Health and wellness programs are catching on. A well-designed wellness program can increase productivity, improve morale and vitality, reduce stress, reduce absenteeism, and control avoidable health care costs.

The beauty of it is that you’re simply assisting people to make smart options so the costs of implementing a wellness program are minimal compared to the benefits.

Ideally, you’ll create an overall plan for a wellness program before beginning to plan specific wellness programs. for example, you can start by getting the following elements in place –

• support from  upper management
• a wellness committee or team
• information about the wellness needs and interests of employees
• a budget
• program objectives
• an evaluation plan

Even when you have few financial and/or HR, you can still take a “micro” approach. for example, you could focus on only one specific issue or problem. Creativity, enthusiasm and planning can help you overcome limitations.

This article will give you some ideas for establishing up wellness programs. Even the smallest steps can have an impact. But before moving I will tell you that these all steps require proper guide and training to implement and for this purpose you can take certification from an authentic online institute like Spencer Institute.

Spencer Institute offers training videos and complete certification courses in fitness including Master Health and wellness coach certification. Their courses are well designed to make you capable to follow it as your career. It means you are going to get professional training from the start. Their support is top-notch and best part, which I like, is the course is 100% online so you can access anytime from anywhere. Now let’s move with our steps to make a wellness program.

Whether you pick to start with a single program or create something larger, planning is essential. First, think about the large picture and then look after the details.

Ask yourself these questions –

• Identify an action. What health-related program will fit the bill and best suit the staff members and organization?
• Promote. How can you most effectively get the word out to employees? What are the opportunities for promotion? Consider everything, because workers have access to and pay attention to different kinds of messages.

In a typical workplace, staff members get information from e-mail, newsletters, bulletins,  handouts, meeting announcements and fellow staff members.

• Deliver. Who is the best person or group to put the program into action? Ask other companies about the approaches they have used. Decide on your budget before making a decision.
• Evaluate. What should you evaluate to determine success? Do you need hard data and/or testimonials from individual participants?

We recommend the following when planning your initiative –

• creating and communicating clear objectives
• targeting your audience
• deciding on the kind of program or campaign

The Elements of Wellness Programming

Programs to promote wellness in the workplace don’t need to be restricted to a single area. You could think corporate wellness only involves promoting positive personal health, e.g., blood pressure (BP) clinics,  brochures on heart illness, “lunch and learn” workshops on consuming habits and short-term physical activity programs.

These activities are important, but corporate wellness should also be part of a corporation’s corporation strategy and go beyond traditional programming.

Taking an expanded approach, the National Quality Institute lately identified three key elements of a healthful workplace –

• physical environment
• social environment and personal resources
• health practices

Specific Program Ideas

Physical Environment

Look after workers’ health and safety and establish regulations to support their health and safety. Consider providing the following –

• Safe bike storage and shower and/or change facilities for cyclists and other commuters.
• Fridges for staff members to keep snacks and meals fresh and/or healthy snacks in vending machines and cafeterias.
• Ergonomic assessments.
• Subsidies to help employees join local recreation centres.
• Classrooms/conference rooms available for booking activities like yoga, pilates, tai chi, meditation and aerobics.
• Safe and pleasant stairwells that invite workers to use them.
• Investigating the potential for violence at work with plans to deal with such risks.
• Good lighting and sound and air quality.

Social Environment

Human relationships and communication, in addition to ways of doing corporation, can affect an employee’s mental and physical health. Companies should consider the following –

• respectful workplace policies that provide safe worksites
• policies on flex time
• policies on working from home
• employee satisfaction surveys
• leadership coaching
• resiliency training
• staff member assistance programs

To foster a positive social culture or climate, consider employees’ needs, which include –

• being respected
• a sense of belonging, purpose and mission
• freedom of expression
• protection from harassment and discrimination

What you’ve “always done” might not address current worker needs. Ensuring that people enjoy being at work isn’t an easy task, but making the right changes can have an immense impact.

Health Practices

Offer programs and set policies that help staff members remain healthy or improve their health while at work. Consider offering the following –

• “Lunch and learn sessions” on healthful habits such as sleeping better, consuming on the run, healthful snacks, using a pedometer, pole walking, work-life balance, time management, stress management, resiliency, parenting and reading nutrition labels.
• Stop use of tobacco clinics or subsidies to help workers quit.
• Health risk (assessment|appraisal}s, including fitness assessments.
• Programs to address the issues raised in the health risk (assessment|appraisal}s.
• Healthy snacks served at meetings and conferences.

Personal Corporate Wellness Tips

When there is no wellness program at your worksite, don’t let that stop you from keeping healthful. Perhaps your example will spark a movement toward a healthier workplace.

Here are several ideas to think about –

• be active at work. There are many ways to bring activity into your workday. Walk to work, even when it’s just one way. Hold walking meetings. Bike to work. Use the stairs. Walk to a workmate’s office instead of sending an e-mail.
• Eat well at work. Pack a healthy snack and meal. Place a bottle of water at your desk or workstation. Eat breakfast and eat regularly during the day. Take turns bringing a basket of fruit for peers’ snacks. Order healthy snacks for meetings.
• Maintain a work-life balance. Be certain to work efficiently so you are able to leave on time. Conduct short, effective meetings. Leave your work at work and don’t take it home.

Minimize social chit-chat. Be certain to set up your office to enhance your work. Avoid clutter. Plan and prioritize to ensure that the most important things get done first.

There’s no limit to the number or variety of wellness programs. A key to success is planning well and ensuring that you can evaluate the results so that you can sustain momentum.

Talk to other wellness practitioners to find out what works well for them. Listen to your coworkers to determine their needs and interests. and do not forget to promote, promote, promote.

I hope you like this long informative article on health and wellness program, I must recommend you to think about wellness coach certification which helps you to organize and create such health and wellness programs for your clients and an organization. Stay for more update, cheers :).