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Benefits of Corporate Health Promotion Programs: Easy to Find

Employer’s are learning that Corporate Health Promotion Programs is an effective way to increase productivity, improve staff member health, reduce healthcare costs and reduce rates of absence.

A report published in 2003 by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) highlighted how important it is for employers to incorporate Corporate Health Promotion Programs as part of their corporate strategy. The report asserts that chronic diseases which are largely preventable place a heavy toll on business, including lower productivity and higher health insurance costs.

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that $1.66 trillion was spent on healthcare in 2003 and it attributes a majority of those costs to chronic diseases and conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and asthma. Sadly, the money allocated for preventing or controlling these conditions is negligible.

In a recent article, American Cancer Society CEO John Seffrin reported two thirds of cancer deaths in the United States could be prevented through lifestyle changes in diet, physical fitness, cancer screening and “especially” tobacco use. A well-designed Corporate Health Promotion Programs initiative serves the best interests of workers and employers alike.

Benefits of Wellness Progams: Return On Investment

Ron Goetzel, a nationally recognized expert in the science of health management, information analysis and applied research, said in a recent interview that with an investment of $100 to $150 per staff member per year in Corporate Health Promotion Programs, an employer can expect an average ROI of approximately $3 for every $1

invested ($300 to $450 savings per staff member per year). Goetzel says, however, that these returns are not typically found until two to three years into the Corporate Health Promotion Program.

Benefits of Wellness Progams: Tax Breaks

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has been an outspoken proponent in seeking legislative solutions for a strained healthcare system.

“As a nation, we have a ‘sick care’ system that is focused on helping people after they get sick, rather than a ‘health care’ system which focuses on keeping healthy people healthy,” he says.

Harkin introduced the Healthy Lifestyle and Prevention (HeLP) America Act of 2004. One of the initiatives under Title II – Healthier Communities and Workplaces, provides tax credits to corporations that offer broad-based programs to promote staff member health and grants for small business.

Benefits of Wellness Progams: Getting Started

Implementing a Corporate Health Promotion Programs can be accomplished with simple, low-cost strategies.

• Offer incentives for participation.

• Create a wellness informational campaign.

• Schedule wellness seminars on diabetes, nutrition, physical fitness and cholesterol.

• Create programs such as fitness, sleep diary, tobacco use cessation and injury prevention.

• Offer onsite chair massages or simple stretching exercises to do at the desk.

• Change snack machine options to offer healthier, low-fat snacks and drinks.

• Actively promote staff member participation in all Corporate Health Promotion Programs.

A successful Corporate Health Promotion Program can boost business morale, enhance productivity, reduce organizational conflict, attract superior workers and reduce the rate of staff member turnover. The case for starting a Corporate Health Promotion Program is well worth the effort.