Wellness program participation agreement

The best wellness programs use two types of incentives. Before we talk about the difference between the two and how they should be set up to have the most effect, you should ask yourself this question: Among people who exercise regularly, why do they do it?

Many of you reading this blog already have a relatively healthy lifestyle that includes consistent physical activity on most of the days of your life. Why do you do this? For those that have made exercise a lifetime habit the reasons for continuing to be active are almost exclusively focused on the intrinsic rewards we get from the behavior. People who exercise regularly do so because they like the way it makes them feel.

They like the way exercise can reduce their stress. They like the way exercise makes their body look and feel. They like the weight control benefits of being active, they like to compete. Each of these reasons is intrinsic: they come from inside the individual. They provide personal satisfaction.

Intrinsic rewards such as these take a while to be experienced and appreciated. These intrinsic motivators take time to develop and they are found in all long-term habits that we possess. Sometimes they can change over time. For example, competitive sports provide an intrinsic reward of competition with others, but as we get older the need to compete might be replaced by the benefits of good health and healthy body.

A lot of times we call these intrinsic motivators benefits. Contrast intrinsic motivators to extrinsic motivators. Extrinsic motivators come from outside of us. These are the typical incentives we hear about as a reward for wellness program participation. Sometimes we can refer to these as carrots and sticks- some form of external reward that we use to modify your behavior.

When we give extrinsic rewards like cash, gift cards, water bottles, or a T-shirt for wellness participation, we can induce some interest in the new behavior just by the desire that comes from wanting the reward.

These rewards are great for giving immediate, short-term feedback. Remember the group of employees that are already physically active and healthy? They maintain healthy behaviors because they like the intrinsic benefits they get from those behaviors. The challenge is get people to start to engage in healthy behaviors through wellness program participation and gradually lead them away from external reward toward more powerful internal intrinsic rewards.

The best way to do this is to start with extrinsic motivators—short-term, small incentives like gift cards or T-shirts combined with larger more meaningful, more valuable, benefits-based incentives as a reward for their wellness participation. The small, short-term incentives provide immediate rewards for wellness program participation, such as completing a personal health assessment, biometric screening, or a behavior change campaign.

As they progress and have more and more success: they build points and earn a larger benefits-based incentive such as a discount on their insurance premium, or lower co-pay or deductible.

The key is to help every single employee transition from external incentives to intrinsic rewards. WellSteps does this with every single component of every single wellness program. When you participate in the Move It Coast-to-Coast campaign you will learn how to be active and be part of a team to compete with other teams.

You learn about all of the life-altering benefits that come from being physically active. Oh, and by the way, you might qualify for a small incentive or benefits-based incentive. Successful wellness program participation is more than just participation: it is the first few steps toward the beginning of a new life. Think back to our example with the stages of change model.

Those in the action stage require extrinsic rewards to support their initial activity. Those in the maintenance stage of the model maintain their activity or their new behaviors because of the intrinsic rewards that they get.

To help you make the most out of incentives here are a few rules commandments that we use in every program to help companies maximize their wellness program participation:.

A lot of years in college were spent either learning about or teaching behavior change models, processes, and strategies. But the truth is that outside of the Ivory tower, things work a bit differently. Human behavior is greatly influenced by marketing. And well-designed marketing has an even bigger impact.

To make your employees wellness program participants, you need to have effective marketing and this consists of three steps: 1. All activities sponsored by employee organizations must be open to participation by all qualified employees without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, gender identity, sexual orientation, or political affiliation.

An employee organization may hire its own staff or use vendors to provide services. An agency may provide Government resources to support employee organizations in accordance with appropriate General Services Administration regulations contained in title 41 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

When certain conditions are met, an agency may pay for the rent and maintenance of space, equipment, janitorial services, and the start-up costs of facilities managed by employee organizations.

