Posts from — May 2009

A listing of potential wellness subject matters and ideas not previously mentioned follows. Take some time to “think tank and brainstorm” new ideas with your own internal employee Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee.

Nutrition Category
• Low-fat campaign/food groups
• Team salad bars
• Vending machine changes
• Diet analysis by a dietician
• Produce on parade
• Eating disorder support group
• Restaurant education

Physical Activity/Exercise Category
• “Elevoiders” – stair climbing
• Poker walk
• Mall walking program
• Facilities – showers, bike lockers, exercise space, etc.
• Team treks
• Walk-a-block trails
• Recreational tournaments
• How-to-choose equipment talks
• Running maps
• Biking maps
• Deskercises (mini stretches for desk jockeys)
• Fit-over-forty club
• Tennis shoe Tuesday
• Walk 100 miles in 100 days
• Walking “buddies”
• NW Trek!

Miscellaneous Category
• House calls
• Meet your benefits providers
• Dental health
• Fire safety
• Ergonomic assessments
• Self-help learning
• CPR/first aid course
• Hearing test
• Hand washing campaign
• Cancer screenings
• Back class
• Passports to health
• Vision screenings

Stress Management Category
• Comedy hour
• Stress Pest
• Humor newsletter
• Money management seminars
• Time management classes
• Relaxation class
• Better sleep campaign
• Relaxation room

Other departments within a company will likely focus on related areas of employee safety and injury prevention. Wellness activities are a natural partner to many other human resource, employee motivation, and safety programs. Body mechanics, ergonomics, and safe working practices are three areas which may be coordinated together.
• Soft Tissue Sprains & Strains: This injury category continues to remain the number one monetary loss for workers’ compensation. Many health care insurance dollars are also spent on back pain, other sprains, and strains. Wellness and safety efforts can focus on:
• Warm up stretches before beginning work or periodic stretching during work. These can do much to prevent soft tissue injury. Offer training to work groups so they may begin a stretching program. These groups can then continue on their own.
• The Company Health Promotion Program Committee might consider contracting a fitness professional to come in and conduct stretching “refreshers” for employee groups throughout the year.
• Provide body mechanics training on an yearly basis or more frequently if possible. These training sessions should focus on work related tasks and safety, as well as feature a segment on home tasks and body safety.
• Partner with your employer’s workers’ compensation carrier to support  in providing body mechanics training, job safety analysis, and other preventative services which can help employees work safer, smarter, and avert injury.
• Launch a safety problems suggestion box. Urge workers to report safety and/or injury problems. Help management to establish policy to recognize and reward workers who offer safety suggestions, offer tips, and solution ideas.
• A periodic presentation featuring a local medical provider addressing such subject matters as safe body mechanics, recovering from a back injury, appropriate spine care, etc.
• Partner with senior staff and supervisor teams to recognize and reward work groups who are efficacious with safety and injury prevention.
• The ergonomics of an employees’ workstation/work place design is valuable and applicable to every group.
• Provide ergonomic training opportunities to interested staff members volunteers. These individuals can then support  other staff members to evaluate their work areas for safety, comfort, and injury prevention.
• It is often more effective to have an observer evaluate employees for helpful and friendly comfort ideas rather than it is for people to assess themselves.
• One suggestion is to have workers remind one another about correct posture, to take breaks, to stop and do quick mini stretches, etc.
• Take before and after photos of work areas as changes are made. This will help to prove how small adjustment changes can frequently make large comfort changes.
• Partner with the employer’s workers’ compensation carrier to help develop ergonomic policies and practices and to support employee training.

Tying wellness activities into holiday themes is a strategy frequently used to foster interest and participation. Still, be aware that offering holiday activities in the worksite can foster concerns. Your worksite may have policies and ground rules already in place about concerns such as appropriate decorations themes, work time, etc. Be sure to check with management regarding all ground rules and policies.

Remember to include and acknowledge the holiday celebrations of the various cultures or groups represented in your workforce. It is generally safer to use graphics, themes, and wording that are not specific to one culture, as others might feel left out. In fact, acknowledging diverse holidays, if done respectfully, can help familiarize your workforce with values and practices of different cultures and ethnic groups.

A few topical ideas for holiday themes include:
• Workplace Wellness Program Committee participants distribute “healthy heart valentines” to each employee for Valentine’s Day.
• Thanksgiving “turkey trot”. Staff Members who exercise three times a week for at least one-half hour between November 1 and 15 are entered into a drawing for a no cost turkey (can be purchased at the local grocery store or donated).
• Chinese New Year tai chi demonstration. Consider a follow-up workplace introductory tai chi class offering.
• Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/etc. holiday food potluck. Participants of different cultural or ethnic groups bring in a dish reflective of their holiday traditions. Each person can say a few words about the origin and tradition behind the food. In this holiday theme, food need not be low fat or especially healthy, since the purpose is enhancing cultural diversity, not counting calories.

Pre/Display Holiday Weigh In

Holiday weight gain can be a noteworthy health challenge. This wellness program exercise is fun, low-key, and helps employees monitor their weight during the holiday season.
• Participants weigh-in with a “trusted” confident prior to Thanksgiving. The weigh-ins may be conducted on the honor system, but weight must be recorded on a weight-tracking card. You might invite a local nurse or Weight Watchers representative to monitor weigh-ins.
• workers set a personal goal of maintaining their weight from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day.
• Weight cards are stored in a secure file location.
• Give weekly weight control hints. These must be posted next to the wellness bulletin board, sent via email, or provided in brochure form.
• Or, alternate the weekly hints with healthy recipe options.
• Remind workers of the necessity to continue physical activity during the hectic holiday season.
• Weigh everyone the first work day following New Year’s Day. Record the weight on the tracking card.
• staff members who have maintained their weight or who have lost weight receive a prize and award certificate.
• employees who gained weight receive a certificate of completion and an invitation to continue participation in a related health weight wellness activity.

National health observance campaigns can lighten workload and effort. Many of these well-developed observances have kits and materials which can either be downloaded for no cost or purchased inexpensively. Monthly health themes, week long events, and nationally recognized days of the year are also good ways to have fun while participating in larger events. Health observances are tied to almost every aspect of wellness and health. Things to consider:

• National observances present opportunities to work with other community agencies and corporations to begin larger activities and celebrations.
• A wellness message is more likely to stick with people if the information is presented at work, in local grocery stores, and on television.
• National Employee Fitness Day/Week (April) is a wonderful place to start.
• A word of advice: do not go overboard in attempting to tie a wellness program into these national observances, as there are so many. Pick one to three programs per year and stick with these. Create and reward programs well ensuring that employees will come to expect and anticipate these programs each year. It is best to do a few Worksite Wellness Programs very well than numerous promotions poorly.

Many employees enjoy team related activities. These activities usually take place on an employee’s time away from work and participation is totally voluntary in nature. Although the sports team is not part of an employee’s regular work duties, if the team or exercise is associated with the business, the business might be held liable in the event of an employee injury. If the exercise brings with it a risk of injury, it is significant to address the possible risk and liability issues with the correct business department. Also consult with your organization’s workers’ compensation carrier and/or legal counsel.
• Develop summer softball or volleyball teams, a winter ski outing, fall and winter smoke-free bowling teams, a spring golf tournament, summer walks, etc.
• Give brochures and catalogs from area Parks and Recreation departments and county park organizations so employee can take advantage of area leagues, trips and offerings.
• Invite an official from one of the above employers to speak at a employer brown bag event, or invite an area Parks and Recreation instructor to support a demonstration of a new class offering.

Family Friendly Activities

Periodically offer activities which can be taken home and shared with the entire family. Ideas for these include:
• TV Free Week (usually in April): Create a chart for the little ones to use to record their TV-free participation.
• Offer a certificate to anyone who is TV-free for a week.
• If possible, offer a few prizes (but not video rental certificates, video games or other TV-related items) for related categories, such as less than 5 hours of TV, no video games for a week, etc.

