Wellness programs were designed because most employees are spending more and more time at work and less time looking after their health. Employers are starting to understand that unhealthy employees are less productive, contribute to the high costs of health insurance, increase of worker compensation claims, absenteeism and increase turnover. All factors that have negative effects on the bottom line. Many employees these days want to pursue a healthier lifestyle and wellness programs help drive motivation and create support groups. Companies establish Wellness programs to set goals that are aligned with their company objectives. Companies hope to establish work environments that promote healthy lifestyles, enhance the quality of life, decrease …show more content…
Educating employees and promoting healthy lifestyles is taking a proactive approach and can contribute to prevention. (Miller, Unknown) “Employee become smarter consumers of healthcare and feel empowered to take charge of their personal health.” (Wellness Programs, Unknown) Running Head: WELLNESS PROGRAMS 3 The Affordable Care Act breaks wellness programs down to categories. Participatory and Health Contingent Wellness Programs. Participatory programs are considered voluntary programs such as smoking cessation classes and education, gym memberships, screening and educational programs. The ACA guidelines specify that tying wellness programs with certain health outcomes isn’t acceptable for wellness programs designated as participatory in nature. Basically, incentives can be offered as long as it is not based the employees’ health outcome. Basing the results of of health outcome could be construed as discrimatory. Health-Contingent also known as Outcome-based workplace wellness programs work by rewarding an employee based on specific goals that are set. For example, if an employee participates in a weight loss program and achieves weight loss by walking routinely, eating health, or participate at a …show more content…
According to Harvard Business Review, questions Human Resource staff need to ask themselves is how do you create an evidence-based health promotion program that actually works? What can employers do to avoid common pitfalls that lead to ineffective and, in worse case scenarios, harmful initiatives? (Hector De La Torre and Ron Goetzel, 2016) These questions are very important for a company to establish wellness programs for the long term that will be effective and utilized by the employees. A commitment to the plan and clear communication from the company is needed from the top – down. The plan needs to be well thought out and strategic measure put into place so the objective is a long term. The plan has to have consistency. Not just a once or twice a year gathering to promote good health. Running Head: WELLNESS PROGRAMS 4 To develop such plans a company should first take a survey on what areas of good health do they really need to focus upon. Research should also include what competitors are offering and also how local areas business can contribute by supporting or partnering with your
I received a call from a customer who had dialled the 0345 number to claim benefit instead of dialling the 0800 number. The customer was furious as they had to wait in the queue and were being charged for the call. I immediately identified a problem with the 0345 number. It was allowing customers to press the relevant option to claim, consequently leading to complaints and potential compensation claims to reimburse them give for the cost of the call. To deliver a professional service and to stop the customer incurring further costs, I apologised and empathised with their situation and called them back to complete the claim.
I think the objectives set forth in Healthy People are a step in the right direction. They set goals that may not always be reached 100% but they are realistic and attainable. They always show improvement in areas that need work. However, there are some discrepancies that definitely stop the progress that Healthy People has set forth.
Healthy People is an organization that identifies the Nation’s health improvement priorities. Established for more than 30 years, Healthy People is a recognized science-based national health objective that focuses on monitoring progress, motivating action, and the guiding efforts to improve health across the country (Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 2011). Also, Healthy People 2020 locates nearly 1,200 objectives in the preparation of 42 topic areas of which each represents an important public health area. Consequently, the aims of Healthy People 2020 Progress Reviews are to provide health officials and the public with information on the current status of the objectives within each of the Healthy People 2020 topic areas. Therefore, the health officials include the Assistant Secretary for Health, senior Health and Human Services (HHS) officials and Healthy People 2020 stakeholders (Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
The national initiative stimulates disease prevention and health promotion by creating goals and objectives once they obtain these goals they coordinate them with the preventative health service as well as educational activities in order to help support the public to improve their overall health. • How does it influence health? Healthy People 2020 aims to improve major health issues in many individuals.
One of the barriers mentioned in Healthy Americans is educating providers about the new change and working with them to develop referral relationships with new providers/programs. I believe this is a barrier due to there not being a structured process to ensure that referrals to community based prevention services have been deliver and the outcomes of those services. This was also something mentioned within the article. The providers may also need a continuing education crash course on what population health is and how it can provide assistance and be implemented within the medical model. This will create awareness and streamline issues of referring for the wrong program or not knowing what is out there.