Dues may be collected directly by the organization during non-duty hours, or employee members may set up individual financial allotments to a financial institution. FOH works in partnership with Federal agencies nationally and internationally to design and deliver comprehensive solutions to meet their occupational health, wellness and fitness needs.

Services are provided on a reimbursable basis through interagency agreements. For example, FOH can staff and operate onsite health units, employee assistance programs EAPs , and fitness facilities. Agencies have a variety of staffing options. Options include agency personnel, contractors, and volunteers. Each agency must ensure that personnel delivering health services are fully qualified and trained specifically to the duties assigned. Agency wellness councils or committees should work closely with selected wellness staff to ensure delivery of services that best meet the needs of an agency.

Agencies may hire employees or use existing agency personnel to develop, manage, and deliver programs. Many agencies organize worksite health promotion staff and programs under one component for more efficient coordination. Contracted personnel can manage a comprehensive program or provide specific services, such as exercise classes or an annual health fair. Following appropriate procurement procedures, agency contracting officers may identify qualified vendors through:.

There are only very limited circumstances under which agencies may accept volunteer gratuitous services. Agencies should consult their General Counsel when considering this option.

Agencies may provide many health activities through volunteer or no-cost arrangements while ensuring that volunteers have the skills, qualifications, and knowledge to deliver health activities. For example, a trained volunteer might give a presentation on desktop ergonomics.

An intern from a local university may conduct fitness evaluations. A volunteer wellness committee may organize a lunchtime walking club. A non-profit health organization may provide free speakers for a wellness education series. Many of these local organizations provide free materials such as pamphlets, videos, and posters, especially if they tie into a national health campaign, such as the Great American Smokeout.

A key element of health education is to motivate individuals to take action to improve their own health by developing a sense of responsibility for themselves and as members of work and social populations. Agencies may provide health education to encourage employees to maintain a healthy lifestyle, to understand their risk for disease, and to become aware of appropriate preventive practices.

Consider using healthfinder. This Federal website offers quick guides to healthy living, personalized health advice, current health news, and tips and tools that streamline searches. SuperTracker includes tools that easily identify personal nutritional and physical activity recommendations, the ability to compare personal food choices to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans , and the means to assess personal physical activities based on the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

The report and graphic functions of SuperTracker enables users to measure their progress over specific periods. Social and environmental supports establish an environment that encourages an active and healthy lifestyle. There are many options for both social and physical environmental supports of health and wellness. Agencies should implement supports that are most appropriate and will have the greatest positive impact for your workforce and agency.

An on-site health unit or occupational health center OHC is a convenient place to provide and coordinate comprehensive health and wellness services to Federal employees. Providing services at or near the worksite minimizes employees' time away from work and enhances productivity.

Consider establishing an OHC or using the services of an existing OHC when developing a worksite health promotion program. Depending on the size of the population and needs of the employees, an agency may provide full- or part-time health center services. The on-site health unit may assist employees in complying with physician-directed condition management programs.

FOH can help review space, supplies, and equipment needs based on an agency's population and services. FOH can also provide staff that can work with agencies to develop a comprehensive occupational health program. An agency or agency vendor may manage the ongoing operations of the OHC, staffed with contracted health professionals.

An occupational health registered nurse is recommended; however, occupational health physicians, physician's assistants, nurse practitioners, licensed practical nurses, health promotion specialists and trained technicians may all be appropriate, depending on the size, scope, and complexity of the services an agency is considering providing. The OHC staff should work in conjunction with an agency's on-site fitness facility, employee assistance counselors, human resources, and health and safety professionals wherever possible.

The OHC and its staff can play a pivotal role in the effectiveness and integration of an agency's worksite health promotion program. A strong worksite nutrition and weight management program often pays dividends outside of the worksite as behaviors transfer outside of the worksite and into the family and leisure environment. Coupled with physical activity, sound nutrition is a strong component of health. The General Services Administration GSA developed the Health and Sustainability Guidelines for Federal Concessions and Vending Operations guidelines in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services; they represent the best practices in nutrition science for improving health and reducing impact to the environment.

