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Results-Driven Worksite Wellness

Employee Wellness Programming after COVID-19

Tuesday, September 1st, 2020

What is this about?

The document in this edition of Connections is the latest Solution Set and addresses options and alternatives for how wellness professionals might modify their programs after COVID-19. A summary of current research on COVID-19 is provided along with an overall assessment of the “big picture.” A concluding excerpt is reproduced below.

“This unprecedented global health crisis will likely become a historical phenomenon where it looked bad initially, but rapidly diminished as a health threat. Unfortunately, the global community generally over-reacted to the threat and then for predominantly political reasons, failed to assess the change in its lethality and modify lockdown and social distancing procedures.”

A series of recommendations for how employee wellness programming should change are provided along with an emerging view of the overall health significance of the pandemic.

Why is this important?

This document represents the most complete summary of the probable overall significance of the pandemic and how it will likely change how workplace wellness programs are conducted in the months and years ahead. Helpful suggestions are provided about how to navigate the transition from pandemic to post-pandemic to help wellness professionals navigate the challenge of adjustment to the post-COVID-19 “new normal.” Links are also provided to the source documentation.

What can you do with this document?

First, skim through the document to get a sense of what it is recommending.
Next, determine if the source documentation can be used in educating employees about the long-term implications of the pandemic.
Next, determine which of the recommendations you should adopt.
Next, share with staff, volunteers and senior management the major points and find out how they view the recommendations you have selected to implement.
Next, as you put your work plan and budget together for the next year of programming consider which recommendations will be addressed and plan accordingly.

In summary, we believe that the intensive acute stage of this current COVID-19 pandemic will be over soon leaving some residual changes and modifications to be made to employee wellness programming efforts. The challenge moving forward will be to transition smoothly from the current disrupted state of programming to the “new normal” state which will require some thoughtful planning and more flexible programming.

(Everyone can now download this document regardless of membership status.)

Click here to download this document

If you have any problem downloading the document go to our website and submit a comment.

I hope this tool helps you reach your wellness programming goals! Drop me a note and let me know if you found it to be helpful.

Clinical Treatment Guidelines for COVID-19

Sunday, May 31st, 2020

Source: National Institutes of Health (NIH) and New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM)

What is this about?
The 4-month-old COVID-19 Pandemic has directly affected virtually everyone in the world. The absence of science-based, consensus-mediated, clinical guidelines for its treatment has been a sore point with front line practitioners. Now we have two major candidates for that definitive treatment guidance. The “long” form (126 pages) version from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the “short” version from the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). The document in this edition of the Connections newsletter includes both sets of guidelines.

Why is this important?
This document represents the best science we have on the issues of treatment for all COVID-19 cases. Everyone wants to avoid the mortality and morbidity risks attached to infection with this novel Coronavirus. In our collective role of providing health and wellness information to employees and their family members through workplace wellness programs, we need to maintain as much scientific accuracy and validity that we can. These two sets of guidelines reflect the best current thinking of our leading scientists and clinicians. That’s important for our individual peace of mind as well as for the treatment of family and friends that are unfortunate enough to contract the disease.

What can you do with this document?

First, skim through the two sets of guidelines to get a general feel for what they contain.
Next, determine if the NEJM version of the guidelines is appropriate to share directly with senior management, other major stakeholders, volunteers, and vendors.
Next, be ready to make available the long-form (NIH) guideline document for those wanting more. Also, the NIH document includes updates right up to the date of this newsletter edition.
Next, consider if you should post this on your website as a resource for employees or on the FAQ portion of your website.
Next, working with your benefits administrator, you might consider how to make these guidelines available to selected clinicians that are serving your employees and family members.

In summary, we believe that these two sets of definitive current clinical treatment guidelines are important for all of us, and particularly that all COVID-19 clinical care provided to our beneficiaries is consistent with the best science and clinical consensus that is available.

(Everyone can now download this document.)

Click here to download this document

If you have any problem downloading the document go to our website and submit a comment.

I hope this tool helps you reach your wellness programming goals! Drop me a note and let me know if you found it to be helpful.

