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#employeewellness #corporatewellness
#employeewellbeing #wellnessprogram #wellness
#workplacewellness #healthcare

#001 How effective are most employee wellness programs?

#001 Why care about your own personal well-being?

#001 What is your World View?

Source: Community Prevention Services Task Force (CPSTF), DHHS

Change is Coming!

Hello WellCert Graduates!

It’s been a very interesting 3 years for all of us!  The COVID pandemic clearly created many new challenges for all of us.  In looking back over the pandemic years and the past decade, the Connections newsletter has addressed more than 200 technical issues.  We hope that those issues that were addressed have been helpful for each of you.  We are now planning to make a change in the Connections Newsletter that is described in more detail below.  We hope that this new approach will be of even more help and value to you and your Workplace Wellness efforts!

The “New” Connections Newsletter

Beginning on March 1^st we will be issuing a new vision for the Connections Newsletter.

• First, we will be issuing a Connections newsletter every week, rather than every two weeks.
• Second, the newsletter will be a 3 minute video that explores a specific question or challenge in organizational well-being.
• Third, the span of issues we will be addressing will cover traditional wellness programming concerns as well as general organizational well-being and productivity issues.
• Fourth, the majority of the topics we will be addressing will be derived from the contents of all 4 levels of our WellCert certification courses.
• Fifth, downloadable resources and/or links for further information will usually be provided.
• Sixth, when a really critical new development comes along, we will share it with you in our old format, but we will also produce a short video to go with it.

We hope that this new vision for the Connections Newsletter will be of much greater value for your own professional and career development needs.

By the way, these same videos will be syndicated through multiple platforms and channels under the title “Insight Series on Organizational Well-Being”

We are also launching a New Insight Series on Personal Well-Being

Along with this new vision for the Connections Newsletter, which is focused entirely on organizational well-being, we are launching a weekly 1-2 minute short video series that focuses on specific Well-Being issues from the domains of physical, mental, financial, and spiritual health. All the issues addressed will be facets of lifestyle choice with the intention of leading to a high quality, long and satisfying life. These videos will be available on our website, our You Tube channel, LinkedIn, and other media channels. You will automatically receive these personal well-being videos each week

Again, this Connections Newsletter will be the last one you receive for a while in the old, original format.

All the very best to each of you!     Larry C.

CPSTF Recommendations on Worksite Health and Wellness

What is this about?

This edition of Connections newsletter provides the summary infographic that highlights recommendations for Worksite Health and Wellness from the Community Prevention Services Task Force (CPSTF).

Some of the highlighted recommendations concern:

• Health assessments and HRAs
• Screenings
• Incentives
• Obesity management
• Tobacco use
• Individual interventions
• Vaccinations
• Digital interventions
• Phone interventions

Why is this important?

This summary of CPSTF recommendations identifies the level of evidence for a whole range of Workplace Wellness interventions.  This document provides clear federal advice on a range of interventions that have meet the CPSTF criteria for effectiveness. This allows us to use the term “evidence-based” when advocating for inclusions in our employee wellness efforts.

What can you do with this document?

• First, this document answers the general question…”What specific targets and interventions in Workplace Wellness have sufficient research and scientific evidence to be adopted?”
• Next, read the 2-page infographic summary.
• Next, summarize or distribute the actual document to senior and mid-level managers.
• Next, summarize the content of the infographic for dissemination to employees.
• Next, use this information in your own budget development, program justification and program review process.

In summary, this document contains the recommendations of the federal Community Prevention Services Task Force (CPSTF) regarding worksite health and wellness interventions.  This establishes a baseline of recommended targets and interventions for the design and implementation of Workplace Wellness programs.

(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.

Source: Lancet with funding by NHL&BI

What is this about?

This edition of Connections newsletter provides a recent major peer review article that is a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effectiveness of multi-component workplace wellness programs for dietary habits, overweight and cardiometabolic health. The methodology includes an extensive search of the scientific literature and the selection of 121 peer review articles with 68% (n = 82) randomized controlled and 32% (n = 39) quasi-experimental that met the study inclusion criteria.

Some of the highlighted findings in the 13 page Lancet article include:

• Both the World Health Assembly in 2004 and the UN high-level meeting on the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases in 2011 called on the private sector to promote enabling environments and worksite wellness programs for healthy behaviors among workers.
• In 2017, WHO identified workplace wellness programs as a best-buy option for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases including mental health.
• The major finding from this study was …“Workplace wellness programs are associated with improvements in specific dietary, anthropometric, and cardiometabolic risk indicators.”

