Options for employee wellness

There are several different options or components that can make up an employee wellness program. It is important to keep in mind that these options should reflect both the needs and concerns of your employees. Here some options for employee wellness-

• Employee Health Screening-These type of screens are mean to identify any medical problems that are past, current or even potentially damaging to the employee. There are different types of screens that can be done that include but are not limited to:

1. Evaluations for stress 2. Cholesterol screenings 3. Blood pressure measurements 4. Body fat testing 5. Nutritional analysis One of the major benefits to this type of screening is that they can be highly personalized to the needs of the employees. They are also high effective at determining the potential of certain problems among the workforce. Employees often find this type of screening a motivation toward a healthier lifestyle.If an employer decides to make these types of screenings a part of the employee wellness program there are certain tips that can help make the program much more effective. These tips are: 1. These screenings will need to be done at least once a year, in order to effectively monitor changes. 2. All employees should feel comfortable about the level of confidentiality that is held all phases of the screening which includes: the actual testing, the results phase and any counseling that is done. 3. The program should be marketed as completely voluntary, while still reminding employees of the value of these types of health screening. 4. Regardless of personal risk level, all employees should receive informative materials. 5. The employee should be encouraged to visit their health care provider, for treatment, if they are found to be at high risk.

• Lunch and Learn/Lunchtime Brown-Baggers-This type of informal activity can be a highly popular and effective part of any employee wellness program. These are generally educational activities. Most often these types of activities take between 45 minutes to 1 hour. These are meant as informational activities and not necessarily the catalyst to making a drastic change in behavior. Best of all these type of gatherings can serve as an informal and casual way to reach a large number of employees and cover a wide variety of topics over a period of time. Generally, these mini seminars will provide an overview of the selected topic and provide further resources, for employees who want to seek out additional information.

This makes a great tool for "opening a door" for employees who are seeking further information on a topic of concern or interest. Some of the suggested topics for these Lunch and Learn/Lunchtime Brown-Baggers sessions could include: 1. Employee Health Screening 2. How to manage stress 3. Exercise and fitness 4. Diet and nutrition 5. Weight control 6. Care of back and neck 7. How to avoid repetitive strain injuries 8. Smoking cessation 9. CPR and First Aid training 10. Prevention of Cancer 11. Information about Applicable safety issues

• Wellness Seminars-This type of program is commonly found in many employee wellness programs. This type of seminar is most often an educational program or seminar that covers a health topic. This type of program will go much further then simply being just an awareness activity. Employees will be self motivated to attend this type of seminar. These seminars can have any length depending on the topic. Some seminars will run from a couple of hours to 2-3 days. During the wellness seminar each employee should have the chance to develop a highly individualized plan for change. The most common wellness seminars deal with the topics of: managing stress, smoking cessation, how to better manage time, diet and nutrition, fitness and weight control.