Wellness

Do you work sitting on your butt all day? Yeah, me too - and we're not alone.

You've been thinking about introducing a wellness program and finally feel like you've developed a solid business case. You walk in to your manager's office and barely get these words out of your mouth, "I'd like to talk about wellness ... ," when you hear a combination of: "We don't have the money for it ... you have better things to work on ... only the healthy will use it ... ." You meekly head back to your desk and put your wellness presentation up on the shelf. Is this you? If yes, let the "tree of healthy" be your green thumb of wellness success.

Sedentary office workers, including busy HR practitioners, may want to stand up to absorb some provocative news published in the online medical journal BMJ Open: Most Americans could live two years longer on average if they’d spend less than three hours a day sitting.

Most employees don’t think they should be required to participate in wellness programs to qualify for employer-provided health insurance, according to a new survey released by the National Business Group on Health. Moreover, they don’t think employers should charge employees more for health coverage if they don’t meet specific health goals.

When employees of Huntington Ingalls Industries subsidiary AMSEC LLC say they’ve lost a ton of weight, they’re not kidding.

Several leading health care advocacy groups are helping advance the use of outcomes-based incentives in worksite wellness or health management programs that are encouraged by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The National Business Group on Health has honored 66 U.S. employers for their ongoing commitment to promoting healthy work environments and encouraging workers to live healthier lifestyles. The honored employers, including 15 first-time winners, were presented with “2012 Best Employers for Healthy Lifestyles” awards at the NBGH’s Institute on Innovation in Workforce Well-being Leadership Summit held in Washington, D.C.

As employee medical benefit costs escalate at double-digit levels worldwide, a new survey finds that wellness programs and health promotion strategies are gaining traction.

Once a month, clinical psychologist Dr. Marianne Bowden leaves her office, crosses the street and walks over to Certified Angus Beef, where she strolls the hallways, chatting casually with employees, looking at photos of employees' children and listening to what's going on in their lives. Then, she makes her way to the company's dedicated wellness room where she meets more formally with employees who've booked appointments with her in advance.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it for you: Pregnancy - even at its best - is difficult. However, pregnancy with a high-deductible health plan is even more difficult. Want to get educated about the true cost of high-quality health care in a hurry? Enroll in an HDHP and then have a baby.

Senior managers, CFOs, accountants and HR/benefits professionals all want to know that their company wellness programs are making a difference. I can share with you five mistakes to avoid:

This article is the third and final in EBN's annual Open Enrollment Boot Camp series, designed to strengthen benefits practitioners with different strategies to employ during this year's enrollment season. Earlier this month, the series examined the advantages of maintaining financial, legal and physical wellness programs as a single component. The article, "Under one umbrella," as well as the first installment from EBN May, "Breaking down the wall," which outlined strategies for employers to use in increasing employee engagement and participation in retirement plans and financial planning, is available at ebn.benefitnews.com.

Almost half (49%) of U.S. workers are at least somewhat likely to look for a job this year, but there is undeniable evidence linking benefits offerings and employee loyalty, according to the 2012 Aflac WorkForces report.

Leading U.S. organizations are turning to prevention-based employee health benefits to improve workforce health and reduce health care costs. Yet, according to a survey released this week by Virgin HealthMiles, there's a critical awareness gap threatening that strategy's success

Jack in the Box, a fast-food chain restaurant, rewards employees for taking biometric screenings, which they can conduct from their home or a lab. When the company implemented BioIQ’s program, flexibility was key for an employee population that is spread across the United States, so that they could easily understand their health data and be motivated to improve.

Identifying the health risk factors for your clients' employee population is the fabric of your wellness bag of tricks. An effective program connects a total wellness solution to those specific risks. The trick is finding the right motivator for changing unhealthy behavior.

Anyone doubting the sustainability and projected growth of mobile technology should take heed of these statistics from technology and communication leaders Qualcomm Life and Virgin HealthMiles.

I've written previously about wellness and health management, but since it's a topic that comes up in virtually every client planning meeting I have these days, it seems worth revisiting. The biggest challenge facing HR professionals looking to devote resources to wellness initiatives at their workplaces is responding to the question, "What's the ROI?"

I've always been sporty: I climbed trees and played sports as a kid, go to the gym often and think that in my next life I'd like to be a personal trainer. So, I was very interested in talking to Dr. Jack Groppel, co-founder of the Human Performance Institute and vice president of applied science and performance training at Johnson & Johnson's Wellness & Prevention. According to Groppel, there is a way to bring sports - or at least sports-related concepts - into the workplace to make employees more engaged and productive. Recently, he and I discussed the idea of "sport science" and how its application in corporations could produce winning ways. -K.M.B.

What better way to take lessons of branding a wellness program than from one of the top-branded companies in the world, Procter and Gamble? The producers of timeless product lines like Old Spice and Tide recently introduced Vibrant Living, P&G's in-house line of benefits specially designed to help employees live healthier.