AdvoCare Group, Inc. suggests eight crucial steps to building and maintaining a successful workplace wellness program for the new year. Presentation tips include information on compliance guidelines, building a wellness committee and identifying key risk factors based on workplace environments.

1. 8 Steps to Building a Successful Wellness
Program
Employer Toolkit
ADVOCARE GROUP, INC

2. The additional medical
costs associated with
people who are obese
Cost of sick time and
lost productivity
(to employers)
Source: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
© AdvoCare Group, INC 2014
$1,429 $7 Billion

3. © AdvoCare Group, INC 2014
You’re considering a
workplace wellness program?
So where do you begin?

4. Work closely with your insurance
partners to define how
healthcare costs and the overall
culture of your company can
benefit from workplace wellness.
Think specifically about goals
such as:
• Reducing healthcare costs
• Increasing productivity
• Reducing injury
• Providing enhanced benefits
package
© AdvoCare Group, INC 2014
Establish Your Overall Goals.

5. In 2007, the total estimated costs
of diabetes were $174 billion,
including $116 billion in medical
expenditures and $58 billion in
lost productivity.
American Diabetes Association. Economic costs of diabetes in the U.S. in 2007. Diabetes Care. 2008; 31(3): 1-20.
FACT

6. Tobacco use is responsible for
an estimated $96.8 billion per
year in lost productivity due to
sickness and premature death.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Smoking-attributable mortality, years of potential life lost, and productivity
losses – United States, 2000-2004. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 2008; 57(45): 1226-1228.
FACT

7. © AdvoCare Group, INC 2014
INDIVIDUAL
ASSESSMENT TOOLS
• Biometric testing
• Health Risk Assessments
• Surveys
Assess the needs of your
particular organization.
Aggregate reports
can be created to
assess the overall
health of your
workforce.

8. © AdvoCare Group, LLC. 2014
© AdvoCare Group, INC 2014
Identify how you will create the most
meaningful intervention through a resource
employees can trust.
1. Establish distance between
personal concerns and the
employer
2. Identify high risk individuals
and common health issues
based on the demographics
and culture of your worksite
3. Appropriately evaluate the
success of the programs
A THIRD PARTY PROVIDER CAN HELP: Some tools to consider:
Case Management – Clinicians who can
guide employees through health plans
and establish accountability
Telemedicine – Virtual access to
physicians who can provide quick,
accessible treatment and low costs to
the employee or employer
Insurance Programs

9. Identify Meaningful Incentives.
© AdvoCare Group, INC 2014
• Reduced premium
• Paid Time Off (“Wellness Days”)
• Cash prizes
• Vacation prizes
• Gas cards
• Pampering prizes
Find out what
your workforce
wants to achieve
in terms of health.
What motivates
your workforce?

10. Create a wellness committee.
Create a volunteer committee from various departments
that focuses on the development, implementation,
maintenance and evaluation of wellness activities. This
creates stakeholders ownership in the program’s success.
© AdvoCare Group, INC 2014

11. © AdvoCare Group, INC 2014
Empower your workforce through Senior
Management buy-in.
Embrace health and
wellness as a core
business value.
• Encourage access to wellness
initiatives and activities during
company time.
• Fill your vending machines with
healthy options.
• Promote your program with every
opportunity available (i.e. public
broadcasts, intranet, company
meetings, posters, company-wide
emails).
• Go beyond the annual healthfair.
Provide a forum for a diverse
range of wellness activities.

12. © AdvoCare Group, INC 2014
Consult ADA and other federal guidelines.
More info available at
http://benefits1group.com/ada-and-wellness
ACA, ADA, EEOC:
Consider federal law &
oversight when building a
balanced, effective
wellness program.
• When it comes to wellness
programs, take “require” and
“penalty” out of your vocabulary.
• Clearly define and have readily
available reasonable alternatives
for participation.
• Closely review anti-discrimination
laws as they apply in any policy
making when building and
maintaining your wellness
program.

13. © AdvoCare Group, INC 2014
Measure and evaluate your program regularly.
• Reduction in medical costs
associated with health insurance
• Reduction in sick time and
absenteeism
• Reduction in workplace injury
• Employee participation
• Referral rate among employees
• Employee perception of
program and workplace
environment
• Requests for further
programming

14. Additional Resources
BEGIN Wellness (An AdvoCare Group Company)
• advocarehealthservices.com/services/workplace-wellness
Ohio BWC Workplace Wellness Grants
www.bwc.ohio.gov/employer/programs/safety/wellnessgrants.asp
Learn more about National Observance Month Tools (FREE)!
• http://healthfinder.gov/nho/
© AdvoCare Group INC 2014

15. ADVOCARE GROUP, INC
www.advocaregroup.com
AdvoCare Group offers employers best-practice strategies for managing
workplace injury, disability, and wellness initiatives throughout the USA.
Our staff is comprised of administrative professionals and clinicians with
vast experience in the fields of nursing and care coordination, holistic
treatments, vocational counseling and rehabilitation, claims examination,
and return-to-work practices.