Why Worksite Wellness?
Worksites are an ideal setting for health promotion initiatives. Strong leadership enables organization-wide change in everything from health benefits to the physical environment. In some of the most sophisticated worksite health promotion programs, employers have negotiated changes in health insurance contracts to support health promotion, such as gym membership reimbursement, nutrition classes for diabetics, and smoking cessation services. Well-designed worksite health promotion interventions can have an enormous impact on disease prevention and control, which can result in significant savings in healthcare spending.
Approximately 82% of the US population is employed, a dependent, or a retiree; and, employers provide health care coverage to roughly 70% of employees (Chapman, L. 2002 Proof Positive) Overall, $1.4 trillion is spent annually on health care in the U.S.—that's $3.8 billion a day (David Hunnicutt, CEO, Wellness Councils of America). Skyrocketing health care costs are impossible for businesses to ignore. Part of the WAW Program's approach is to "make the case" for worksite wellness by providing evidence to show that health promotion programs help to prevent chronic diseases, reduce sickness-related absenteeism, and increase employee productivity, with the long-term potential of reducing overall health care costs.