Why is this important?

This document provides one of the most scientifically rigorous examinations of the effectiveness of workplace wellness programs in producing health improvements in the area of dietary habits (7 measures), overweight ( 6 measures) and cardiometabolic health (7 measures).  The three areas of dietary habits, overweight and cardiometabolic health measures account for a major portion of the morbidity, mortality and economic health cost of working populations, as well as some of the key health risks and measures associated with the most serious health outcomes from COVID-19.  This article provides summary scientific “proof” that workplace wellness programs can produce significant health improvements. It is also our belief that improved program designs and adequate funding of workplace wellness programs can produce even greater levels of health improvement in these areas as well as additional areas important to human health and well-being .

What can you do with this document?

• First, this document answers the general question…”Do multi-component workplace wellness programs actually improve health?”
• Next, skim the article for highlights of the methodology and the strength of the findings from the systematic review as well as the meta-analysis results.
• Next, examine which program stakeholders and groups in your organization should receive the main findings from the article.
• Next, lay out in your wellness program work plan how you plan to use this information with the various major stakeholder groups during the year ahead.
• Next, implement your work plan details and distribute the information contained in the article.
• Next, use this information in your own budget development, justification and review process.

In summary, this document contains a systematic examination and meta-analysis of the health improvement effectiveness of workplace wellness programs in the areas of dietary habits, overweight status and cardiometabolic health measures. This information can help employers appropriately value their employee wellness efforts and can be used to justify continuation and expansion of formal employee wellness efforts.

(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.

Source: America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)

What is this about?

This edition of Connections newsletter provides an informative 5-page infographic plus explanatory text describing the typical distribution patterns of commercial health insurance expenditures for 2018 to 2020.  The methodology for the infographic is also described.

The top five (5) types of expenditures from commercial health insurance plans are:

1^st     Prescription Drugs                         22.0%

2^nd   Outpatient Hospital Costs           19.9%

3^rd   In-patient Hospital Costs              19.0%

4^th   Doctor visits                                      11.8%

5^th  Other Outpatient Care                      6.2%

Why is this important?

This document can be used to help educate employees about the general expenditure pattern for commercial health insurance.  This gives employees a sense of what health care dollars are spent on and the general magnitude of those expenditures.  Particularly with the uptick in health care claims costs after COVID, this is good for employees to know and understand.

What can you do with this document?

• First, this document answers the general question…”What are our employer health care dollars spent on?”
• Next, skim the document for the types of health care services that your health plan dollars are spent on and the magnitude of those expenditures on average.
• Next, examine the specific components of health insurance expenditures that define overall health care expenditures.
• Next, lay out in your program work plan how you plan to use this information during the year ahead.
• Next, implement your work plan details.

In summary, this document contains a detailed national overview of how employer health care dollars are spent and their relative magnitude. This is helpful information for employees to learn about their local health plan’s expenditures.

(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.

Source: United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Recommendation Statement

What is this about?

This edition of Connections newsletter provides an 8-page article published recently in JAMA from the USPSTF with recommendations for behavioral counselling interventions to promote a healthy diet and physical activity for cardiovascular disease prevention in adults without cardiovascular disease health risks factors.  This applies to a large percentage of U.S. employees and can be integrated into preventive screening and HRA activity conducted in the workplace. This updated set of recommendations examines both benefits and harms from this particular preventive services intervention.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes heart disease, myocardial infarction, and stroke, is the leading cause of death in the US. A large proportion of CVD cases can be prevented by addressing modifiable risk factors, including smoking, obesity, diabetes, elevated blood pressure or hypertension, dyslipidemia, lack of physical activity, and unhealthy diet. Adults who adhere to national guidelines for a healthy diet and physical activity have lower rates of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality than those who do not; however, most US adults do not consume healthy diets or engage in physical activity at recommended levels.

Why is this important?

This document is important because it provides detailed recommendations for how employer wellness programs can address the clinical prevention needs of employees that do not have current Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk factors.  This helps workplace wellness heart disease prevention efforts to be more closely aligned with Primary Care Practitioner (PCP) based clinical prevention efforts.

What can you do with this document?

• First, this document answers the general question…”How should our employee wellness program address behavioral counselling of CVD risk factors?
• Next, skim the document for the major recommendations about behavioral counselling for healthy diet and exercise.
• Next, examine the specific recommendations for employees completing preventive screening and use of an HRA and decide which of these you plan to incorporate in your program during the next programming cycle.
• Next, lay out in your program work plan how you plan to modify the current screening and HRA interventions .
• Next, implement them.

