OUR worksite Wellness
Sarah Lynn Nutrition Offers Worksite Wellness at NO COST To Your Organization.
Employees who are healthier have less sick days, (decreased absenteeism) and are more productive than their 'less healthy' counterparts.
Sarah Lynn Nutrition provides a simple solution for sustainable wellness to all worksites. If you choose to partner with us today, there is zero cost to your organization.
Our team of Registered Dietitians offers complimentary lunch and learn in person or via webinar. Your organization may choose any nutrition topic for the presentation. We will also provide your employees with nutrition education materials and meal plans based on employee food preferences and dietary restrictions.
Our HIPAA-compliant health portal is accessible to your entire organization. Your employees have the ability to track their meals, hydration, activity, and metrics on this portal. A Registered Dietitian will provide personalized feedback on meals and hydration daily. Employees will also have access to message us with any nutrition-related questions and schedule their one-on-one nutrition counseling session to meet their individualized goals and needs at no cost.
Sarah Lynn Nutrition Offers Worksite Wellness at NO COST To Your Organization.
Sarah Olszewski MS, RDN, CDN offers free lunch and learns in person or via webinar based on any nutrition topic of your organization’s choice. Sarah Lynn Nutrition will also provide your employees with nutrition education materials and meal plans based off of employees food preferences and dietary restrictions.
Sarah Lynn Nutrition allows access to our HIPAA compliant health portal for your entire organization where your employees have the ability to track your meals, hydration, activity, and metrics. A Registered Dietitian will provide personalized feedback on your meals and hydration daily. Employees will also have access to message a Registered Dietitian with any nutrition related questions they may have and schedule a one on one nutrition counseling visit with a Registered Dietitian to meet their individualized goals and needs at no cost.
Worksite Wellness
Please provide some quick information using the form below to connect your worksite to Sarah Lynn Nutrition.
Minimizing Health Risks Associated With American Work Environments
Today’s corporate culture consists of a fast-paced lifestyle which is associated with health risks. Work environments often involve long periods of sitting, high stress, and poor diet and lifestyle choices.
Sedentary employees often face health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, asthma, hypertension, and heart disease, and are seeking preventive measures. To address these issues, many organizations are initiating workplace wellness programs. The effectiveness of these programs, however, varies widely based on implementation and engagement strategies.
Effectiveness of Wellness Programs
The effectiveness of these programs are mixed, according to Harvard Medical School researchers.
Some studies show a modest impact on healthy behaviors and outcomes, while others reveal minimal changes on health conditions. The key to success often lies in the program design, level of employee engagement, and support from leadership. The most effective programs typically offer a combination of health assessments, screenings, fitness programs, and nutritional behavioral counseling.
Financial Incentives and ROI
Financial incentives given to employees are what can drive participation in wellness programs. Companies that offer these incentives often have higher engagement rates, which can lead to better health outcomes and cost savings. Some success stories include the following:
- Johnson & Johnson leaders estimate a savings of $250 million on health care costs over the past 12 years. After initiating their wellness program in 1995, their return was $2.71 for every dollar spent.
- One employer with 185 workers offered a wellness program that focused on cardiac rehabilitation and exercise training. The employees and their spouses had not been previously diagnosed with heart disease, yet their medical claim costs decreased $1,421/participant. Their return was $6/every dollar spent.
- MD Anderson Cancer Center initiated a wellness program that consisted of a workers’ compensation and injury care unit and the cost savings totaled $1.5 million with workers’ comp insurance premiums decreasing by 50%.
Measuring the return on investment (ROI) is important to justify the expenditures on wellness initiatives. To evaluate a program’s success, absenteeism, healthcare costs, and productivity must be measured.
Case Studies on Wellness Programs
When large organizations include financial incentives, on-site health services, and wellness challenges, there’s often a result of not only better health but higher employee satisfaction.
At one large global financial firm, 30% of its nearly 5,000 employees participated in a wellness program that targeted health conditions such as overweight, obesity, hypertension, and stress. This resulted in 70% of participants experiencing weight loss, 80% of participants with decreased blood pressure, and 65% of participants with lower cholesterol levels. Many of them improved other health‐related behaviors, such as smoking cessation (53%).
At a large wholesale club with about 33,000 employees, 12% of workers participated in a worksite wellness program and took training modules online focused on nutrition, physical activity, and stress reduction. After 18 months, 8.3% of workers were adding regular exercise to their activities and 13.6% were actively managing their weight, according to University of Chicago researchers.
Challenges of Initiating Employee Health Programs
One of the significant challenges in implementing wellness programs is getting employees to engage and experience the benefits. Simply offering these programs does not guarantee participation.
The program has to appeal to the employees’ needs, be accessible, and have a perceived value. To improve engagement, wellness plans should be personalized and flexible, and the work culture should encourage participation.
Recommendations for Minimizing Health Risks
To minimize health risks associated with American work environments, companies should consider the following recommendations:
1. Comprehensive Design
Addressing physical, mental, emotional health, and even spiritual health results in better participation compared to a program that only addresses one of these components. Including a variety of activities such as health screenings, fitness challenges, nutritional counseling, and stress management workshops also helps encourage involvement.
4. Accessibility and Convenience
Offering employees flexible schedules, online resources, and on-site facilities to accommodate different work schedules and locations works well and recognizes employee’s busy schedules.