Personally Navigating the Coronavirus Pandemic

Monday, April 20th, 2020

What is this about?
I know we are all pretty sick of the word “Coronavirus”, but this edition’s document was too good to pass up. The Wall Street Journal did an excellent 8-page special section on Navigating the Coronavirus that everybody needs to read. The practical and thoughtful advice presented here is extremely useful.

Why is this important?
This special section offers thoughtful ways to protect yourself and prepare for re-entry. Let’s finish this as strongly as we can and I believe this information can help us do just that.

What can you do with this document?

First, skim through the special section topics and read those that apply to your situation.
Next, determine if the document may be appropriate to share with staff, volunteers, vendors, senior management and others.
Next, consider if you should post this on your website as a resource for employees.

In summary, we believe that this very practical and helpful special section is valuable for all of us and deserves to be distributed widely. Hopefully, these insights and tips will help us prepare for re-entry.

(Everyone can now download this document.)

Click here to download this document

If you have any problem downloading the document go to our website and submit a comment.

I hope this tool helps you reach your wellness programming goals! Drop me a note and let me know if you found it to be helpful.

Coronavirus Resource Kit

Tuesday, April 7th, 2020

What is this about?
In this time of unprecedented global quarantine, everyone is rapidly becoming an expert on Coronavirus and this COVID-19 pandemic. New insights on the virus fill our media daily from all kinds of sources: some authoritative and many not so authoritative. The compendium document in this edition of the Connections newsletter puts together most of the authoritative information that has been disseminated to clinicians through the JAMA Network in March and April 2020 as well as other equally authoritative sources. This compendium of authoritative articles has been developed with an eye to the details and technical issues that most employees in an employer wellness program may now want to know. It covers a wide range of technical issues including:

Predictive models of the pandemic
Patient risk factors and likely care outcomes
Care guidelines and advice for clinicians treating Coronavirus patients
Effects of the virus on body systems and degrees of resulting functionality
Details on the just-passed CARES Act legislation
The legality of governmental actions to control the pandemic
Patient education materials including face mask use for preventing COVID-19 infection
Examination of viral “hot spots” for patterns of patient characteristics and outcomes
Use of social media in preventing infection
Testing and diagnosis of the disease
Factors that will likely affect rationing of ventilators and ICU beds
Infectivity and lethality of the virus

Why is this important?
This compendium of articles and documents provide authoritative information that has been largely disseminated only to physicians to help them answer the questions that their patients are likely to ask. This makes the information much more reliable and scientifically based than both mainstream and Internet-based sources of information on the pandemic. This compendium is important because it brings together a large number of authoritative publications and resources to provide a more accurate and comprehensive picture of the pandemic. This information is geared to the actual clinicians that are providing care to the patients with the disease.

What can you do with this document?

First, read through the list of topics addressed in the compendium to get some perspective on what it addresses.
Next, identify which topics are of interest to you and read them.
Next, determine if the document may be an appropriate technical resource to share with staff, volunteers, vendors, senior management and others.
Next, consider if you should post this on your website as a resource for employees.
Next, consult the compendium when questions and issues come up.

In summary, we believe that this compendium of authoritative articles on the Coronavirus pandemic is a valuable resource for those who may be asked questions about the pandemic. Hopefully, accurate information about this crisis will be of value to all of us as we strive to protect our own health and the health of our employees and their family members.

(Anyone can now download this document regardless of membership status.)

Click here to download this document

If you have any problem downloading the document go to our website and submit a comment.

I hope this tool helps you reach your wellness programming goals! Drop me a note and let me know if you found it to be helpful.

How to cope with stress during COVID-19 outbreak – WHO

Tuesday, March 17th, 2020

#COVID19

Global Wellness Trends in 2020

Sunday, March 15th, 2020

What is this about?
Even with the dominating reality of the Coronavirus epidemic in all of our lives right now, this just-released 50-page trend report highlights a global view of the wellness field. Representing a more holistic, somewhat edgy, and positive human experience-centric approach to wellness and well-being (Read spas, energy management, personal retreats, circadian rhythm, use of alternative healing therapies, etc.) this report does help us see what the larger market context is for the pursuit of wellness and well-being across the developed nations of the world. In spite of the entirely justifiable present preoccupation with Covid-19 control, the report provides a useful perspective on what the developed nations will likely return to once the viral dust settles.