In summary, this document contains a detailed set of recommendations and the evidence base for behavioral counselling for healthy diet and exercise for adult employees without known CVD risk factors.  These recommendations help to more closely align employer-based heart disease prevention efforts with PCP and specialist provided advice and counselling to prevent CVD.

(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.

Source: Chapman Institute and the WellCert Program

What is this about?

This edition of Connections newsletter provides an 8-page document with recommendations for how employee wellness programs can better protect their employees and family members from a future pandemic threat.  It is based heavily on lessons learned from the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

The document is a tool from the newly updated WellCert Level 2 CWPM certification course designed to help identify more proactive actions that workplace wellness practitioners can take to help their employees contend with a future pandemic threat.  It also is intended to help us appropriately capitalize on the enhanced health awareness and concern that often accompanies all the attention and fear that a pandemic generates.

This home-grown set of detailed programming recommendations are divided into actions that can be taken now (i.e. “Before” the next pandemic) versus when the pandemic is gaining momentum (i.e., “During” the next pandemic) versus when the pandemic is burning out or receding (i.e., “After” the next pandemic).

Why is this important?

This document is important because it provides detailed recommendations for how employer wellness programs can better protect employees and family members from the next pandemic threat.  It also has direct application to the currently receding COVID-19 pandemic.  It also provides practical advice on how to better integrate ongoing wellness program activity with pandemic-related interventions and protective measures.

What can you do with this document?

• First, this document answers the general question…”How should we address a future pandemic in our employee wellness program?
• Next, skim the document for the major recommendations before, during and after the next pandemic.
• Next, determine which of the three states (“Before:, “During” or “After”) you are in currently.
• Next, examine the specific recommendations for the state you are in currently and decide which of these you plan to implement.
• Next, lay out in your program work plan how you plan to implement the recommended actions.
• Next, implement them.
• Finally, periodically examine or evaluate how prepared your work force is to deal with a future pandemic.

In summary, this document contains a detailed set of recommendations on how a future pandemic can be addressed within an employee wellness program and how to better protect your organization’s work force from its health and well-being threat.

(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.

Source: United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and JAMA

What is this about?

This edition of Connections newsletter provides a copy of 3 articles and a patient education insert in this week’s online JAMA publications. The 4 articles have been combined into one PDF and include:

• The USPSTF issuance itself
• An explanatory article with summaries of data findings for physicians
• An objective analysis of the pro’s and con’s of the recommendations
• An educational insert for patients/employees about the recommendations

This new issuance of recommendations from USPSTF covers vitamin, mineral, and multivitamin supplementation to prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer.  Cardiovascular diseases and cancer accounts for slightly more than half of all annual deaths in the U.S. each year.  Approximately half of the U.S. adult population that have been surveyed by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) indicate they had used at least one dietary supplement in the previous 30 days. Dietary supplements constitute a $50 billion industry in the U.S. The recommendations of the USPSTF include the balance of harms and benefits of the preventive practice under review.

The summary of the main recommendations from the USPSTF are:

* = This means adults that are not institutionalized and not pregnant.

** = “D” means enough evidence to recommend against,  “I” means insufficient evidence to recommend for its use.

Why is this important?

These 3 articles and an educational insert combined into one PDF document are important because they provide an in-depth explanation of the research methodology and scientific conclusions concerning the use of vitamin, mineral, and multivitamin supplementation to prevent cardiovascular disease and cancer. The practice of dietary supplementation is a huge industry and I believe is used by a significant portion of American adults as a substitute for adopting healthy lifestyle choices.  “Denial” is not just a river in Africa.  The economic ramifications and behavior change implications of dietary supplementation are likely to be enormous and pivotal to adoption of healthy behaviors by individual employees and their family members.

What can you do with this document?

• First, the PDF answer the questions…”Can some portion of our national heart disease and cancer deaths be prevented by selected dietary supplement use? And “What specific dietary supplement (i.e., beta carotene or Vitamin E) should be avoided?”
• Next, skim the 4 document for the major findings that are particularly relevant to your organization and population.
• Next, determine what specific uses you might put this information to and the communication channels that might be used, particularly the 4^th document which is a patient/employee education piece.
• Next, examine the role that the covered dietary supplements play in your wellness program targeting and interventions and consider introducing this information while pointing out the confirmed health effects of regular physical activity and sound nutrition practices.
• Next, if you choose to hold an educational session on recommended dietary supplement strategies use it to help people review the objective evidence for various practices and explain how powerful the placebo effects are in all of us.
• Finally, periodically examine the dietary supplement issues of your work force and consider whether additional program interventions and activities are needed.

