According to AllBusiness.com, corporate wellness programs involve the use of preventive health care strategies to help companies cultivate their employees' health, well-being and productivity while boosting corporate profitability. If a corporate wellness program is successful, both the employee and the corporation should experience benefits. For the employee, the most significant benefit is a higher quality of life; for the employer, the most significant benefits are improved workplace productivity and lower health-care expenses.
Health Club Memberships
Many corporations offer their employees memberships at local health clubs, and some of the larger companies even have exercise facilities, such as gyms, swimming pools and walking trails, on the premises for their employees, according to Employee-Wellness.org. Regular physical activity, including aerobic exercise, strength training activities and stretching and postural exercises, is a significant part of corporate wellness programs, and many companies encourage their employees to take advantage of discounted or pre-paid memberships to community exercise centers. To ensure that all employees have equal access to gym facilities, employers should purchase health club memberships at centers near the worksite.
On-site Access to Health Care Services
According to a Sep. 4, 2008 article in "Medical News Today," more companies have begun offering on-site health care services for their workers. The article cites a 2008 survey conducted by Watson Wyatt Group Worldwide and the National Business Group on Health, which found that the percentage of large companies that utilize on-site health care--or who were scheduled to open an on-site health care center within one year--increased from 27 percent in 2006 to 29 percent in 2008. One of the principle reasons for this increasing trend is the escalating cost of medical insurance for employees. Some companies have realized that it costs less to provide their employees with on-site primary-care services and complementary alternative therapies than pay for those services through conventional health care insurance. Corporate wellness programs that incorporate on-site access to health-care services also reduce the amount of time employees spend getting from the worksite to their providers' clinics.
Health Coaching
Progressive companies that wish to improve their employees' quality of life have begun offering the services of health coaches who work one-on-one with employees, or as a group, to promote appropriate health behavior modifications. According to Employee-Wellness.org, trained health coaches can work with employees who have identified health risks and those with a desire to improve their health habits, either on-site or by telephone or teleconferencing. Corporate wellness programs use health coaches to help their workers set and achieve realistic health- and lifestyle-related goals, including stress reduction at work, a more balanced life, smoking cessation, improved weight regulation and higher physical activity levels. Occasionally, a health coach may, in conjunction with the employee's primary care provider, help to manage a condition in workers with previously diagnosed diseases.
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