Worksite Wellness Programs

Worksite Wellness Programs that support workers and the environment that they work in have been shown to be a good return on investment (ROI). Worksite Wellness Programs may be extensive and sometimes costly. However, there are ways for small employers to make positive changes at little or no cost.

Worksite Wellness Program: Nutrition Programs

Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

1. Offer healthy eating reminders and prompts to workers via multiple means (i.e. e-mail, posters, payroll stuffers, etc.).
2. Offer appealing, low-cost fruits and vegetables in vending machines and in the cafeteria.
3. Offer cookbooks, food preparation, and cooking classes for workers’ families.
4. Ensure onsite cafeterias follow healthy cooking practices and set nutritional standards for foods served that align with the U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
5. Offer healthy foods at meetings, conferences, and catered events.
6. Use point-of-decision prompts as a marketing technique to promote healthier choices.
7. Offer healthy cooking demonstrations that teach skills (i.e. fruit and vegetable selection and preparation).
8. Offer taste-testing opportunities at the workplace.
9. Offer worker-led campaigns, demonstrations or programs.
10. Offer local fruits and vegetables at the workplace (i.e. workplace farmer’s market or community-supported agriculture drop-off point).
11. Use competitive pricing (price non-nutritious foods in vending machines and cafeterias at higher prices).
12. Offer protected time and dedicated space away from the work area for breaks and lunch.
13. Make kitchen equipment available to workers.
14. Offer an opportunity for onsite gardening if possible.

Sweetened Beverage Consumption

1. Make water available throughout the day.
2. Offer appealing, low-cost healthful drink options in vending machines and the cafeteria.
3. Modify worksite vending contracts to raise the number of healthy options.
4. Price non-nutritious beverages at a higher cost.
5. Use point-of-decision prompts to promote healthier choices.

Portion Control

1. Label foods to show serving size and/or nutritional content.
2. Offer food models, food scales for weighing and pictures to help workers determine portion size.
3. Offer appropriate portion sizes at meetings, workplace events and in the cafeteria.

Breastfeeding

1. Support nursing mothers by providing them rooms for expressing milk in a secure and relaxed environment, a refrigerator for storage of breast milk, policies that support breast feeding, and lactation education programs.
2. Offer flexible scheduling and/or onsite or near-site child care to allow for milk expression during the workday.
3. Adopt alternative work options (i.e. teleworking, part-time, extended maternity) for breastfeeding mothers returning to work.
4. Educate personnel on the importance of supporting breastfeeding co-workers.

T.V. & Food Advertising

1. Place TVss in non-eating areas of the workplace.
2. Limit food advertising in the cafeteria (i.e. print and other media).

(Adapted from The Health Promotion First Act prepared by David Anderson, Ph.D., StayWell Health Management)

Staff Member Lifestyles Impact Staff Member Health

• Approximately 40% of all deaths in the United States are premature (at least 900,000 deaths annually) and are due to unhealthy lifestyle choices such as tobacco use, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, misuse of alcohol and drugs, and accidents. Other contributors to early death include genetic predisposition (30%), social circumstances (15%), poor access to quality medical care (10%), and environmental exposures (5%).
• Unhealthy lifestyle is the primary contributor to the six leading causes of death in the U.S. – heart disease, cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, accidents, and diabetes – which collectively account for over 70% of all deaths.
• People with healthier lifestyles live an average of 6 to 9 years longer, postpone disability by 9 years and compress disability into fewer years at the end of life.
• The prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults rose to 30% in 1999-2000, a 33% increase from a decade earlier, and the prevalence of diabetes also rose by 33% during approximately the same period (1990 to 1998).
• About two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, 55% do not get enough physical activity, 26% are completely inactive,10 and only 25% eat recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables If diet/physical activity patterns continue worsening at their current rate, these behaviors will soon surpass tobacco use as contributors to mortality.
• Among young people, the prevalence of overweight has more than quadrupled in the past 20 years to 16%, daily participation in high school physical education classes has dropped from 42% in 1991 to 28% in 2003, more than 60% eat too much saturated fat, and almost 80% do not eat recommended amounts of fruit and vegetables.
• Lifestyle diseases disproportionately affect women, racial and ethnic minorities, the poor and seniors:
• The prevalence of diabetes among African Americans is about 70% higher than among white Americans, and the prevalence among Hispanics is nearly double that for white Americans.
• Women comprise more than half of the people who die each year of cardiovascular disease.
• Chronic conditions significantly limit daily activity for 35% of persons over 65 years of age.

