Employee Wellness Programs

Employee Wellness Programs: A Long-Term Committment

“Employee Wellness Programs” – what does that phrase mean to you? To many of us, it evokes an array of  ambivalent thoughts — the health club membership we barely used, the nagging ankle injury from last  year’s organization picnic, the backaches, the bratwurst we had for lunch, the love handles and of  course, the fad diets that failed us or that we failed. Usually, Employee Wellness Programs is a guilt  trigger that causes us to feel remorse about our bodies and the health management we know we should be  doing for them.

Unfortunately we live in a society where our survival is dependent on sitting at a desk, not hunting  game, picking berries and sprinting away from wolves. We also live in such luxury, nutritionally, that  we can gain weight steadily without being wealthy. Cardiovascular disease, obesity and poor dietary  habits cause most of the heath issues that weigh down worker attendance and erode a corporation’s  productivity.

It’s ironic that the poorest societies in the world – the ones furthest from the conveniences of modern  life – often have the fittest, most physically hardy members. And as for the animal kingdom — don’t  look there for commiseration. In the wild, it is extremely rare to find an animal that suffers from our  kind of wellness issues.

Prescription Drug dependency degrades Health and Wellness

It doesn’t help that U.S citizens are descending into a deadly love affair with drugs — and drug  testing won’t help you with these drugs.

For example, Greg Critser’s book Generation RX details how U.S citizens spend about $180 billion  dollars on Prescription Drugs each year, with the estimated 2011 tally at a whopping $414 billion. The  average number of Prescription Drugs per U.S citizen in 2004 stood at twelve.

Twelve! That means that your average worker is taking 14, 18, or even more than 20 medications in an  attempt to improve their Health and Wellness.

Is this effective, though? Critser is not convinced that the drugs help American health. In fact, he  points out a bevy of negative consequences for America’s legal prescription addition, which include  prescription interactions, liver damage, and the legions of people who now depend on drugs to deal with  ordinary trials and stresses.

An employer has the potential to improve Health

It’s not all bad news, though. Occupational Health Screenings and well-designed Employee Wellness  Programs can help you fight the downward spiral for you and your workforce. In fact, good Employee  Wellness Programs – like a strong walking Employee Wellness Programs initiative – can literally save  lives and reduce the symptoms that cause employees to turn to drugs in the first place.