CULTURE OF HEALTH Organizational Support and Engagement ...€¦ · A COH DELIVERS UNIQUE HEALTH...

Organizational Support and Engagement for a Healthier Workforce

CULTURE OF HEALTH

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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| Introduction

| Defining a Culture of Health

| The Business Case for Creating a Culture of Health

| Assess Your Culture

| Examining Regional Health Risk Factors

| Develop a Strategy

| Leadership Roles

| Evaluate Your Organization: 1 or 2 Stars, or 4 Stars?

| Evolving to a 4-Star Organization

| Key Implementation Steps

| Avoid Potential Pitfalls and Barriers to Engagement

| Further Reading

| Contributors

2CULTURE OF HEALTH

INTRODUCTION

Individuals need a supportive culture in order to be successful—at work, at home or in their community.

While 80 percent of individuals tried to make a major lifestyle change last year, only 10 percent to 20 per-

cent were even partially successful.

As a business leader, you have an opportunity to establish health as a key organizational value, and to cre-

ate a culture of health—a workplace culture that promotes good health for everyone, while boosting your

bottom line. Within a culture of health, employees will find it easier to make healthy choices. New health

behaviors will more likely be sustained for a lifetime. Program results will be magnified.

Beacon Health Options can help your company achieve and sustain a culture of health.We will build on your current strengths, helping you develop a shared wellness vision that promotes health

and productivity. We will generate greater participation and lasting behavioral change. We will focus on

keeping healthy people healthy, while supporting those who are working to improve their health. Review

this document to learn more about the value and core components of a culture of health.

• We will build on your current strengths, helping you develop a shared wellness vision that promotes

health and productivity.

• We will build on your current strengths, helping you develop a shared wellness vision that promotes

health and productivity.

3CULTURE OF HEALTH

DEFINING A CULTURE OF HEALTH (COH)

The word “culture” originated from the farming concept of cultivation.

True to its origin, a culture of health refers to the complex web of

social influences that nurture individuals to achieve complete physical,

mental and social well-being. Cultures of health…

• OPERATE AT BOTH CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS LEVELS,

from concrete procedures (such as no-smoking policies) to

subtle influences (such as peer group attitudes about exercising

during lunch).

• ARE MULTIDIMENSIONAL. They include a broad array of social

influences, including norms, peer support and shared values, as

well as organizational policies, procedures and programs.

• OFFER RELIABLE, CONSISTENT GUIDANCE that embraces

healthy lifestyles, preventive medicine and effective disease

management. Cultures of health are not heavy handed; they

embrace personal expression and differences.

• NURTURE INDIVIDUAL INITIATIVE by encouraging achievement

and maintenance of personal health goals. Cultures of health

present the healthy choice as the easier choice.

• ADAPT TO THE CHANGING DEMANDS OF THE ENVIRONMENT.

For example, in a healthy work culture, lifestyles do not suffer

as a result of new technology or changing job responsibilities.

Subcultures evolve that reflect the special needs and preferences

of groups, while organizations maintain the capacity to change

those aspects of the culture that do not support health.

• HAVE SOCIAL ATMOSPHERES THAT BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER.

The cultural climate includes a strong sense of community,

shared vision and positive outlook. The cultural climate

engenders mutual respect and stimulates teamwork, creativity,

innovation and enthusiasm.

4CULTURE OF HEALTH

THE BUSINESS CASE FOR CREATING A COH

While a culture of health (COH) offers many and often immeasurable benefits, business executives want to

know its potential impact on the bottom line.

Health promotion programs work; a culture of health magnifies results.The business case for a culture of health rests on the economic value of health behavior. More than 25

years of research has documented that health promotion programs have lowered medical, hospital,

disability, workers’ compensation and drug costs. Health promotion programs have increased productivity,

recruitment, retention and employee morale. Robust programs regularly achieve a substantial return on

investment—often $3 in savings for every $1 spent.

Because of the high costs of medical care and labor, healthy and productive employees provide an

important competitive advantage. The University of Michigan’s Health Research Center has tracked the

cost spread between high lifestyle risk and low lifestyle risk in more than 1 million employees. Although

absolute medical care and productivity costs of poor health increase as an employee ages, the gap

between low- and high-risk employees exceeds $3,000 per year throughout adulthood. (The average cost

of an employee with 0-2 lifestyle risk factors was determined to be $2,199 and employees with 5 or more

risks were found to cost $5,520 on average.)

