Want some wellness program ideas and wellness policy ideas to get you started?
Or maybe you want to jump start or better upon your current wellness program?
The list below provides ‘best practices’ that have the potential
to help meet any wellness program budget! The Corporate Health Promotion Program
ideas are divided into topic areas.
General Wellness Progam Ideas
- Conduct an Employee Needs & Interest Survey
- Organize a Corporate Health Promotion Program Committee
- Select health plans that cover costs for weight management and smoking cessation
- Remove co-pay or reimburse for preventive health care visits
- Put up pamphlets on a variety of wellness topics for workers to take
- Organize a wellness resource center or library with videos, books, magazines,
DVD’s on a variety of topics of interest to workers - Identify workers who are mentors or champions for healthy activities and
ask them to present or to list as a contact for other workers - Develop and reward periodic or regular educational sessions.
- Develop monthly educational sessions on the national health observance topic
- Display a Wellness Bulletin Board & update it monthly
- Display messages from national health observances during the month
- Publish healthy tips in newsletters, paycheck stuffers, bulletin boards,
etc. - Develop a benefits fair
- Develop company fitness and healthy eating challenges
- Develop company wellbeing and health fairs or other onsite activities
Nutrition Programs
- Provide free, healthy snacks for workers (fruit, nuts, popcorn)
- Provide healthy meal choices in cafeterias and at company activities
- Provide information to workers about the nutritional content of food served
in the cafeteria - Organize a fresh fruit “snack basket” in the breakroom or cafeteria
- Stock snack machines with healthier options
- Partially fund healthy foods in the cafeteria or snack machines (10¢
apples may be more appealing than $1.00 candy bars) - Offer a weekly or monthly healthy lunch club
- Provide pamphlets available on a variety of healthy eating topics
- Include diet articles in company newsletters
- Provide a healthy meal tasting contest Free
- Provide educational sessions at lunch-time on a variety of diet topics of
interest - Develop an employee healthy food cookbook. Either sell the cookbook and
use profits for programs, or purchase a cookbook for all workers
Weight Loss Programs / Weight Management Programs
- Consider offering flexible work schedules so that workers have the potential
to participate in weight-loss programs - Partially fund registration costs for weight-management programs
- Form a support group to help workers who are trying to lose weight
- Arrange for registered dieticians near your worksite as a resource for workers
who want information on healthy eating, meal planning or weight control - Provide individual counseling for workers trying to lose weight
- Provide onsite fitness and weight-management programs through your local
hospital, Weight Watchers, TOPS or local, registered dietician - Provide an educational session on diet myths and healthy eating
Physical Activity Programs
- Consider offering flexible work schedules to encourage physical activity
- Organize a fitness space with aerobic equipment, and weights
- Organize accessible walking paths, trails, and/or bike routes
- Urge workers to walk more by parking farther away from the entrance
- Organize a gym with aerobic equipment, weights, aerobic classes, fitness
professionals - Hold walking meetings
- Make the stairways more appealing (carpet, fresh paint, artwork, posters)
- Provide reduced health club membership fees to all workers
- Provide facilities for workers to secure bikes
- Provide 5 – ten minute stretch breaks during the day
- Partially fund health club membership for workers who participate a minimal
number of days per week (ex., 3 days per week) - Support lunchtime walking/running clubs or company sports team
- Urge stairwell use and rewards and incentives
- Install a basketball hoop outside
- Promote & support neighborhood walks or fitness activities
- Promote walking during breaks and other off-time periods
- Provide periodic fitness incentive programs to encourage physical activity
- Provide educational sessions on fitness activities
Smoking Cessation Programs / Tobacco Cessation Programs
- Organize a smoke-free grounds
- Organize a smoke-free workplace
- Encourage the use of 1-800-QUIT-NOW, North Carolina’s no cost Tobacco
Use Quitline. Or check www.QuitlineNC.com - Reimburse workers for tobacco replacement products
- Partially fund the expense of smoking cessation classes
- Provide pamphlets and information on health effects from tobacco use and
tobacco cessation - Provide awareness sessions to excite workers to try to quit tobacco use
- Provide onsite smoking cessation classes
Employee Health Screening
- Discount healthcare insurance premiums or lower co-payments for workers
who participate in screenings and who participate in managing their risk factors - Install Blood Pressure monitoring equipment
- Provide flu shots for workers and family members
- Provide Health Risk Assessments to all workers, including counseling and
follow-up - Provide periodic Blood Pressure screenings and follow-up
- Provide periodic screenings for cholesterol, blood sugar, body composition,
etc.
Stress Management Programs / Work Life Balance Programs
- Consider offering flexible schedules for family/work life balance
- Provide and reward an Employee Assistance Program(EAP)
- Provide information on substance abuse prevention
- Provide pamphlets and information on stress management and mental health
- Provide pamphlets and information on work life balance, such as financial
planning, childcare, parenting, elder care, etc. - Provide supervisor and manager training on communication, relationship
building, company stressors, etc. - Assess company policies and work schedules to identify company stressors
- Assess the Employee Assistance Program(EAP) to ensure it is meeting the
needs of the workers and company - Provide educational sessions on stress management and work life balance
- Provide classes on relaxation, stress management, and work life balance
topics