Financial Impact of Lifestyle

• It is estimated that lifestyle-related chronic diseases account for 70% of the nation’s medical care costs, which translates to over 11% of the entire U.S. gross domestic product.
• Two comprehensive scientific reviews identified 83 peer-reviewed studies reporting that people with unhealthy habits have higher medical costs.
• Research conservatively estimates that high health risks (high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc) account for at least 25% of total medical costs.
• Recent research indicates a direct relationship between modifiable lifestyle risks and reduced worker productivity, and relevant data suggest that the costs to employers in lost productivity due to poor employee health may be substantially more than the direct medical and disability costs.
• Unhealthy lifestyles often lead to chronic disease, many of which cannot be cured and require years or decades of costly treatments. Below are estimated annual costs of selected unhealthy lifestyles and chronic diseases including obesity, tobacco use, hypertension, diabetes, stress, and inactivity.

Worksite Wellness Programs Improve Health and Yield Major Savings

• Comprehensive scientific reviews identified 378 peer-reviewed studies showing that Worksite Wellness Programs improve health knowledge, health behaviors, and underlying health conditions.
• Research has demonstrated that lifestyle modification may often be more effective and cost-effective than medical intervention in lowering morbidity and mortality.
• Several scientific reviews indicate that Worksite Wellness Programs reduce medical costs and absenteeism and produce a positive return on investment (ROI). The most definitive review of financial impact reported that:
• 18 studies indicated that these programs reduce medical costs, and 14 studies indicated that they lower absenteeism costs.
• 13 studies that calculated benefit/cost ratios all showed the savings from these programs are much greater than their cost, with medical cost savings averaging $3.48 and the absenteeism savings averaging $5.82 per dollar invested in the programs.
• Medical costs are expected to exceed 16 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005 and to grow at 7.2 percent annually through 2015, when medical expenditures will account for 20 percent of GDP:
• Per capita medical costs in the U.S. are the highest in the world and more than double the median for OECD countries, yet the United States ranks 26th in terms of healthy life expectancy.
• Medicaid is the second largest item in most state budgets, and its portion of the total budgets is increasing each year.
• Rising medical costs for U.S. employers continue to outpace general inflation, averaging 12 percent per year for the past 10 years. This trend is causing a tremendous financial hardship on U.S. employers.

1. Senior management involvement in the Worksite Wellness Program- Evidence of enthusiastic commitment and involvement of senior management helps workers understand their employers’ serious commitment to health.  Workers need to perceive that their senior management, supervisors, and coworkers have positive attitudes toward health since these factors have all been associated with improved employee health status.   Management-related factors have been shown to contribute more to success than the content of the intervention.

2. Participatory planning – A Worksite Wellness Program should be undertaken in partnership with the workforce.  Workers from all levels of staff should be actively engaged in the health and management aspects of the project as well as all on-going processes of any Worksite Wellness Program.  Planning must also include processes for maintaining communication with all staff and building their commitment to the process.   Beginning Worksite Wellness Program steering committees to lead interventions during the planning and delivery of workplace health promotion programming improves worker awareness, participation, and satisfaction. Staff Member committees may identify perceived worker interests regarding educational programming, determine work site-specific characteristics that may affect the intervention or influence participation, and suggest the best methods for promotion and delivery of Worksite Wellness Programs and activities.  Ways to maximize worker input and involvement might include interest surveys, focus groups, and peer counsellors.

