEO's, human resource managers, and other business leaders across the country and many are seeking answers to the following questions: