Workplace Wellness–from Slogan to Reality

When I used Google to search on the Internet for the word “wellness,” the first response was Wellness® – Healthy Dog and Cat Food. “See what our customers say about our quality healthy dog and cat food and discover the difference WELLNESS® all natural pet food makes.”

I don’t believe that most of us care more about our pets than ourselves. If we could buy human wellness in a can once a week, we’d clean out the stores. But aging houses and bodies share the need for sweat equity. I know from experience, easier said then done.

I also am pretty sure that none of us gets out of here alive. And sooner or later all of us will face tough challenges to our health that diet and exercise and attitude will do little to change. But what we do, for most of us most of the time, makes a huge difference in how well we enjoy the trip.

There are numerous carefully crafted definitions of “wellness.” For me, it simply means feeling healthy. The challenge is how do we each make it happen? What incentives at work and home are most effective in helping us to engage in our own health over the long run? I don’t know the answers for you, just that these are the right questions. Google “wellness tips” and you’ll bypass pet food to many organizations with practical advice.

Every year there is an endless series of National This or That Week or Month for every body part and cause. The “skip over ads” button on my remote protects my quality couch time so I am not much distracted. But as an early baby boomer, the “joys” of an aging body continue to remind me I can’t take health for granted. My only regret is that I wish I had figured it out twenty yeas earlier.

Hopefully fewer people will make my mistake. Something is changing in our country. Wellness the slogan is starting to become a mainstream reality. Or at least it is something more of us are trying for and with more support. Employers are beginning to think about employee wellness. For those of us fortunate to have a job, too much time is spent at work to restrict wellness to after hours.

More of us now know that our health is too important to expect some one else to fix it after we run it down. And we all know we have less money to pay for repairs. Most employers care about the people they work with, day after day. But they also are beginning to understand that an investment in wellness can have a real payback to the organization, whether for profit or non-profit.

Employers are changing because the benefits are becoming clearer, according to a recent study release by the American Hospital Association, “A Call to Action: Creating a Culture of Health.”

• “Overall, U.S. businesses could save $1 trillion in health benefits over the next decade through employee health and wellness programs.

• Employer costs fall about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs.

• Employees are 8 times more likely to be engaged when wellness is a priority in the workplace and 1.5 times more likely to stay with their organization if health and wellness are actively promoted.”

This year, join me in dropping the donut at work and getting off the couch at home.

The first week in April is National Workplace Wellness Week, sponsored by the American Heart Association. AHA believes worksite wellness programs are critical to addressing our nation’s soaring healthcare costs, rising obesity rates and increasing prevalence of chronic disease. A comprehensive program should include tobacco cessation and prevention, physical activity, stress management/reduction, early detection/screening, nutrition education, weight management, training in CPR, AED, First Aid and cardiovascular disease prevention. For more information please visit americanheart.org/workplacewellness.org.