3. Primary focus on workers’ needs – A Worksite Wellness Program should meet the needs of all workers, regardless of their current level of health and recognize the needs, preferences, and attitudes of different groups of participants. Program designers should consider the major health risks in the target population, the specific risks within the particular group of workers, and the organization’s needs.   In other words, interventions should be tailor-made to the characteristics and needs of the recipients.   This means that varied programs must be offered at different levels.   Participation and commitment may be increased if a group of workers has the opportunity to address a specific modifiable risk factor of their choice.

4. Optimal use of on-site resources – Planning and implementation of Worksite Wellness Programs should optimize use of on-site personnel, physical resources, and organizational capabilities.   For example, whenever possible, initiatives should use on-site health and safety, management, work organization, communication, HR, and other specialists.   Well-qualified external leadership may be introduced when in-house expertise is lacking.

5. Integration – An overall workplace health policy should be developed.  The policies governing employee health must align with the corporate mission, vision, and values, supporting both short- and long-term goals. These consistent policies must affirm the value of worker health and a commitment to engage workers in health enhancement.  Worksite Wellness Program Procedures should be integrated into a company’s regular management practices and eventually should be formally incorporated into the company’s corporate plan  with adequate resources attached to them.

6. Recognition that a person’s health is determined by an interdependent set of factors – Any Worksite Wellness Program must address multiple components of an individual’s life:
•    the workplace physical and psychosocial environment;
•    their personal resources such as social support, sense of empowerment, etc.; and
•    their lifestyle practices influencing health.

7. Tailoring to the special features of each workplace environment  – Worksite Wellness Programs must be responsive to the unique needs of each workplace’s procedures, organization and culture.   Integrating health behaviors and program participation into the existing corporate culture will normalize program participation.

8. Worksite Wellness Program Evaluation – Project management should flow through needs analysis, setting priorities, planning, implementation, continuous monitoring, and assessment.   Evaluation must include a clearly-defined range of process measures and outcomes  as well as mechanisms for monitoring the impact of non-intervention workplace changes such as plant closure, major workplace re-organization, and new technology on staff health.

9. Long-term commitment – To sustain the benefits of the Worksite Wellness Program, the worksite must continue the initiative over time, reinforcing risk-reduction behaviours and adapting the programs to ongoing personal, social, economic, and workplace changes.

Introduction to Worksite Wellness Programs

Risky health behaviors by workers cost a company. Changing those behaviors can save the employer money and raise the worker’s productivity.

Because work gives an worker a stable setting and support system, Worksite Wellness Programs can have a great impact on lowering high-risk behaviors. This impact results in reduce health claims cost, less absenteeism, and less short-term disability.

Worksite Wellness Programs may include:

Awareness Rasing Programs: Health and wellness newsletters, health topics covered in payroll stuffers, healthy emails.

Health Risk Assessment: Employee health screenings, wellness fairs, health risk appraisals.

Educational Programs: Lunch and Learn wellness presentations, guest speakers at staff meetings.

Skill Building: Healthy cooking demostrations, activity challenges, CPR instruction opportunites, stress management classes, weight management classes.

Interventions: Massage, tobacco cessation, and skills to help you get the most out of your doctor visit.

Physical environment: Healthy items in the vending machines and cafeterias, clean air practices, ergonomics, bike racks, flex time, welllit stairways.

Evaluation: Staff Member needs assessment, baseline Worksite Wellness Program assessment measures, ongoing Worksite Wellness Program assessment of overall effectiveness.

Why Offer Worksite Wellness Programs

The typical employer spends about $8,000 a year on an employee’s healthcare. This includes health insurance, disability and worker’s compensation. As these costs climb, health insurance is expected to rise at least 10% per year.

A 1999 study showed that organizations using Worksite Wellness Programs had a return on investment (ROI) from $1.49 – $13 in benefits per dollar spent. The amount depended on the nature of the Worksite Wellness Programs used. (S. Aldana, American Journal of Wellness, 2001; 15:296-320)

One study showed that a “stop smoking” component to Worksite Wellness Programs may save between $404 -$40,829 per employee, depending on the age and sex of the worker.

