Wellness

Employees who come to work with cold and flu symptoms cited workplace pressures and presenteeism as key reasons why they make the haul into work feeling under the weather, according to a CareerBuilder survey.

Sad news today out of Los Angeles that fitness guru Jack LaLanne died Sunday at the age of 96. Of course we mourn LaLanne, while at the same time applauding his longevity and commitment to a life of health and wellness.

On Jan. 10, 2011, the final regulations under Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA II), which were issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, went into effect.

At some companies, financial incentives for wellness programs can reach up to $3,000 per employee. But, on average, employers spend about $220 on each employee, up from $163 in 2009, according to a new survey on wellness programs.

Muscular health, or more broadly musculoskeletal health, isn’t a very “sexy” problem. No blood is spilled and no one is likely to die. The problem is hard to see.

Facbook has trickled down into the diseases management space for diabetics, while a study examining a chronic care program for heart disease shows that a sophisticated approach to harmonizing care can reduce health costs.

I'm a big fan of NBC's "The Biggest Loser." I love the show's stories of triumph and redemption, and watching the contestants have a light-bulb moment when it comes to making lifestyle nutrition and fitness changes is inspiring.

The National Business Group on Health has launched an ambitious, three-year initiative aimed at helping employers design benefit plans that reflect the latest scientific information and expert recommendations on cancer treatment and prevention.

Every year, large consulting and brokerage firms conduct surveys on what companies are doing to mitigate the impact of rising health care costs. Questions about wellness initiatives have become a standard feature in such surveys.

In a three-month period, about one-quarter of U.S. adults experience at least one day of back pain, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases.

Thanksgiving now has come and gone, and the annual holiday season is in full swing. This time of year can be one of the best, but it can also be one of the most taxing on our bodies.

The advantages of educating employees about their benefits through technology are many: The information transmitted to their Web browser or smart phone is always up to date, it's scalable to any population, yet allows an employer to individually tailor information to an employee.

Proud to say you have 80% participation in your company's wellness/health promotion program? Not to rain on your parade, but that number may be misleading, according to Dr. Jeanne L. Wendel, professor of economics at the University of Nevada (Reno).

Benefits advisers and HR executives know a lot about health and wellness programs. We read about them, discuss them, recommend them and - increasingly - implement and run them.

A number of Facebook communities have sprung up to lend emotional and moral support to patients with diabetes, but the sites can also house questionable and biased information, report researchers at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

A new study concludes that online health improvement programs are scalable to an entire workforce but should account for gender differences to get the best results.

New research on disease management services deflates the argument that a comprehensive program might increase health care costs because of the increased services.

Here is some truly wonderful news to mark October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month: New research from Unum reveals that return-to-work rates for people on short-term disability claims due to breast cancer more than doubled from 2001 to 2007, rising from 28.8% to 59.4%.

I know you pros aren’t exactly raving fans of mental health parity, but I’m almost positive mental health charity is something you could get behind.

The gloves are coming off: employers are getting ready to dish some tough love about wellness, to convince workers that their very lives as well as the existence of company-sponsored benefits are on the line.