2. Support from Leadership
When company leaders actively support and participate in wellness initiatives, employees see that the company is serious about its goal.
5. Support from Leadership
The effectiveness of wellness programs is measured with metrics such as health outcomes, employee feedback, and ROI.
3. Financial Incentives
Offering cash rewards, reductions in health insurance premiums, or gift cards for completing wellness activities encourages participation.
6. Support from Leadership
Involving employees in worksite wellness program planning creates a supportive environment that clearly values their health and well-being and addresses their needs.
Implementing a combination of these strategies contributes to healthier work environments, the reduction of health-related costs, and improved overall employee well-being.
Worksite Wellness Programs Health Outcomes
The goal of worksite wellness programs is to improve worker health and productivity while reducing healthcare costs. To do this, a variety of activities are utilized, including health screenings, fitness programs, nutrition counseling, and stress management workshops.
In some cases, the goal is to involve the employees’ families, creating a new program that can positively impact the overall health of employees, their families, and the broader community.
Well-designed wellness programs reduce employees’ health risks by reducing body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and body fat percentage. Workers can achieve their fitness goals, eat healthy food, participate in physical activity, reduce heart disease risk, reduce chronic disease, and improve quality of life.
These programs lower healthcare costs by promoting preventive care and healthy lifestyle choices. Overall, these programs enhance physical health and contribute to mental well-being, creating a more productive and satisfied workforce.
How To Establish Your Company's Worksite Wellness Program
Establishing an effective worksite wellness program requires planning. Consider these essential steps to create a successful wellness program that promotes employee health and well-being.
1
Form a Wellness Team
Start by forming a dedicated wellness team. This team includes members from human resources, management, and interested employees. It could also include local experts, state agencies, healthcare providers, your local hospital, treatment centers, and health educators. The wellness team is responsible for planning, implementing, and monitoring the program.
2
Assess Your Worksite Wellness Needs
Assess your employees’ health needs and interests through surveys, health risk assessments, and by reviewing health insurance claims data. Your goal is to find the specific health challenges and preferences of your workers, which will allow you to personalize the wellness program to meet their needs.
3
Identify Wellness Strategies
Next, identify the wellness strategies that will address the key health issues. Common strategies include promoting physical activity, healthy eating, stress management, and preventive care. Some options may include fitness classes, nutritional counseling, smoking cessation programs, and mental health workshops. Your strategies should align with your overall goals.
4
Implement Wellness Strategies
Roll out your strategies slowly. Expand them after you get feedback. For example, you could start with weekly fitness classes and health screenings and then later introduce wellness challenges and educational seminars. For maximum reach, utilize emails, posters, and social media to promote new programs.
5
Provide Incentives and Support
Offer incentives to encourage participation in wellness activities, such as reduced health insurance premiums, gift cards, or extra vacation days. Make it easy for an employee to participate by offering activities at different times of the day, and even offering them online.
6
Create a Supportive Environment
Foster a supportive work environment that promotes health and wellness. Provide healthy food options in cafeterias and opportunities for physical activity during work hours. Additionally, involve senior leadership in wellness activities to set an example and show commitment to employee well-being.
7
Evaluate and Improve
Regularly evaluate the wellness program by measuring outcomes such as participation rates, health outcomes, employee satisfaction, and ROI.
These steps enable you to establish a comprehensive worksite wellness program that enhances employee health and satisfaction, boosts productivity, and reduces rising healthcare costs. Investing in employee wellness not only benefits your workforce but also fosters a positive and thriving organizational culture.
1
Form a Wellness Team
Start by forming a dedicated wellness team. This team includes members from human resources, management, and interested employees. It could also include local experts, state agencies, healthcare providers, your local hospital, treatment centers, and health educators. The wellness team is responsible for planning, implementing, and monitoring the program.
2
Assess Your Worksite Wellness Needs
Assess your employees’ health needs and interests through surveys, health risk assessments, and by reviewing health insurance claims data. Your goal is to find the specific health challenges and preferences of your workers, which will allow you to personalize the wellness program to meet their needs.
3
Identify Wellness Strategies
Next, identify the wellness strategies that will address the key health issues. Common strategies include promoting physical activity, healthy eating, stress management, and preventive care. Some options may include fitness classes, nutritional counseling, smoking cessation programs, and mental health workshops. Your strategies should align with your overall goals.
4
Implement Wellness Strategies
Roll out your strategies slowly. Expand them after you get feedback. For example, you could start with weekly fitness classes and health screenings and then later introduce wellness challenges and educational seminars. For maximum reach, utilize emails, posters, and social media to promote new programs.
5
Provide Incentives and Support
Offer incentives to encourage participation in wellness activities, such as reduced health insurance premiums, gift cards, or extra vacation days. Make it easy for an employee to participate by offering activities at different times of the day, and even offering them online.
6
Create a Supportive Environment
Foster a supportive work environment that promotes health and wellness. Provide healthy food options in cafeterias and opportunities for physical activity during work hours. Additionally, involve senior leadership in wellness activities to set an example and show commitment to employee well-being.
7
Evaluate and Improve
Regularly evaluate the wellness program by measuring outcomes such as participation rates, health outcomes, employee satisfaction, and ROI.
These steps enable you to establish a comprehensive worksite wellness program that enhances employee health and satisfaction, boosts productivity, and reduces rising healthcare costs. Investing in employee wellness not only benefits your workforce but also fosters a positive and thriving organizational culture.