When Heather Reimer turned 40, she did everything right.
Just as her health provider had recommended, Heather dutifully went to get her first mammogram. After receiving a notification that everything was clear (meaning, cancer-free), she didn’t give her mammogram another thought.
Later that year, she opted to get a whole-breast ultrasound to earn points for her employer’s wellness program.
"The only constant is change."
When Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus made this declaration in roughly 500 B.C., he certainly wasn’t anticipating the way technological advancements would change our lives—seemingly on a daily basis. Just looking at the past 10 years, since the iPhone first debuted, technology has revolutionized the way we pass time, communicate, and interact.
It’s most certainly changed the way we work … and how we approach wellness.
When it comes to wellness in the workplace, gone are the days of focusing solely on health, nutrition, and fitness. Today’s employees want to see improvements in all areas of their life: emotional, social, financial, purpose, physical, and occupational.
Employers also understand the value of a well-rounded employee, so they’re implementing multidimensional wellness programs. But they may be surprised to learn that encouraging social consciousness—the understanding that we’re all part of an interrelated community with others—can improve wellness on multiple levels.
Eating better, working out, getting more sleep … taking care of our physical self is relatively straightforward (even if it’s often easier said than done).
Achieving good emotional health may be a bit more complicated—but it’s just as important as achieving good physical health. And yet, emotional wellness often lands squarely on the back burner, particularly in the workplace. Why do so few people make their emotional health a priority?
According to Michael O’Donnell, the CEO of the Art & Science of Health Promotion Institute, healthcare costs are spiraling out of control. So badly, in fact, that within the next 50 to 60 years, the United States Congressional Budget Office anticipates that spending on major healthcare programs will rise from 5.5 percent of GDP to almost 19 percent, leading to unprecedented levels of federal debt. And even with all this spending, we’re not getting any healthier.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Enlisting the services of a wellness coach can be a fantastic way to take your company’s wellness program to the next level.
But...not all coaching services are created equal. Maybe there are gaps in their offering, or their expertise, that are holding your wellness program back from its goals.
To help you find out if your coaching service is truly moving your results forward (and to learn what features may make all the difference), take our quick quiz. (To see your results, click the "View Accuracy" button that appears at the end of the quiz. Your answers, along with our feedback, will open in a new window.)
A person’s job obviously affects their financial situation. But what about when their financial situation affects their job? Money IS important, and not managing it can affect employees’ health and performance in far-reaching ways.
So, how can employers really help their staff improve their financial well-being (other than giving them raises, of course) without resorting to cliched advice like bringing lunch to work or skipping that daily double-foam soy latte?
For wellness programs to succeed, the support of management is critical. But company leaders aren’t just responsible for choosing programs, approving budgets, and getting the ball rolling. They must also be prepared to give employees the support and encouragement needed to create a culture of wellness and positive change.
When management takes employee wellness seriously and works to foster a culture of wellness, it can result in amazing transformations to the work environment, productivity, and retention, and to each employee’s life at work … and beyond.
For better or for worse, we tend to take on the habits and mannerisms of those closest to us—which is why families are such an integral part of our lives. They shape who we are, what we do, how we feel, and even what we eat and drink.
So, when wellness program directors are evaluating possible initiatives to help employees stay on the path to better health and wellness, including the families of employees in those initiatives can be a smart approach.
When employees are asked to describe their office space, “comfortable” may not be the first word that comes to mind. But a simple Google search for “smartphone pinky” or “sitting disease” shows why wellness directors need to take another look at the physical mechanics of how we work.
With work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs)—soft-tissue injuries affecting muscles, nerves, ligaments, and tendons—accounting for 33% of workplace injuries and illnesses in 2011, it’s important to recognize the effect our work environment has on our health. But what’s even more important is learning how to prevent these issues from becoming medical problems that decrease productivity and increase costs.
