Corporate Wellness Blog

According to the American Journal of Health Promotion, “Health promotion is the science and art of helping people change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health. Optimal health is defined as a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual health. Lifestyle change can be facilitated through a combination of efforts to enhance awareness, change behavior, and set up environments that support great health practices. Of the three, supportive environments will probably have the greatest influence in producing lasting change.”

Employee Health Promotion Program: Action Steps

The process of assembling a Employee Health Promotion Program involves:

• Identifying the current health status of your employees
• Determining the appropriate programs and interventions to offer
• Promoting and launching the programs
• Building in motivational rewards and incentives
• Measuring the impact
• Revising programs based on assessment outcomes

It may even include planning policies and procedures that support employee participation in wellness activities at your worksite (such as flextime).

Steps to Starting a Workplace Health Promotion Program

• Conduct an organization assessment
• Obtain senior staff reinforcement
• Establish a Company Health Promotion Program Committee
• Obtain employee input
• Organize goals/objectives
• Design and implement program activities
• Identify incentives
• Review outcomes

One of the ways the government plans to improve the nation’s health is through comprehensive Company Health Promotion Programs. According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, these programs may help staff members live healthier lifestyles by creating supportive work environments and offering awareness, education and behavior change programs. In fact, one of the goals and objectives of Healthy People 2010, a set of health objectives for the nation to achieve by the year 2010, is to stimulate the proportion of staff members that take part in a comprehensive Company Health Promotion Program at their workplace to 75 percent.