The vast majority of businesses have invested in employee health promotion: Their executives recognize

that the cost of doing nothing about unhealthy lifestyles puts their business at an unsustainable

competitive disadvantage.

While the economic benefits of traditional health promotion programs are substantial, such benefits dramatically increase within the supportive environment that a culture of health provides.

5CULTURE OF HEALTH

A COH DELIVERS UNIQUE HEALTH AND ECONOMIC VALUE. HERE’S HOW:

INCREASES LIFESTYLE CHANGE SUCCESS. Each year, the majority of employees (more than 80 percent)

attempt to achieve healthier lifestyles. Typical health resolutions include managing chronic disease, losing

weight, being more physically active and managing stress. Unfortunately, without the support of a COH,

few employees (less than 20 percent) succeed in achieving their lifestyle improvement goals. Unsupportive

environments overwhelm health resolutions, undermine self-esteem, lower wellness expectations and add

to employee stress—making lifestyle change unsustainable. Increasing healthy lifestyle success is a primary

mechanism for increasing the ROI of health promotion programming.

REDUCES THE LIKELIHOOD THAT EMPLOYEES WILL ADD RISKS TO THEIR HEALTH PROFILE. It is difficult

to stay fit, eat right and manage stress when the culture supports inactivity, a poor diet and inadequate sleep.

The obesity epidemic is one example of this negative cultural trend. A COH supports positive practices and

makes it easier to acquire and maintain lifestyle strengths. Keeping low-risk employees from entering into

higher-risk profiles provides a unique and powerful influence on ROI, and a strong incentive for adopting the

COH approach.

PROVIDES GREATER REACH WITHIN THE EMPLOYEE POPULATION. Traditional health promotion activities

require the active engagement of individual employees. Unfortunately, many employees do not participate

in such programs. COH is an environmental approach. Like breathing clean air or drinking clean water,

employees benefit by being in the environment, even if they haven’t signed up for a wellness program.

ENHANCES THE POWER OF WELLNESS PROGRAMMING. Traditional health enhancement programs benefit

participants only as long as they are engaged in the program. A supportive culture extends the benefit

beyond this active engagement period. This would be the case, for example, when completing the annual

health risk appraisal and setting health improvement goals based on its results becomes a strong cultural

norm. Individual initiative and skills—the primary focus of traditional programs—are enhanced by COH

environmental support.

MORE THAN ECONOMICS

It is tempting to fixate on the economic value of the COH approach. Unlike many other human resource

endeavors, it is possible to measure the economic return.

However, most business leaders know intuitively that a COH will result in a better business. They know

how hard it is to work while ill. They know from their own experience how difficult it is to achieve a healthy

lifestyle when physical and social environments undermine good intentions.

Business leaders recognize that employee health is essential to business success, and that fostering a COH

is among their primary leadership responsibilities.

REFERENCES :

Aldana, SG. (2001) Financial Impact of Health Promotion Programs: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature. American Journal of Health Promotion, 15(5):296-320.

Edington, Dee W. (2001) Emerging Research: A View From One Research Center. American Journal of Health Promotion. 15(5):341-349.

CDC Weight of the Nation Press Briefing (unedited), July 27, 2009, http://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t090727.htm

Pellmar TC, Brandt EN, Baird MA. (2002) Health and Behavior: The Interplay of Biological, Behavioral, and Social Influences: Summary of the Institute of Medicine Report. The American Journal of Health Promotion. 16:206-219.

Allen, J. Building Supportive Cultural Environments. Health Promotion in the Workplace, O’Donnell MP, editor, Third Edition. Delmar Publishers Inc., 2001, pages 202-217.

6CULTURE OF HEALTH

ASSESS YOUR ORGANIZATION’S HEALTH AND WELLNESS CULTURE

Are your employees healthy enough to show up for work and ready to

be productive, and not drive up your health care spending?

Would your employees thrive in a culture of wellness and healthy

lifestyle support if you provided one for them?

Can your corporate culture embrace change to save money on its

health care spending?