Stress Management

Many simple wellness activities and practices can help staff members know the role stress plays in effecting health, safety, and productivity. It is necessary to help staff members know simple stress management strategies for decreasing stress levels.
• Stress kit check out. Have stress management tools available for employee use during a scheduled break time. Consider providing relaxation music or programs including player and headphones; mat or blanket to lie on; neck pillow; eye mask; and stress massage rollers.
• Offer a stress management brown bag event at which staff members can try different types stress management tools.
• Urge staff members to take 10-minute relaxation/exercise breaks. Display reminders.
• Give a comfortable employee break area.
• Establish a “quiet room” for meditation and relaxation, if possible.
• Work with Senior Leadership to keep supervisors informed about the effects of stress in the workplace. Supervisors are frequently the first step in helping staff members find different ways of managing work related stressors.
• Contact the Employee Assistance Provider (EAP) for a variety of stress management information and self-assessments.
• Provide stress management self-assessments to interested workers. Follow these up with a stress management videotape, a brown bag presentation, or a neighborhood guest speaker.

Mental Health and Wellness

Emotions and mental health greatly affect central health and wellness. Every Corporate Wellness Program should incorporate some services, programs, resources or activities to address mental health issues.

Mental health topics can be sensitive areas for workers. Therefore, it is valuable to offer information in a variety of ways, workplace presentations being just one possibility. For example, put domestic violence resource cards in the restrooms to offer useful information in a private setting that does not embarrass anyone. Other considerations include:
• When planning to offer an oratory event or presentation a neutral class title will ensure potential participants won’t be put off by the name. By way of example, “Parenting in 2004″, “Positive Parenting”, or “Parent University” is much more appealing than “Stress and Parenting”.
• Be sure to allot proper time when hosting EAP/mental health seminars for a question and answer session so participants may ask specific questions. Always remind participants that individual help is available through the EAP and also through their health benefits. Offer written contact information for your EAP, but do so discretely.
• The Employee Assistance Program(EAP) is an excellent partner and resource for wellness programming in these areas. The EAP can help discover ways to address mental health, stress, coping, and other related issues.

Tobacco Cessation

Smoking cessation assistance is a worthwhile wellness exercise. Smoking is often a difficult habit to overcome. Workplace wellness activities to support “tobacco-free” living include:
• Use American Lung Association resource. These include the Freedom From Smoking group and/or video-tutorial. There is also a follow-up video “A Lifetime of Freedom From Smoking”.
• Reward people who have successfully quit smoking for six months with an appropriate “kicked the habit” certificate and some sort of incentive gift.
• Provide “cold turkey” sandwiches to smokers who pledge to quit during the Great American Smokeout.
• Begin a “quitting or thinking about it” reinforcement group to help  and encourage individuals trying to stop smoking.

Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Addictions

If a substance abuse policy is not in place in your workplace, advocate that one be developed. Request a knowledgeable Employee Health Promotion Program Committee member be included in the policy development process. If such a policy is already in place make sure Employee Health Promotion Program Committee members are cognizant of the policy and have a thorough understanding of it. From time to time, remind employees of wellness resources and programs available.
• Invite AA, NA, AI-Anon, and other groups to meet in a organization building and/or publicize area meetings.
• Serve non-alcoholic drinks whenever alcohol is served, and make sure food is always served along with alcoholic beverages.
• Offer easily accessible information about counseling, referral, and treatment programs available in the area. Put this information in an area where it can be viewed without embarrassment.
• When delivering wellness programs include information about responsible alcohol use on stress/weight management, nutrition, physical fitness, smoking, and accident prevention.
• Issues such as co-dependence and the difficulty of supporting a substance abuser can also be addressed. Offer this information as part of the wellness program by offering informational materials, brown bag sessions, EAP information, etc.
• The Employee Assistance Program provider is an excellent resource for substance abuse wellness programming and or employee assistance.
• Other addictions, such as problem gambling, food addiction, shopping, Internet addiction, etc., can be an issue and can reach the point of affecting a person’s entire life including work. Offer information, video review, or employee assistance sessions addressing these subject matters.
• A Worksite Wellness Program Committee member may gain personal information regarding an employee concern. Remember to keep all employee information totally confidential.

