Workplace wellness (occupational wellness)
Workplace wellness, also known as occupational wellness, encompasses employer initiatives designed to enhance the health and well-being of employees. These programs can provide a range of services directly at or near the workplace, including health screenings, exercise facilities, and wellness coaching. The primary goals of workplace wellness programs often include improving employee morale and productivity, reducing health care costs, minimizing absenteeism due to illness or injury, and attracting and retaining talent.
Historically, concepts of workplace wellness date back over a century, with early examples including fitness initiatives and employee assistance programs. In the modern context, such programs have evolved to address not only physical health but also emotional and mental well-being, incorporating strategies like smoking cessation and weight management. Employers face challenges in ensuring participation, as some employees may be reluctant to engage or share their health information due to privacy concerns.
A growing trend in workplace wellness is functional wellness, which emphasizes natural health methods before resorting to conventional medical interventions. Effective workplace wellness programs often include on-site health resources and flexible scheduling, facilitating easier access to wellness activities and promoting healthier lifestyle choices among employees.
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Workplace wellness (occupational wellness)
Workplace wellness, also known as occupational wellness,refers to employers' practice of providing services to help protect or improve the health of their employees. These services often are delivered at or near the workplace and can range from simple health screenings to exercise and health care facilities built on company grounds. Employers may institute these programs for a variety of reasons. These can include improving safety, reducing the amount of time employees miss work because of illness or injury, reducing health care costs, improving employee health, improving employee morale and satisfaction, and providing value that helps the company with employee recruiting and retention.
Background
Many believe that the concept of workplace wellness developed in the late twentieth century, but some companies instituted wellness plans for employees more than a century earlier. Largely focused on providing opportunities for employees to exercise, the earliest efforts included the Pullman Company's athletic association, which began in 1879, and National Cash Register's (NCR) pre-work horseback rides in the 1880s. NCR followed this with daily exercise breaks, an employee gym, and a recreational park, which were in place by 1911. In the 1930s, employees of Hershey Foods had access to a company-funded gym and pool.
More companies, including Rockwell, Xerox, and Texas Instruments, began employee fitness programs after World War II (1939–1945). However, some of these benefits were not available to all employees. In the early 1950s, more companies began establishing employee assistance programs, or EAPs. The earliest EAPs were created in the early twentieth century and were aimed at helping employees cope with alcoholism, but they gradually expanded to help a variety of behavioral health issues
In the 1970s, government agencies such as the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) in the United States and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the United Kingdom increased efforts to improve workplace safety. These efforts focused on protecting employees from harm, which in turn maintained employee productivity and prevented medical claims against the company. The next decade saw the development of programs aimed at improving the overall health of employees and included efforts to help employees stop smoking, lose weight, and address chronic health problems, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
As wellness plans moved into the twenty-first century, some expanded in scope. They included a variety of methods to help improve employee health, such as health coaches, computerized information analysis, and on-site health facilities. Some experts anticipate an increased use of integrated technology that will share employees' health information with their health care team and programs that will allow employees to help one another meet wellness goals.
Overview
Workplace wellness programs are organized collections of benefits, promotions, and strategies that employers implement to help improve or maintain the health of their employees. These programs often include some form of health care insurance or benefit; policies aimed at protecting employee health and safety; resources and facilities to help employees pursue health aims, such as exercise and weight loss; and opportunities to participate in programs to change, enrich, or maintain health (smoking cessation efforts, health fairs, etc.). They may include educational efforts or support programs that help employees manage their physical, emotional, and mental health.
Employers may initiate these programs for many reasons. Some have them because they care about their employees and want to treat them well. Many start them because they believe that helping employees improve or maintain their health benefits the company. Employees who are not struggling with health conditions, coping with addictions or mental health issues, or facing family challenges are more likely to be at work and more able to focus on work when they are there. This can increase productivity and cut down on wasted time and accidents. In addition, employee wellness programs have the potential to reduce health care costs. In the United States, where employers still bear some or all of the cost of employee health insurance, this can result in significant savings. Companies with robust wellness programs may also find it easier to attract and retain employees.
About 80 percent of chronic medical conditions are considered preventable, so programs to help employees improve their health should have significant impact. However, some researchers have identified barriers to achieving good results. In some cases, employees are simply unwilling to take advantage of the programs, even when financial incentives are attached to improved health. Slightly better results may be achieved if consequences are applied (e.g., requiring employees to pay a greater share of their health insurance if they do not make improvements). Many employers are reluctant to implement these disincentives, however, because they fear the possible backlash from employees. Sometimes employees are reluctant to share health information with employers or with entities working with them through wellness programs. This reluctance usually results from fear that the information will be used against them.
In the twenty-first century, a trend toward functional wellness is developing. With functional wellness, natural methods, such as dietary changes, are attempted before drugs and other conventional practices, such as surgery, are initiated. Companies may integrate their wellness programs with a medical facility and/or have medical professionals as part of their in-house wellness team. This enables employees with questions or concerns to access information or care more quickly, without having to wait for an appointment and take time off from work.
Any initiative that eliminates barriers to taking action can increase the effectiveness of workplace wellness programs, experts say. For instance, companies that provide some form of on-site workout facility are more likely to encourage employees to exercise than those who merely provide a membership to an off-site facility. Likewise, those who make routine health screenings, such as blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and urine pH, available at the workplace are more likely to see employee participation than those who simply instruct employees to go to their physician or a local lab for tests. Other simple ways to encourage workplace wellness include allowing flex hours so employees can adjust schedules to get adequate sleep, allowing stressed employees to take "mental health days" without requiring proof of illness or advance scheduling, and making healthy food choices available in cafeterias and vending machines.
Bibliography
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