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Wellness In The Workplace
September 2009
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How About a "Healthy Holiday" Season?

It may be hard to believe, but the holiday season is fast-approaching. If you've been thinking about initiating the LoneStart Wellness 63-Day Team Esteem Challenge in your organization this year-now's the time. We like a minimum of three weeks to generate interest and excitement. It's early September, and there's still time to initiate and conclude a Challenge before Thanksgiving. This is a great time to integrate wellness into your organization-employees are motivated to work through the holiday season making healthier choices, and can look forward to starting the New Year with optimism rather than regret. CONTACT US for details and scheduling availability.

Choices
Maximize Your Wellness Program through Behavioral Economics

If you're wondering what behavioral economics has to do with a wellness program, you're probably not alone. Think "choice." Think how and why decisions are made.

We know people make healthy resolutions-and we know they have trouble following through. We know financial incentives are useful in creating participation in a wellness program, but we also know alone they are not enough. We know too, that creating a sustainable Culture of Wellness will reduce health care spending and improve employee satisfaction.

You can measure ROI, you can see presenteeism and absenteeism, and you can see health care premiums increase. But, behavioral economics-well, it's not just an abstract thing. You can actually do things with it; you can make it work for you.

We make decisions every day, ranging from investments we make to what we eat to what we wear and to whom we see-and sometimes we choose poorly. The simple premise of behavioral economics is based on the fact that we humans are not perfect in our decisions. Therefore, by creating (or by someone creating for us) decision-making environments that allow us to make better choices, most of us will end up making decisions that are ultimately in our best interest.

Here's the basic concept and how it ties-in to wellness: Since people often procrastinate, when an employer automatically signs up existing employees and new hires for a company-sponsored wellness program it lets them know wellness is important to the organization. Almost immediately, employees are headed in the right direction of making better wellness, activity and nutritional choices. You can't force employees to participate, and they would always have the option to "opt out," but in doing so are in effect saying, "Wellness is not important to me." This becomes a program "design default" much like the contract you sign when you rent a car-you have to actively opt out of the included automatic insurance default.

These are the same principles that are used to increase enrollment in 401(k) plans and they are effective tools when used to achieve better participation and overall involvement in employee wellness programs. By making "wellness" a choice default, organizations can make it easier for their employees to buy-in to wellness. If you would like information on how LoneStart Wellness incorporates behavioral economics and design defaults into its Employee Workplace Wellness Initiative, please contact us: information@lonestartnow.com.
compass
Before Embarking On Your Organization's Journey to Wellness . . .

Stay on course with the "LoneStart Guide to a Successful Wellness Initiative."

If your goal is to encourage employees to take individual preventive measures by making better and more positive behavior choices - you're on course. If your goal is to make an investment in your employees', and in their families' health - you're on course. If your goal is to reduce health care costs, attract talented and motivated employees, reduce absenteeism and presenteeism and improve employee morale - you're on course.

To complete this metaphor, before you can reach your destination (desired outcome) you need a map. That map will provide you with the direction and guidance with which you can reach those "distant wellness shores." (LoneStart Wellness calls this our "outcome-oriented operating plan.") This map, or plan, will link your wellness initiative to your organization's strategic priorities. It will "legitimize" your program in the eyes of your employees, which will increase the likelihood of their full participation. It will also provide continuity in your wellness efforts when you have new hires.

Your map to a successful wellness journey should include the following:
  • Vision - What are you trying to achieve with a wellness initiative? What are the organization's values that will drive the program, and what are the ultimate goals you want to accomplish?
  • Timeline - When do you want to implement the program?
  • Implementation Plan - How will you promote the program to your employees? How will you engage those employees most at risk? How will you ensure maximum program participation? (CLICK HERE to see what LoneStart suggests.)
  • Evaluation - You don't want your program to end (remember this is about the journey), but you do want to evaluate its success. Did you achieve, or surpass your expected results? Were your goals realistic? Do you need to adjust your objectives or strategies? Perhaps most important, how do the employees participating in the program feel about what they accomplished?

None of these points alone represent a destination, but together they will get you well on the way to a sustainable Culture of Wellness. Your successful wellness initiative is really just the beginning of the journey.
peanuts
Snack Attack and Snack Packs: Just 100 Calories . . . Really?

Something to chew on. Please copy and share with employees and co-workers.

Do good things always come in small packages? You've seen the 100 calorie Snack Packs. Makes sense - or does it? The Journal of Consumer Research has found that because of the smaller packaged portions, consumers tend to actually eat more (almost twice as much), because hunger is not satiated. It appears that many of the convenience snacks (cookies, chips, crackers) cost more (you're paying for the convenience of the packaging) than their full-size counterparts -and because of the lack of fiber, protein and healthy fats, actually encourage consumers to eat more. When hunger isn't satisfied, it leads to further snacking, and the consumption of still more calories during the day.

We are clearly a nation of snackers. In fact, data shows that virtually every household purchases some form of snack food during the course of a year. Leading the way is the Salty Snacks category, which includes products such as potato chips, pretzels, popcorn and cheese snacks, with 98 percent household penetration.

Cookies and chocolate candy are next with 95 percent of U.S. households purchasing these categories on an annual basis. The purchasing of these categories is not an occasional or infrequent indulgence.

So what to do?

Here are a few suggestions: (You can also download our "Snack Attack: 100 Calorie Snacks" PDF for still more 100 calorie snacking tips.)
  • 15 strawberries dipped in ¼ cup Cool Whip Lite
  • Vitalicious Apple Berry Muffin
  • ½ small apple with 2 teaspoons peanut butter
  • 45 steamed or roasted edamame (green soybeans)
  • 20 roasted peanuts (shells on so you have to shell them to eat them)
  • 40 Rold Gold Classic Style Pretzel Sticks
  • 40 Pepperidge Farm whole grain cheddar Goldfish (eat them one at a time, not by the handful)
  • 10 Guiltless Gourmet Baked Yellow Corn Chips with ¼ cup salsa
  • 1 hard-boiled egg with 1 slice Melba toast

And remember this when the snack attack hits: Consuming just 100 fewer calories a day can prevent the average American's 2 pound annual weight gain.

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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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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

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