Corporate Wellness ConsultantsCorporate Wellness Consultants and Corporate Wellness Programs

Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing means better heath risk assessment baselines and better security

“Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing” is a hot phrase these days, but it can help your staff members with health management, too. When the pundits talk about Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing, they’re usually referring to retinal scanners, fingerprint readers, and other high-tech security measures. However, if you trace the phrase “Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing” back to its roots, it refers to the measurement of unique human physical and behavioral characteristics.

Corporate Wellness Programs are of critical importance to the modern business. As a result, Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing should be one of the tools in the arsenal of a forward-thinking organization.

Worksite Health Screening and Biometric Testings aren’t just a “feel-good” measure for your workers. Assessments of worker health help your workers to prioritize their well-being, which results in happier, more productive workers. Health Risk Appraisals also build your database of worker biometric data. Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing, when handled workplace by our experienced professionals, is hassle-free and smoothly organized. The biometric data we collect then can be stored digitally for years or even decades, helping you and your staff members build better health risk assessment baselines that you can use to analyze staff members fitness and the efficacy of your company’s Health and Productivity Programs. Collected biometric data can even allow an worker’s doctor to assess that person’s health over many years, helping him or her spot trends and diagnose disease.

Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing extends to a wide variety of health risk tests, including measurements of blood pressure, blood type, body fat, substance abuse, and susceptibility to cardiovascular disease. Collecting biometric data for security purposes – like fingerprints, facial recognition imprints, or hand geometry – can be dovetailed with our health tests to minimize workflow disruption.

Corporate Wellness Programs: A Long-Term Committment

“Corporate Wellness Programs” – what does that phrase mean to you? To many of us, it evokes an array of ambivalent thoughts — the gym membership we barely used, the nagging ankle injury from last year’s company picnic, the backaches, the bratwurst we had for lunch, the love handles and of course, the fad diets that failed us or that we failed. Usually, Corporate Wellness Programs is a guilt trigger that causes us to feel remorse about our bodies and the health management we know we should be doing for them.

The sad fact is that we live in a society where our survival is dependent on sitting at a desk, not hunting game, picking berries and sprinting away from wolves. We also live in such luxury, nutritionally, that we can gain weight steadily without being wealthy. Cardiovascular disease, obesity and bad nutrition cause most of the heath issues that weigh down worker attendance and erode a company’s productivity.

It’s ironic that the poorest societies in the world – the ones furthest from the conveniences of modern life – often have the fittest, most physically hardy members. And as for the animal kingdom — don’t look there for commiseration. In the wild, it is extremely rare to find an animal that suffers from our kind of wellness issues.

Prescription Drug dependency degrades Health and Wellness

It doesn’t help that Americans are descending into a deadly love affair with drugs — and drug testing won’t help you with these drugs.

For example, Greg Critser’s book Generation RX details how Americans spend about $180 billion dollars on Prescription Drugs each year, with the estimated 2011 tally at a whopping $414 billion. The average number of Prescription Drugs per American in 2004 stood at twelve.

Twelve! That means that your average worker is taking 14, 18, or even more than 20 medications in an attempt to improve their Health and Wellness.

Is this effective, though? Critser is not convinced that the prescription medications help U.S. health. In fact, he points out a bevy of negative consequences for America’s legal prescription drug addition, which include prescription drug interactions, liver damage, and the legions of people who now depend on prescription medications to deal with ordinary trials and stresses.

An business has the potential to improve Health

It’s not all bad news, though. Occupational Health Screening and Biometric Testings and well-designed Corporate Wellness Programs can help you fight the downward spiral for you and your staff members. In fact, good Corporate Wellness Programs – like a strong walking Corporate Wellness Programs initiative – can literally save lives and reduce the symptoms that cause workers to turn to prescription medications in the first place.

Health Risk Assessment: Helping Quantify Employee Health help you quantify worker health

An Health Risk Assessment (HRA) is an important tool to help you isolate the value of strong Corporate Wellness Program Programs.

Health Risk Assessment: What is it?

Does the term “Health Risk Assessment” have you puzzled? If so, then you are not alone.  Unfortunately there is no standard definition or format for a Health Risk Assessment. A health risk assessment is both a procedure and a document, too, depending on the context — you must answer questions and ideally undergo some simple Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing to develop a document that describes what’s good and bad about your current state of health.

