1. Wellness at Work Amber Long, M.Ed. Hollie Swindler, B.S.
Fitness Coordinator, KU Student Recreation Fitness Center
Hollie Swindler, B.S.
Graduate Assistant, Fitness, KU Student Recreation Fitness Center
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure………….

2. Health vs. Wellness Health: Wellness:
Condition of being of sound body with emphasis on freedom from pain and disease.
Wellness:
A multi-dimensional state of well-being, a holistic approach to life that encompasses bodily, mental, emotional, environmental, spiritual and community health.
ACE Fitness Matters Jan/Feb 2009

3. 7 Dimensions of Wellness
Emotional
Environmental
Intellectual
Occupational
Physical
Spiritual
Social

4. Emotional Wellness
Having the ability to feel and express emotions, like happiness, sadness, and anger.
Manage stress, possess self-esteem and self-acceptance, and appropriately sharing your feelings with others.
skills include: seeking and providing support, learning time management skills, practicing stress management skills, and accepting and forgiving yourself.

5. Environmental Wellness
Includes protecting the earth and its resources and modifying your surroundings to help you achieve a healthy lifestyle.
Ideas:
conserve water and other natural resources
reduce, reuse, recycle
minimize your exposure to chemicals
renew your relationship with the earth
Modifying your environment to remove or minimize barriers.
Example: rearranging your work area to allow you to be more productive.

6. Intellectual Wellness
Striving to improve your intellect and your creative spark.
Examples include:
taking a course or workshop
learning a foreign language
reading for personal enjoyment
seeking out persons who challenge you intellectually
taking up a hobby.
Making health decisions based on solid scientific evidence obtained from reliable sources.

7. Occupational Wellness
Preparing and making use of your skills and talents.
Finding a career that is meaningful, enjoyable and rewarding is vital to job satisfaction.
Ideas include:
exploring career options
creating a vision of your future
being open to learning new skills

8. Physical Wellness
Encompasses a variety of healthy behaviors including:
adequate exercise
proper nutrition
abstaining from harmful behaviors like drug use and alcohol abuse

9. Spiritual Wellness
Set of beliefs, principles, or values that guide your life. (Not strictly religion)
Increase your spiritual well-being by:
exploring your spiritual core
being inquisitive and curious
listen to your heart and following your principles
allow yourself and others around you the freedom to be who they are

10. Social Wellness
Receiving and giving support to family and friends, enhancing diversity and becoming active in issues that you care about.
Ideas include:
interacting with people of other cultures, backgrounds & beliefs.
cultivating healthy relationships
sharing your talents and skills
contributing to your community
communicating your thoughts, ideas and feelings.

11. Employee Wellness Relatively new concept
Unhealthy lifestyle leads to chronic disease:
Smoking, poor nutrition, physical inactivity, and alcohol account for 800,000 deaths annually.
108 million people in U.S. have a chronic condition
50% of premature deaths in U.S. are related to modifiable lifestyle factors.
Chronic disease accounts for 70% of nations medical costs.

12. Increasing Costs and Concern
The escalating cost and concern over healthcare is all over the media.
“Wal-Mart to upgrade health care coverage – but CEO says businesses can’t continue to meet the rising costs alone”
Fortune Magazine reports that “worker healthcare costs will rise a staggering 24% this year and that companies can no longer afford to pick up the bill.”
In some companies, employees can be terminated for failing a nicotine drug test.

13. A bunch of beans……..
“Starbucks spends more on health insurance for employees per year than on raw coffee.”
American Heart Association

14. Determinants of Health
Healthy or unhealthy behaviors impact an individuals health more than anything else.
Physical Activity
Nutrition
Tobacco/Alcohol/ Drugs
Stress Management

15. Physical (In)activity
ACSM recommends 30 min of activity everyday.
Most (75%) of Americans do not meet this goal.
Exercise minutes/day most days per week can delay onset of disability by years.
Sedentary living costs the nation an estimated $150 billion per year in health care costs.
It is estimated that an employer can attribute 15% of all healthcare costs to sedentary related disease.
WELCOA.org

