Healthy during the holidays: 10 low-cost ways to promote wellness
December 5, 2014 1:05 PM
Don R. Powell, Ph. D., president and CEO of American Institute for Preventive Medicine, and author of Wellness on a Shoestring: 350 No-Cost or Low-Cost Activities & Resources to Enhance Your Program, offers these tips:
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
1. Let's do lunch.
Organize and offer lunch time activities such as a healthy brown bag lunch. For the week before your lunch, provide a list of healthy food choices in the employee newsletter, on the company website or written on brown bags and hung on the Wellness Wall of Information. You have a Wellness Wall of Information, don't you?
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
2. Flu shot education.
Provide worksite resources, education and reminders to help keep employees from getting sick with the flu. Set and communicate worksite policies for steps to take when an employee is sick, and encourage all employees who want protection from flu to get vaccinated for seasonal flu.
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
3. Create a calendar.
Post daily, weekly, and monthly health awareness observances on your company website and bulletin boards and in company newsletters. Get free information on national health observances from healthfinder.gov.
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
4. Sit less.
Conduct meetings and training sessions while walking or standing instead of sitting, at least part of the time. Put stretching exercises on magnets, mouse pads and posters throughout the office.
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
5. Go local.
Invite local fitness facilities and community fitness centers for onsite demonstrations and information on their offerings.
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
6. Make water the go-to drink.
Make it easy for employees to get water from water fountains, water stations, employee kitchens, etc. Ensure bottled water is offered in vending machines.
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
7. Create a wall of menus.
Collect menus from local restaurants and circle or highlight the healthiest choices and serving size. Post these on a wall in the workplace.
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
8. Plan and print a company cookbook.
Have employees volunteer to take one of their favorite recipes, substitute the healthy ingredients, make the item and bring it in for a potluck or taste-fest luncheon. Have employees vote for their favorites to include in a company cookbook.
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
9. Implement a five-minute stress break.
Once a day, once a week, or at least once a month, designate a companywide or department-wide five-minute stress break. Allow employees to take a break from using the computer, meditate, go for a quick walk or do a deep breathing or other relaxation exercise.
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
10. Rethink your drink.
Provide a poster and/or handout with a list and photos of high-calorie coffee drinks and lower calorie substitutes. Place them near a worksite coffee maker, break areas and the cafeteria. Get free information on this topic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[Image: Fotolia]
[Image: Fotolia]
