Corporate Wellness Blog

Want some wellness program ideas and wellness policy ideas to get you started? Or perhaps you want to jump start or improve upon your current wellness program? The list below provides ‘best practices’ that have the potential to help meet any wellness program budget! The Corporate Health Promotion Program ideas are divided into topic areas.

General Wellness Progam Ideas

• Conduct an Employee Needs & Interest Survey
• Develop a Workplace Wellness Program Committee
• Identify health insurance plans that cover expenditures for weight management and smoking cessation
• Waive co-pay or reimburse for preventive healthcare visits
• Display handouts on a variety of wellness issues for workers to take
• Organize a wellness resource center or library with videos, books, magazines, DVD’s on a variety of topics of interest to staff members
• Identify workers who are mentors or champions for healthy activities and ask them to present or to list as a contact for other workers
• Establish and encourage periodic or regular educational sessions.
• Plan monthly educational sessions on the national health observance topic
• Put up a Wellness Bulletin Board & update it monthly
• Post messages from national health observances during the month
• Provide healthy tips in newsletters, paycheck stuffers, bulletin boards, etc.
• Sponsor a benefits fair
• Develop company fitness and healthy eating challenges
• Sponsor company health & wellness fairs or other onsite events

Nutrition Programs

• Provide free, healthy snacks for workers (fruit, nuts, popcorn)
• Offer healthy meal choices in cafeterias and at company activities
• Give information to employees about the nutritional content of food served in the cafeteria
• Establish a fresh fruit “snack basket” in the breakroom or cafeteria
• Stock vending machines with healthier options
• Subsidize healthy foods in the cafeteria or snack machines (10¡ apples may be more appealing than $1.00 candy bars)
• Start a weekly or monthly healthy lunch club
• Give brochures available on a variety of healthy eating topics
• Include nutrition articles in organization newsletters
• Provide a healthy meal tasting contest Free
• Provide educational sessions at lunch-time on a variety of nutrition issues of interest
• Sponsor an employee healthy diet cookbook. Either sell the cookbook and use profits for programs, or purchase a cookbook for all workers

Weight Loss Programs / Weight Management Programs

• Offer flexible work schedules so that staff members are able to participate in weight-loss programs
• Subsidize registration expenditures for weight-management programs
• Form a support group to help workers who are trying to lose weight
• Arrange for registered dieticians near your worksite as a resource for employees who want information on healthy eating, meal planning or weight management
• Offer individual counseling for employees trying to lose weight
• Provide workplace fitness and weight-management programs through your local hospital, Weight Watchers, TOPS or local, registered dietician
• Have an educational session on diet myths and healthy eating

Physical Activity Programs

• Provide flexible work schedules to encourage physical activity
• Organize a fitness space with aerobic equipment, and weights
• Establish accessible walking paths, trails, and/or bike routes
• Urge staff members to walk more by parking farther away from the entrance
• Develop a gym with aerobic equipment, weights, aerobic classes, fitness professionals
• Have walking meetings
• Make the stairwells more appealing (carpet, fresh paint, artwork, posters)
• Offer reduced gym membership fees to all workers
• Offer facilities for staff members to secure bikes
• Schedule 5 – ten minute stretch breaks during the day
• Partially fund health club membership for workers who participate a minimal number of days per week (ex., 3 days per week)
• Support lunchtime walking/running clubs or company sports team
• Encourage stairwell use and incentives
• Install a basketball hoop outside
• Promote & support area walks or fitness activities
• Urge walking during breaks and other off-time periods
• Provide periodic fitness incentive programs to encourage exercise
• Schedule educational sessions on fitness activities

Smoking Cessation Programs / Tobacco Cessation Programs

• Establish a smoke-free grounds
• Develop a tobacco-free workplace
• Promote the use of 1-800-QUIT-NOW, North Carolina’s no cost Tobacco Use Quitline. Or check www.QuitlineNC.com
• Reimburse employees for tobacco replacement products
• Partially fund the expenditure of tobacco cessation classes
• Offer pamphlets and information on health effects from tobacco use and tobacco cessation
• Schedule awareness sessions to innervate employees to try to quit tobacco use
• Schedule onsite smoking cessation classes

Employee Health Screening

• Discount medical insurance premiums or reduce co-payments for staff members who take part in screenings and who take part in managing their risk factors
• Install Blood Pressure monitoring equipment
• Offer flu shots for employees and family members
• Offer Health Risk Assessments to all workers, including counseling and follow-up
• Offer periodic Blood Pressure (BP) screenings and follow-up
• Provide periodic screenings for blood lipids, blood sugar, body composition, etc.

Stress Management Programs / Work Life Balance Programs

• Offer flexible schedules for family/work life balance
• Offer and promote an Employee Assistance Program(EAP)
• Offer information on substance abuse prevention
• Provide brochures and information on stress management and mental health
• Give pamphlets and information on work life balance, such as monetary planning, childcare, parenting, elder care, etc.
• Give supervisor and manager training on communication, relationship building, business stressors, etc.
• Assess corporation policies and work schedules to identify corporation stressors
• Review the Employee Assistance Program(EAP) to ensure it is meeting the needs of the employees and employer
• Schedule educational sessions on stress management and work life balance
• Have sessions on relaxation, stress management, and work life balance topics