Employer Wellness

Want some wellness program ideas and wellness policy ideas to get you started? Or maybe you want to jump start or improve upon your current wellness program? The list below provides ‘best practices’ that can help meet any wellness program budget! The Company Health Promotion Program ideas are divided into topic areas.

General Wellness Progam Ideas

• Administer an Employee Needs & Interest Survey
• Develop a Corporate Wellness Program Committee
• Identify medical plans that cover expenditures for weight management and tobacco cessation
• Waive co-pay or reimburse for preventive healthcare visits
• Put up handouts on a variety of wellness subject matters for workers to take
• Develop a wellness resource center or library with videos, books, magazines, DVD’s on a variety of topics of interest to workers
• Identify workers who are mentors or champions for healthy activities and ask them to present or to list as a contact for other workers
• Plan and encourage periodic or regular educational sessions.
• Plan monthly educational sessions on the national health observance topic
• Display a Wellness Bulletin Board & update it monthly
• Post messages from national health observances during the month
• Publish healthy tips in newsletters, paycheck stuffers, bulletin boards, etc.
• Develop a benefits fair
• Sponsor employer fitness and healthy eating challenges
• Develop company wellness and health fairs or other onsite activities

Nutrition Programs

• Offer free, healthy snacks for employees (fruit, nuts, popcorn)
• Provide healthy meal choices in cafeterias and at employer programs
• Provide information to employees about the nutritional content of food served in the cafeteria
• Design a fresh fruit “snack basket” in the breakroom or cafeteria
• Stock snack machines with healthier options
• Partially fund healthy foods in the cafeteria or vending machines (10¡ apples may be more appealing than $1.00 candy bars)
• Begin a weekly or monthly healthy lunch club
• Provide pamphlets available on a variety of healthy eating issues
• Include diet articles in corporation newsletters
• Have a healthy meal tasting contest Free
• Schedule educational sessions at lunchtime-time on a variety of nutrition issues of interest
• Organize an employee healthy diet cookbook. Either sell the cookbook and use profits for programs, or purchase a cookbook for all employees

Weight Loss Programs / Weight Management Programs

• Consider offering flexible work schedules so that workers can take part in weight-loss programs
• Partially fund registration expenditures for weight-management programs
• Form a support group to help workers who are trying to lose weight
• Locate registered dieticians near your worksite as a resource for workers who want information on healthy eating, meal planning or weight management
• Offer individual counseling for workers trying to lose weight
• Provide worksite fitness and weight-management programs through your local hospital, Weight Watchers, TOPS or local, registered dietician
• Schedule an educational session on diet myths and healthy eating

Physical Activity Programs

• Provide flexible work schedules to encourage physical activity
• Create a fitness space with aerobic equipment, and weights
• Create accessible walking paths, trails, and/or bike routes
• Urge workers to walk more by parking farther away from the entrance
• Establish a gym with aerobic equipment, weights, aerobic classes, fitness professionals
• Have walking meetings
• Make the stairwells more appealing (carpet, fresh paint, artwork, posters)
• Provide reduced gym membership fees to all staff members
• Give facilities for workers to secure bikes
• Have 5 – 10 minute stretch breaks during the day
• Subsidize health club membership for workers who participate a minimal number of days per week (ex., 3 days per week)
• Support lunchtime walking/running clubs or organization sports team
• Urge stairwell use and incentives
• Install a basketball hoop outside
• Promote & support area walks or fitness programs
• Promote walking during breaks and other off-time periods
• Provide periodic fitness incentive programs to encourage exercise
• Provide educational sessions on fitness activities

Smoking Cessation Programs / Tobacco Cessation Programs

• Develop a smoke-free grounds
• Establish a tobacco-free workplace
• Encourage the use of 1-800-QUIT-NOW, North Carolina’s no cost Tobacco Use Quitline. Or check www.QuitlineNC.com
• Reimburse for tobacco replacement products
• Subsidize the expenditure of smoking cessation sessions
• Give pamphlets and information on health effects from tobacco use and tobacco cessation
• Schedule awareness sessions to innervate employees to try to quit tobacco use
• Schedule worksite smoking cessation courses

Employee Health Screening

• Discount health care insurance premiums or reduce co-payments for employees who take part in screenings and who take part in managing their risk factors
• Install Blood Pressure (BP) monitoring equipment
• Provide flu shots for employees and family members
• Provide Health Risk Assessments to all staff members, including counseling and follow-up
• Provide periodic Blood Pressure screenings and follow-up
• Offer periodic screenings for blood lipids, blood sugar, body composition, etc.

Stress Management Programs / Work Life Balance Programs

• Consider offering flexible schedules for family/work life balance
• Provide and promote an Employee Assistance Program(EAP)
• Provide information on substance abuse prevention
• Give pamphlets and information on stress management and mental health
• Give brochures and information on work life balance, such as monetary planning, childcare, parenting, elder care, etc.
• Provide supervisor and manager training on communication, relationship building, corporation stressors, etc.
• Review corporation policies and work schedules to identify corporation stressors
• Assess the EAP to make sure it is meeting the needs of the employees and organization
• Provide educational sessions on stress management and work life balance
• Provide classes on relaxation, stress management, and work life balance subject matters