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Wellness In The Workplace
March 2010
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Workplace Wellness in 2010 . . . Now More Than Ever, It Pays to Have a Healthy Workforce

If nothing else, the health care reform debate / argument has focused some much-needed attention on the prevention and wellness side of health promotion.

Wellness and health promotion programs are gaining greater publicity due to the increased support of this national agenda, with some health insurance companies developing their own wellness programs for their employer groups. While we all agree "wellness is a good thing," the danger lies in employing strategies that create the expectation of success without providing the essential toolkit to achieve sustainable change in vital wellness behaviors. Failure means further alienating that segment of our population (and of your employees) who most need to take charge of their personal health and wellness.

So, how do you know what will work for you-- and what won't? And, how do you know your employees will participate?

In a July 2009 survey conducted by the National Business Group on Health, nearly half of employees said work demands prevent them from having a healthier life. (That poll was taken before the full brunt of the economic downturn was felt.) From your employees' perspective, these "demands" result in stress and time constraints (time to shop for healthier foods, cook the food you don't have time to shop for, find ways to incorporate physical activity into a daily lifestyle that leaves no extra time) among other factors associated with a healthy lifestyle.

At the same time employees vent their frustrations, from an employer's perspective, many organizations are looking for ways to scale back, and no matter how effective a wellness program is, wellness is still an expense--or is it? Looking at wellness as an investment, it doesn't take much improvement to make a wellness initiative pay off (less than a 1% reduction in risk factors.) In general, employers can earn back the cost of a wellness program if they can reduce risk factors by less than .2% (yes, that is point 2 percent, not 2%).

Then there are the "soft" savings. The reason the value of a wellness program may be questioned in the first place, is because many of the savings are "soft." Even with the sharpest pencil, no one can put a real dollar figure on the cost of claims not incurred. For instance, if someone loses weight they may not have a heart attack or get diabetes. How do you measure the savings? You can't predict that that individual would have had either one or what the care would have cost. But, you can look at statistics and the increases in health insurance premiums and get a pretty good idea. And, if your organization follows national averages, 66 percent of your employees--and their dependents are overweight, with 33 percent of those, obese.

Yes, there are underlying factors that drive unhealthy lifestyle choices--but a wellness program (CLICK HERE to find out more about LoneStart Wellness) based on sustainable behavior change and lifestyle modification can yield favorable outcomes that affect your bottom line as well as your overall corporate culture.

More and more, wellness is "shaping up" in 2010 as a business strategy--one aimed at reigning in healthcare costs and improving workforce productivity and employee statisfaction through a sustainable health improvement program. This addresses the employers' need to cut healthcare expenses and the employees' need to live a healthier lifestyle. And believe it, given the choice, and the opportunity, your employees will choose health.
Solutions Ahead
The Wellness Program for Sick Wellness Programs

Are you thinking of initiating a new, or different employee wellness program but you're not sure your employees will participate? If so, you're not alone.

By now, many employers have implemented some form of wellness initiative--and most have failed to live up to expectations. The result is that no matter how motivated they are to reduce employee health care costs, many organizations are hesitant to commit time and resources to another wellness initiative. And, employees are justifiably suspicious of yet another attempt by management to tell them how to live their lives. In a sense, both employer and employees are suffering from "wellness burn-out."

We're finding that more and more we're becoming the "Wellness Program for Sick Wellness Programs."

LoneStart Wellness has designed a series of nudges and defaults into its Team Esteem Challenge program, and we want to share some of these with you through the following questions. This list of questions is designed to engage your employees in the benefits of wellness. The LoneStart Challenge isn't intended to point out that, "some of you need to lose weight, and you'd better take part or else." It is intended to make the point that, "we can all benefit from healthier behaviors, and we can all be part of the healthcare solution rather than part of the problem."

If you're considering a wellness program and want to find out if wellness is important to your workforce, copy or print these questions and distribute them to your employees, asking them to return them to you by a certain date. Ask your employees to answer these questions "yes" or "no."

  1. Is your health and long-term wellness important to you?
  2. Is your family's health important to you?
  3. Do you want to protect your financial future?
  4. Do you want to enjoy your retirement?
  5. Do you want to maximize your investment savings and minimize your health care expenditures?
  6. Do you want to feel better, have more energy, and take fewer prescription medications?
  7. Do you want to be around to watch your children--and your grandchildren grow up?

If they answer yes to even one, or more, questions, we know from experience they will welcome a "wellness opportunity." (Our ongoing analysis shows us that typically LoneStart Wellness participation rates average 65 percent, with some employee groups reaching 90 to 100 percent participation). If they answer no (meaning living a healthy lifestyle, making healthier choices and choosing to be well is not important) you can probably conclude they won't be interested in a wellness program, and at the same time, are not interested in doing their part to help contain healthcare costs. And, this too, tells you something you probably need to know.
White Rabbit
Are You Working Your Way Through 'Wellnessland?'

This article is actually a recent Blog post. CLICK HERE for recent posts. We hope you'll share it with your employees. The idea is that we can all find opportunities to do what we may feel is "impossible" as we make our way to Wellnessland.

"I can't believe THAT!" said Alice. "Can't you?" said the Queen in a pitying tone. "Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes." Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said, "one can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
~ Lewis Carroll Through the Looking Glass

And, now you're wondering, maybe, what this has to do with wellness--specifically, LoneStart Wellness. Let's start at the top--Believe it and you'll see it! This is what LoneStart Wellness calls "Achieve and Believe." You begin to achieve your goals, you begin to believe you can continue to achieve your goals, and you achieve even more.

Believe it, it's not impossible. And when you begin to believe what you once thought impossible is actually possible, you are working your way through Wellnessland, a wondrous place indeed.

But, how do you get there in the first place, short of falling down a rabbit hole or stepping through a looking glass? Well, this part of the journey does start with a first step--and it's a step in the right direction. But, it can also be the part of false starts, failed attempts and perhaps the part where you decide it's time to give up.

"I should see the garden far better," said Alice to herself, "if I could get to the top of that hill: and here's a path that leads straight to it--at least, no, it doesn't do that--(after going a few yards along the path, and turning several sharp corners), "but I suppose it will at last. But how curiously it twists! It's more like a corkscrew than a path! Well, this turn goes to the hill, I suppose--no, it doesn't! This goes straight back to the house! Well then, I'll try it the other way."

But, don' give up. LoneStart Wellness is the "other way."

To reach "Wellnessland" you first have to believe in your ability to do so, and believe it, you can. The road to Wellnessland is yours', and it becomes a part of your individual and personal reality. It becomes real--and you make it real by creating the vision of what you want to achieve, believing it is possible, and taking the actions (those first steps) to make it real.

And this is why the road to Wellnessland is a personal journey. You alone know what LoneStart calls your "personal motivational triggers." Your motivational triggers may be very different from anyone else's. What makes them real for you is exactly what will drive you to achieve your goals, and this is the same path each of us takes. It's an individual journey--even though we can share the road along the way, each of us perhaps with a slightly different "reality" of what we will accomplish on our journey to Wellnessland. What you will accomplish is what you may have started out believing was "impossible." Now, you can believe the impossible. You have achieved, you believe, and you are in Wellnessland.

"Oh how glad I am to get here!" said Alice. "And what is this on my head? How can it have got there without my knowing it?" It was a golden crown.

When you reach Wellnessland, you too will find a "golden crown." And you'll know exactly how it got there.

LoneStart Wellness would like to acknowledge and thank Lewis Carroll for providing the inspiration for this month's "Share the Health" article.

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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

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LoneStart Wellness | P.O. Box 1188 | Dripping Springs | TX | 78620