Small Businesses Value Wellness Resources for Improving Employee Health

While many large employers in the U.S. offer employee health and wellness programs, smaller employers often don't have the resources and staffing to follow suit. And since 85 percent of working people are employed by small businesses, millions of people are missing out on programs that promote healthy living.

What's the best way to structure employee wellness programs that are affordable and in line with the needs of small businesses? This was the research question behind a recent pilot project led by Partners for a Healthier Community of Fall River, funded by the Center for Health Promotion for the New England Workplace. Read more. 

Sending special thanks to CPH-NEW's very talented External Advisory Committee (pictured below), who met in person on May 31st at UMass Lowell. Members suggested new ways to improve and expand our pilot grant program and research activities. They also advised us on the launch of the CPH-NEW Healthy Workplace Participatory Program web site, coming in September, 2013. Thanks to everyone for lending their expertise.  

Front row, left to right, Mari Ryan, Advancing Wellness; Donna LaBombard, RN, MS, Clincial Risk Management Consultant; Karen White, Regional Safety and Health Director, Vanguard Health System; David Worster, LICSW, CEAP, director, Employee Assistance Program, Concord Hospital.

Back row, left to right, Robert Rinker, executive director, Connecticut Service Employee Association; Claire Blaise, PhD, Massachusetts Department of Public Health; Michael Fitts, executive directors, CONNECTICOSH; Nancy Snyder, president, Commonwealth Corporation; Catherine Heaney, PhD, associate professor, Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University; Jim Houlihan, CSP, MA, ARM, Technical Director for Organizational Safety; Kate McPhaul, deputy chief consultant, Veterans Administration; David Roy, vice president of Claims Engineering, Travelers Insurance Company; Glenn Pransky, MD, MSOH, director, Center for Disability Research, Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety.

Are you a safety or wellness manager? If so, we'd appreciate your feedback on our new training web site -- the Healthy Worksite Participatory Program online toolkit. It gives organizations step-by-step tools on how to set up and run a participatory, integrated safety, health, and wellness program. Introductory training webinars will begin this fall. Reviewers are needed this summer to test drive our online training tutorials.  

If you can help, please contact Suzanne Nobrega.