The major global wellness trends the Institute identifies are:

Focus Shifting from Sleep to True Circadian Health
Aging Rebranded: Positively Cool
J Wellness (It’s about longevity)
Mental Wellness and Technology: Rethinking the Relationship
Energy Medicine Gets Serious
Organized Religion Jumps into Wellness
The Wellness Sabbatical
The Fertility Boom
Wellness Music
In Wellness We Trust: The Science Behind the Industry

Why is this important?
This report gives us a global picture of major trends affecting how wellness is viewed in the more developed nations of the world. The perspective provided in the report is also important because it identifies some of the natural allies and potential industry partners for our workplace focused wellness efforts. It’s also important to know what others consider “wellness” and the report does contain some interesting collateral developments that are likely to influence the future of the field.

What can you do with this document?

First, read the introduction to get some perspective.
Next, Review the ten major trends for those that have relevance.
Then consider whether the discussion under the trend is persuasive enough to warrant further attention.
Then identify who might benefit from receiving an excerpt of sections of the key trends to stimulate consideration for possible future action.
Then consider who might benefit from receiving the full 50-page report.

In summary, this document contains some interesting material about the larger societal and market aspects of wellness from a global perspective. Once the current virus cloud clears this information will likely have more relevance.

(Everyone can now download these documents regardless of membership status.)

Click here to download this document

If you have any problem downloading the article or tool go to the membership section of our website and search by the topic or name of the document.

I hope this tool helps you reach your wellness programming goals! Drop me a note and let me know if you found it to be helpful.

Prescription for Longevity in the 21st Century

Sunday, March 1st, 2020

Source: JAMA

What is this about?

This just-published 2-page opinion piece from JAMA identifies in a pithy and no-nonsense way the basic lifestyle characteristics that are associated with long (and seemingly worthwhile) lifestyles for the 21st Century. This piece reflects an interesting view of relevant literature and studies and identifies the “sweet spot” for employee wellness efforts from the physician’s perspective. Recognizing that genetic predisposition constitutes only about 30% of the risk for early death while the lion’s share is associated with social circumstances, environmental exposures, behavioral choices and lifestyle choices. Not surprisingly, behavioral and lifestyle choices can also ameliorate a significant amount of the major chronic condition risks that are associated with genetic predisposition. It should then be very clear that Wellness and Well-being interventions can play a very large potential role in the prescription for longevity in the 21st Century.

The major elements recommended for long life in the 21st Century are;

Participate in interventions to reduce your genetic predisposition for early death(chronic disease prevention)
Seek higher education levels
Avoid poverty and low-income status
Avoid illegal drugs and abuse of alcohol
Avoid suicidal ideation
Avoid high-risk environments and situations
Seek social engagement and maintain meaningful social relationships
Adopt a purposeful life that transcends self-interest (Be interested in and/or serve others)
Pursue meaningful activities and seek personal growth
Adopt healthy eating practices, regular exercise, maintain healthy body weight, avoid harmful substances like tobacco, practice stress reduction techniques and secure healthy sleep patterns

Why is this important?

This pithy set of recommendations for long life that physicians are now encouraged to give their own patients is very useful as a summary blueprint for our own approach to employee wellness and well-being. It is important because it is short, persuasive and unusually prescient for a physician’s perspective on prevention and well-being. It is also important because it brings our wellness/well-being work into direct alignment with what the Nation’s physicians are being urged to recommend. This article is important also because it gives legitimacy to our more holistic and social determinants-oriented approach to human health and a broader well-being oriented perspective on health. Repetition and consistency are key to helping employees choose a wellness-oriented lifestyle and that will happen faster if our messages are aligned better with the messages employees receive from their doctors.

What can you do with this document?

First, read the 2-page document and familiarize yourself with its content.
Next, put a list together of who you want to send it to including: wellness advisor committee members, wellness ambassadors, HR and benefits staff, wellness vendors and your executive team.
Consider whether you want to offer a Healthy Aging or Secrets of Long Life oriented educational session or series using the document’s content.
Consider modifying and using the bullet points above as a way to provide a “short-hand” approach to the information.
Consider setting up a contest with a very desirable prize for submission of a set of “secrets to long life” and use these bullet points as your ideal or winning answer. You could also have a prize for the most humorous submission.
Consider using this document to introduce how to get more “quantity of life” then move into “quality of life” considerations by emphasizing well-being issues.