These new guidelines translate the Dietary Guidelines for Americans into clear and definitive standards that food service operators can follow to make their operations healthier and more sustainable. The guidelines are designed to make healthy choices more accessible, more appealing, and more affordable.

They are not designed to restrict choices. One way to improve the worksite nutrition environment and provide access is to operate a garden market at the worksite, so employees can conveniently shop for fruits and vegetables. A garden market may also reduce price barriers if it provides fresh produce at prices that are competitive with other sources. The availability of these types of markets continues to increase throughout Federal agencies.

Additional approaches to building a supportive nutritional environment should be explored by the employer when designing a comprehensive health and wellness program including:. It has since grown into a collaborative effort that includes local and national organizations all working together to establish community and school gardens across the country.

To be part of the initiative, a garden must meet three goals: sustainability, community involvement and public service. Gardening provides a low-impact exercise for people within a large range of physical ability. Gardens in general promote sustainable practices and improve water quality, soil health, and wildlife habitats. USDA employees work in their gardens early in the morning before work, after work, during their lunch breaks and even on the weekends.

Employees who work on the garden often do not know each other before they start volunteering. This initiative is an excellent example of a supportive social and physical environment that encourages active and healthy lifestyles, community engagement, and a positive workplace culture.

Worksite health promotion leaders should encourage employees to make every effort to offer healthier options at meetings and work-related social gatherings. Physical activity programs should be an integral part of an agency's worksite health promotion program. Agencies may operate on-site fitness facilities, use the services of a private facility, or even subsidize memberships. Fitness activities can also be provided without any special facilities. The built environment may encourage physical activity just as readily as access to a formal exercise facility.

Managers may use discretion to allow other opportunities for increasing employee physical activity, such as conducting walking meetings and installing mobile work stations. Safety is the primary principle in any fitness facility design.

The majority of accidents can be prevented through adequate supervision, staff training, appropriate screening procedures, and proper facility and equipment maintenance. Providing health and fitness activities via a private facility may be part of an agency's bona fide preventive program authorized under 5 U. Agencies, in exercising this authority to purchase access to private health and fitness facilities, should use the following criteria in making the determination:.

The private health and fitness facility should provide preventive health programs and services that fall within the purview of 5 U. Reasonable measures should be taken to ensure the private fitness facility is the most appropriate, convenient, and cost-effective choice, and that it provides reasonable accommodations accessibility.

Promoting the use of stairwells requires a multi-faceted approach. First, the physical and aesthetic characteristics of the stairwell should be improved to enhance the attractiveness of the space. According to the Centers for Disease Control CDC , many employees do not take the stairs at work because they perceive them as unattractive or unsafe.

However, a CDC study revealed that physical changes to the staircases can increase stairwell use among building occupants. Internal communications that encourage employees to choose the stairs regularly also are necessary to foster a shift from elevator to stairwell utilization.

GSA plays an important role in advancing both of these approaches. The key message is that promoting the use of stairwells can aid in improving employee health and contribute to a reduction in energy costs. Benefits of stairwell use include:. Agencies can support healthy lifestyles and increased physical activity by creating environments that support safe and convenient commuting to work by bicycling or walking.

Such environments can be created by improving the transportation network around the worksite, ensuring appropriate facilities are located within the worksite, and providing programs that support and promote active commuting:. Tobacco use can lead to nicotine dependence and serious health problems. Cessation can significantly reduce the risk of suffering from smoking-related diseases.

Tobacco dependence is a chronic condition that often requires repeated interventions, but effective treatments and helpful resources exist. A tobacco-free campus initiative includes a policy and comprehensive cessation services for employees designed not only to protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke but also to encourage employees to improve their health by quitting the use of tobacco products. Tobacco-free campuses create work environments in which tobacco users find it easier to reduce their consumption or quit altogether.

