Wellness

With unmanaged employee absences costing companies up to 10% of payroll, according to some estimates, employers should pay close attention to the reasons behind absenteeism and whether they are linked to the organization’s culture of health, or lack thereof.

Wearable fitness devices may be gaining ground but at least one benefits professional expresses doubts about their viability in workplace wellness programs.

When the public exchanges were first envisioned, some industry analysts thought most employers eventually would head for the exits on financing health benefits and simply steer their employees into the nascent online marketplace. That hasn’t happened, of course, and it’s far too early in the HIX rollout to expect any meaningful change to occur.

It’s no surprise Americans are tired. That’s why benefit advisers working with employers to build a wellness program should not ignore sleep solutions.

Many wellness models are based on mythology. Myths like all plans should have disease management, or everyone needs to work on heart disease prevention. How to get past the noise and on to effective interventions? Look closely at your own group – its people, its illnesses, and its work environment.

Everyone who has pursued a traditional employee weight loss program knows that results can be unpredictable. Usually, enough employees succeed in losing weight to give the program value. The problem is they often gain it back. While programs are going in the right direction, clearly there is room for improvement.

Incentives or disincentives? Carrot or stick? The answer: it depends…

Health and wellness programs are virtually meaningless if a workplace culture is bad, according to Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford University’s graduate school of business. Speaking during the annual Great Place to Work conference in New Orleans, Pfeffer said that unhealthy workplaces can cause up to 125,000 employee deaths each year and add up to $130 billion in excess annual company costs.

Enlivening your staff and company’s workplace culture can be as simple and sustainable as committing random acts of kindness.

In analyzing ways to contain ever-escalating health care costs, many employers are seeing tangible returns from wellness programs – but continuing to place the blame on employees and their bad health habits for much of those rising costs.

Tobacco, food choices and portion size, physical inactivity and unmanaged stress are the four major lifestyle choices that account for the majority of chronic disease in the U.S., said Dr. Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute at the Cleveland Clinic, this week at the Institute for Health and Productivity Management annual conference

Commentary: Help time-crunched employers make the right decision.

A community with high well-being is one where citizens and employees are satisfied with their lifestyle and overall health. In this year’s Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, top honors go to Provo-Orem, Utah.

With more employers moving to consumer-driven health care plans and shifting more responsibility for health care and health risks on to workers, are wellness programs still relevant? Health leaders from IBM and Johnson & Johnson addressed that very question during the Institute for Health & Productivity Management’s annual global conference held in Orlando.

Employees in organizations with strong cultures of health spend more time working, work more carefully and concentrate better than employees at other organizations, according to research by the Integrated Benefits Institute.

Technology company Cerner lowers its health care costs through personalized mobile messaging.

At any given time in the United States, an estimated 1 in 10 adults report symptoms that would qualify for a depression diagnosis. For benefits professionals, navigating employee mental health can be tricky. Not all symptoms are noticeable, but a few hidden indicators can hinder overall productivity.

While it’s difficult to discuss your eventual death with those you love, it’s imperative to plan for it, not only for your sake, but for theirs. Employers can offer several voluntary benefits to help make this end-of-life planning and transition easier for their employees and the loved ones they leave behind.

With the Affordable Care Act expected to force employers to find more nimble ways to curb health care costs, Gov. Scott Walker has signed the “Healthy Jobs Act” into law, a new proposal that would offer tax credits to companies that provide workplace wellness programs.

When it comes to helping young adults avoid serious health problems later in life, assessing their personalities during routine medical exams could prove as useful as recording their family medical histories and smoking habits, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association.