Medicare reimbursement services can also provide incentives for healthcare providers to focus on preventative care and chronic disease management. For example, Medicare offers financial incentives for providers who participate in programs that focus on reducing hospital readmissions and improving care coordination for patients with chronic
Knowing about personal health risks, making changes to lessen them, and sticking with these changes are important for maintaining optimal health. In the end, each individual is responsible for their own actions, and becoming educated about their risks will help them to make better choices. The audience for this persuasive essay will include both employers and employees. The first challenge in reaching this audience could be potential privacy concerns. Employers should not have access to health records of their employees that is not work related, and some may worry that their medical information will be shared.
I strongly value my health and believe that health is our greatest form of wealth. When one lives a healthy lifestyle, it means more opportunities to explore the world, build families, achieving anything the heart desires and conquering personal goals. The behavior change philosophy fits my personal philosophy of health education the most because it involves goal setting, behavioral contracts and self-monitoring to help foster the modification of an unhealthy habit. The behavior change philosophy is very important because change is a process, not an event. Self-efficacy and motivation are key factors in successful behavior changes.
The purpose of health promotion is to notify individuals about current thinking on how to live healthily. It aims to inspire people to adopt health lifestyle choices. Health promotion should be hands-on in tackling health- related challenges and issues. An example of an issue that can be targeted by health promotion is the increase of obesity in this country and the issues that arise from this, such as the price of the NHS of treatment for conditions arising from obesity and the increase in obesity related deaths. What are the aims of health promotion?
Application of John Kotter’s theory on Borders In the 1990’s, Borders was a top bookselling company that was dominating the market with its competitor, together holding more than 40% of the market share. However, the company soon embarked on an unbelievable series of missteps that led to its collapse. In this paper, the different factors that caused Borders to liquidate 511 stores in the US before going out of business will be discussed. Then, solutions that could have been implemented to prevent this catastrophe will be proposed.
The HBM was developed to explain and predict health-related behaviors, and is one of the most commonly applied models in health behavior research and practice. It suggests that engagement (or lack of engagement) in health-promoting behavior can be predicted by people's perceived susceptibility (i.e., beliefs about their risk of contracting a health condition), perceived threat (feelings concerning the seriousness of contracting an illness or leaving it untreated), perceived benefits of taking health action and barriers to action, perceived self-efficacy (i.e., beliefs about their ability to perform the action), and cues/triggers to
My reasoning is that if companies already help with health care problems with their employees why not add obesity to health care so instead of waiting for heart disease to happen. My second evidence to this is that heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions account for 75 percent of health care spending. In 2000 obesity cost us 117 billion. Turning this around would benefit companies and employees. This could save companies money by getting their employees a fitness trainer or a dietitian since they would only need those for a while then they will be fine on their own as long as they kept up what they were doing.
I learned throughout the course of this class that there are many components to maintaining a state of well being and that health and wellness aren’t the same thing. I came to understand better the multiple categories of wellness that compose the broad subject in general. We also discussed the various attributes of physical wellness that range from the strength of the heart to the flexibility of our joints. There was a great deal of information that came from this class that will be beneficial to have in the future as it gives multiple tips to keeping oneself in a state of homeostasis. Nutrition and stress management are also huge factors within the balance of things as well.
Many lessons can be learned from the external analysis! First, the most important take away is that you must know your own business, and know it well. Knowing the details of your business allows for pointed questions to be asked that will guide research in the appropriate direction. It will not serve me well to ask and research the wrong questions. Effective decision making is the distinguishing factor that determines success, and decisions that are based on research rather than intuition have a higher probability of accomplishment (Nassar, 2007).
When employees are happier and healthier, it increases their efforts, contributions, and productivity (Fisher, 2003). Employee well being also has a significant impact on the overall survival of organizations because it decreases costs related to illness, healthcare, absenteeism, and turnover (Danna & Griffin, 1999). Today, many experts are trying to convince business leaders that happiness is very