Tobacco-free campuses enjoy additional benefits of reduced cleaning and maintenance costs, improved fire safety, and improved worker productivity. Specific social and physical supports to consider include:.

Consider alternative meeting strategies to incorporate health promotion activities and concepts throughout the workday. Research shows that brief physical activity breaks during a long meeting increase energy levels, attention spans, and participation, and reduce fatigue, all of which can lead to a more productive meeting. Employees who sit at a desk for 6 or more hours a day increase their risk of heart disease by 64 percent, along with the risk of contracting certain types of cancer, additional weight gain and increased cholesterol.

Alternative meeting strategies include holding walking meetings, holding meetings on another floor or building to encourage movement, and using high tables without chairs. On December 20, , President Obama delegated authority to the U. Office of Personnel Management OPM to provide guidance to executive branch civilian employees on workplace accommodations for employees who are nursing mothers.

This new subsection requires an employer to provide employees with 1 a reasonable break time to express breast milk for her child for 1 year after the child's birth each time such employee has a need to express milk; and 2 a place, other than a bathroom, that is shielded from view and free from intrusion from coworkers and the public which may be used by the employee to express breast milk.

While subsection r applies only to employees who are subject to section 7, which sets forth the FLSA overtime pay provisions, the rationale for the policy contained in that section applies to all executive branch employees. In accordance with the authority delegated to OPM by the President on December 20, , and in order to ensure consistent treatment of nursing mothers within the Federal workforce, agencies should also apply the requirements of subsection 7 r of the FLSA to Executive branch civilian employees who are exempt from section 7 of the FLSA.

There is no law requiring installation of automated external defibrillators AEDs in Federal facilities. However, AED availability is becoming the standard of care for facilities, grounds, and venues with large populations. An AED is an electronic device that can automatically terminate an erratic heartbeat that would otherwise lead to cardiac arrest, restoring normal cardiac function with an electric shock.

AEDs enable minimally trained personnel to safely restore a victim's heart from ventricular fibrillation an erratic and ineffective heart rhythm to the victim's previous electrical activity, and in turn, effective pumping activity.

AEDs are designed and intended for use by emergency medical technicians, police, firefighters, and other responders including trained lay responders. Administration of a PAD program must include periodic training of personnel who may respond to a cardiac emergency with an AED.

Medical oversight is an essential component of PAD programs. AEDs and medical oversight services are commercially available through many sources. Federal agencies also have the option to use purchasing mechanisms allowed by the Federal Acquisition Regulation, which may include such options as the GSA Schedule www. Upon implementation of an AED program, a Federal agency may be required to follow various local laws. Each agency should consult its legal counsel to ensure proper compliance.

Even more broadly, agencies, employees, their families, and communities all benefit from the prevention of disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC , administering an assessment to define employee health risks and concerns and to describe current health promotion activities, capacity and needs is the first step in the systematic process of building a successful workplace health and wellness program.

Information from assessments will inform determining goals, selecting priority interventions, building an organizational infrastructure, implementing programs, and evaluating health promotion efforts. A Health Risk Appraisal HRA or Health Assessment HA is a tool that helps identify risks within a population, monitor progress of those at risk or seeking improvements in their health through interventions, and track and analyze population health trends over time.

The tool may simply ask general questions about lifestyle behaviors, such as physical activity levels and types, fruit and vegetable consumption, and tobacco and alcohol use.

Biometric testing may also be part of an HRA. An HRA can be the single point of entry to an agency worksite health promotion program and serve as a participation tracking tool.

Feedback should be given to the individual employee immediately upon completion of an HRA such as an online HRA or during an individual coaching session. Biometric testing can be included in an HRA.

Biometric testing includes measurements for:. Preventive services that have a rating of A or B from the U. Onsite health clinics can provide convenient access to high quality preventive healthcare. A variety of services can be offered at agencies, such as biometric screenings, primary care, health coaching, disease management, occupational health, and more! These services are intended to reduce agency costs, improve employee health, increase productivity, and reduce long-term risk.