In summary, this evidence-based set of recommendations on selected dietary supplement use is an important new finding that has significant economic and behavioral implications for all working populations.

(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.

Source: The Lancet Psychiatry

What is this about?

This edition of Connections newsletter provides a copy of the recent article published in the respected peer review journal The Lancet Psychiatry on the Global Burden of Mental Health Diseases and Conditions and includes nine major mental health diseases/conditions as well as a catch-all category. The authors measured the global, regional, and national prevalence, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYS), years lived with disability (YLDs), and years of life lost (YLLs) for these 10 mental disorders from 1990 to 2019. This information covers some 204 countries and represents a comprehensive world-wide look at global mental health needs.  The 14-page peer reviewed article also contains a number of useful graphics highlighting the data which is particularly valuable for companies involved in global markets and global trade.

The mental health issues addressed in the article include:

• depressive disorders
• anxiety disorders
• bipolar disorders
• schizophrenia
• autism spectrum disorders
• conduct disorders
• attention-deficit hyperactivity disorders
• eating disorders
• idiopathic developmental intellectual disabilities
• and a residual category of other mental disorders

Why is this important?

This article is important because it provides in one place all the relevant data on the changing prevalence of major mental health needs, diseases and conditions on a global basis. This data is particularly useful due to the current employer concern for the mental health needs of employees and their family members.  This primarily post-COVID concern ranges from the traditional clinical mental health conditions described in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) published by the American Psychiatric Association to the emerging issues of mental well-being that have gained popularity as we recover from 2+ years of unprecedented global pandemic. This article helps identify the magnitude of the current mental health clinical disease burden facing employers, health care providers, governmental healthcare funders and private health plans

What can you do with this document?

• First, the article answers the questions…”How much mental health disease/disorders are we currently experiencing? And “How has this disease burden changed over the past 30 years?”
• Next, skim the document for the major types of findings that are relevant to your organization and population.
• Next, determine what specific mental health issues identified in the article are relevant given the comparative data available through your health plan vendor(s).
• Next, examine those data points for their significance in defining the mental health needs of your population and whether they can be used as baseline measures for future comparison purposes.
• Next, if you chose to implement any mental health interventions for your organization determine if the data in this article can be used to help you design the intervention(s).
• Finally, periodically examine the presenting mental health needs of your work force and consider whether additional program interventions and activities are indicated.

In summary, this very credible measurement of the mental health disease burden on a global basis provides a useful evidence-based set of reference points for estimating and measuring current and future mental health needs of working populations.

(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.

Source: Community Prevention Services Task Force (CPSTF) , DHHS

What is this about?

This edition of Connections newsletter provides an easy-to-read set of evidence-based interventions for reduction of obesity and overweight status among working adults.  It is a set of formal recommendations from the Community Prevention Service Task Force (CPSTF) within the federal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The recommendations highlight communities, worksites, schools and healthcare settings.  It is very short on definitive guidance for worksite-based obesity interventions but the span of evidence from other settings helps define what is likely to work in workplace settings.

Why is this important?

This infographic is important because it provides in one place all the recommended federal guidance on evidence-based interventions for weight management and control.  This is important because it potentially places in the hands of workplace wellness professionals the best science, we have on interventions for reducing obesity and overweight status in our working population. This document provides a clear and concise reference starting point for researchers, practitioners, and program administrators to move forward with science-based modifications for improved population health. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) recently estimated that obesity accounts for approximately 40% of all the cancer cases in the U.S. and an equally large proportion of the heart disease and diabetes care in our national population.

What can you do with this document?

• First, the document answers the question…”What weight management interventions should be implemented in which settings?”
• Next, skim the document for the major types of interventions that can be implemented in your worksite.
• Next, determine the interventions you would like to introduce in your organization.
• Next, have those interventions and the accompanying budget resources approved by senior management.
• Next, implement those interventions that are approved by senior management.
• Next, determine if aggregate screening data or aggregate health risk assessment data comparisons from previous to current periods indicate any improvement in the prevalence of obesity and overweight status in your work force.
• Finally, review your progress in managing this health risk periodically and consider whether additional weight management interventions are needed.

In summary, this evidence-based infographic provides a very useful piece of guidance for all workplace wellness professionals in dealing with the major health risk of obesity and overweight status in their working populations.

(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.