When working in health and wellness it is extremely important to remember the population that one is working with. Hospital employees are more likely to be diagnosed with chronic conditions like asthma, obesity and depression, and are 5% more likely to be hospitalized. Hospital workers spend 9% more in health care costs than the general workforce. However, the healthcare industry should be a pillar of health in their communities.
Many healthcare workers spend almost their entire shift on their feet, this places a lot of strain on their bodies and makes them physically exhausted by the end of their shift. I have known health care workers who have given up running because their body was too strained from the amount of time spent on their feet. …show more content…
Positive and negative reinforcement, such as “carrots and sticks”, are found to be the most effective way to modify an individual’s behavior. Many “carrots” used by healthcare employers are financial, these include winning cash, gift cards, expensive items, time off, or cheaper insurance premiums for participating in health and wellness programs. One of the most commons “sticks” used is more expensive insurance premiums, or less comprehensive coverage, for those employees who do not participate in wellness programs. By using psychological motivators to get employees to participate in wellness programs many hospitals have seen a drastic rise in participation rates. In turn these employees are getting help with nutrition and exercise. A significant number of hospitals are also offering hospital wide programs for employees to participate in. These include making teams with a goal to walk a certain number of steps in a given amount of time, or accountability for making sure employees are drinking plenty of water. These groups tend to offer incentives for participating, most are financial. On top of that many are choosing to publicize the efforts of employees. For example: “Our employees average 8,000 steps per day” or “Our average BMI has improved by XX% in the last year.” Publicizing such successes reinforce positive behavior and serve as an example to …show more content…
There is a renewed and significant focus on preventative health care concepts, structural changes aimed at wellness programs are in abundance, and there is a rapid emergence of new technologies that can motivate people to do so much more with their personal fitness and wellness. I believe that we are in the midst of a long term trend where “preventative medical care” will come to exceed what we spend on “reactive medical care.” As a society we are begin to see the benefits of preventing disease vs fixing preventable diseases. Wellness programs have already gone from a nice to have benefits for employees to must have benefit for employees. Wellness programs are currently in the top 3 most effective tactics for controlling healthcare cost, I see this rising to the number 1 most effective
Many healthcare workers spend almost their entire shift on their feet, this places a lot of strain on their bodies and makes them physically exhausted by the end of their shift. I have known health care workers who have given up running because their body was too strained from the amount of time spent on their feet. …show more content…
Positive and negative reinforcement, such as “carrots and sticks”, are found to be the most effective way to modify an individual’s behavior. Many “carrots” used by healthcare employers are financial, these include winning cash, gift cards, expensive items, time off, or cheaper insurance premiums for participating in health and wellness programs. One of the most commons “sticks” used is more expensive insurance premiums, or less comprehensive coverage, for those employees who do not participate in wellness programs. By using psychological motivators to get employees to participate in wellness programs many hospitals have seen a drastic rise in participation rates. In turn these employees are getting help with nutrition and exercise. A significant number of hospitals are also offering hospital wide programs for employees to participate in. These include making teams with a goal to walk a certain number of steps in a given amount of time, or accountability for making sure employees are drinking plenty of water. These groups tend to offer incentives for participating, most are financial. On top of that many are choosing to publicize the efforts of employees. For example: “Our employees average 8,000 steps per day” or “Our average BMI has improved by XX% in the last year.” Publicizing such successes reinforce positive behavior and serve as an example to …show more content…
There is a renewed and significant focus on preventative health care concepts, structural changes aimed at wellness programs are in abundance, and there is a rapid emergence of new technologies that can motivate people to do so much more with their personal fitness and wellness. I believe that we are in the midst of a long term trend where “preventative medical care” will come to exceed what we spend on “reactive medical care.” As a society we are begin to see the benefits of preventing disease vs fixing preventable diseases. Wellness programs have already gone from a nice to have benefits for employees to must have benefit for employees. Wellness programs are currently in the top 3 most effective tactics for controlling healthcare cost, I see this rising to the number 1 most effective