The Worksite Wellness Programs at Traveler’s Company included a self-care book, a newsletter, single-topic brochures, and videotapes. The Worksite Wellness Programs saved the company $7.8 million in employee benefi t costs, decreased doctor visits, and it lowered absenteeism by 1.2 days per worker per year. The estimated Worksite Wellness Programs ROI was $3.40 per dollar spent.

In 1998, the Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) reported a study of 46,026 workers from six large employers for three years. Workers with an inactive lifestyle had 10% higher costs; workers with depression had 70% higher costs.

Benefits of Worksite Wellness Programs

Increased Productivity – The Canada Life Assurance Company realized a 4% increase in productivity after beginning an employee fitness program.

Increased Job Satisfaction – According to employee opinion surveys conducted by the Silverstone Group about thier Worksite Wellness Programs, workers’ morale increased, which helped support a more creative work setting.

Enhanced Recruitment & Retention – In the midst of a tight labor market, Worksite Wellness Programs could be a vital tool to draw new recruits.

Decreased Absenteeism – Canada Life Assurance Company’s absenteeism dropped 42% among workers in the Worksite Wellness Programs.

Decreased Workers Comp & Disability – In one year, Boeing Company’s number of back injuries decreased by 34%. Six million dollars was saved by tracking injuries as they occurred.

Managed Healthcare Costs – Golden, Colorado Adolf Coors Company’s Worksite Wellness Programs returned $6.19 for every dollar spent.

Why have Worksite Wellness Program goals?

Worksite Wellness Program goals take your organization’s priorities for employee health improvement and make them specific and measurable. Well-defined Worksite Wellness Program goals provide direction for selecting Procedures and a basis for which to measure progress.

Writing Worksite Wellness Program goals

Writing Worksite Wellness Program goals is not complicated or difficult. It does require some thought, about your organization’s Worksite Wellness Program vision for a culture of health and they should be:

Specific Worksite Wellness Program Goals
Measurable Worksite Wellness Program Goals
Attainable Worksite Wellness Program Goals
Realistic Worksite Wellness Program Goals
Timely Worksite Wellness Program Goals

Specific Worksite Wellness Program Goals: What is the specific outcome your organization is looking for? “Reduce tobacco use among workers” is more specific than “Improve the health of workers.” You may wish to write some goals about specific outcomes (reducing smoking among workers) and other goals about specific progress (implementing a smoke-free campus policy or lowering the price of fresh fruit in the cafeteria to 25 cents a piece).

Measurable Worksite Wellness Program Goals: Making your goals measurable provides a means of evaluating your progress and success. There is a saying: “what gets measured, gets done.” Goals which are measurable can be effective motivators for your organization. “Provide more time for workers to be physically active” is much less measurable than “implement a daily 15-minute walking break into the schedule of all workers.” “Increase the number of workers who want to quit smoking” is less measurable than “increase enrollments in the stop-smoking program to 120 workers per year.”

Attainable Worksite Wellness Program Goals: Establish goals that challenge your organization to change and that will demonstrate a real commitment to employee health. At the same time, set goals that are achievable. Goals that are set too far out of reach can be overwhelming and may become a barrier rather than a motivator.

Realistic Worksite Wellness Program Goals: Write goals that are do-able, given the skills, time, finances and overall strategy of the organization. A realistic project may push the skills and knowledge of the people working on it but it shouldn’t break them.

Timely Worksite Wellness Program Goals: When do you hope to achieve the goal? Next week? Next year? Without a timeframe, the goal is still vague and is much less likely to galvanize resources and energy within your organization.

“Reduce the percent of workers who use tobacco from 20% to 10%” is much less of a challenge than “By the end of 2010, reduce the percent of workers who use tobacco from 20% to 15%”.

If your organization is interested in measuring the impact of your Worksite Wellness Program efforts in future years, you’ll want to gather relevant baseline data on the health and health behaviors of your worker population.