In summary, this document contains a very useful and pithy perspective on a lifestyle that is likely to result in long life. Each of the summary bullet points can be explored in more depth if there is enough general interest in the topic. This information can also help to create a more holistic approach to employee wellness and well-being.

(Everyone can now download these documents regardless of membership status.)

Click here to download this document

If you have any problem downloading the article or tool go to the membership section of our website and search by the topic or name of the document.

I hope this tool helps you reach your wellness programming goals! Drop me a note and let me know if you found it to be helpful.

Employee Wellness Industry Trends for 2020

Saturday, February 15th, 2020

Source: Wellable

What is this about?

This just-released 53-page summary report based on a national sample of 92 health insurance brokerage professionals surveyed in 2019 focuses on their perceptions about important trends affecting employer investment in employee wellness programs along with key decision issues. Conducted by Wellable, a leading wellness program vendor, the report provides a useful snapshot of the brokerage and benefits field about how they view current employer attitudes about wellness and well-being programming. The benefits professionals surveyed were primarily from Massachusetts, Texas, and California with a few from other states. The survey respondents work primarily with employers with 250 to 1,000 employees and three-quarters of respondents had more than 5 years of experience in the benefits field.

A few of the major findings contained in this report include:

Increased investment is likely in disease management, financial wellness, flu shots, free healthy food, gym reimbursement, health coaching, health education/literacy, health fairs, mental health, mindfulness & meditation, stress management/resilience, telemedicine, tobacco cessation, weight management, and wellness challenges.
Decreased investment is likely in biometric screening, health risk assessments, fitness classes and onsite or near-site clinics.
The top 5 growth areas in employee wellness in 2020, in their order of likely magnitude, will be:

1^st Financial wellness

2^nd Telemedicine

3^rd Stress management & resilience

4^th Mental health

5^th Mindfulness & meditation

A “deep dive” is offered on financial wellness and mental health interventions.
82% of employers are perceived to be significantly or somewhat influenced by the measurement of the wellness program’s ROI.
80% of employers are significantly influenced by the rising cost of benefits.
Pricing is the top criteria for evaluating wellness vendors.

Why is this important?

This well-done industry survey report of the brokerage community provides a credible and useful picture of emerging trends in employee wellness. It identifies the likely growth areas and the employer decision factors that are influencing programming choices. The report forecasts some of the likely ebbs and flows of programming for the near turn and provides very useful insights for program planning. This report allows you to answer the question of …:what are the likely newer trends affecting employee wellness in 2020 and beyond?”

What can you do with this document?

First, look through the 53-page report and focus on the issues that are most important for you.
Next, put a short “sound bite” together of the report’s key findings (see above) and determine who you should send it to.
Then, at a minimum send it to your HR and benefits staff.
Then, determine whether the reported trends are likely to be reflected in the employee groups you are working with.
Then, decide how else you can use this information to help employees and management staff understand the changing needs of employees and their family members.

In summary, this document contains a useful set of insights from the perspective of the brokerage community on how they see their employer clients approaching employee wellness in 2020 and in the years ahead. Remember – there will always be ebbs and flows around the various targets and interventions that are used in our field. We have a tendency historically to downplay certain issues and then later to resurrect them. This survey data reflects a constantly changing and very dynamic aspect of our collective pursuit of employee wellness and well-being.

(Everyone can now download these documents regardless of membership status.)

Click here to download this document

If you have any problem downloading the article or tool go to the membership section of our website and search by the topic or name of the document.

I hope this tool helps you reach your wellness programming goals! Drop me a note and let me know if you found it to be helpful.

Loneliness in the Workplace: 2020 Cigna National Survey

Saturday, February 1st, 2020

What is this about?
This just-released 2-page summary infographic and 57-page full report based on a national sample of 10,000 U.S. employees surveyed in 2019 focuses on their perceptions of loneliness and social isolation. Conducted by the large market research firm Ipsos and funded by Cigna, this landmark report involves the use of the UCLA Loneliness Scale that uses a 20-item online survey.