Interest in increasing physical exercise ranks nearly as high as weight management in employee interest and need. Ideas for building employee awareness and participation in physical activities follow:

• Fitness classes in the workplace: Onsite exercise can be much more convenient for employees. Still, worksite classes require logistical planning and coordination with attention to details. Onsite classes are generally more feasible for larger companies. As part of the steps in planning and assessment, talk with other Corporate Wellness Programs offering workplace classes. Ask what their experience has been like. Speak to potential vendors in the area as well. Find out what it would take to offer an on-Site fitness class. YMCA’s, health clubs, and area recreation programs are great resources for this kind of discussion. It is also feasible to offer a “mini” introductory workplace class series. A mini series might consist of an introduction to a new physical exercise area. Workers are then expected to make the transition to home or area based programs.
• Nerf Olympics: Nerf games are fun (and entertaining) activities that promote movement, flexibility, stress reduction, and usually are a good laugh. When organizing such an activity consider setting up a “challenge” stations with various activities. Ideas for activities include hula hoop contests, Nerf basketball no cost throws, Nerf football tosses, Frisbee “golf”, jump rope, etc. The Wellness Team will lay out the course. Each colleague goes through the stations and gets a “gold” medal (you can buy these at party stores and toy stores inexpensively) for completing all of the stations (no matter how badly they perform). Begin each colleague at intervals allowing for smooth running, but expect high difficulty stations to be backed up. This delay can add to the fun and creates a ‘keystone cops’ scenario. Nerf Olympics is a wonderful activity to do with an audience, so promote cheering coworkers.
• Offer incentives to workers who engage in aerobic exercise such as walking, running and bicycling on their own time (see goal setting program, offer points toward prizes, etc.).
• Give out maps of walking/jogging trails located near the worksite. Mark distances in steps and miles. Encourage workers to walk during lunch and/or break times. Post a steps accumulated map on a worksite wall where workers can log their steps or miles.
• Encourage joggers, walkers, and those who enjoying other forms of exercise to form fitness groups to meet before work, at lunchtime, or after work.
• Urge the use of stairs rather than elevators. Place bulletin boards, art contests, etc., in stairwells.
• Develop “Bike-to-Work” or Walk-to-Work week.
• Schedule five-minute desk stretching at the worksite. This can relieve repetitive motion concerns as well as eye and back strain.
• Develop a personal challenge activity such as “Climb a Mountain” or “Swim a Sea”. This is an honor system program in which participating staff members are awarded minutes, steps, or miles credit for cardiovascular exercise (swimming, walking, running, skiing, biking, stair stepping, aerobics, etc.). The object of this sort of challenge is to accumulate the equivalent mileage it would take to reach the top of a famous mountain, span a body of water (swim the Columbia River), or reach a distant city/county. Try personalizing the challenge as much as possible to individual interests and/or area geographical matches close to the worksite.
• Collect a variety of exercise video or DVD tapes. Staff Members can either check out a tape for home use, or offer a group activity video class.
• If it is not possible for employee to leave the building to work out at lunch, try adopting an in-house aerobic walking track for employee use in an unused part of the worksite for lunch, break or after hours use. An example of how this problem might be solved is the use of stationary bikes and other small exercise equipment provided for employee by some 911 call centers.
• Organize a “Personal Best” Challenge”. Workers run, walk, bike, etc. their own personal best time. Repeat the personal best challenge each quarter to six months. Each time an employee improves, offer recognition and an appropriate award. Also, recognize those staff members who maintain their personal best in the same way. Urge non-participating staff members to get involved. Assist these people in choosing an activity that is comfortable and of interest for them, and one in which they can succeed and progress.
• When you offer an introductory or other onsite exercise class or exercise, make sure the instructor can relate to the audience, and the audience can relate to the instructor. Have a Worksite Wellness Program Committee member catch a current class by the selected instructor class prior to the instructor delivering a class at worksite. Also, consider the staff members who may be potentially attending the class. Occasionally larger and/or older exercise instructors are often better accepted by audiences who are similarly sized and aged.
• Develop a themed “virtual” trek. Calculate the mileage for the proposed “trip” ahead of time. Be sure that the distance is appropriate for the number of expected participants and time for the event (six to eight weeks) works well. For longer activities, small teams can accumulate their mileage for the trip. Establish a reporting network. Display a map to track the trip. Chart the progress with stick pins, a magic marker, or a highlighter. Offer a brief humorous fictional narrative of the trip, posting a new one each week. Include as many participants’ names as possible. Alternate posting humorous texts with health tips along the way. Offer an incentive at the end of the trip.

