Posted by Health Handouts | Posted in Health Handouts, Health Tips | Posted on 18-07-2009
Want some wellness program ideas and wellness policy ideas to get you started? Or perhaps you want to jump start or better upon your current wellness program? The list below provides ‘best practices’ that can 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
• Organize a Worksite Wellness Program Committee
• Choose health insurance plans that cover expenditures for weight management and smoking cessation
• Waive co-pay or reimburse for preventive health care visits
• Put up handouts on a variety of wellness topics for employees to take
• Organize a wellness resource center or library with videos, books, magazines, DVD’s on a variety of topics of interest to employees
• Identify employees who are mentors or champions for healthy activities and ask them to present or to list as a contact for other employees
• Plan and encourage periodic or regular educational sessions.
• Develop monthly educational sessions on the national health observance topic
• Put up a Wellness Bulletin Board & update it monthly
• Put up messages from national health observances during the month
• Provide healthy tips in newsletters, paycheck stuffers, bulletin boards, etc.
• Offer a benefits fair
• Organize organization fitness and healthy eating challenges
• Develop corporation health and wellbeing fairs or other onsite activities
Nutrition Programs
• Offer free, healthy snacks for workers (fruit, nuts, popcorn)
• Provide healthy meal choices in cafeterias and at organization events
• Give information to employees about the nutritional content of food served in the cafeteria
• Organize a fresh fruit “snack basket” in the breakroom or cafeteria
• Stock snack machines with healthier options
• Partially fund healthy foods in the cafeteria or vending machines (10¡ apples may be more appealing than $1.00 candy bars)
• Begin a weekly or monthly healthy lunch club
• Give handouts available on a variety of healthy eating subject matters
• Include diet articles in organization newsletters
• Provide a healthy food tasting contest Free
• Have educational sessions at lunch-time on a variety of diet topics of interest
• Offer an employee healthy food cookbook. Either sell the cookbook and use profits for programs, or purchase a cookbook for all staff members
Weight Loss Programs / Weight Management Programs
• Provide flexible work schedules so that staff members can participate in weight-loss programs
• Partially fund registration expenditures for weight-management programs
• Provide a support group to help workers who are trying to lose weight
• Locate registered dieticians near your worksite as a resource for staff members who want information on healthy eating, meal planning or weight control
• Provide individual counseling for staff members trying to lose weight
• Offer 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
• Offer flexible work schedules to encourage physical activity
• Design a fitness space with aerobic equipment, and weights
• Organize accessible walking paths, trails, and/or bike routes
• Urge workers to walk more by parking farther away from the entrance
• Create a gym with aerobic equipment, weights, aerobic classes, fitness professionals
• Hold walking meetings
• Make the stairways more appealing (carpet, fresh paint, artwork, posters)
• Offer reduced gym membership fees to all employees
• Offer facilities for staff members to secure bikes
• Provide 5 – ten minute stretch breaks during the day
• Partially fund fitness center membership for staff members who take part a minimal number of days per week (ex., 3 days per week)
• Support lunchtime walking/running clubs or organization sports team
• Urge stairwell use and incentives
• Install a basketball hoop outside
• Promote & support neighborhood walks or fitness activities
• Urge walking during breaks and other off-time periods
• Give periodic fitness incentive programs to encourage physical activity
• Provide educational sessions on fitness activities
Smoking Cessation Programs / Tobacco Cessation Programs
• Organize a tobacco-free grounds
• Create a tobacco-free workplace
• Encourage the use of 1-800-QUIT-NOW, North Carolina’s free Tobacco Use Quitline. Or check www.QuitlineNC.com
• Reimburse workers for tobacco replacement products
• Subsidize the expenditure of tobacco cessation seminars
• Give brochures and information on health effects from tobacco use and tobacco cessation
• Provide awareness sessions to innervate staff members to try to quit tobacco use
• Have onsite smoking cessation sessions
Employee Health Screening
• Discount health insurance premiums or decrease co-payments for employees who take part in screenings and who take part in managing their risk factors
• Install Blood Pressure monitoring equipment
• Provide flu shots for employees and family members
• Offer Health Risk Assessments to all employees, including counseling and follow-up
• Offer periodic Blood Pressure (BP) screenings and follow-up
• Offer periodic screenings for cholesterol, blood glucose, body composition, etc.
Stress Management Programs / Work Life Balance Programs
• Allow flexible schedules for family/work life balance
• Provide and promote an EAP
• Provide information on substance abuse prevention
• Give pamphlets and information on stress management and mental health
• Give brochures and information on work life balance, such as monetary planning, childcare, parenting, elder care, etc.
• Give supervisor and manager training on communication, relationship building, employer stressors, etc.
• Review business policies and work schedules to identify business stressors
• Evaluate the Employee Assistance Program(EAP) to ensure it is meeting the needs of the workers and employer
• Have educational sessions on stress management and work life balance
• Have courses on relaxation, stress management, and work life balance topics