To add confusion to the situation, there’s a field called health risk management. Talk to an OSHA inspector about health risk assessment and they will likely assume you’re referring to an analysis of contaminants and industrial chemicals in a factory or manufacturing facility.

Health Risk Assessment: The Typical Health Risk Assessment

A comprehensive health risk assessment is aimed at producing a concrete baseline of a person’s health, and includes most of these features:

 a blood pressure check,
 testing for cancer,
 blood sugar test, and
 a analysis of the worker’s health status.

Health Risk Appraisals would analyze the worker’s:

 lifestyle measures,
 health conditions,
 prescriptions medications,
 functional concerns and abilities,
 quality of life,
 self-efficacy,
 fitness level.

Wellness Fair activities put the spotlight on Corporate Wellness Programs

A Wellness Fair is a outstanding way to shake your staff members out of the doldrums and into better awareness of their health and wellness. A Wellness Fair brings your organization together to discuss Corporate Wellness Programs, examine Medical Insurance and “cafeteria” plans, explore health savings accounts, publicize Corporate Wellness Program Programs and share success stories and challenges.

Some common Wellness Fair desired outcomes include:

 better awareness of the health services and resources available to workers, both from their business and from local, state, regional and national health services;
 increased motivation for improving health behavior
 increased participation in Corporate Wellness Programs, commuter and carshare programs and health savings accounts
 better awareness of person health status through Health Screening and Biometric Testings, Wellness Fair activities, displays, handouts, and demonstrations, and
 better information on what workers are seeking from their business’s health management initiatives, and which workers are interested in participating.

Planning a Wellness Fair

Planning a Wellness Fair is a lot like starting an Corporate Wellness Program on a smaller scale. Just like an Corporate Wellness Program, your Wellness Fair will need publicity, logistical planning, programming, targeted goals, in-house marketing and of course, executive approval. Festive touches like free food, kid-friendly activities, live music, art displays, talent shows and other community-minded fun will help cement the appeal of your Wellness Fair and ensure that the Wellness Fair becomes a welcomed, annual event.

You can find some Wellness Fair planning tips at the Family and Consumer Sciences site of Texas A&M University. These Wellness Fair tips are aimed more at community and non-profit organizers, but you can discover many useful Wellness Fair ideas at the site.

Wellness Fairs and Corporate Wellness Program Recruitment

Many Corporate Wellness Program planners find that Wellness Fairs are the primary reason why workers sign up for walking Corporate Wellness Programs, health savings accounts and other pro-Corporate Wellness Programs.

Don’t forget – not only do workers value these programs highly, but the increased energy and decreased sick leave associated with Corporate Wellness Programs also saves your company money. The Corporate Wellness Program Statistics are clear – healthier companies work harder and pay less in Medical Insurance premiums.

Corporate Wellness Programs: The Grand Slam

Corporate Wellness Programs are as close to a grand slam proposition as you’ll find, according to most researchers and Corporate Wellness Program experts.

But if you have skeptics in your organization who are questioning the time and expense of starting an Corporate Wellness Program, you may be wary too. Aren’t worker Corporate Wellness Programs subject to the adage “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”?

Corporate Wellness Programs Don’t Have To Be Expensive

Fortunately, worker Corporate Wellness Programs don’t require a big investment. Like any other corporate project, mismanagement and “death by committee” can inflate the cost of Corporate Wellness Programs, but it’s hard to spend too much time and money on them. After all, Corporate Wellness Programs are mostly informational in nature. Flyers, e-mails, maps, and Corporate Wellness Program Wellness Fairs can only cost so much. There’s no expensive, specialized Corporate Wellness Program machinery.

Corporate Wellness Program statistics on successful programs are particularly persuasive. Unlike many cost-saving measures, Corporate Wellness Programs actually add to worker satisfaction – but they also reduce Medical Insurance premiums and worker absenteeism.

What are some common Corporate Wellness Programs?

Corporate Wellness Programs run the gamut, depending on your workplace demographic, from exercise for health patients to nutritional initiatives that encourage workers to replace unhealthy snack foods with healthy fare like dried fruit and shelled nuts.

Here are some examples of Corporate Wellness Programs:

 ergonomic safety
 cardiovascular disease education and testing
 worker safety
 Health Risk Appraisals
 walking Corporate Wellness Programs
 drug testing

Maintaining Corporate Wellness Program during Cold Season can be a challenge for any company. The average adult can get up to four colds in one year, and hundreds of thousands are hospitalized every year for flu complications. From December to March, there are more workers out of the office due to illness, and others who barely made it to the office and can hardly think over their constant coughing and sneezing.