A few of the major findings contained in these two documents include:

61% of employees surveyed reported…”feeling lonely.”
The 2018 survey found that 54% of those surveyed reported …”feeling lonely”, which when compared to the 2019 results is a 13% proportionate increase.
24% of employees surveyed say their mental health is “fair” or “poor.” (CDC reports that 20% of Americans will experience a mental illness in any given year.)
Americans reporting “good mental health” is down 5-percentage points from 2018 (76% vs. 81%).
Younger generations are lonelier than older generations. Nearly eight in 10 Gen Zers (79%) and seven in 10 millennials (71%) are lonely, vs. half of boomers (50%).
Men (46.1%) are lonelier than women (45.3%).
People who report that they don’t have good relationships with their coworkers (53.7%) are 10 points lonelier than those who do (43.7%).

Why is this important?
These 2 reports provide a credible picture of an emerging national health problem. Often referred to as the “loneliness epidemic” is has contributed to a renewed interest in employee mental health among U.S. employers. This information is important because it highlights a newly emerging wellness need of U.S. employees and because it has a variety of productivity, job performance and health cost implications.

What can you do with this document?

First, skim the 2-page infographic summary and create a separate document for emailing.
Next, determine what individuals and groups you should send the infographic to and who should receive the full report.
Then, share this information with your HR and benefits staff.
Then, look for an opportunity to address loneliness and social isolation in your wellness program.
Then, decide how else you can use this information to help employees and management staff understand the needs of employees and their family members.

In summary, this document contains a useful summary infographic and the full report of a major survey of U.S. employees focused on loneliness and social isolation. This area represents a newly emerging challenge for employee health and well-being initiatives.

Click here to download this document

If you have any problem downloading the article or tool go to the membership section of our website and search by the topic or name of the document.

I hope this tool helps you reach your wellness programming goals! Drop me a note and let me know if you found it to be helpful.

National Health Costs 2018 & 2019

Wednesday, January 15th, 2020

What is this about?
These two articles capsulize recent major patterns in U.S. health care costs for 2018 and 2019. The two articles are full of data on patterns and trends in employer health costs and provide a very useful backdrop for examining national and employer health cost trends.

Some of the major findings contained in these two documents include:
In 2018:

National health care costs went up 4.6% to $3.6 trillion or 17.7% of our GDP.
That represents $11,172 for each of the 326.6 million individuals in the U.S.
Cost of private health insurance increased at a rate of 5.8% while Medicare cost increased at a rate of 6.4%.
Cost of private health insurance increased 3 times the rate of growth in the Consumer Price Index (1.9%).
Hospital care consumed 38.7% of all personal health care expenses and is the largest single element.

In 2019:

The average annual premium for single employee health plan coverage rose 4% to $7,188.
The average annual premium for family health plan coverage rose 5% to $20,576.
Covered workers provided 18% of the cost for single coverage and 30% of the cost of family coverage.
61% of workers are in plans that are completely or partially self-insured.
The average deductible for single coverage was $1,655 and $2,271 for family coverage.

Why is this important?
These 2 reports provide a national backdrop for employer health benefit cost trends and since employee health plan cost is one of the primary reasons employers establish employee wellness programs it is important for reference purposes in the justification and funding of these programs. Health benefit costs are somewhat complex to understand and are difficult to effect without utilizing specific strategies in an employer wellness program.

What can you do with this document?

First, skim the 2 articles to get a sense of the content and data categories.
Next, determine what type of information can be utilized in your own program justification and budgeting and by your benefits staff.
Then, share this information with your HR and benefits staff.
Then, decide how else you can use this information to help employees and management staff understand their health benefits better and specifically the role the wellness program plays in their long term management.

In summary, this document contains 2 major peer-review articles that highlight national and employer-specific patterns in health care costs for 2018 and 2019. They provide a useful set of comparison points for analysis of individual employer health benefits experience.

Click here to download this document

If you have any problem downloading the article or tool go to the membership section of our website and search by the topic or name of the document.

I hope this tool helps you reach your wellness programming goals! Drop me a note and let me know if you found it to be helpful.