This survey will offer insight into the extent to which your current

workplace culture supports healthy lifestyles.

Cultural analysis makes it possible to understand and change the culture. Such analysis reveals both cultural strengths and opportunities for improvement.

You can then reinforce cultural strengths to provide a foundation

for further progress. Where gaps emerge between the existing

and desired culture, you can design strategies that are likely to

take root in the culture.

7CULTURE OF HEALTH

SCORE CULTURE OF HEALTH CHARACTERISTIC

Support for employee health is a top organizational priority.

Senior management has articulated a vision for achieving a culture of health, and

delegated responsibilities for carrying that vision forward.

Middle managers understand and communicate how employee health and

wellness are important to the organization’s success.

Organizational policies and procedures (such as no-smoking policies and work

schedules) support employee health.

Work teams are given aggregate feedback on health promotion participation and

progress toward achieving healthy lifestyles.

Traditions and celebrations reflect a commitment to supporting healthy lifestyles.

Work friendships and teams tend to form around healthy activities.

It is common for co-workers to support and encourage each other in achieving their

health goals.

The physical work environment (such as the presence of healthy foods and bike

racks) makes the healthy choice the easiest choice.

A great social climate at work (a strong sense of community, shared vision and positive

outlook) makes it easy for employees to participate in health improvement efforts together.

Now, determine your average score overall on the 15 questions above.

Our organization supports employees in their efforts to create healthy home

environments. We do this, for example, by allowing family members to participate in

wellness activities.

Because a culture of health does not thrive in a vacuum, our organization supports

and promotes community health promotion resources, such as those provided by

health care organizations, insurance providers, fitness clubs, local parks department,

and other community groups.

Employees are rewarded and recognized for achieving healthy lifestyles.

The use of time, company facilities, money and other resources demonstrates our

organization’s commitment to employee health.

Cultural norms for healthy practices are so firmly established that employees would

be unlikely to take up new health risks, such as overeating and physical inactivity,

without push-back from their peers.

4 agree 2 disagree 1 strongly disagree

0 not applicable or don’t know

3 neither agree nor disagree

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strongly agree

RATE YOUR LEVEL OF AGREEMENT

The following statements describe ways cultures of health support employee health and well-being. Rate

your level of agreement with each statement using the following scale:

8CULTURE OF HEALTH

SCORES OF 4-5

Your high average score indicates that you already have important culture of health strengths.

Congratulations! You are breaking the unhealthy trends in the broader culture. Your company is likely to

benefit from lower illness cost and increased job performance. Your employees are likely to achieve their

health improvement goals.

Beacon Health Options can assist you in conducting an in-depth cultural analysis, tailored to your

organization’s unique work environment and history and using quantitative and qualitative input from a

cross section of employees.

SCORES OF 3 OR BELOW

Unfortunately, your low average score indicates that your organization has yet to establish a culture of

health. You are likely to experience one or more of the following adverse consequences:

• Low-risk employees could easily add to their health risks by becoming physically inactive, stressed

and overweight.

• You are unable to take effective countermeasures to address health crises, such as a flu pandemic or

skyrocketing health care costs.

• Employees try to achieve lifestyle goals, but most can only achieve temporary or partial change.

• Health and wellness initiatives experience low participation

(less than 50 percent).

• Employees must receive incentives (beyond their wages) to complete personal health assessments.

• Some managers show their lack of enthusiasm for efforts to promote employee health.

• You lack wellness champions and many employees question the value and appropriateness of health

promotion.

• The impact of health promotion efforts is so small that only tiny reductions (less than 10 percent) in

employee risk are achieved.

Know that you are not alone in your low score. Many organizations, even those with long-standing wellness

programs, have yet to establish strong cultures of health. If your organization hopes to be successful in

achieving a healthy and productive workforce, it will need to address unsupportive features of its current

cultural environments. This is particularly true because goals for lasting change are rarely achieved without

supportive cultural environments.

At Beacon Health Options, we have seen that it is possible to systematically create a culture of health. We

have developed a systematic approach and culture of health resources that will empower you to create the

health-enhancing cultural environments you want and need.

