Health Promotion Competitions Are Popping Up Everywhere

Health Promotion Competitions are definitely hot right now and they are encouraging more and more people to get healthy and live better. Whether it is a city or a school or a social group or even a whole state, competitive spirits are being ignited by the challenge to be the healthiest team. The Health Promotion Competitions are usually about a six months to a year in length and they are made up of several teams, these teams all get points for physical activity, selecting healthy foods, and just making better life and health choices overall.

The best part about Health Promotion Competitions is even though there really is only way “real” winner; everyone that participates in the challenge is a life winner.

Health Promotion Competitions offers Incentive to Get Healthy

Establishing a Health Promotion Competitions in your office is a great way to get workers to participate in your established Employee Health Promotion Program. Have workers form teams and receive points for everything from attending a Employee Health Promotion Fair to getting a health risk assessment to beginning an exercise regimen. At the end of the year, the teams will win prizes based on the number of points they have accumulated.

Health Promotion Competitions improve Corporate Health

Not only will Health Promotion Competitions improve the health of your workers, it will improve the overall health of the corporation by providing benefits such as reduced injuries, reduced frequency of worker’s comp, reduced healthcare costs, better staff member attendance, and better corporate morale.

Like we said earlier, everyone is a winner in a Health Promotion Competitions!

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives Bring Healthier Bottom-lines

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives are a healthy investment, at least according to Lincoln industries in Nebraska. CNN reported on this 565 staff member corporation located in Lincoln, Nebraska and their serious and committed investment in their staff member’s wellness.

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives are part of corporation Culture

The Employee Health Promotion Initiatives, according the story, has been in place for 16 years at Lincoln industries, and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. The corporation has three full-time workers dedicated to the Employee Health Promotion Program and the wellness of the workers, who receive workplace massages and a round of instructor-led stretching before they start their shifts.

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives Assessed

According to CNN, one of the stipulations of the Employee Health Promotion Program, which workers are not required to participate in, is that they receive quarterly checkups where assessments are completed on their weight, amount of body fat and flexibility. Based on these health assessments, the workers are then ranked from platinum all the way down to “non-medal”. To become platinum level, where you receive a corporation-paid climbing trip, you must achieve certain fitness levels and be a non-smoker. Smoking cessation classes are part of the Employee Health Promotion Program.

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives Bring Big Savings

The Employee Health Promotion Program has been a wise investment for Lincoln Industries. By having healthier workers, they have seen an average of $2 million in savings in healthcare costs per year. The savings don’t stop there, since instituting a Employee Health Promotion Program, workers’ compensation claims have gone from $500,000 per year down to less than $10,000 per year.

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives Becoming Popular

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives are becoming popular outside the workplace, showing the ever-increasing importance of disease prevention and health risk management. Private insurance businesses, as well as state Medicaid and Medicare offices are working on ways to improve the health of the people they insure in hopes to save money in the long run. They are finding that mini-Employee Health Promotion Initiatives are definitely the way to go.

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives Help with Early Intervention

According to an article that appeared in The Indianapolis Star, businesses, insurers and government agencies are turning to “early intervention to change the behavior of those struggling with common but dangerous health conditions, such as asthma, diabetes, heart failure and coronary heart disease.”

The tactics that they incorporate to improve their beneficiaries’ wellness postcard reminders for different lab tests or check-ups; and possibly even phone calls from nurses to work with the patients to make sure that they are taking their medicines properly and following the lifestyle changes that were suggested by their healthcare provider.

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives Offer Quality Benefits

There are more benefits to a Employee Health Promotion Program than just the cost savings that an employer or a state agency will see; there is the benefit to the actually patient. The patient is going to get the motivation and the incentive to get better or to manage their health and their health risks by having to answer to someone, whether that someone is a full-time wellness staff member at their corporation or a nurse affiliated with their insurance corporation.

<h2>Employee Health Promotion Initiatives offer Long-Term Benefits</h2>

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives, according to an article in Crain’s Detroit Business, come in two choices: Employee Health Promotion Initiatives or Medical Insurance products that aim to reduce costs if healthy habits are followed. Both options are a good choice, but only one will really offer long-term medical benefits for your workers and reduce costs over the years.

<h3>Employee Health Promotion Initiatives offer Assistance</h3>

Insurance-based products offer workers the opportunity, according to the article by Jay Green, to save money on their premiums if they follow certain steps, including performing an internet-based health assessment, visiting their doctor, and agree to adopt a healthy lifestyle. These plans usually involve one coach call to the staff member during the first 90 days. We wonder if these brief wellness encounters will actually change a individual’s lifestyle.

It is the overall change in a individual’s lifestyle, as well as disease prevention that will lead to reduce health costs in the future.

Employee Health Promotion Initiatives offer convenient health risk assessments and screening tests for things like diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure. As the article states, these have initial start-up costs, but the savings accrue over time and workers are more likely to stay active in an onsite staff member Wellness Program.

<h3>Employee Health Promotion Initiatives Get Results</h3>

Finally, the article states that businesses with an effective Employee Health Promotion Program can expect to see “500 percent reduce absenteeism, 400 percent fewer disability claims, and 350 percent reduce healthcare costs.” These are numbers that are very hard to argue with.