Concern for health of employees and their families will lead employers and their vendor partners to move beyond today's wellness programs to Lifetime Wellness Planning.
Just as employees are encouraged to take the long view in financial and retirement planning, where actions while working yield benefits both for today and for retirement, we see Lifetime Wellness Planning becoming accepted as equally vital. Each employee and family member should have an individual Lifetime Wellness Plan that will prompt and support healthy behaviors − generating real "health investment returns" both while working and after retirement for a lifetime.
Wellness Today: A snapshot
Wellness is the umbrella term for the wide variety of initiatives employers offer employees, as part of, or alongside, their health plans, to incentivize healthy behavior and discourage unhealthy habits and lifestyles. Wellness most commonly targets smoking and obesity, with health screenings and health assessments used as tools to introduce the overall Wellness program. Some employers use direct monetary or other incentive bonuses when introducing Wellness programs. Others reward program participants with lower health care contributions. Still others simply create awareness and employees voluntarily participate.
Wellness programs are recognized as valuable under Health Care Reform legislation and the number of programs is expected to increase in the future. (We're hopeful that current regulatory concerns over incentives will be resolved in a way that permits employers to continue to incentivize and reward wellness participation.)
Companies often offer Wellness programs in conjunction with their health plan. Disease management and chronic condition programs and maternity monitoring are triggered by medical and/or drug claim data and are generally managed by the health/drug plan or specialist third party. Exercise, weight management and smoking cessation programs are generally run outside the medical plan. These may be announced separately, or all can be communicated together, presenting a menu of support program choices.
Wellness programs can also address the workplace and personal stresses faced today, incorporating the employer's EAP program and child and eldercare referral services.
Wellness Planning for Today and Tomorrow
Today employers widely promote financial and retirement planning. Employees and their families benefit from having a plan to keep them on track towards financial security and the retirement they want. Employers gain productivity, when employees are less distracted by money concerns and fears for their long term future.
Employees look to employer provided benefits to meet many of the life needs identified in financial and retirement planning. Wellness planning completes and complements financial and retirement planning. Wellness planning will help employees gain perspective to appreciate and utilize the many elements of Wellness programs offered by their employer.
What's Included in a Lifetime Wellness Plan?
An employee's Lifetime Wellness Plan will have a foundation built on promoting healthy habits - looking at diet, appropriate weight and sufficient exercise. It will also provide for regular use of medical monitoring, utilizing preventive health services and health assessments and recognizing the availability of disease management programs when the need occurs.
Wellness Literacy
Developing a Lifetime Wellness Plan will provide an opportunity to encourage employees to learn "Wellness Literacy", a necessary next step to the widely recognized need for health care literacy. Employees literate in financial matters, health care and wellness will be ready to plan for a lifetime, no longer merely reacting to the next financial or health challenge.
A Healthy Return on Wellness
As more employers look to add Wellness programs, the debate continues as to whether there's a sufficient and proven ROI associated with these programs. Lifetime Wellness Planning may significantly increase the value of any Wellness programs already in place; ROI tests should become easier to meet. A workforce that's planning on being well and healthy for a lifetime will become an asset likely to translate into measurable financial returns for business.
Communicating WELLNESS PLANNING
Communicate the concept of "YOUR LIFETIME WELLNESS PLAN". Promote Wellness programs together. This is most easily facilitated if there is one vendor for all programs. Where programs are delivered by a variety of vendors, they can be packaged together through a consistent message delivered by the vendor team.
Communicate the steps that employees should follow for both themselves and their dependents.
- Help them assess where they are today. Provide a health assessment program for them - either on-line or in person.
- Encourage them to identify the actions they need to do now and for the rest of their lives. The answers they provide to health assessments will generate recommendations for ways to begin to transform their life and health.
- Help them to determine how to get to wellness. They need to build a roadmap of where they want to go.
- Encourage them to make stress reduction and stress management programs an integral part of their Wellness Plan.
- Identify tools and resources they need to attain their goals.
Tell employees what tools and resources the company is providing. Supply information about other resources that can help them.
Provide tools that monitor progress and measure success and demonstrate a personal ROI for the employee's "wellness investment" of time, effort and money.
Employer provided wellness incentives are good for employees. Wellness incentives can yield lasting value − far beyond the dollars that the employees save from any premium reduction, or cash incentives and rewards that are provided. With a Lifetime Wellness Plan, employees can change their actions today and can build wellness and health through their working years and during their retirement.
Here's what to tell employees: Your Lifetime Wellness Plan will be the roadmap for your successful and healthy life while working, and for reaching retirement equipped with "Wellness for a Lifetime."
Lifetime Wellness Planning. Let us know what YOU think!
SHARE this Article -- Use the "Foward Email" link below.