Workplace health fairs are a great way to educate employees about health services available to them and the value of participating in preventive healthcare, such as screenings. Health fairs can include exhibitors from FEHB providers and various offices within your agency that have an interest in employee health e. Agencies may also leverage external resources, including community organizations and universities.

The best health fairs have a variety of activities, such as, but not limited to:. Successful worksite health promotion programs are designed to help achieve organizational goals and have the support of top management.

Worksite health promotion must also have well-designed programs that attract and retain participants. It is an agency's responsibility to assure that programs are safe, appropriate, and meet legal and ethical requirements. It is advisable to negotiate or consult with unions, as appropriate, on providing services for bargaining unit employees.

A wellness council or committee brings representatives from various offices to integrate services, coordinate, and promote programs. A wellness committee should be comprised of employees who represent a cross section of the employee population. Multiple committees may be necessary, depending on the size and number of locations of the agency.

Committees should elect a wellness chair or co-chairs to conduct meetings and lead activities. Time commitments will depend on the size of the agency, depth and breadth of the services, and selected delivery option. Designated wellness leaders at the management level with direct access to the agency head are recommended to be involved with wellness committees and programs.

Indicate dates for progress updates. The Federal personnel system provides employees considerable flexibility in scheduling their hours of work and taking time off for routine medical examinations and preventive screenings.

Agencies may consider granting brief periods of excused absence to employees to participate in agency-sponsored preventive health activities, such as health fairs, medical screenings, and smoking cessation and stress reduction classes. Each department or agency has discretion to excuse employees from their duties without loss of pay or charge to leave.

Excused absence should be limited to those situations in which the employee's absence, in the department's or agency's determination, is not specifically prohibited by law and satisfies one or more of the following criteria:. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of each agency head to balance support for employees' participation in health promotion activities with employees' work requirements and efficient and effective agency operations.

Agencies should review their internal guidance on excused absence and applicable collective bargaining agreements. Telework is a work arrangement that allows an employee to perform work, during any part of regular, paid hours, at an approved alternative worksite e. It includes what is generally referred to as remote work but excludes any part of work done while on official travel or mobile work.

The health benefits of telework include:. Sharing ways employees can use the time saved by reduced commutes for health promotion activities such as physical activity, stress management, and community and family engagement can send a powerful message. When planning health promotion activities, ask how employees who telework will be allowed to participate, such as through video conferencing, webinars, or a primary point of contact, so that teleworkers may pick up support material or equipment.

Concise, clear and well-planned communications use every possible customer employee touch point — signage, emails, voice messaging, social media, incentive items, newsletters and even telework agreements — as a branding opportunity. Branding helps employees make this program association, which then provides valuable feedback to the agency when employees are surveyed.

Consider asking employees for branding ideas as part of a program marketing schematic and to create buy-in and excitement about a new or rejuvenated worksite health promotion program. Over the years, worksite health promotion has evolved from and integrated with other worksite programs. Some common linkages include Employee Assistance Programs EAPs and programs to help employees balance work and family. The FEHB Program complements worksite wellness programs by providing coverage for preventive care, immunizations, cancer screenings, diabetes, cholesterol, osteoporosis screening and tobacco cessation resources with no cost shares.

Many plans also offer diabetes screening with no co-payment, nutrition counseling, and low-cost generic medications. Cost-sharing and other plan features are applicable based on gender and age recommended services. See specific plans for details. Merely having a wellness program, however, is never enough. Your employees must know the program exists, see actual value in it, find it easy to participate and engage, and — above all — feel comfortable and ready to participate.

How do you achieve this? Through a well-marketed wellness program. When figuring out the best way to encourage and market your employee wellness program, it is imperative to implement a top-down approach. It becomes essential to all staff. When leadership buys into the concept of wellness and all of the benefits the program offers, your employee population will be more likely to engage and participate.

