Employee wellness programs are now being offered to 50% of Indiana Hoosiers. A quality wellness program for a business can be delivered depending on the need for the employees. The program should specializes in evidenced based methods that make a difference in reducing risk factors and managing chronic diseases. Does the program provide 3 essential elements?
Does the program assess areas of need, determining the number of employees who smoke, averaging the blood pressure, BMI, and blood sugars annually to identify and monitor the problems? Employees with these risk factors lead to chronic health conditions of strokes, heart and lung diseases. Employees with chronic diseases spend 80% of the insurance dollars reported by IU Nursing Faculty, Glechman and Meek in 2011.
Does the program provide interactive ongoing onsite group programs for employees to be engaged and provide personalized, face to face, individual wellness coach for each employee? The program should provide resources to reduce anxieties, depressions, and stress. The program should be diverse and culturally sensitive. Provisions for confidential screening and coaching are based on privacy laws. These are the elements of a wellness program supported by Gibson, 2013.
Analysis of the wellness program is important to determine if the program is making a difference. Has the number of smokers reduced by 20% in 2 years? Is there a reduction in number of claims and ER visits? Are your employees satisfied with the program? Employee retention is important to drive a positive work flow for continuing profits.
The other 50% of employees may not yet have a wellness program. Smaller employers with less than 50 employees have a hard time funding a program. There are opportunities to providing a cost effective on site program to meet the needs of employees. A stressed out employee from a small business is just as likely to suffer from chronic disease as the employee working for a larger business. The difference may be the loss of an employee from a smaller business may be more detrimental in terms of loss of productivity and profits.
The average time employees’ ages 25 to 54 with children spend at work is over 30% of the 24 available hours. Employers are looking for ways to provide benefits that mean something to their employees and can also cut health care cost. For more information, contact wellnessprogram@cardinalelements.com.
Leave a Reply