Corporate Wellness Program: Prevention is the Key

Prevention is the key to maintaining good health in the workplace and increasing overall Corporate Wellness Program. Fighting infection after the cold and flu epidemics hit is a losing battle and can best be combated with early action, such as implementing a Corporate Wellness Program Program at the worksite for good health year-round.

Keeping the Office Germ-free During Cold Season

The typical office is the perfect breeding grounds for influenza or the cold virus. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says that there are higher chances for the spread of infection during winter because people spend more time indoors. In an office, this risk is increased by cubicles, bringing many people into a close space. Worksite Health Screening and Biometric Testings conducted regularly as part of an overall health management program will increase the chances of Corporate Wellness Program year round, and especially during Cold Season.

Education Can Increase Corporate Wellness Program During Cold Season

Educating workers about various ways to stay healthy during Cold Season may help prevent the spread of any sickness to the entire office. Hand washing is a crucial component in maximizing Corporate Wellness Program, as bacteria collects on keyboards, mouses, around the water cooler and next to the community coffee pot. As workers shake hands, infection may be passed, multiplying the chance of getting a cold or coming down with the flu. Hand washing and anti-bacterial cleaners for surfaces can help reduce the spread of sickness.

Corporate Wellness Program is possible during Cold Season. With Corporate Wellness Program, your office can reach one step closer to immunity from sickness during Cold Season.

Corporate Wellness Program Study Shows Millions Lost Due to Illness

Corporate Wellness Program was shown to be a huge economic boon for companies in a recently-released joint report by  the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Economic Forum (WEF). Nearly three million productive workers in labor markets worldwide add up to a lot of money. The Corporate Wellness Program study estimates that China will lose $558 billion, India $237 billion, and Russia $303 billion in national income from 2005 to 2015 due to only three chronic diseases: heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.

Lack of Corporate Wellness Program A “Huge Expense”

The U.S. Center for Disease Control also reports that chronic disease accounts for approximately 75 percent of yearly worker health care costs in the U.S., which constitutes a huge expense for companies. And the Public Health Foundation of India estimates that its country will lose 18 million potentially productive years of life by 2030, a statistic no nation can afford, let alone a developing one.

Corporate Wellness Programs the Answer

A sustainable solution to these challenges cannot be solved by medical benefits alone. Workplace commitments to Corporate Wellness Program are also crucial. Companies are advised to implement workplace Health Screening and Biometric Testings for their workers, as well as look into a comprehensive health management program. These and other precautions are good secret weapons against the economic pitfall of unhealthy workers.

Corporate Wellness Programs – Employee Engagement Strategies

Corporate Wellness Programs without employee engagement are of no use to a company. How do you get workers to enroll in Corporate Wellness Programs – and stay engaged in the programs?

The handouts for these programs discuss the benefits to workers and businesses. Corporate Wellness Program statistics show that there are tangible benefits to a company for offering such programs. Corporate Wellness Programs actually do save lives by getting workers to take their health seriously, increase productivity, decrease absenteeism and more.

However, St. Louis, Missouri-based Maritz Inc., the world’s largest incentive company, has applied their own invigorating twist to health management by providing gift rewards to workers who participate in Corporate Wellness Programs. The wellness incentive program is Maritz’s own Exclusively Yours® plan. Health management participants earn points, which can be then redeemed for merchandise, electronics, restaurant vouchers and travel, much like a frequent-flier program.

Enrollment incentives in Corporate Wellness Programs?

Undoubtably companies that don’t work in the incentives industry will be tempted to cry foul about using such a rich carrot to incentivize health program enrollments. Not every company can throw that kind of money at health management resources – and not every company has the built-in savings as a business that specializes in providing incentive programs.

For certain rich incentives like Maritz’s will break through the glaze that appears over many workers’ eyes when they’re encouraged to do something new, different or challenging. For many workers uncomfortable with health management and exercise, “new, different and challenging” would apply to Corporate Wellness Programs. So where does that leave businesses who are unwilling or unable to provide incentives for health management program enrollment?