Do your employees know the importance of engaging in the wellness program? You must start here before making marketing pushes and asking employees for a high amount of participation. Every wellness program needs a clear vision. The fact of the matter is that employee health is a deeply personal topic, so getting them to buy into the idea of a wellness program and a culture of wellness is essential.

Focusing on the potential roadblocks facing you along the way, and the corresponding solutions to those problems is a great way to plan ahead and avoid possible setbacks. Our role as wellness professionals is to try to get people to do something they do not want to do. Not everyone likes the taste of fresh fruits and vegetables, they would prefer chocolate, soda, and Cheetos. Successful wellness program engagement requires us to get people to do something they do not want to do- start living healthy lifestyles.

There is some great published scientific literature on the different factors and processes that are required to get people to engage in wellness. WellSteps has been offering wellness programs for over a decade. Our programs have seen great success and some unfortunate failures. If a worksite is not willing to take the right steps, WellSteps can only do so much to help companies have successful wellness program engagement. When we combine the evidence from the different research studies with our real-world experience on what makes a successful program we come up with the WellSteps Engagement Model.

This model has five important parts. They are effective use of incentives, effective marketing strategies, multiple communication channels, strong leadership support, and a functioning wellness committee. Here is an in-depth look at each element. The best wellness programs use two types of incentives. We call one small incentives or wellness swag, and the other is a larger, more potent benefits-based incentive. Before we talk about the difference between the two and how they should be set up to have the most effect on wellness engagement, you should ask yourself this question: Among people who exercise regularly, why do they do it?

Many of you reading this blog right now have healthy lifestyles that include regular, consistent physical activity on most of the days of your life. Why do you do this? For those that have made exercise a lifetime habit, the reasons for continuing to be active are almost exclusively focused on the intrinsic rewards they get from the behavior.

People who exercise regularly do so because they like the way it makes them feel. They like the way exercise can reduce their stress. They like the way exercise makes their body look and feel. They like the weight control benefits of being active, they like to compete.

Each of these reasons is intrinsic: they come from inside the individual. They provide personal satisfaction. Intrinsic rewards such as these take a while to be experienced and appreciated.

These intrinsic motivators take time to develop and they are found in all long-term habits that we possess. Sometimes they can change over time. For example, competitive sports provide an intrinsic reward of competition with others but as we get older the need to compete might be replaced by the benefits of good health and healthy body. A lot of times we call these intrinsic motivators benefits. Contrast intrinsic motivators to extrinsic motivators. Extrinsic motivators come from outside of us.

These are the typical incentives we hear about in wellness programs. Sometimes we can refer to these as carrots and sticks- some form of external reward that we use to facilitate wellness program engagement. When we give extrinsic rewards like cash, gift cards, water bottles, or a T-shirt, we can induce some employee engagement in the new behavior just by the desire that comes from wanting the reward.

These rewards are great for giving immediate, short-term feedback. Remember the group of employees that are already physically active and healthy? They maintain healthy behaviors because they like the intrinsic benefits they get from those behaviors. The challenge is getting people to start to engage in wellness activities and gradually lead them away from external reward toward more powerful internal intrinsic rewards.

The best way to do this is to start with extrinsic motivators for wellness engagement—short-term, small incentives like gift cards or T-shirts combined with larger, more meaningful, more valuable, benefits-based incentives.

The small, short-term incentives provide immediate rewards for employee engagement in healthy behaviors such as completing a personal health assessment, biometric screening, or a behavior change campaign. As they progress and have more and more success they build points and earn a larger benefits-based incentive, such as a discount on their insurance premium, or lower co-pay or deductible. The key is to help every single employee transition from external incentives to intrinsic rewards.

WellSteps does this with every single component of every single wellness program. When you participate in the Move It Coast-to-Coast campaign you will learn how to be active and be part of a team to compete with other teams.