Workplace Wellness 101

By Greg Cook, HCP Associate

Do workplace wellness programs work? Are they worth the investment by employers? Do employees make full use of them? And what are the goals of workplace wellness? These are the questions U.S. employers, unions, policy makers and public health researchers are asking. Thankfully, there are answers based on solid evidence and rigorous study.

A benchmark for this field is the Health Affairs study published in January of this year. (For a link to an abstract of that article click here.) The authors surveyed published studies in the field and came to this conclusion: “medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and that absenteeism costs fall by about $2.73 for every dollar spent.” They do caution that “[a]lthough further exploration of the mechanisms at work and broader applicability of the findings is needed, this return on investment suggests that the wider adoption of such programs could prove beneficial for budgets and productivity as well as health outcomes.” This is the kind of bottom-line proof hard-pressed employers need in order to make decisions that will not hurt their finances and benefit their greatest resource—their employees. Workplace wellness programs are also good news for the field of public health. Researchers in Washington state have laid out the case for such programs as beneficial to both employer and employee and an important part of overall public health strategy.

However, evidence also provides another truth about workplace wellness programs: They need to be targeted and they need to be implemented with thought and attention to the needs of the employer, workplace, and workforce. A study sponsored by the non-profit National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR) shows that there are better and worse examples of implementing these programs. (NIHCR is a joint effort of auto-makers and unions; to see the study click here.)

The broader business community has already done work in this area. For instance, the U.S. Workplace Wellness Alliance—co-chaired by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Partnership for Prevention—has formulated proposed policies based on scientific research and the needs of businesses. (For a link to USWWA’s website click here.) The Healthiest Community Partnership (HCP) is beginning this work in Washington. HCP is a public-private partnership committed to policies to roll back chronic disease often connected to smoking, nutrition, and lack of healthy physical activity. For more information on HCP, its members, and its goals, click here.

References:

Baicker, Katherine, Cutler, David, & Song, Zirui. (2010, Jan. 14). Workplace wellness programs can generate savings. Health Affairs. Accessed on 11/15/2010 at http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.2009.0626v1.

Harris JR, Lichiello PA, Hannon PA. Workplace health promotion in Washington State. Prev Chronic Dis2009;6(1). http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2009/jan/07_0276.htm. Accessed 11/15/2010.

Tu, Ha T., & Mayrell, Ralph C. (2010). Employer wellness initiatives grow, but effectivenessvaries widely. Accessed at http://www.nihcr.org/Employer-Wellness-Initiatives.html on 11/15/2010.

U.S. Workplace Wellness Alliance. The business case for investing in worksite health promotion. Accessed at http://www.uswwa.org/portal/uswwa/case/default on 11/15/2010.

Private, Public Agree on Benefits of More Fresh, Local Food

By Greg Cook, WHF Associate

This October grocery giant Wal-Mart Stores announced a comprehensive plan to bring more locally-produced foods into is supply chain and on its shelves. Wal-Mart’s position is that this move will help food producers around the world and offer fresh foods to more people. As part of the move, Wal-Mart will provide a “sustainability index” for consumers to use to help make choices between similar products. This plan is one more endorsement of thinking about health, nutrition, and local food producers, with the added feature of “scaleability,” meaning that, due to Wal-mart’s ability to manage its procurement and supply on a vast scale, locally-gown foods may become available to a wider population. Critics of the growing local food movement have pointed to distribution and marketing difficulties, but Wal-Mart’s new emphasis in this area could be a game-changer. As “the world’s largest grocer” (according to The New York Times), Wal-Mart’s commitment to buying and selling locally-grown food and investing in growers sends an unmistakable signal to others in the grocery sector.

Wal-Mart’s new focus could bolster efforts in Washington to promote agriculture across the state and offer healthier choices to our state’s residents. This state is fortunate to have The Access to Healthy Food Coalition, a group of private and public partners looking at how food gets to people and how that process can be improved, as well as improving the quality of food while also supporting Washington farmers. Earlier this year, the coalition issued a report on the subject: Opportunities for Increasing Access to Healthy Foods in Washington (click here for a link to that report). This report attempts to show many of the ways healthy food makes its way onto the plates of Washingtonians.

When private and public forces connect to overcome barriers and increase the supply of healthy local foods, families, businesses, and institutions can then work on ways to make healthy choices (such as selecting nutritious foods) the easy choices. That is a cornerstone of the Healthiest Communities Partnership’s (HCP) approach. HCP is a private-public partnership bringing together businesses, philanthropies, non-profits, community groups, and government to craft policies fighting back against chronic diseases and making Washington a healthier state. For more information on HCP, click here.

Community Members Volunteer to Get Kids Excited About Fitness

By Greg Cook, WHF Associate

For children, the journey to fitness begins at home but continues at school. And for some Seattle kids, that means walking to and from school. Kids in the Phinney Ridge area have been joining together since 2005 to make the trip to school as part of a “walking school bus.” This effort relies on parent volunteers to ensure everything runs smoothly. Participants say they enjoy the exercise and interacting with others as well as getting exercise. The lack of exercise and corresponding decline in the health of many school-age children has worried observers in the health care sector, business, and even the military. According to The New York Times, a panel of retired military officers reports that an alarmingly high number of armed forces recruits fail basic physical fitness tests.

Thankfully, the message that our children need better exercise and nutrition habits is being heard across Washington state. In Pierce County’s Edgewood, for instance, students at one school participate in a voluntary fitness program with lessons about good nutrition. Program founder Ladd Wolfe says that he sees many of the participating children go on to keep up their healthy habits. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has published a guide entitled “Promoting Physical Activity and Healthy Nutrition in Afterschool Settings” with strategies and suggestions “to reverse childhood obesity trends by promoting healthy lifestyles for children and youth.”

The Washington Health Foundation’s Healthiest Communities Partnership (HCP) applauds these efforts as a solid first step to roll back the spread of chronic diseases in our state’s communities. HCP is a public-private partnership seeking to promote policies that will contribute to making our state the healthiest state in the nation. Policy advocates from business, health care, philanthropies, and non-profits, together with the Washington State Department of Health, will be convening to shape an action agenda to help our children, our workforce, and our families and communities in the fight against chronic diseases. For more information on HCP and this effort, click here.