How to Implement an Effective Wellness Program

Overview:
Today, there are digital apps that can track sleep, how many steps someone takes, and how happy people are, but are people really changing their behaviours and has the status and the health profile changed?

In terms of some of the disease states of Canadians, 60 per cent are overweight and 53 per cent are physically inactive. Interestingly, the impact of obesity on work limitations is like adding 20 years to a worker's age. And looking at the health risk profile of organizations - from healthy to low risk, at risk, high risk, and then early symptoms and active disease, 20 per cent of employees - those with early-detected symptoms and active disease - generate 80 per cent of the costs.

That means 80 per cent of the employee base is only costing 20 per cent of the cost. However, 75 per cent of these disease states are preventable and this is where a preventative, proactive approach to wellness is where things are going!

Historically, there was a broadstroke approach to workplace wellness the "one-size fits all mentality". Today we know one size fits nobody and a wellness program needs to fit the needs and interests of an organization. First, a wellness program needs to focus on strategy and integration of a healthy culture in the workplace.

Developing a wellness strategy requires an intimate understanding of the main health concerns and costs for an organization. This may be identified through tools like a Health Risk Assessment or a benefits deep dive whereby actual, raw data is analyzed. Paired with interest, this is "a perfect storm" for an effective program. Since one way doesn't work for everybody, layering on awareness, outreach and fun initiatives in different ways will attract more people into a wellness program.

A second element is garnering leadership support. Yes, C-suite support is important, but middle management is even more important. Sometimes this layer of management is the most difficult to engage due to work demands and team dynamics. Building a wellness champion network or a wellness committee can be another layer of support when integrating the wellness strategy.