Archive for January, 2009
Employee Wellness Programs: Focus on Physical Fitness Initiatives
Advantages of Physical Fitness Initiatives
Exercise reduces weight, lowers risks of heart attack and stroke, helps to control blood pressure and diabetes, and improves mood. Studies
increasingly show that physical fitness may also help reduce the occurrence of certain types of cancer. Researchers at the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently documented another major advantage: physical [...]
Why Have a Employee Wellness Program?
There are a number of reasons why a Employer Health and Wellness Program is beneficial.
1. Improved Morale – When the organizational culture begins to change as a result the Employee Wellness Program, you and your employees may actually begin to see and feel a new level of energy within the employer. Ultimately, one of the [...]
The Case for Employee Wellness Plans
Wellness programming means different things to different companies. Effective wellness initiatives can be as simple as bringing bushel
baskets of fresh fruit into break rooms to encourage better eating. They can be as extensive as building fitness facilities onsite or
paying for obesity treatments.
A driving factor behind the push toward wellness spans companies of all types, sizes [...]
Evaluation of Employee Wellness Plans
It is important to assess the effectiveness of all Employee Wellness Programs. There are a number of very simple ways to assess Employee Wellness Programs:
How many attended the corporate health and Employee Wellness Program, and was there participation or a visible level of interest?
Use a short and simple pen and paper assessment that people fill [...]
Wellness in the Workplace: Who has the expertise?
When it comes to working wellness into your workforce, you want someone who knows the ins and outs of health promotion, and who can counsel
staff members and provide primary care – all within the context of the current regulatory and legal environment.
AAOHN’s survey reported that more than half of staff members (61 percent) want to [...]
Employee Wellness Plans Improve Retention
Employee retention is a challenge. Employee Wellness Plans can help. offering perks such as incentives to exercise, healthy food, weight loss and stress management programs at work is a way to maintain your employees satisfied.
Attracting new workers are also a challenge, and anything you can do to “stand out” from other employees is to your [...]
Wellness in the workplace
Good for waistlines & your bottom line
By Sandra Simpson, APRN, BC, COHN-S, manager in Occupational Health Services at a Fortune 500 company in Memphis, Tenn., and a member of
the board of directors of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses (AAOHN). For a copy of the AAOHN wellness survey, visit
www.aaohn.org, or call (800) 241-8014, x0.
In [...]
Employee Wellness Programs: Special Situations
Sometimes, Employee Wellness Plans can take advantage of “special situations” that occur and which offer an excellent opportunity for employee education and support, at little or no expense to the employer. Not only do these situations help employees personally, but also they are an opportunity for the employer to be seen in a positive light. [...]
Employee Wellness Programs: Stress Management
Stress continues to drive staff members’ work-related health concerns, which is probably why the majority of respondents (78 percent) in a recent survey claim they would take part in a Company Health and Wellness Program to help their overall health and wellness.
In a recent study commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. [...]
Removing the Stigma of Mental Illness and Substance Abuse
Employee Wellness Plans are also an effective way to educate employees/parents about substance abuse, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, depression, mental illness, learning disabilities, and other issues that affect adults, children, and teens. Arming parents, other relatives, and concerned friends with information is a way to prevent problems in the future, for themselves and their children.
Workers [...]