Wedded to Wellness

In an article for CNN.com this week, a spokesperson for the nonprofit organization National Business Group on Health said that while sometimes a bit fuzzy, evidence is accumulating that wellness programs are saving employers money. More and more employers are turning to wellness programs as a way to cut health care costs and finding that they pay off. According to a 2008 Kaiser Family Foundation study, more than half of the small and large firms that offered employee health benefits also offered some form of a wellness program. The idea behind this trend? Healthy employees use health care less often and that contains the cost of employer paid health benefits.

Not all companies have the resources to go whole hog with a multi-faceted and comprehensive wellness program. But even small steps can make a difference in helping employees be healthier. Those steps, ideally, should involve the family of the employee to have the maximum effect on lifestyle changes and the bottom line. Nearly half of U.S. employers include spouses in wellness programs and spouses’ health care costs average almost 10% more than the employees’ (read more).

Including an employee’s social support structure in beneficial lifestyle changes magnifies the possibility of success. Weight control and smoking cessation programs work better when spouses participate together.  It just makes good sense to help everyone covered discover the state of their health and make positive lifestyle changes to mitigate risks.

Here are the best Tweets of the week:

• Within 20 years more people will be affected by depression than any other health problem. http://bit.ly/1DrksM
• Report recommends taxing junk food, beverages to fight childhood obesity. http://bit.ly/jZmhy
• Cutting small business health care costs. http://bit.ly/3rfzxc
• Sleep May Be Nature’s Time Management Tool http://bit.ly/oWgJ7
• Workplace Bullying Is Associated With Sleep Disturbances http://bit.ly/4oiiPD
• Healthy meals for after exercise http://bit.ly/j6YUk

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