Benefits of Employee Health Promotion Programs

Employee Health Promotion Programs are crucial to improving the health of our nations. Most adults spend more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else, making it a excellent venue for promoting healthful habits. The worksite organizational culture and environment are powerful influences on behavior and this needs to be put to use as a means of assisting employees to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Benefits to Employee Health Promotion Programs include:
• Weight reduction
• Improved physical fitness
• Increased stamina
• Lower levels of stress
• Increased well-being, self-image and self-esteem

Employers can also benefit from Employee Health Promotion Programs. According to recent research, employers’ benefits are:

• Enhanced recruitment and retention of healthy employees
• Reduced health care costs
• Decreased rates of illness and injuries
• Reduced worker absenteeism
• Improved worker relations and morale
• Increased productivity

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report revealed that at worksites with physical activity initiatives as components of their Employee Health Promotion Programs have:

• Reduced health care costs by 20 to 55%
• Reduced short-term sick leave by six to 32%
• Increased productivity by two to 52%

Thanks to modern medicine, life expectancy for Americans has continually increased. How much we enjoy these additional years, however, depends greatly on how we have lived our lives. If our quality of life is to remain high so that we can fully enjoy these extra years, we must practice good eating habits, be active and refrain from using tobacco products.