Colihan, Kelley (2008, June 30)



Workplace wellness programs can be an effective strategy in helping the adult population to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Do you agree or disagree? What evidence is there to support your opinion?

Judith Ezepue

Tasmeer Hassan

Yaniris Negron

Vanessa Vinas

University of Florida

Workplace wellness programs can be an effective strategy in helping the adult population to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off.

Workplace wellness programs can be an effective strategy in helping the adult population lose excess body weight. This paper will describe studies that have shown that such programs are not usually successful in helping employees keep the weight off. Because obesity has been classified as a behavioral epidemic in the United States, the workplace is now taking strides to not only fight issues such as obesity but also other health problems that can be attributed to poor lifestyle choices.

It is important to first define the role of worksite health promotion. Worksite health promotion is “the process used to achieve understanding of the concepts of wellness, to implement activities that can initiate and execute goals of wellness, and to promote individual responsibility/change environments for health enhancement or high-level wellness” (Anspaugh, Dignan & Anspaugh 2006, p. 6). In an effort to promote health in the workplace, there are three types of interventions that are frequently utilized: awareness, lifestyle change, and environmental support. Awareness activities are designed to increase a person’s knowledge and perception of specific health problems. Lifestyle change programs teach various behavior change strategies so that unhealthy lifestyle activities can be modified. Supportive environment programs “provide encouragement, assistance, and reinforcement for positive health behaviors” (Anspaugh et al., 2006, p.7).

Through the use of such activities, programs, and adequate employee participation, employers can hope to achieve a few goals. These goals include the ability to offer services that encourage employees to care for themselves, maintain or improve employee health, and decrease preventable disease and injury (Anspaugh et al., 2006). Workplace wellness programs can have a direct health impact on employees’ medical problems and health statuses as well as an indirect outcome on health care cost, absenteeism, employee productivity, and job satisfaction (Anspaugh et al., 2006).

Though evidence suggests that workplace wellness programs are effective in the short-term, the programs’ long-term effectiveness is up for debate. By listing the pros and cons of worksite health promotion, determining program effectiveness in the short-term, and unsuccessful weight maintenance in the long-term, we will provide justification for our dispute of the statement: workplace wellness programs can be an effective strategy in helping the adult population to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off.

“The last ten years have brought major changes in employer attitudes toward workplace health promotion programs. Interest in self-help and self-care programs have increased, as growth in health care costs have encroached substantially into profits.” (Parker, 2007, para 1). In 2004 it was estimated that obesity cost businesses in the United States $13 billion in health care costs and productivity (Lloyd, 2004). As a result, it is projected that worksite health programs will continue to become important factors in the provision of health care in the next decade. According to a survey from 1985, almost 66% of worksites with 50 or more employees had worksite health promotion activities in 1985. (Parker, 2007). Worksite health promotion although providing many benefits to its employees and the company itself, also has some downfalls within employee perceptions of the program.

Worksite health promotion programs are created and implemented with the goal of offering employees an opportunity to encourage people to care for themselves, allow them to maintain their health and avoid disease risk and decrease preventable injuries.[1] Thus allowing worksite health promotion programs to provide a number of benefits to not only the employees but to the company as well. Worksite health promotion allows for a company to increase its productivity as well as keep medical care claims down. 1 In addition to this, worksite wellness programs help keep employee morale up, improve employee health, reduction in workers compensation claims and reductions in absenteeism (Health and economic implications of WHP, 2009). Another concern amongst employers is the issue of presenteeism, which refers to the fact that employees may be at work, but due to health concerns they may not be working optimally. Through worksite health promotion, this is another aspect of the work field that has been seen to decrease amongst worksites (Health and economic implications of WHP, 2008). Essentially, a more fit work place allows for a happier work force and will be less costly to employers (Parker, 2007).

On the other hand, wellness programs can also cause many problems. A common sentiment that employee’s feel is that wellness programs seem to be intrusive, in a “father knows best” way (Holland, 2007). The biggest challenge that wellness programs face, is a way to reach those employees that would benefit the most from the program (Holland, 2007). Although the benefits outweigh the downside of worksite health programs, it is important to look at the downside as a means to work towards making these types of programs in the workplace even more effective.

Workplace health promotion programs provide numerous benefits to a company and provide means for employees to improve their health while aerating a healthier and more productive work environment. But how effective are these programs in terms of their longevity? Many studies have shown the effectiveness of worksite health promotion programs in the short term (Colihan, 2008). However what contributing factors allow certain programs to be more successful in the short term as opposed to the long term?

