With health care costs on the rise, what better way to get in shape this year than through your workplace. From supplementing gym memberships to providing on-site Weight Watchers meetings or exercise facilities, employers are reaching out and encouraging employees to shape up. More and more corporations are jumping on the wellness program bandwagon, whether through independent companies like KC Wellness or in-house programs like Central Baptist Hospital's Fitness Express. Keeping employees informed and healthy seems to be a resolution companies are taking seriously.
"One reason this is occurring is the cost of health care," said Teresa Smith, director of Community Education at Central Baptist Hospital. "The biggest expense, other than salary, is health care. If you can develop a healthy employee population, not only will it help decrease costs and absenteeism, it also increases morale. There are a lot of positives for employees."
According to a Dec. 6, 2005 article in Business Insurance magazine, "employee wellness programs are quickly becoming the norm, not the exception in large corporations in America. In a world of high health-care costs it makes good business sense for companies to promote healthier lifestylesÖThe more health and productivity programs a company integrates, the more likely they are to get the desired result--i.e., slower growth of health-care costs and improved health and productivity of employees."
In order to develop a healthy employee population, many companies have been recruiting specialized consultants like KC Wellness to gather employee data, and customize a wellness plan that targets a company's specific high-risk areas. Some of the more standard group programs are nutrition education, health risk and lipid/glucose assessment, risk reduction, tobacco cessation, weight management, stress management, and lifestyle management.
"We were doing wellness before it was cool," said Carol Donnelly, owner of KC Wellness, Inc. "I am a teacher and educator by background, so I really feel like because employees spend so much time in the workplace, it's the best place to do adult education. We bring services to employees that the employers sponsor while they're working.
"We do on-site test risk assessment, along with screening for lipids, cholesterol, and glucose. We do what's called risk reduction education as a follow-up to assessment. Employees learn about risk factors and ways they can change to better their health. The company also receives an aggregated data report that helps inform the company and helps us pick the follow-up program necessary. It also helps employers keep track of attendance and helps them operationalize incentives.
"We know through watching human behavior that employees work better when they're working towards some reward," said Donnelly. "And it helps in health costs. It also helps promote participation in the program; you need the majority to really make a change. People are interested in working even for T-shirts and little things, just as reinforcement for their efforts."
One huge incentive some companies are offering is an on-site workout facility. Central Baptist's on-site gym, Fitness Express, was completed in January 2005 and is open to all CBH employees. Each member pays a one-time fee of $15 for a full body assessment--which includes a nutritional session with a registered dietician, calculation of body fat, cholesterol, and glucose levels, full access to a certified trainer, personalized goals, tips on healthy eating and lifestyle changes, along with monthly evaluations and tips on how to read the scale--and $15 a month thereafter.
"This program is very important to me," said Brenda Blakemore, case manager at Central Baptist. "I work out before work every morning, five days a week. I'm at the normal BMI (body mass index) for my weight and size; I've dropped two dress sizes; and I have a whole lot of energyÖI've worked for hospitals for a long time and this is the first to offer on-site fitness programs. I'm very busy and this is perfect."
In addition to being able to conveniently work out before, during, or after work, CBH offers on-site programs like Weight Watchers, pilates, yoga, tai chi, body shaping and strength, and a beginner's fitness class.
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government and many larger companies, who either don't have the funding or the space for on-site facilities, offer discounted rates to area gyms, like Gold's Gym and the YMCA, as incitement to employees.
"We hired a health services coordinator, Mary Lyle, and we've been working with her on programs," said Alice Phillips, human resources manager over payroll and benefits for LFUCG. "We offer smoking cessation, diabetes analysis, aerobics, Weight Watchers on-site, etc. This is the first time we've had this position--we finally budgeted it in and when she was hired on, she hit the ground running."
Transylvania University also offers on-site workout space, in the form of The Beck Center, a $15 million project completed in 2002. All students, faculty, and staff have access to the 97,000-sq. ft. center, which houses two multipurpose courts, a 5,000-sq. ft. fitness center, an elevated three-lane track, and three classrooms equipped with step and yoga gear.
"We've been offering programs since we opened and since then have completed several challenges," said fitness coordinator Ashley Hinton. "We've done the Amazing Race, the Holiday Challenge, March Mania (which has a basketball theme), Step Into Spring, and right now we're doing the Great Weigh In. It's made up of mostly staff and faculty, though it's open to students as well. You get to meet with a trainer, have your measurements taken, and each month you come in for an assessment. The focus is to get people focused, to give them passion and a goal."
According to Donnelly, "the work site, where most adults typically spend half or more of their waking hours, has a powerful impact on individual's health. Healthy People 2010, the prevention agenda developed by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, includes two major worksite-specific objectives: 1) To have most employers (75%), regardless of size, to offer a comprehensive employee health promotion program 2) To have most employees (75%) participate in employer-sponsored health promotion activities."
While many companies are just now developing and implementing wellness programs, one ambitious company has taken company fitness more seriously than most.
This past November seven Philadelphia Insurance corporate employees, including CEO James Maguire Jr., participated in the Florida Ironman competition to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The team asked employees for a pledge of $10 for every mile of the 140.6-mile race, which included 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking, and 26.2 miles of running. The company raised over $48,000 and produced some very impressive finishing times. It's no wonder Philadelphia Insurance has been nationally recognized as a member of Ward's Top 50 and Forbes Top 200 Best Small Companies.
"The company really encourages physical fitness," said Chris Hartley, benefit analyst at Philadelphia Insurance's corporate office. "We're in the middle of the Walking Toward Wellness challenge, for all of our nationwide employees. Everyone is given a pedometer and in June, we'll announce the grand prizewinner. Our company has really gotten into wellness, since about 2000. I'd say at least one third of our employees belong to a gym of some kind."
All Philadelphia Insurance employees -- including those based outside the corporate office--have 50 percent of any gym membership paid for by the company.
"I realized how active our company was when I went up to Philadelphia," said Tom Mayes, who is Philadelphia Insurance's sole employee here in the Lexington office. "Two of our executives rode their bikes to work--they got up early to ride 20 miles to work--then they rode an extra 10 at lunch. They don't believe in eating lunch; they believe in going to the gym. Most of our executive board (members) are involved in triathlons."
By incorporating a wellness program into benefit packages, companies are looking to save money on health care costs later down the road. Research shows that wellness is a long-term investment, said Donnelly. "It normally takes around three to five years to see a return, but with some programs, it is faster. This is a business decision for companies, so they need to have a long-term focus on them. Companies invest in their employees on a continual basis, and this is a different type of investment."
"There has been a lot of data out there for years-Johnson & Johnson and GE were some of the first companies to implement wellness programs," said Smith of Central Baptist. "Several studies show these types of programs bring success in decreasing costs and upping retention and morale. In the workforce, what types of things can you offer your employees? These types of programs show employees and potential employees that the company cares--it's an added incentive to take the job."