Successful Corporate Wellness Programs motivate workers – before and after signup

Corporate Wellness Program administrators should keep the long-term view in mind when trying to get workers to take that vitally important first step. Even the best incentives can fail in the face of faltering organization, badly-designed Corporate Wellness Programs and wavering support. Make sure to run good Wellness surveys before you build your Corporate Wellness Programs so worker input and needs are being met by your Corporate Wellness Programs. The goal is positive outcomes, not high enrollment numbers.

Corporate Wellness Programs cannot survive managerial apathy. If executive and managerial participation is widespread and heartfelt, workers will follow their leadership. The potential rewards and Wellness benefits are clearly worth reaping, for both your business and your co-workers.

Wellness might be the fatal flaw in your Corporate Wellness Program. Is Wellness part of your strategy? Does workplace wellness stop when your workers leave the office?

Wellness Continuity

If workers don’t have the tools to pursue health and wellness on a Individual level, then it becomes easy for them to “fall off the wagon” and slide back into a unealthy lifestyles. If you have a walking program, for example, it should encourage workers to build walking routes near their homes, perhaps with the cooperation of the neighborhood association or coworkers who live in the neighborhood.

Corporate Wellness Programs: Always on Your Mind

Your Corporate Wellness Program coordinator should have “vacation wellbeing” as part of their job scope. In other words, you don’t want a Corporate Wellness Program to stop at the boundaries of the workplace campus. Instead, integrate Individual health and wellness with your Corporate Wellness Programs.

This will benefit the Corporate Wellness Programs in two ways:

it reduces the chance that the worker will come back to the office feeling unfit, overwhelmed and unable to resume their Corporate Wellness Programs; and
it shows that their business is just as invested in their Individual health and wellness as they are

Like a marathon, Individual health and wellness is a long-term commitment and it’s challenging for anyone to do in isolation. Simply put, it’s easier to maintain your state of health when you know others are depending on you and watching your Individual performance. It’s easier to maintain to an fitness program when you have a jogging partner who wakes you up when you oversleep, or spots you when you’re lifting weights.

Similarly, it’s easier to maintain to your Corporate Wellness Program when you know your business is supporting you and wishing you the best.

Don’t Dictate Individual Health

Just as Wellness surveys serve a vital function in building a Corporate Wellness Program, it’s vitally important that you involve workers in designing an off-site wellness strategy. No one enjoys being told what to do, but everyone enjoys having assistance in tacking tough problems. Make it clear that workers are in charge of their own health and wellness. Your role as their health management partner is to support, advise, counsel, provide resources and information.

Of course, don’t forget that part of Individual health and wellness responsibility is to provide good health risk assessment baselines so workers can proceed safely on the road to better fitness.

Corporate Wellness Programs: An Attainable Goal

Was Wellness on your company’s new year’s resolutions list? Here we are a little over midway into the third month of 2008, the time when resolutions start to falter if they haven’t lost momentum completely. Has your Worksite’s wellness resolution fallen by the wayside? If so, there are still ways to get back on track.

One Wellness tip comes to us from the YMCA of Greater Des Moines, reported from the Jersey Shore. Rod Shirk, the YMCA’s chief financial officer, participated in the organization’s first executive Corporate Wellness Program, which registered his cholesterol as higher than normal. That prompted him to get a physical, which showed high levels of a prostate-specific antigen (PSA that often indicates prostate cancer. The outcome? His doctors caught a life-threatening illness just in time.

Thanks Corporate Wellness Program.

So of course, Shirk is a huge proponent of Corporate Wellness Programs. He says, “For us here at the YMCA, if we are telling people to be healthy, we had better set a good example for our workers.”

Wellness Decreases Health Care Costs

Though cases like Shirk’s dramatic cancer save are the most desirable effect of Corporate Wellness Programs, it isn’t the initial draw for businesses. They do it to reduce health care costs, and there’s no doubt that Corporate Wellness Programs do just that. Corporate Wellness Program Statistics show that Corporate Wellness Programs return anywhere from $2.30 to $10.10 per dollar spent on wellness. “Health care costs should go down as people think about changing their diets and getting more active,” Shirk says.

The Corporate Wellness Program savings aren’t just in the Medical Insurance department. Human resource departments report that Corporate Wellness Programs also reduce absenteeism and increase productivity.

Still, companies have been loath to invest that elusive Wellness dollar despite the well-documented returns. A Principal Financial Group and Harris Interactive survey found that only 10% of small- to medium-size businesses have made workplace Health Screening and Biometric Testings – like the one that saved Shirk’s life – available to their workers.