9CULTURE OF HEALTH

EXAMINING REGIONAL HEALTH RISK FACTORS

CULTURAL NORMS IMPACT YOUR WORKSITES

Health behaviors and risks vary widely by locality. What are the top risks in the areas where your

employees live and work? Key health issues from the nation’s largest population health survey* include:

• average days with not enough sleep or rest

• percentage who currently smoke

• percentage with limited activity due to health issues

• percentage who are overweight or obese

• percentage who don’t usually get emotional support

For example, if you have a work location in:

Pennsylvania: The average working-age person does not get enough sleep or rest on 12.9 days each month.

Texas: Sixty-six percent of the working-age population is overweight or obese.

Washington: Twenty-two percent of the working-age population has limited activity due to health issues.

A close look at these regional health risk factors suggests key areas of focus for worksite health promotion efforts

since this is the larger community within which your employees operate. The cultural norms that are impacting the

larger community are affecting them, so the workplace community can offer a positive counter-balance.

* Unlike other risk factor survey results you may have seen, our map shows results only for insured

populations of working age.

10CULTURE OF HEALTH

AVERAGE DAYS WITH NOT SLEEP OR REST

WASHINGTONTEXAS

Lack of Sleep:

Currently Smoke:

Limited Activity:

Overweight or Obese:

Lack of Emotional Support:

12.7 Days

17%

18%

66%

18%

12 Days

15%

22%

63%

15%

Lack of Sleep:

Currently Smoke:

Limited Activity:

Overweight or Obese:

Lack of Emotional Support:

Low Med High

DEVELOP A STRATEGY

As a business leader, you have an opportunity to establish health as a key organizational value, and to

create a culture of health—a workplace culture that promotes good health for everyone, while boosting

your bottom line.

A culture of health refers to the complex web of social influences that nurture individuals to achieve

complete physical, mental and social well-being. It combines individual initiative with environmental

support. With a culture of health, you will realize greater program participation and lasting behavioral

change. The culture will help keep healthy people healthy, while supporting those who are working to

improve their health.

Because each organization has its own culture (enterprise wide, regionally, and locally) with custom

programs and individual strengths, each organization’s path to a culture of health will be unique.

Yet, a systematic approach guided by behavioral health experts can guide the process.

It begins with a thorough assessment of current perceptions, efforts and strengths, continues through

envisioning and alignment of cultural touch points, and cycles through to evaluation measures, in order to

refine and renew the program.

Throughout this process, every level of the organization must be engaged, on a sustained basis.

MANAGING A PROGRAM VS. A STRATEGY Are you managing a wellness program or implementing a strategy for developing a healthy corporate

culture? Is it the same thing? No, it’s not the same! “Wellness” is not only about “programs,” but is more

about an all-encompassing strategic approach—through a comprehensive alignment of organizational

processes and protocols—to supporting sustainable behavior change related to health risks for target

segments of a population.

Assess whether you are planning for or managing a program or a strategy:

MANAGING A PROGRAM

Our program is a continuum of benefits provided to employees and their families.

We have a plan to deploy scarce resources in order to achieve specific desired outcomes.

We are NOT measuring current performance on all appropriate metrics. For example, we focus on programmatic ROI rather than dividends to the enterprise.

We are measuring most or all appropriate metrics with focus on total dividends for the enterprise.

We are NOT aware of current performance vs. “world class.”

We benchmark current performance vs. “world class.”

We have NOT set organizational goals for improvement on all appropriate metrics.

We have set organizational goals for improvement (as part of the strategy development process).

We focus on corporate office solutions only. For exam-ple, we have one standard program that is available to all business locations regardless of the population needs.

We have a mix of corporate and local solutions, where the business locations have the opportunity to develop and deploy program modules.

MANAGING A STRATEGY

11CULTURE OF HEALTH

BEACON HEALTH OPTIONS CAN HELP

Building on your current strengths, Beacon Health Options can help you develop a shared vision that

promotes health and productivity across the organization, at each location and for each individual. Beacon

Health Options has expertise in changing behavior, at the individual, supervisory and organizational level.

We are engagement experts. We will continue to work with you until the vision becomes incorporated on a

sustained basis within the organization.

We’ve helped employees create a vision for life, we’ve helped supervisors create a vision for the team, and

we’ve helped organizations envision a culture of health.

