By David C. Fortosis bio
As a nation, Americans enjoy some of the best healthcare in the world. In fact, many of the advances and techniques in the treatment of complex medical conditions were tested and refined in our country.
However, we are also arguably the unhealthiest country in the world: Six in 10 Americans are either overweight or obese. And this one condition is driven by voluntary yet poor health habits—primarily poor nutrition, overeating, and inactivity—most of which are modifiable.
Being overweight or obese will drive conditions like heart disease, back and joint ailments, high blood pressure, and diabetes. These are the diseases that harm your people and their ability to contribute to your business’s success. Workers with these conditions are less productive at home and at work, are absent from work more often, have higher rates of disability, and often suffer from depression.
This is why a discussion of health improvement within the workplace matters. If employers can help trigger positive health behaviors they can see, over time, a healthier, happier, and more productive and present work force.
It’s neither a quick nor easy discussion
The business case for ‘Why Wellness” is complicated but indisputable. And we’re not suggesting that you should simply throw together a workplace wellness program and introduce it to your employees. There are many questions to consider, such as: Do employers ‘own’ their employees’ health? Is there a role for human resources and firm administrators to promote workplace wellness? What makes for a successful wellness program? If senior leaders are not supportive, can these efforts succeed? Do these programs actually improve health? What are the advantages of a company sponsored wellness program? Do these programs enhance employee engagement?
We’re going to tackle some of these questions in a series of articles that will offer suggestions and ideas around physical wellness. But first, a definition. Wellbeing includes not only physical wellbeing, but also:
- financial wellbeing,
- emotional wellbeing (resilience), and
- social wellbeing (community/purpose).
All elements of wellbeing are equally important, as each contributes to, or diminishes, a person’s ability to live life—and perform their job—productively and successfully. In fact, improved resilience may be a more important element of wellbeing in the environment of a high stress legal practice.
Summarizing what we’ve learned about workplace wellness programs
We’ve learned much about workplace wellness over the past 20 years from employers and business leaders that have wanted to know what the right approach is to corporate wellness programs. In addition, there are scores of studies, research, and academic papers from some of the country’s premier academic and medical institutions that have helped inform us on the topic of wellbeing. Some key learnings are:
Before someone will consider change, they must believe there’s a health risk
Health risk awareness coupled with a regular conversation with a primary care physician establishes a personal context for change. The risk awareness can come from
- a biometric testing, such as a blood pressure reading, a blood test, or glucose measures;
- an annual physical exam;
- an understanding of family medical history;
- an honest look at current eating and exercise habits; or
- a wake-up call, such as ongoing chest pain or weight gain.
Not everyone is ready, willing, or able to change
Physical wellbeing is extremely personal and helping a person address their own health risks is a complicated process that includes:
- supplying access to meaningful resources;
- obtaining a clear and personal annual health assignment from a physician, health coach, or other professional;
- understanding how to tailor messages to each generational segment in the workplace; and
- understanding that people are at different stages of readiness to make changes in their habits of health.
Wellness programs are not one-size-fits-all
The wellness vendor business is booming, with more than 300 vendors in the United States alone. Vendor wellness programs can be very expensive in part because they offer a huge array of wellness resources that are intended to enable an employer to outsource wellness programming to them. Their package of services also includes advice, websites, customer service access, coaching, courses, and incentive management. But most of these vendors have very little flexibility to customize their program offerings to match the needs, culture, and budget of most employers. Employers must be free to customize their own programs to meet their own budgets and needs.
Medical costs are directly linked to health risks
Longitudinal studies over 30 years have demonstrated without doubt that the medical costs associated with multiple health risks increase substantially over time. The opposite is also true. As people shed risks or reduce their risks, such as lowering their blood pressure, shedding 5% of their overweight pounds, or reducing blood glucose or cholesterol, their medical costs drop.
Targeted messaging is the secret to success
All successful physical wellbeing programs focus on marketing to specific segments of a work population. Two of the largest US employee segments have a mindset about health that is described as: “Not Right Now” and “I Value My Independence.” Targeting communications and marketing messages to specific audiences increases the chance that individuals will choose to engage in actions that will enhance their lives at home and at work.
Conclusion
Next we’ll discuss the elements of a basic wellness program and how you can get started.