Worksite Wellness Program Data on your worker population

Health Risk Assessments

Some health plans offer employers free online health risk assessments (HRA), complete with summary aggregate reports. If your health plan does not offer a free HRA, you could pay for an HRA either through your health plan or through a third party vendor.

To encourage taking part in an HRA, assure workers of confidentiality and consider providing incentives for completing the assessment. The higher the participation rate, the more likely that the aggregate data will accurately represent the behaviors and risks of your worker population.

Worksite Wellness Program Health Surveys

You can get a general sense of workers’ health-related attitudes and behaviors using a “lowtech” paper survey. As with a health risk assessment, workers will be more likely to respond to a survey if there is an incentive and if they are confident that their responses are confidential. Remember that without widespread participation you’ll only get a “feel” for worker behaviors rather than a statistically accurate picture.

Worksite Wellness Program Focus Groups and Informational Interviews

The information you can collect from focus groups or informational interviews with workers is an important supplement to the anonymous survey or HRA data. Listening to workers discuss their attitudes, values, receptivity and barriers related to health provides a wealth of information on which to base decisions on how to improve your organization’s Worksite Wellness Program. Worksite Wellness Program focus groups are especially useful for getting information from hard-to-reach worker populations, such as those for whom English is a learned language.

Keep Worksite Wellness Program focus groups small (8-19 workers, ideally all of a similar job class). If possible, offer incentives such as movie tickets or lunch, to recruit participants. Develop a list of open-ended questions in advance and allow 60-90 minutes for the discussion.

Informational interviews are an alternative to Worksite Wellness Program focus groups. The Worksite Wellness Program coordinator of your health improvement Procedures or selected members of the Health and Wellness Committee can conduct one-on-one interviews with workers in a variety of positions to better understand their attitudes, interests and barriers related to a) health behaviors and b) the workplace policies, environments and practices.

Population data

If data on the employee population are not available, you can use state or national data to estimate the prevalence of risk behaviors among workers.

In addition to looking at the health behaviors of workers, take a good look at your organization. The following questions can help you identify opportunities for your organization to support and encourage healthy behaviors among workers.

A strong foundation for employee health improvement

1. To what extent does the senior management in your organization actively and visibly support the Worksite Wellness Program?

__ No support for the Worksite Wellness Program
__ Support, but not at senior level
__ Support at senior level, but not visible to workers
__ Strong and visible Worksite Wellness Program support
Comments:

2. Is the Worksite Wellness Program tied to your organization’s mission statement?

__ No
__ Yes, the Worksite Wellness Program is tied to business plan OR mission statement
__ Yes, the Worksite Wellness Program is tied to both business plan and mission statement
Comments:

3. Is there an worker within your organization whose job responsibilities include Worksite Wellness Program coordination?

__ No
__ Yes, but has little time available to dedicate to Worksite Wellness Program
__ Yes, and has at least part of the job dedicated to Worksite Wellness Program
__ Yes, and has at least one full-time position dedicated to Worksite Wellness Program
__ Yes, and has at least part of the job dedicated to wellness AND has a background that includes Worksite Wellness Program qualifications
__ Yes, our organization has at least one full-time position dedicated to health improvement AND the worker’s background includes Worksite Wellness Program qualifications
Comments:

4. Does your organization have an active wellness committee with diverse representation?

__ No (does not have a Health and Wellness Committee, or has a committee that doesn’t meet)
__ Yes, we have a Health and Wellness Committee, but with limited representation
__ Yes, we have a Health and Wellness Committee with widespread representation
__ Yes, we have a Health and Wellness Committee with widespread representation AND committee involvement is a component of each representative’s job responsibilities
Comments:

5. Does your organization have an annual budget for Worksite Wellness Program expenses? (Worksite Wellness Program expenses may be associated with providing a health assessment, paying for behavior change programs/coaching programs, covering incentives that encourage healthy behaviors, subsidizing healthy food options, communications and activities around specific health topics, fitness centers/walking paths, etc).

