Vital Elements of a Workplace Wellness Program

Workplace wellness is an important focus of every employer who values their employees. Wellness programs are typically tailored to the needs of an employer's workforce, but there are basic elements that should be included in anyone's workplace wellness program. Those elements are:

• Health Awareness and Education
• Preventative Education
• Nutrition and Healthy Diet
• Weight Loss
• Fitness
• Stress Management
• Help and Support to Stop Smoking
• Counseling

Not all of these elements have to be maintained on site, but some level of them should be available to your employees in you workplace wellness program. Start by tailoring your workplace wellness to the needs of your employees. Survey your employees about their views on health, nutrition, exercise, fitness, stress management, and whether they would be interested in participating in a wellness program. Find out where your employees' weaknesses are and build your program around them. Your workplace wellness program will not succeed if it is not tailored to the needs of your employees or if your employees do not want to or are not motivated to participate in it. It will also fail if your management team does not set the example by participating in it. Let's take a look at a few of these vital elements more closely.

Health Awareness and Preventative Education

Do your employees know what a healthy lifestyle looks like, feels like, and the rewards from it? Do they know what behaviors and lifestyle choices put their health at risk? Some suggestions on how to implement health awareness and education is to host a workplace wellness fair where employees can have a healthy living assessment and can get information on how to change their habits. You can provide pamphlets on health topics in break-rooms or the cafeteria. You may decide that the company will pay the co-pays of preventative care visits to the doctor. Employing an in-house chiropractor or giving chiropractor or massage therapist referrals to your employees could be a sound investment in your company's future. Supporting community health awareness programs or events like Race for the Cure can also help your employees in their education.

Nutrition, Healthy Diet and Weight Loss

Almost all degenerative diseases, chronic illnesses, and some cancers can be prevented or influenced through diet and nutrition. One of the most rampant chronic conditions that is directly related to nutrition is obesity. When it comes to nutrition, try stalking your vending machine with healthy snacks. Print and distribute articles on nutrition and diet. Provide nutrition content of food that is served in the cafeteria or where your employees generally go to lunch. Help your employees focus on weight loss and good diet choices by scheduling a dietician or nutrition expert to speak, forming a weight loss support group, allowing work schedules to be flexible around weight loss programs, and subsidizing costs of weight management programs for high-risk employees.

Fitness

A firm focus on fitness is the first step to helping your employees feel better about themselves. Host a fitness competition among your employees with prizes that focus on fitness like an all-paid gym membership, a street bike, or a reduction in their healthcare premiums. Have health and fitness milestones that each employee is rewarded for reaching with stress balls, water bottles, gift certificates to health food stores, reserved parking spaces, etc. Supplement those employees that get to work through active commuting (walking, running, or biking rather than driving). Focusing on fitness and giving motivational rewards will help your employees reach new heights in productivity.