What is Workplace Wellness?
It’s no secret that levels of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease are on the rise in the United States. Chronic diseases were once thought to affect mostly older populations, but are now becoming more common in younger populations due to risk factors such as a sedentary lifestyle, poor nutrition, tobacco use and alcohol use.
Due to concern about the impact these behaviors are having on chronic disease, employers are starting to adopt health promotion and disease prevention strategies, often referred to as workplace wellness programs. These programs aim to both prevent and treat chronic disease. Wellness programs are no longer an extra perk to employees, but rather an important and desired benefit.
Studies have found that lifestyle management interventions as part of workplace wellness programs can reduce risk factors, such as smoking, and increase healthy behaviors, such as exercise. These effects have been shown to be sustainable over time and help contain the current epidemic of lifestyle-related diseases, the main driver of premature morbidity and mortality as well as healthcare costs in the United States (1).
It’s not just the employees who benefit, though. Healthcare costs can be a major expenditure for most business owners, but are an essential and necessary investment for both employers and employees. Workplace wellness programs have been shown to save about $3 in healthcare costs and another $3 in absenteeism for employers per every $1 spent (1, 2). In one study conducted by Harvard, the return on investment from the wellness programs saw medical claim costs decline by $1,421 per participant, compared to the previous year (1).
Another study on a major employer of 67,000 employees conducted by RAND, an American research institution, revealed that the wellness program generated $136 in savings per member per month (3). It also found that while only 13% of employees participated in disease management programs, they helped save the company 87% of the healthcare costs (3).
Many large companies devote an entire team to workplace wellness programs. I aim to help smaller companies and organizations who do not have a designated dietitian on staff to provide expertise. I can help with a wide variety of group nutrition services such as fun and informational presentations, virtual food demonstrations for employees to watch or participate in together, running group challenges and programs, and I can also serve as a referral for any employee seeking one-on-one guidance.
I focus beyond diet and exercise to support stress, anxiety and mental health with a gentle approach. If you are interested in learning more, contact me to set up a time for us to talk!
Benefits of workplace wellness solutions:
Supports positive workplace culture and morale
Improves employee productivity
Increases employee engagement
Decreases employee turnover
Reduces sick days
Reduces healthcare costs
Improves health outcomes
Empowers employees to focus on their health
Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4945172/
https://hbr.org/2010/12/whats-the-hard-return-on-employee-wellness-programs
https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2009.0626
https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/abs/10.1377/hlthaff.2013.0625