__ No
__ Yes, but funds are earmarked for Worksite Wellness Programs (e.g. only for Weight Watchers or fitness discounts) and do not meet all existing Worksite Wellness Program needs
__ Yes, funds are available to meet current Worksite Wellness Program needs
Comments:

6. Does your organization have a plan for engaging workers in the Worksite Wellness Program?

__ No
__ Yes, we have a communications plan for our Worksite Wellness Program
__ Yes, we have a communication plan AND we offer meaningful incentives or rewards (such as premium discounts or debit cards) for the Worksite Wellness Program to engage in healthy behaviors.
Comments:

A data-based approach to the Worksite Wellness Program

7. Does your organization have clearly stated Worksite Wellness Program goals and priorities for employee health improvement?

__ No
__ Yes
__ Yes, data (e.g. HRA, claims, productivity) are the basis for defining Worksite Wellness Program goals or priorities
__ Yes, data AND evidence-based best practices are a basis for defining Worksite Wellness Program goals or priorities
__ Yes, data and best practices are basis for defining Worksite Wellness Program goals or priorities as well as measuring Worksite Wellness Program progress (assessment)
Comments:

8. Has your organization completed a Health Risk Assessment?

__ No
__ Yes, but more than 2 years ago
__ Yes, within the last two years, and achieved a participation rate of less than 50%
__ Yes, within the last two years, and achieved a 50% – 79% participation rate
__ Yes, within the last two years, and achieved an 80% or greater participation rate
Comments:

A workplace environment that supports healthy behaviors

9. Does your organization’s tobacco reduction strategy reflect best practices?

(Check all that apply)
__ A no-tobacco use policy that includes both buildings AND grounds
__ 100% coverage for the cost of over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy
__ Staff Member access to – and strong promotion of — a tailored stop-smoking program
Comments:

10. Does your organization provide opportunities (time and places) for physical activity during the work day?

__ No
__ Yes, indoor places for physical activity (on-site fitness center) OR outdoor places for physical activity (walking paths)
__ Yes, both indoor AND outdoor places for physical activity
__ Yes, indoor and outdoor opportunities AND staff members can use work time for physical activity
Comments:

11. Does your organization promote healthy eating by providing access to fruits and vegetables?

__ No
__ Yes, fruits and vegetables are available at the workplace (in vending machines, break areas, or cafeterias)
__ Yes, fruits and vegetables are available and discounted at the workplace
Comments:

Benefits that support employee health improvement

12. Does your organization provide workers with self-care resources?

(Check all that apply)
__ Distribution of self-care books
__ online access to health information
__ Nurse advice line
Comments:

13. Which of the following preventive services are covered at 100% by your organization’s health benefits?

(Check all that apply)
__ Vision screening
__ Hearing
__ Immunizations (per CDC/ACIP recommendations)
__ Radiology
__ Laboratory services
__ STD screening
__ Preventive medical examination for adults
__ Cancer screen (includes: colon, cervical, breast, prostate and ovarian cancers)
__ Contraceptive management
Comments:

14. Which of the following are included in your organization’s pharmacy benefit?

(Check all that apply)
__ Mail order or other 90-day supply option for medications
__ Specialty pharmacy network
__ Incentive-based tiered formulary design
Comments:

15. Do your organization’s health benefits provide coverage for behavioral health (such as depression, mental illness, counseling, stress management, and chemical dependency)?

__ Yes, at the same level as medical benefits
__ Yes, but at a reduced level (less coverage) than medical benefits
__ No coverage for mental or behavioral health
Comments:

Why it’s important and how to do it

The Worksite Wellness Program Vision

A Worksite Wellness Program vision statement is a concise statement that summarizes the purpose and goals of your organization’s commitment to beginning a Worksite Wellness Program. Taking the time to clarify and describe your organization’s Worksite Wellness Program vision can provide a focus and a consistent direction for your Procedures for years to come. The vision statement reminds leaders and workers of the link between worker health and the organization’s ability to achieve its overall mission.

