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Wellness In The Workplace
April 2009
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Crunching Numbers
Do You See Wellness as an Expense or Investment?

How you view wellness, and how you choose to address it can mean the difference between health care savings, or greater costs.

Health care is now the largest expense, on average, facing U.S. businesses today. And given today's current economic climate, organizations and individuals are carefully evaluating those costs.

We find that too many organizations approach health (and wellness and wellness programs) as an expense. We all know that anything that loses value with time, such as a car or boat, is an expense. If an individual has health insurance, they or their organization pays on average between $8,000 and $14,000 per year. That's not necessarily for health care - that's for insurance. And, having health insurance is not the same as being healthy. This too can be viewed as an expense because it does not accrue any value.

So, what happens when we begin to look at wellness as an investment? First of all, when employees become personally involved in their own wellness, they and their employers begin to see benefits. It doesn't take much improvement to show a positive return on a wellness program. Employee participants often see health improvement even before financial returns become apparent. The positive results are cumulative over time so the longer the program is in place, the more potential it has to truly impact an employer's bottom line.

According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Principle Financial Group, "wellness is working and American workers realize participating in such programs won't only improve health, but will actually lower their personal health care costs."

The "sickness business" is reactive. People become customers only when they are incapacitated. On the other hand, the "wellness business" is proactive. People voluntarily become customers - to feel healthier, to reduce the effects of aging, and to avoid becoming customers of the sickness business. The goal is to move "customers" to this earlier-stage, proactive approach to health.

It's important to note that wellness is not about a fad or trend. It's an infinite need, one that permeates into what we eat, how active we are, how we work, how well we age, and almost every other aspect of our lives. It doesn't lose value over time, but rather increases in value while actually reducing future expenses. This is an investment, in wellness, in ourselves and in our long-term financial well-being.
Truth
An Important Truth

Businesses and organizations, employers and employees are realizing an important truth -- and maybe looking to a new direction.

Productivity, growth, and employee health are interdependent. And, this is exactly why businesses are looking closely at wellness programs that encourage and produce the lifestyle behavior changes that directly increase productivity and decrease absenteeism and health care costs.

In today's economic climate, some organizations feel the timing is not right for wellness, or that they can't afford to consider a wellness program for their organization. The real question is, can an organization afford not to consider a wellness program? As an employer, you might be surprised at how little an effective wellness program can cost. (CONTACT US if you would like us to send you an estimate of what it would cost your organization to implement the LoneStart Wellness Team Esteem Challenge.)

Your employees' lifestyle choices contribute to chronic illness -- and ultimately higher health insurance costs. The heaviest employees file twice as many workers' comp claims than do normal weight employees, and their medical costs are seven times higher. Today chronic illness accounts for two-thirds of a company's health care expenditure, yet 80 percent of all chronic disease is the result of three preventable health behaviors-physical inactivity, poor nutrition and overeating, and smoking.

Finally, how do you justify your investment in wellness when it takes time to realize a documentable ROI on your wellness efforts? When employees are introduced to the shared vision and mutually supporting benefits of creating a Culture of Wellness within their organization, they tend to view it as an opportunity rather than a burden, and with the right presentation, it becomes an opportunity they readily respond to. When an organization sees a Culture of Wellness emerging, sees healthy, happy and engaged employees, and sees health insurance costs not going up and in some cases going down -- that's the justification.
Karma
More than "Just a Wellness Program"

When Scott County Hospital in Scott City, Kansas decided to implement the LoneStart Wellness Initiative, it wasn't the first time they set-out to promote wellness for employees.

Karma Huck, COO, says the hospital had in the past held weight loss contests that were only beneficial to those who participated, and that participation was significantly lower than with LoneStart. "LoneStart is a program and a process that is ongoing, where as the previous weight loss contests were one time activities that did not incorporate behavior modification or any element of learning regarding healthy eating and physical activity. Lone Start brought us an on-going process that has no end as long as we keep promoting the principles. It is a lifetime lifestyle," says Huck. (CLICK to read "Good Karma . . . Living Well With Cancer)

Huck says implementing the LoneStart Wellness strategy provided employees with the tools they needed to make sustainable changes. Participation and enthusiasm strengthened the camaraderie among associates, and resulted in an increased awareness of and participation in healthier behaviors both at home and in the workplace. She points out that, "LoneStart is often used as an example of the teamwork process when other aspects of the organization are being discussed."