16. Reality Bites (nutrition)
About 67% of American population is obese.
12% of an employers health care costs attributed to disease related to obesity.
McDonalds corporate mission: 4.5 minutes from nearest outlet at all times!
Americans spend more on fast food than on higher education, computers or new cars!
WELCOA.org

17. Blowing Smoke(tobacco)
23% of population uses tobacco
Tobacco associated disease
Female age 23- $106,000
Male age 23 - $220,000
WELCOA.org

18. Ahhh! (stress management)
Depression is predicted to be the leading occupational disease of the 21st century
responsible for more days lost than any other single factor
$300 billion, or $7,500 per employee, is spent annually in the U.S. on stress
Compensation claims, lost productivity, health insurance claims, medical expenses.
Americans work 164 hrs/yr. more than they did 20 yrs ago!
Stress Directions, Inc.

19. Corporate Response: Workplace Wellness
Trends in corporate response to the rising cost of healthcare:
Consumer Driven Health Plans
Cost - Shifting
Public Policy
Wellness Programs
Employees pay higher deductibles, premiums and co-payment fees
62% of large employers said they would keep costs down by shifting increases to employees
Doesn’t contain costs and alienates employees and unions
Lobby lawmakers to impact legislation to control healthcare costs
High-deductible medical plan coupled with an employer-funded reimbursement account for each employee
Intended to encourage more cost-conscious personal healthcare decisions
Account for about 2% of all healthcare coverage in the U.S.
33% of companies said that they are placing a greater emphasis on improving employee health through wellness programs and 33% are considering it.
Incentives
Onsite Screenings
Employee Assistance Programs
Online, interactive tools
Communications i.e. newsletter
Healthy vending machine choices
So how are corporations responding? Lets look at some trends in corporate response to the rising cost of healthcare.
The first trend is cost sharing. For 2004, employers had forecast a 12.9 percent increase in healthcare costs, but some companies actually ended up paying for a 7.5 percent increase because of cost-shifting. Those companies are shifting the remaining increase in healthcare onto employees. \\Acadia\Client Docs\CRM\CRM Active Clients\AHA\Cause Counsel\American Inactivity\Research\Healthcare Costs Articles\Workers may bear more health-care costs in ’06 - U_S_ Business - MSNBC_com.htm
Companies are also lobbying to control healthcare costs
Consumer Driven Health Plans have been developed where consumers control the dollars used for routine care and actively participate in their healthcare decisions
The last category is Wellness Programs. Next slides look at wellness programs in more detail.
Source: Deloitte Consulting – 2005 Wellness Survey
American Heart Association

20. Benefits of Employees Wellness Programming
Employer & Employee Benefits
Employers can save $2.30 to $10.10 in medical expenses per dollar spent.
Helps prevent obesity, cancer, heart disease, hypertension other chronic issues.
Less absenteeism, more productivity.
Improves worker leadership and morale.
Better working environment.

21. Your Wellness at Work
University of Kansas – Employee Wellness Services
HealthQuest
Screenings, incentives, assessments, chronic condition care, tobacco, weight stress mgmt programs.
Lifeline Employee Assistance
Psychological services, life coaching
KU Recreation Center
Open recreation, fitness programs, outreach programs
Robinson Center
Open Recreation and swimming
Weight Watchers
Wellness Resource Center
Hawk Health
Environmental Services
Others?

22. The next step in employee wellness programming: What now?
Step 1: Collect data
Step 2: Form Wellness Committee
Step 3: Establish goals, objectives & strategic plan
Step 4: Design programs based on feedback
Step 5: Implement programs
Step 6: Evaluation

23. Your Ideas? What are you interested in? What would you participate in?
Seven dimensions of wellness – specific types of programs or specific areas of concern?
What would you participate in?
Incentives?
Ideas from other organizations?

24. Thank-you! Amber Long Hollie Swindler
Fitness Coordinator, KU Student Recreation Fitness Center
Hollie Swindler
Graduate Assistant, Fitness, KU Student Recreation Fitness Center
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure………….