Answer the following questions and you’ll have the components needed to build a simple and effective Worksite Wellness Program vision for your organization’s culture of health:

• What do you want your Worksite Wellness Program to accomplish?
• How do you plan to accomplish it?
• How does this Worksite Wellness Program mission support or further the organization’s mission?

A sample Worksite Wellness Program vision statement might be . . .

To have workers who perform at their best and who enable XYZ Corporation to be an industry leader in printing quality and customer service (organization’s mission), XYZ Corporation is committed to providing opportunities for healthy behaviors during the workday (how) in order to encourage workers not to smoke, to be active, and to eat healthfully (what).

The Worksite Wellness Program Brand

In the same way that your organization’s name and brand image provide visibility for your business, your Procedures toward beginning a Worksite Wellness Program will benefit from being easily recognizable to workers:

• A consistently used Worksite Wellness Program brand on all communications sends a message to workers that the commitment to a culture of health is here to stay.
• A Worksite Wellness Program brand institutionalizes the culture and makes it more likely to withstand changes in staff and budget.

Do what you can to engage workers in beginning the identity (brand) for your organization’s Worksite Wellness Program. Not only are they more likely to accept the name, it’s also a great way to announce to workers the organization’s Worksite Wellness Program commitment. Here are two possible approaches to involving workers:

Option 1: Have a Worksite Wellness Program contest

1. Announce the Worksite Wellness Program contest guidelines and deadline.
2. Have the Health and Wellness Committee review the ideas submitted, and select a name.

If, for example, your organization, Premier Building and Design, is in the commercial construction business, you might receive the following Worksite Wellness Program ideas from workers:

• Cornerstone: Feeling well is what it’s all about
• Premier Elements: Building healthier workers
• Custom Build: Building health builds wealth
• Building Health: Designing better worker health

After reviewing the entries, your Health and Wellness Committee determines that it likes the name “Premier Elements” and the subtitle “Building health builds wealth”. Your committee awards the “name the Worksite Wellness Program contest” prize to the two workers, those who submitted the pieces of the name that represent the final product.

Premier Elements: Building health builds wealth

3. Choose a Worksite Wellness Program logo to go with the name.

The Worksite Wellness Program logo is an important piece of the branding

• Review any ideas submitted for Worksite Wellness Program logos.
• If you’re fortunate to have a graphic design professional at your organization, enlist her or his help with developing the Worksite Wellness Program logo!
• As an alternative, select a piece of clip-art that fits with the Worksite Wellness Program name you’ve selected. For example, the organization referenced above might look for a symbol that conveys building, health and wealth.

Option 2: Health and Wellness Committee determines the name and brand

1. Have your Health and Wellness Committee brainstorm Worksite Wellness Program names.
• To get ideas flowing, ask members to write down all health-related words and words associated with your organization or industry.
• Try clustering words together as in the construction organization example above.
2. Once your Health and Wellness Committee has narrowed down the possibilities to about three ideas, have committee members vote to select a name for your culture of health.
3. Choose a Worksite Wellness Program logo to go with the winning name.
4. Announce the organization’s Worksite Wellness Program and the corresponding Worksite Wellness Program name. Explain that staff members on the advisory committee chose the name.

Sample Worksite Wellness Program meeting agendas and topics for discussion

Is your organization’s Worksite Wellness Program Health and Wellness Committee new? Has it existed on paper but been inactive for a while? In either case, some of the following may be appropriate agenda items for your first Worksite Wellness Program meetings. You may also want to revisit these topics annually.

• Clarify roles of Health and Wellness Committee members
­ Are members responsible for implementing changes or recommending changes?
­ How long are members’ terms on the Health and Wellness Committee?
­ How will new members be selected?

• Determine Health and Wellness Committee meeting frequency and processes
­ Establish dates, times, and locations.
­ Determine how agendas will be set.
­ Plan for recording and distributing meeting notes.

• Plan Worksite Wellness Program communication with leadership
­ Does a leader sit on the group or does the coordinator report on progress (and to whom)?
­ How often do leaders want reports on Worksite Wellness Program progress?

