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Wellness In The Workplace
June 2008
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Check out our new blog

We've entered the blogosphere.

Our "LoneStart Wellness and Well-Being" blog itself may not be as edgy and entertaining as some of those posted by teenagers sitting around blogging in their pajamas, but the information you find here should be valuable and worthwhile. You can access the blog from our website (it's one of the menu buttons) at: www.lonestartnow.com. Please sign up for notification of new posts, please comment, offer feedback (good or bad, but we prefer good) and ask questions. That's what we're here for.

Looking Forward
Viral Wellness / Healthy Profits

Workplace wellness programs are not only good for employees, the benefits are contagious.

An estimated 30 to 45 percent of medical claims are directly attributable to lifestyle choices such as obesity, smoking, alcohol abuse, and physical inactivity. Many companies now believe that if they directly approach those bad employee choices, and do so with a positive approach, something good will begin to show up on the profit-and-loss statement.

It overstates the obvious to point out that employee wellness programs are no longer "nice frills." They go straight to the bottom-line, as evidenced by the emphasis organizations are putting on reducing the cost of healthcare. And, it's no secret that healthcare costs are now viewed as a significant financial concern, often with unfortunate consequences (directly effecting employees) when organizations look at ways to cut costs. It's while companies are looking to lessen the utilization of healthcare, that wellness comes into play.

Following are a few recent figures to consider:

  • A Cornell University study (Dec. 2007) recently reported that obesity-related sick days cost employers $4.3 billion a year in 2004 dollars.
  • The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports that in 2008, 44 percent of the payroll expenses in the average business will go straight to paying the bills for employee benefits.
  • Lost time adds 50 percent more to an employer's health care expenditures. (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)
  • Obesity is now more costly to U.S. companies than smoking or alcoholism. (The Conference Board)

It takes time to build a culture of wellness. It happens over time, step by step, employee by employee. That's what viral wellness is about. And unless company leadership "catches" it, really gets it, it will never be fully integrated into the organization's culture - which means the advantages of a strategic wellness program won't be fully realized. When top executives show they too value wellness, it motivates other employees to join in. The benefits are contagious, reflected in healthy employees and healthy profits.
Wellness Goals
Planning a Wellness Strategy

Planning a wellness initiative can be pretty unappealing in our already "time-challenged" working lives.

We know because we hear "it's on the back-burner" on a pretty regular basis. What we don't hear much of is: "We don't need a wellness program because all of our employees are healthy."

So, if you're even thinking about implementing a wellness initiative (here's the pitch for LoneStart), the following five Steps and Actions will help in the decision-making process.

Step 1: Identify the goals you hope to accomplish with your organization's wellness strategy.
ACTION: Categorize the main goals. Do you want to increase productivity, reduce healthcare utilization, reduce absenteeism, let your employees know you care about their well-being, or simply improve bottom-line profit? (The American Institute for Preventive Medicine says approximately 50 percent of corporate profits now go toward health care costs.)

Step 2: Describe the type of structure it will take your organization to reach its wellness goals.
ACTION: List what roles will be required, who can fill those roles and what elements, if any, may already be in place. This will help you identify where there is the greatest need with respect to time, available personnel, and whether you want to implement a complete turnkey program, or just a few "wellness components."

Step 3: Estimate participation.
ACTION: We know that almost 65 percent of our population is overweight or obese, and that 40 percent report they are physically inactive. If your organization fits within these averages, you can use them as a predictor of top-side estimated participation. In a recent survey, we found that those who have implemented the LoneStart Wellness Initiative in their workplace experienced participation levels between 35 and 100 percent, with the average about 64 percent.

Step 4: Determine your budget.
ACTION: The cost of wellness programs varies greatly. These costs are in part dependent on the number of components included in the program, whether or not full medical assessments are provided, the length of time for which you must commit to the program, and whether special materials or equipment will be required. (As a rule-of-thumb, consider that the Research Triangle Institute, National Business Group on Health reports that if you have 100 employees, you're likely spending $5,800 per month, or $58 per employee on overweight / obesity-related healthcare expenses.)

Step 5: Here's the second part of the LoneStart pitch.
ACTION: CONTACT US for a full proposal for your organization.
pills
Medicated America

For more background into the statistics presented here, be sure to look at our new LoneStart blog, Wellness and Well-Being . and the post, "Take Your Wellness Pills?" The numbers gathered by Medco Health Solutions Inc. (which manages prescription benefits for about one in five Americans), point out how big this problem is. Last year 51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, including:

  • Almost two-thirds of women 20 and older
  • One in four children and teenagers
  • 52 percent of adult men
  • Three out of four people 65 or older

The study also highlights the surge in medications used to treat children's weight-related problems, including illnesses such as Type 2 diabetes, which were previously considered adult problems. "The scarier problem is that body weights are so much higher in children in general, and so we're going to have larger numbers of adults who develop high blood pressure or abnormal cholesterol or diabetes at an earlier age," said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.

We hope you will share this information with your employees, and encourage them to share with their families. For things to get better rather than worse, it will take all of us to change the way we manage our own health and wellness.

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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.

Please share Wellness in the Workplace with colleagues.

Please forward this newsletter to friends and associates who will benefit from a workplace wellness strategy such as the LoneStart Wellness Initiative.

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