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Corporate Wellness Program
With growing focus on employee health, corporate wellness programs are increasingly becoming the order of the day. Research done by American Sports Data shows those individuals who exercise frequently stayed home from work on an average 2.11 days annually compared to 3.06 days for individuals who were sedentary. These statistics alone stress the importance of setting up corporate wellness programs.
Employers are now expected to create safe work environments, improve employee health and implement strategies that reduce medical costs as well as increase employee morale and on-the-job efficiency. Organizations are expected to meet the health standards set by local and state regulatory agencies. Corporate wellness programs can be customized to meet these goals. Your company needs should first be assessed so a corporate wellness program may be designed to best meet and fulfill these needs.
You may hire outside or inside help to assist you with the various aspects of setting up and maintaining a corporate wellness program. A corporate wellness program needs to look into details such as employee health improvement, executive health program, health and productivity planning, wellness facility planning, on-site health care, equipment services and worker’s compensation management.
There are external agencies that provide services such as health risk assessments (including lab tests), weight management, disease prevention and management, diabetes management and smoking cessation programs. They also provide on-site health screenings such as drug screenings, blood pressure and cholesterol screenings and mobile mammography services. Some agencies conduct on-site exercise programs as well as seminars on AED training, First Aid, CPR and other related topics.
A corporate wellness program should also provide injury management by way of on-site physical therapy, prompt referral to specialists and comprehensive network of health care providers.
Wellness programs demonstrate to employees that their health is important and that their employers know and care about this aspect. Statistics demonstrate that employees who exercise regularly and lead healthy life styles incur 31% lower health care costs than employees who live sedentary, unhealthy lifestyles. Almost 50% of medical costs are incurred due to illnesses that can be avoided with small life-style changes. Corporations have begun to realize the importance of healthy employees and are working encourage employees to lead increasingly healthier lifestyles.
Corporate wellness programs are well worth the time and effort invested in them. The success record of companies utilizing these programs indicates that an employee who is happy and healthy is more productive and motivated, stays away from work due to illness less often and remains employed with the company for a longer time. Investing in employee’s health is beneficial to the employee as well as to the company.Custom designed comprehensive corporate wellness programs have proven to be beneficial and cost effective to the employer as well as the employee in the long run.