• Select a name and brand for your organization’s Worksite Wellness Program

• Create a vision statement for your organization’s Worksite Wellness Program

• Identify existing allies Worksite Wellness Program for promoting worker health within your organization
­ Who do Health and Wellness Committee members know who could be relied on to support workplace changes required to establish a culture that encourages health?

• Brainstorm challenges your organization may face in working to establish facilities, policies and Worksite Wellness Program practices that promote worker health
­ What do committee members regard as opportunities? How about potential Worksite Wellness Program obstacles?

• History of past Worksite Wellness Program efforts
­ If relevant, summarize past Worksite Wellness Program efforts. Discuss what your organization learned from those efforts.
? What has the organization tried over the last few years?
? What has worked well?
? What hasn’t worked well?
? How, if at all, was success of previous Worksite Wellness Program efforts measured?

A representative Health and Wellness Committee is a cornerstone of a successful Worksite Wellness Program, regardless of the size of the organization.

Membership of your Health and Wellness Committee

Aim for a committee of a manageable size (no more than 15 members, depending on your organization’s size). Your Health and Wellness Committee should represent all employee groups (e.g., full-time and part-time workers, managers and front-line staff, salary and hourly workers, union representation, HR, marketing or communications, legal, and occupational health/safety).

Here are some additional considerations:

• Health and Wellness Committee members can be selected by leadership or can be selected from among volunteers.
• Determine in advance how long Health and Wellness Committee members will serve and how new members will be selected. Balance the need for continuity with the need to bring fresh ideas and energy to your organization’s Worksite Wellness Program.
• It’s not necessary, or even desirable, to have your healthiest workers on the Health and Wellness Committee. Ideal Health and Wellness Committee members are those who best can represent their peers, motivate others and support the implementation of the Worksite Wellness Program.
• Consider providing an incentive or recognition to Health and Wellness Committee members. It legitimizes their positions and encourages participation. Some organizations that have started stipends have generated enough worker interest that the selection of Health and Wellness Committee membership becomes a competitive process. The Health and Wellness Committee responsibilities become a formal part of the member’s job accountabilities.

Role of your Health and Wellness Committee

In some organizations the Health and Wellness Committee is responsible for the implementation of the Worksite Wellness Program. In other organizations, the Health and Wellness Committee plays an advisory role. In either case, the group members can be asked to:

• Attend regular meetings of the Health and Wellness Committee.
• Help establish a vision and name for the organization’s Worksite Wellness Program.
• Represent their peer group by sharing ideas, needs, concerns and feedback from their work areas and colleagues about proposed Worksite Wellness Program Procedures, policies, and programs.
• Offer feedback on the possible barriers to proposed Worksite Wellness Program Procedures and offer suggestions for addressing those barriers (e.g., how does a proposed policy fit with the schedules of workers?).
• Suggest effective Worksite Wellness Program communication Procedures and solutions to challenges. For example, what is the best way to communicate with workers who work the third shift? How will workers react to a proposed message from leadership?
• Be a voice of support for a culture of health, carrying the message from the Health and Wellness Committee to their work areas and colleagues.

Functioning of your Health and Wellness Committee

Meet. Schedule regular Health and Wellness Committee meetings on paid work time. Your Health and Wellness Committee may want to meet very often at first, then slightly less often as your health improvement strategy is more established. If your Health and Wellness Committee is new, it might be useful to ask members to provide information about themselves and their interests.

Communicate. Set up frequent and regular channels of communication with Health and Wellness Committee members so they are up to date and engaged. An email list is often the easiest way to do this. Encourage communication to flow both ways: from Worksite Wellness Program coordinator to members and from members to coordinator.

Check-in. At least once a year, determine how effectively the Health and Wellness Committee is functioning. Is the Health and Wellness Committee serving its original purpose? Ask committee members for their feedback. Do they feel like their work is making a difference? Do they feel like their input is valued and taken into account when planning and implementing initiatives? Do they understand their expected Worksite Wellness Program roles and responsibilities? Are there members who want to rotate off of the committee? How will new members be selected?