Guide Helps Small, Medium Firms Find the Right Wellness Fit

A study from the Transamerica Center for Health Studies and the Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces found most employers say their wellness programs have had a good effect on job satisfaction, workplace commitment, turnover, and absenteeism, reports Employee Benefit Adviser . However, 62 percent of employers say they offer wellness programs, yet just 40 percent of employees with employer-based coverage say they work for an employer who does so. The organizations have jointly issued an evidence-based, workplace wellness program employer guide. The document concentrates on effective wellness programs for small and medium businesses especially, offering a step-by-step process for identifying one or more wellness programs that fit each employer's unique characteristics. The guide highlights eight different wellness program types, including education programs, employee-directed social community building, organization-directed social community building, "lite" preventive care programs, "lite" healthy habit development, "enhanced" healthy habit development, "enhanced" preventive care programs, and disease management. The guide also can help human resources in identifying wellness program facilitators and impediments, and approaches to augment or overcome those facilitators/barriers and external resources, including assessments, toolkits, planning guides, educational articles, wellness technology, and webinars. "We help company leadership understand how the organization will benefit from employee wellness and how they can find a wellness program that fits their specific circumstances," says Interdisciplinary Center for Healthy Workplaces Director Cristina Banks.