Printer-friendly format

It’s a stressed out world. Especially for those who work in healthcare. Reimbursement cuts, the threat of malpractice suits, an anemic economy, and the fading dream of retirement are all realities for physicians. Stress is a stark reality that is not going away.

Psychologists Richard Lazarus and Susan Folkman defined stress as the “imbalance between demands and resources occurring when pressure exceeds one's perceived ability to cope.” Does this sound like an average day at the office? Nothing justifies the desire for comfort food and being a “couch potato” more than a stressful day at work. But here is another reality to consider: all day long you focus on healing patients, but how often do you ask yourself, “How well am I?” And, “how well is my staff?”

Websites for more information: CDC www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/hwi/index.htm Wellness Council of America www.welcoa.org Absolute Advantage www.absoluteadvantage.org/article/?article=277 HR Daily Advisor -  Click here.

Sometimes we have to ask for help. Corporate health and wellness programs are on the rise according to Kendra Cox, corporate wellness director for WellWorX Sporting Clubs in Memphis. “It is paying off in unexpected dividends. Other than the obvious benefits, a wellness program can also improve the effectiveness of staff by increasing morale, decreasing absenteeism and generally having a healthier, happier work force that leads by example.” Healthcare workers can serve as role models for patients when they lead active, balanced lives.

Cox has helped some of the largest employers in Shelby County, including Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Shelby County Government start up corporate wellness programs. But the process is the same for smaller businesses and medical practices. Each program is customized according to the number of participants, the goals of the program, and the amount of funds available.

“The three components to a health and wellness program are fitness access, on site management, and incentives. It’s not enough to just offer membership at a fitness club. It’s important to meet people where they are. Some organizations are ready to include all three components; others just want to get their feet wet. You can start small, but you can’t forget incentives; wellness program research indicates that they are essential to motivating your participants” said Cox.

The first step is to find out what is important to your employees. “Most people are interested in two things: weight management and finding time to exercise.” Maintenance and motivation are real issues. “It’s not as exciting to maintain after a weight loss as it might be to have a goal of losing 15 pounds. And motivation changes over time, depending on age and life events. That’s where incentives come in,” said Cox. These can range from completing a health risk assessment with feedback, biometric screenings, or something more tangible like a prime parking space at a large institution or a paid day off.

According to Cox, financial incentives tend to be the most effective, like a gift card for a health focused restaurant or grocery or a day off. “Methodist Le Bonheur offers a reduction in healthcare premiums. Meaningful motivators should be tailored to your employees.” If the program is not set up to respond to what motivates your employees, it will not be successful.

“Among the suggestions on best practices for starting a wellness program by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are: identifying your wellness champions, forming an internal wellness committee, surveying your employees, and deciding what to accomplish and how to measure your success,” said Cox. “Perhaps the most important of all are your wellness champions. They will drive your program.”

When starting a wellness program, Cox not only surveys employees but she also sits down with the employer to find out exactly what they hope to achieve. “Then we look at their aggregate health claims data and begin to tailor a program to meet their needs,” she said.
The program can begin very simply and evolve over time. Sometimes, everyone gets a pedometer to start measuring the number of steps they take each day. It can become a game in which prizes or other incentives are offered for those who reach their goal.

“One clinic’s program may focus on smoking cessation, one may focus on stress reduction, and another may focus on encouraging women to get mammograms or prostrate exams for men.” Other changes could include offering scorecards used to tally daily intake of fruits/vegetables, establishing walking teams, or inviting Weight Watchers to the workplace and subsidizing the program. “You can arrange group outings, train together for events, and do walks or runs together to raise money for charities. There are many intangibles you get from these types of activities,” Cox said adding, “You build camaraderie, and team building is a huge aspect, especially with walking groups.”

‘Buddy’ relationships develop and add another layer of personal support. This can also build better office relationships and communication among employees. Better office relationships are also key in stress reduction.

“We can’t make stress go away because it is the perception of the person feeling stressed, but a wellness program offers tools, outlets and resources to help people deal with stress,” said Cox. “We also do workshops on stress relief techniques. Laughing and exercise both reduce stress so we try to have fun! If the program is not fun, employees won’t stick to it.”

“Structure, consistency and accountability are key components of any wellness program,” Cox noted. “You can’t make your employees healthy, but when employers put a value on personal health and wellness and create a supportive environment to enable people to make changes, good things happen.”

How do you measure success of a program? “A lot of our measurement is in awareness, participation numbers, and through reassessments of the participants,” Cox said. “We survey folks to see if they feel better, ask if they have made positive changes, and if they know more about health and wellness. It usually takes from three to five years to see a decrease in healthcare costs, but a well designed wellness program can give you a three to one return on your investment in that period of time. That means for every dollar that you put in the program, you can save $3 in claims.”

Now, where else can you find that rate of return on an investment?

Tags:

None

Login and voice your opinion!