A major goal of worksite health promotion programs (WHPP) is to help participants maintain their weight loss. These programs are effective mechanisms that promote employees’ overall health. As previously noted, such health promotions programs tend to be more effective in the short-term rather than long-term (Anspaugh et al., 2006).

If the goal of worksite health programs is to promote healthy lifestyle choices by incorporating physical activity and nutrition education sessions at work, why is this objective limited to short-term? Following, the reasons for the ineffectiveness of worksite weight loss programs in the long-term are explored.

Factors that may contribute to the ineffectiveness of worksite weight loss programs in the long run include costs to employers and low employee participation. Companies that promote a positive work atmosphere such as encouraging employees to participate in the program instead of mandating it and that have committed employees will, in the long run, be successful in maintaining employee weight loss. With employers providing 68% of their employees’ health care plans, recruiting skilled workers to manage workplace wellness programs along with low employee participation, results in revenue loss for the company (Oliver, 2006). Similarly, with employees leaving companies due to hostile work environments, allocating resources for other health and wellness programs can become detrimental to maintaining weight loss.

Evidence of successful long-term effects of WHPP has been observed in the Armed Forces (Institute of Medicine, 2004). This may be in part because good physical condition is a requirement for those in the Armed Forces, and because the military has better control over its employees. The latter accounts for the Armed Forces’ WHPP effectiveness in maintaining weight loss. The study noted that long-term results were also attributable to having meal replacement, active dietary counseling, and face-to-face contact with individuals.

Although most companies have unanimously agreed to offer weight management programs, changes need to be made in order for these programs to be effective in the long run (Robroek, Bredt & Burdorf, 2007).

First, a computer-tailored wellness plan that focuses on physical activity, diet, and increased awareness of participant’s lifestyle must be put in place. The physical component of the wellness plan is especially important because integrating physical activities at least 3 times a week, 30 minutes a day, along with assessing perceived barriers helps to encourage participants to adhere to the program. Physical activity is the key to successful weight maintenance, and is cited as the single most important factor in maintaining weight loss by the majority of individuals. Identifying barriers helps participants build problem solving skills and teaches them to identify and anticipate problems that threaten to undermine their weight loss success. This skill allows for the individual to design strategies that will resolve problems as they emerge (Institute of Medicine, 2004). Having an individualized computer-tailored plan will command greater attention from the participant and contain less redundant information (Oenema & Campbell, 2003). This type of wellness plan aims to increase awareness and adherence to the programs.

Secondly, integrating a monitoring function that tracks an individual’s progress in adopting a new behavior tends to increase program compliance and success. Individual progress is monitored by analyzing weight, BMI, physical activity, and fruit and vegetables intake. Self-monitoring is very important, including regular weigh-ins and recording daily food intake and physical activity (Institute of Medicine, 2004).

Thirdly, participants require continuous feedback and support through monthly emails from a personal coach. With this approach, participants will be able to receive personalized feedback, advice, and comments directly from the coach. According to a study, including individualized and interactive support motivates participants to comply with the behavior change (Kris-Etherton et al., 2007). The last feature deals with the opportunity to seek personal advice from a variety of professionals.

Lastly, relapse prevention should be incorporated into the weight loss program as well. Relapse and temporary loss of control and return to old behaviors is common. “The key to relapse prevention is learning to anticipate high risk situations and to devise plans to reduce the damages” (Institute of Medicine, 2004, p.110). Participants need to learn to forgive themselves for a lapse and treat it as a learning experience.

Incorporating the previously mentioned features enable WHPP to be effective in the short term and long term.

In closing arguments, workplace wellness programs can be an effective strategy in helping the adult population to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Multiple studies presented in this paper have indicated that establishing a weight loss program in the workplace has been proven to be an extremely effective way to encourage weight loss among the adult population. Employers should strive to develop manageable wellness plans in the worksite to improve their employee health and company atmosphere. After careful consideration, we have developed recommendations geared to improve the long term success of worksite weight loss plans. They include the following:

• Designing a computer-tailored wellness plan that focuses on physical activity, diet, and increased awareness of participant’s lifestyle.

• Integration of a monitoring function that tracks an individual’s progress in adopting weight loss behaviors.

• Providing continuous feedback and positive support through emails and meetings with a personal coach and professional staff.

• Incorporating relapse prevention.

References

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[1] J. Varnes, personal communication, 2009

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