Corporate Wellness Program

Advantages of Physical Fitness Programs

Exercise reduces weight, lowers risks of heart attack and stroke, helps to control blood pressure and diabetes, and improves mood. Studies increasingly show that physical fitness may also help reduce the occurrence of certain types of cancer. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently documented another major advantage: physical fitness improves the health of the nation’s medical care expenditures.3 According to the CDC, physically active individuals incur $865 less per year in medical costs than inactive employees.

Dr. Michael Moore, vice president and chief medical director at Nationwide Insurance in Columbus, maintains that physical fitness is the most effective tool in health maintenance. “If you could prescribe exercise in a pill, it would be the number-one prescribed treatment in the world,” he said. In step with Dr. Moore’s prescription, nearly one-third of U.S. organizations help workers pay for gym memberships, according to an Associated Press report. Subsidizing gym memberships is just one way organizations encourage active lifestyles.

Popular Physical Fitness Initiatives:

1.    Allow access to on- and off- worksite gyms and recreational activities before, during, and after work hours.
2.    Provide and encourage participation in after work recreation or leagues.
3.    Provide cash incentives or decreased insurance costs for participation in physical activity and/or weight management or maintenance activities.
4.    Provide shower and/or changing facilities onsite.
5.    Provide outdoor physical fitness areas such as fields and trails for worker use.
6.    Provide bicycle racks in safe, convenient, and accessible locations.
7.    Provide onsite fitness opportunities, such as group classes or personal training.
8.    Provide an onsite physical fitness facility.
9.    Create initiatives that have strong social support systems and incentives, such as:
• Buddy or team physical activity goals
• Programs that involve workers and family
• Programs to encourage physical activity, such as pedometer walking challenges
• Explore discounted or subsidized memberships at local health clubs, recreation centers, or YMCAs
10.     Provide flexible work hours to allow for physical activity during the day.
11.    Support physical activity breaks during the workday, such as stretching or walking.
12.    Host walk-and-talk meetings.
13. Map out onsite trails or nearby walking routes and destinations.
14. Have workers map out their own biking or walking route to and from work.
15. Post motivational signs at elevators and escalators to encourage stair usage.
16. Provide exercise/physical fitness messages and information to workers.
17. Provide or support recreation leagues and other physical activity events onsite or in the community.
18. Begin worker activity clubs such as walking or bicycling clubs.
19. Provide onsite child care facilities to facilitate physical activity.
20. Sponsor a bike to work day and reward workers who participate.
21. Create a box and solicit fitness and health tips.

Wellness programming means different things to different organizations. Effective wellness initiatives can be as simple as bringing baskets of fresh fruit into break rooms to encourage better eating. They can be as extensive as building fitness facilities onsite or paying for obesity treatments.

A driving factor behind the push toward wellness spans organizations of all types, sizes and cultures: that is, healthcare expenses are spilling over the corporate belt buckle. The annual cost of medical services in the United States is increasing at seven times the rate of inflation. And the rise in medical costs is one boom pundits expect our economy to sustain.1

This trend makes it increasingly challenging for organizations to maintain current levels of insurance coverage. In 2003, healthcare inflation forced 65 percent of organizations to increase workers’ share of health costs.

Seventy-nine percent of large firms said they will increase workers’ share of health costs in 2004.2 But with lost benefits and increased financial burdens come lost morale and productivity.

Companies are searching for another way. While organizations cannot control many of the supply-side elements contributing to increasing healthcare costs—malpractice insurance rates, the nursing shortage—they can help curb demand. That’s why efforts are being redirected from illness to wellness.

The case for Workplace Wellness Programs is supported by an ever growing body of evidence demonstrating the high costs associated with controllable health risks:

• One study reports that obesity raises healthcare costs by 36 percent and medication costs by 77 percent.
• Michigan officials estimate physical inactivity cost the state nearly $8.9 billion in 2002, a cost estimated to be largely borne by organizations through insurance premiums and lost productivity.
• The not-for-profit National Committee for Quality Assurance reports that the estimated average cost for postnatal care for women who did not receive prenatal care was $2,341 more than for women who had. And the indirect costs of unhealthful behavior can be just as high.

Information shows that healthier workers are more productive, spending more time at work and showing increased “presenteeism,” or productivity, while there. Further, healthier workers use fewer medical services. The five leading causes of death in the United States — heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and diabetes —  are directly linked to unhealthy lifestyles. Clearly, encouraging healthful habits presents an opportunity to improve workers’ well being, reduce the need for healthcare services and help control costs.

Offering worker wellness benefits — large or small — represents an intersection between corporate social responsibility and responsibility to stakeholders. Between worker health and corporate health. It’s frequently the right thing to do for workers and organizations.

Research by Traveler’s Corp. shows a $3.40 return for each dollar invested in Workplace Wellness Programs. For many organizations, the choice to offer worker wellness benefits is easy—one where conscience and pragmatism align.

The challenge arises in selecting the initiatives that will deliver the most impact based on trends in your workers’ health risks and medical claims costs. From large organizations to the corner deli, organization owners welcome ways to boost productivity, reduce absenteeism and cut costs. Likewise, Workplace Wellness Programs can range from modest to elaborate.

In deciding where to focus a organization’s limited resources, looking at costs, benefits and best practices is a good starting point. This section profiles six aspects of wellness and explores their benefits to workers and organizations.