Ideas For Physical Activity Themes:

• Swim the Mississippi to the Mardi gras.
• Take a tour to all Oregon counties.
• Take a tour of Oregon from Enterprise to Brookings.
• Run or walk around the world (25,000 miles).
• Tour de France (take all summer)
• Tour de France on a stationary bike (take all winter)
• Indianapolis 500
• Climb Mount Everest (stairs or stair climbers). Target Sir Edmund Hilary’s birthday or the anniversary of the first conquest as a completion date.
• Climb Mount Washington or Mt. Hood. Target President’s Day as a completion date.
• Climb any significant mountain and tie it to any remotely related event.
• Use time in exercise as a measurement for the contest instead of distance. This allows you to treat all forms of aerobic exercise more equitably.

staff members generally enjoy sharing nutritional tips and trying new foods. Sponsor a “nutrition cook-off” and/or healthy potlucks.
• Nutrition cook-off. Teams of workers set a menu in advance and bring in prepared foods for an official competition. A dietician from the health department or local hospital or area serves as the judge. Dishes and foods are evaluated based on both health considerations and taste. Following the event, a cookbook of the teams’ recipes can be created and distributed to the entire employee.
• Cholesterol Control or “Down Under” Club. People with cholesterol over 200 mg. are invited to voluntarily participate. The invitation needs to be extended to all employees as the Wellness Team will not have (nor ought to have) access to individual health data. Offer a variety of services to help  in reducing cardiac risks. Gordian Health Solutions offers cholesterol management health programs for employees qualifying by cholesterol score. If employee gets cholesterol numbers below 200 in six months, support an incentive such as a prize to continue progress. Continue to supply data and reminders for continued cholesterol control.
• Label reading contest. Create a particular food or food category. Employees must find the designated products with the lowest/highest fat content in the grocery store. Give coupons or other prizes for predetermined number of winners or participants. Or, offer samples of healthier meal choices based on label information. Show how these compare to less healthy choices. Put up results of the contest in the employee break room or at an employee brown bag event.

Other Worksite Wellness Program Nutrition Recommendations:

• Give freshly brewed decaffeinated coffee and herbal tea.
• Organize a healthy food “bake-off’ once a year.
• Provide sugar and salt substitutes in the lunchroom.
• At gatherings, replace sweet rolls and donuts with bran muffins, wholewheat bagels, or fresh fruit. Consider offering other decaffeinated coffee and herbal teas plus no-sugar fruit juices.
• Serve free popcorn in the break area.
• Create a cookbook featuring healthy recipes contributed by workers.
• Fruit or veggie of the week (or month). Display an “exotic” fruit or vegetable in your lunchroom and see if coworkers know what it is. Staff Members can put their name and the name of the item on an index card. These can be used to conduct a prize drawing at the end of the week from the cards with the correct answer. To add fun, promote people to put down funny answers when in doubt of the real name of the item. Read some of those names during the prize drawing, and offer a prize for the most creative name. Divide the fruit or vegetable at the drawing and let those interested taste it. Be sure it can be eaten raw. “Unusual” meal items like star fruit are now readily available in grocery stores work well for this activity as many people have not tried these types of produce.

Weight management is a big area of both employee interest and need. Body Mass Index (BMI) is the clinical measure that indicates whether people are in a healthy weight range or are overweight or obese. The BMI is a measure of a person’s overall height to their overall weight. Height and weight are evaluated during the Healthy Benefits evaluation. A computer mathematical calculation supplies the BMI score. Gordian health management programs are available for Healthy Benefits participants who qualify based on their BMI score, and who are interested in a weight management program.

Ideas for workplace based weight management programs include:
• Have Weight Watchers, TOPS, or other reputable weight management groups meet in your worksite or nearby. Provide such groups before/after work or at lunchtime. Employee attendance is generally better if workers can attend either wholly or partially on work time. Break times may be rolled into lunch break times to minimize employee time away from work duties (with management approval). workers usually pay their own fees for class attendance and supporting materials.
• If the wellness program offers incentives based on participation, award a completion gift when employee has attended a certain number of weight management sessions or activities.
• Supply information regarding neighborhood weight management groups.
• Incentives such as cash, tee shirts, plaques, certificates, hours/days off, names on bulletin boards can be given to people who write a weight loss contract and meet their intention.
• Establish a worksite responsibility to offer alternative healthy snacks at employer-sponsored meetings. Healthy snacks such as fruit, pretzels, plain popcorn, almonds, and veggies offer demonstration as to the employer’s responsibility to health and employee well being.