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Wellness In The Workplace
March 2007
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Workplace Wellness Challenges
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Gambling with (or without) Wellness Solutions

Are we gambling with our long-term wellness? We all have our less than desirable habits. And we all pay for them, one way or another. Some, we can do something about.

On average, for every 100 workers in this country, 27 have cardiovascular disease, 24 have high blood pressure, 50 or more have high cholesterol, 26 are classified as being obese, 26 smoke, ten are heavy drinkers, 60 don't wear seat belts regularly, 50 don't get adequate exercise, and 44 suffer from excessive levels of stress. (U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services) Obviously, employee groups differ based upon their demographics. For example, if you have employees with a low education level, a different age group, more women than men, your employee risks will differ.

Numerous studies have documented reductions in absenteeism and health care costs when wellness programs have been implemented. There is also research that quantifies the costs associated with employees who exhibit unhealthy lifestyles. And unfortunately, there is no “one clear answer” that works for everyone.

But there are easy and effective steps that can make a big difference.

Health promotion is most successful when implemented as a process that involves a variety of activities rather than a one-time event. The programs that tend to show the greatest return on investment involve four major components.

  • Assessment: Assessment helps determine how well your wellness program is working. More than half of all leading causes of death are caused by "lifestyle factors." This means that making wise personal choices in health practices can significantly decrease risk for disease while enhancing quality of life. Assessment means finding out what the health risks are for employees, not only looking at conditions that afflict them now, but looking at future risks based on lifestyle risk factors—and finding ways to intervene.
  • Communication Materials: Communication materials can include publications such as newsletters and e-newsletters, paycheck stuffers, pamphlets and posters. Communication with employees about wellness must be ongoing and consistent to be effective. This sets the "workplace wellness culture." These materials should be designed to work as effectively for multiple sites within an organization as for one site.
  • Self-help Materials: The field of health promotion has become more sophisticated in helping people help themselves. An advantage of self-help (materials to take home and share and incorporate into lifestyle behavior) is that employees can change their behavior on their own time and in the privacy of their own homes as well as in the workplace.
  • Group Programs: Group programs allow for interaction with other employees. We live in a time-deprived society where everyone is on the go and finding time to attend a class or time to workout has become more difficult. The LoneStart Team Esteem Program (Downloadable Teamwork pdf) addresses this issue by incorporating the principles and value of teamwork into its workplace wellness initiative.

Behaviors don't change overnight, but if you choose programs your employees can implement at work and home, and add the right incentives, you will have the opportunity to create a "culture of wellness" within your organization. You can start "small" with small first steps, and specific wellness-related targets, and still end up with big savings—and healthy employees—in the long run.

smoking
Principles of behavior modification yield unanticipated benefit for several LoneStart Workplace Wellness Initiative participants.

Wellness is many things—making the right choices to lose excess weight, becoming more physically active, finding ways to reduce stress—and if you smoke, or have employees who smoke, now is the time to expand your wellness efforts—and stop. March 28th is National Kick Butts Day.

We all know that for behavior change to be effective a person can’t be dragged into it kicking and screaming. This is where the LoneStart-based established principles of social psychology and social psychophysiology yield results. And applying these same principles of positive substitution to more than weight loss when addressing wellness issues provides even greater results.

Michael Clark, Director of Operations at Clay County Memorial Hospital has smoked for 25 years. He says he's tried to quit before but without success. "The LoneStart program's workbook, daily affirmations and other activities were a natural progression from the weight loss and wellness components to smoking cessation," says Clark. He adds the workbook helped him focus on his goal. "The break times at work when I normally smoked are spent instead in the Wellness Center on a treadmill. One day led to ten, twenty, and suddenly I found myself at 3 months without a cigarette." He is now coming up on 5 months, and has only smoked 2 cigarettes since quitting. "It's not about perfection, but progress," says Clark. "Don't give up and take each day one at a time."

Because of its prevalence and severe associated health risks, smoking is a critical health topic in the workplace. In addition to tobacco-related diseases and deaths, tobacco use results in higher absenteeism, lower productivity, and increased health care costs for employers and employees. While the LoneStart Wellness Initiative is not a smoking cessation program, the behavior modification principles as applied to weight loss and increased physical activity easily apply to smoking cessation as well, as evidenced by the success story above.

If you’re not already familiar with the costs of smoking, please READ ON for some surprising statistics, such as: Cigarette smokers are absent from work 6.5 days per year more than nonsmokers.

If you are implementing, or thinking about implementing the The LoneStart Wellness Initiative, and would like to include a smoking cessation component of the program, we can supply links, contact information and self-help tips and materials to help your employees with the willingness to do so—stop smoking.
Jimmy
Real men DON'T eat quiche is a cliche—and a falsehood. Another misconception is that "real men" can't make sound nutritional choices. Meet Master Chief Jimmy Carlisle. After 27 years in the U.S. Navy, he's what you might call a "man's man." You don't mess around with Jim, and you don't make fun of what he cooks and eats. He spends about 90 percent of his time away from his family, which makes it difficult to maintain a healthy lifestyle—but he does.

Following the LoneStart nutritional principles, Carlisle pays attention to what he chooses to put in his body—and how he stays physically active. “In my situation, I must maintain discipline every day when it comes to eating and staying active. What I like about the LoneStart principles and strategy is that they challenge you to make the right choices in your life. They are about what is proven to be healthy—not another ‘diet’ that will eventually fail. It’s about being smart and using common sense. If you can use smart nutritional and physical activity principles and choices for 21 days or 63 days, you can use them for a lifetime.”

And, says Carlisle, as in the armed forces, if you’re an employer, these are easy-to-implement strategies that will benefit your employees and their dependents.

Carlisle sees the main effort required to follow the LoneStart strategy as finding healthy nutritional alternatives rather than settling for easy fast food or prepared and packaged foods. These are the choices he and his wife choose to make because they want to live long and prosperous lives, without facing medical problems that can be prevented. (Both are 46 years old and are currently in a training cycle to run a full marathon.)

In addition to making healthy nutritional choices, Carlisle says you also have to embrace the LoneStart recommendation to look for ways to become more physically active. He says military personnel are discharged everyday due to failure to maintain the fitness standards required to perform the military mission. “Regardless of one’s occupation, it’s easy to get out of shape. The challenge is to find ways to stay in shape,” says Carlisle.

He says following the LoneStart recommendations of shopping the perimeter of the grocery store has helped. “With my schedule I look for frozen vegetables and fruits to add to my diet especially for days I’m on the go. It’s just as easy—and healthier, than grabbing a hamburger, fries and milkshake. It’s about low fat versus high and bad fat.” Birds Eye Steamed Fresh Frozen Vegetables are a favorite, which he says taste just like fresh and offer the alternative to get the daily vegetable allowance without fat or other additives. “Reading labels, as LoneStart suggests, is simple. You might spend a few extra dollars on better food, but consider the extra years you might be adding by making healthier choices.”

Carlisle says his personal philosophy includes drinking water rather than soda, eating well and finding ways to work physical activity into every day. “As I get older and wiser, I realize how important it is to apply the power of knowledge about making ‘right’ choices throughout life. I plan to live a long, healthy life, and feel the LoneStart principles I’ve embraced will help me achieve that goal.”

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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 21-Day Wellness Initiative will change your workplace.

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A Challenge. An Opportunity. A Solution.
The LoneStart 21-Day Wellness Initiative
phone: 512.894.3440