The hospital now has a more unified workforce and staff who feel better about themselves and are still working at improving their personal wellness. "We are positive this has, and will continue to result in lower healthcare utilization and increased productivity," says Huck. Employees too, have benefitted from the program's implementation. Huck says she sees an improved sense of well-being, and pride in being a part of a positive self-improvement process, stemming from working together as teams and supporting each other in their wellness efforts.

Huck points out both the strengths and weaknesses of the LoneStart strategy. As for program strengths, she says it is easy-to-implement and easy to understand and follow "because it is founded on evidence-based practices of behavioral management, nutrition and physical activity." The weakest component: "It is so simple and affordable that people may not take it seriously enough or put enough faith in it as they might a program that costs ten times as much or requires special foods, supplements and specific activity requirements." Huck adds that programs such as these might result in temporary weight loss, but do not require the participant to develop life skills that will sustain meaningful changes to last a lifetime. (CLICK our latest Blog post and tell us what you think)

Developing a lasting Culture of Wellness is our challenge, says Huck. "We need to keep the program visible so that it becomes a part of our culture. We want to develop the expectation that at Scott County Hospital our associates engage in healthier behaviors - because that is what we do."

Huck adds that "for the most part" employees were eager and excited about the opportunity LoneStart offered, and that she is encouraged by the number of associates still actively working on improving their wellness. "The satisfaction and gratification of providing a solid opportunity for people who were ready to make changes to their personal well-being, and seeing the success of those who have stayed with it has been personally satisfying."

As for the greatest challenge - Huck says initially it was getting the CEO to understand the need and agree to bring LoneStart to the company. "Now, it's helping people understand and go from passive to active and empowered."
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News From LoneStart

We are pleased to announce three new additions to our Advisory Board. We know they will bring new insight, ideas and enthusiasm to the LoneStart Wellness strategy.

Ruth "Raz" Cook, MSN, FACHE, Administrator ETMC Fairfield, Fairfield, Texas, has an ADN from Hillsboro Community College, Tampa FL; BSN from Baylor University School of Nursing in Dallas, Texas; and an MSN from the University of Texas at Tyler. In Nursing, Raz says roles included medical surgery, orthopedics, critical care, liver transplant, nursing education and nursing administration. From there, she moved into hospital administration and management ten years ago with ETMC Fairfield. "I never imagined how a nursing degree would open up various career paths. My clinical experience assists in management and leadership decisions every day. My work is recession proof and personally very rewarding."

Karma Huck, RD, LD, graduated from Kansas State University in 1983 with a degree in Dietetics. She is currently COO at Scott County Hospital, Scott City, Kansas. She was in private practice as a consultant dietitian for 12 years, and as a dietitian at Scott County Hospital for two years, before becoming COO in 1997. Karma has served as CPI chairman, Public relations chairman, and CDR State Reviewer with the American Dietetic Association and Kansas Dietetic Association, and she has been active on the state meeting planning and bylaws review committees. With the Western Kansas District Dietetic Association she has served as President and Vice President, and has served as Chairman and Chair Elect with the Kansas Consultant Dietitians Practice Group.

Kinnie Parker, MPH, CHES, is Program Coordinator for health initiatives at Nacogdoches Memorial Hospital in Nacogdoches, Texas. She conducts health education events and assesses chronic and mental health needs in Nacogdoches County. She is Secretary for the Deep East Texas Regional Advisory Council (DETRAC), and is Secretary for the Nacogdoches Community AED Taskforce. She facilitates strategic planning with the Healthy Nacogdoches Coalition, and works with a group of community members to improve the heart and stroke health of Nacogdoches county residents through community driven initiatives and environmental change efforts.

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If your organization is ready to take responsibility for promoting healthy lifestyles and a healthy work environment, LoneStart is an effective, low-cost and easy-to-administer employee wellness program, which functions equally well as a stand-alone initiative or as a high-impact jump-start to existing or proposed employee wellness strategies.

Contact us today to find out how the LoneStart Wellness Initiative will change your workplace.

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A Challenge. An Opportunity. A Solution.
The LoneStart Wellness Initiative
phone: 512.894.3440