Increasing Profits With A Health And Wellness Program

It is absolutely essential for companies to implement a health and wellness program for their employees. As healthcare prices soar, every time an employee becomes ill, this costs the company even more. While not all healthcare issues and diseases can be prevented, it is common knowledge that risk factors such as obesity can increase illness. So it would be in any company’s best interest to encourage employees to adopt healthier lifestyles.

An employee health and wellness program benefits the employee by teaching and encouraging a healthier lifestyle. It also benefits the employer by creating educated employees who understand that diet and exercise are not simply about losing weight and looking slim, but they are related to physical abilities and mental wellbeing. An employee who feels better is more likely to be a productive part of the company.

According to the CDC, the total hospitals reporting stated that in 1996, 31 billion dollars were spent on cardiovascular disease that was directly related to adults who were overweight or obese. And for those adults with employee health benefits, their employers also suffered from a loss in productivity, time paid for sick days and the overall costs due to rising health care prices for employers.

Unfortunately in the United States, wellness attitudes often discourage employees from taking healthier measures. Rather than providing quick, healthy snacks such as fresh fruit or vegetables with dip, places of employment seem to be only providing vending machine snacks such as sugary soft drinks and non-nutritious snacks like potato chips and cookies. Many people do not even realize that it is just as easy as and more filling to eat a banana than a bag of cookies.

With the current state of the economy and businesses closing daily, it is important for companies to search for methods to cut costs and to assist their employees in becoming healthier and more productive. A health and wellness program is a first step in creating long term physical and mental health goals for all employers.