Beacon Health Options offers expert consultation to your organization’s leaders on creating, supporting

and implementing a culture of health to accomplish objectives on any of 4 major dimensions:

1. Strategy development

2. Team-building

3. Action-planning and program design

4. Resource mobilization and deployment

While every consultation is unique, key steps in the process might include:

Conduct an initial site visit for conversations and review of available data to determine strategic priorities

and appropriate scope of initial diagnostic work.

Conduct an opportunity assessment to determine status on business metrics and the key drivers of

those business metrics. We would identify the characteristics of the organization and its people that

are influencing current health and productivity status, and identify the opportunities or challenges they

represent for performance improvement.

Define scenarios for your organization’s scope and pace of change in pulling the levers available for health

and productivity performance improvement, and then facilitate making a choice among the scenarios for

your path toward creating a culture of health.

Define Beacon Health Options role in serving your organization on its journey along one or more of the

following dimensions:

• advisors to senior leadership team

• advisors to functional managers

• organization team-builders and skill-builders for health and productivity management

• business partner in developing and implementing a health and productivity strategy

• a source of on-site health counselors and program delivery

We have the comprehensive set of competencies, sensitivities and experience required to work with your

organization to mobilize leadership, organizational resources and volunteer spirit to make improving health

and productivity a part of everyone’s job—building new senses of responsibility, new skills and great pride

from organizational and personal accomplishments throughout the company and the community.

The culture of your organization is critical to your business success. By creating a culture of health, your

organization can have a positive influence on the lives of your employees. In the process, you can influence

the culture of your organization in meaningful ways to support your other business goals and initiatives.

12CULTURE OF HEALTH

LEADERSHIP ROLES

Executives, managers, committee leaders and grassroots leaders play important roles in shaping a culture

of health. Leadership development is an essential culture of health strategy.

CORE LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES

There are 4 primary responsibilities for all leaders:

1. Sharing the culture of health vision. Leaders explain the initiative, how to participate and why

it is important. Leaders need to be able to tell these basics in a way that inspires participation

and lets employees know that this effort is an organizational priority.

2. Serving as effective role models. Leaders develop strategies for walking the talk. This

includes sharing about personal lifestyle strengths and informing others about personal lifestyle

improvement goals. Leaders participate in core health activities, such as completing personal

health assessments and working with a health coach. Minimally, leaders look for ways to lower the

visibility of unhealthy practices. For example, it is not helpful to brag about working long hours.

3. Aligning cultural touch points. Cultural touch points are formal and informal mechanisms for

establishing and maintaining behavior. Rewards, training, traditions, communication systems and

the commitment of time and space are examples of such touch points. Most organizations have

policies, procedures and programs that influence health behavior. Smoking policies are among

the most obvious examples. Equally powerful are the unwritten and informal activities that

influence behavior. The coffee break is an example of such an informal activity. Leaders work with

employees to align such day-to-day influences so that they support positive health practices.

4. Monitoring and celebrating healthy choices. Leaders keep track of progress and acknowledge

individuals’ efforts. Leaders can see progress as it happens. Their familiarity with employees

makes it possible to choose rewards that are most meaningful. One employee, for example,

might enjoy public acknowledgment while another would prefer a quiet celebration. Healthy

practices generate their own intrinsic rewards associated with health, energy and personal

performance. Leaders call attention to these intrinsic rewards, and also see to it that employees

get all the praise, compensation and other extrinsic rewards available. They may, for example,

see to it that employees also see the savings associated with lower medical costs.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES

In addition to core culture of health leadership responsibilities, senior management is responsible for

connecting employee health to business priorities. Senior management sets the vision and assigns

responsibility for carrying out the culture of health initiative.

MIDDLE MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES

Managers and supervisors are familiar with day-to-day operations and serve as gatekeepers. They play large

roles in determining, for example, whether employees can participate in health initiatives. Their familiarity

with operations and conditions on the ground are important assets in fostering a culture of health.

13CULTURE OF HEALTH

COMMITTEE AND TASK FORCE LEADERSHIP

RESPONSIBILITIES

A committee or task force is often responsible for the development

and oversight of health initiatives. Such groups make it possible to

get input from a cross-section of organizational members. In larger

organizations, steering committees make it possible for different

human resource specialists to coordinate their efforts.

GRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP RESPONSIBILITIES

Every employee has a leadership role in nurturing a culture of health.

Grassroots leaders engage in self-leadership. Employees manage

their health through preventive medicine, healthy lifestyles and disease

management. Finding and creating supportive environments for

personal health goals is an essential self-leadership skill.

Grassroots leaders bring health home. A supportive household

environment is essential to employee health. Dependents living at home

have important roles to play in controlling medical costs. Employees

can lead efforts to create cultures of health within their households.

Grassroots leaders support their peers. Helping others to achieve

health goals is a powerful leadership strategy. Such assistance can be

one way or mutual support. Employees can also serve as peer support

leaders by organizing teams and support groups. There are a number

of benefits to those offering support:

• raises their own self-esteem

• deepens one’s understanding of how difficult health goals such

as losing weight are achieved

• increases the number of friends engaged in healthy behavior

Grassroots leaders form effective health partnerships with the

broader community. Employees at all levels can support community

health initiatives,

14CULTURE OF HEALTH

EVALUATE YOUR ORGANIZATION: 1 OR 2 STARS, OR 4 STARS?

You are getting started in developing a healthy culture in your company, and you likely have some ideas

for initial steps to take. Before moving forward, it’s important to understand where the journey should

ultimately lead for your organization to get the most out of its culture of health.

We have illustrated some of the critical steps, as part of an evolutionary path toward fully embedding

health into your corporate culture, starting as a 1- or 2-star organization with minimum investment and

returns to achieving a 3- or 4-star status with maximum investment and returns.

How does your organization compare with the 4-star organization?

ELEMENT OF HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT

STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT Manage a “program” (a

continuum of benefits

provided to employees and

their families)

Not measuring current

performance on all

appropriate metrics

Not aware of current

performance vs. “world class”

Have not set organizational

goals for improvement on all

appropriate metrics

Focused on corporate-office

solutions only

Manage a “strategy” (a plan

to deploy resources in order

to achieve specific desired

outcomes)

Measuring most or all

appropriate metrics

Benchmarking current

performance vs. “world class”

Have set organizational goals

for improvement (as part

of strategy development

process)

Have mix of corporate and

local solutions

CHARACTERISTICS OF 1-STAR OR 2-STAR ORGANIZATION


15CULTURE OF HEALTH

ELEMENT OF HEALTH AND PRODUCTIVITY MANAGEMENT

TEAM BUILDING

ACTION PLANNING

RESOURCE MOBILIZATION

HR “owns” health and

productivity and has

subcontracted some

responsibility to vendors

Conflicting agenda among

silos in organization for

addressing specific issues and

opportunities

Leadership is not engaged

Singular approach

programmatically for all

population segments

Singular approach to program

promotion and distribution

Work site is not a “point

of sale” for health and

productivity

Have not engaged “spark

plugs” within the organization

Have not partnered with

vendors to engage beyond

the level of a standard vendor

relationship offering off-the-

shelf services

Have not mobilized the not-

for-profits and retailers in the

communities

Have not mobilized health

care delivery systems and

physicians to lead consumer

behavior change process

Share ownership across

organization for health and

productivity

Cross-functional teams work with

a single agenda on specific issues

and opportunities

Leadership is engaged and

serving as catalysts and role

models

Segmented approach

programmatically—based on

various demographic factors

and health status of population

(for example, work sites)

Segmented approach to

program promotion and

distribution based on

segments’ needs

Work site is a “point of sale” for

health and productivity

Have engaged “spark plugs”

Have strategically partnered

and collaborated with vendors

to create value-added program

components and interventions

Have mobilized not-for-profits

and retailers

Have mobilized health

care delivery systems and

physicians to lead consumer

behavior change process



16CULTURE OF HEALTH

EVOLVING TO A 4-STAR ORGANIZATION

Take a look at how your program might evolve as you work toward

becoming a 4-star organization in the following scenarios.

Keep in mind not all of the steps are appropriate for every organization:

1. Expanding available program offerings beyond the basic “wellness”

program. Specific program module evolutions include:

• health coaching: from telephonic coaching to on-site coaching

• healthy food service

2. Leader, manager and supervisor engagement and personal leadership

3. Evolution of measurement and accountability processes

4. Transitioning from managing a program to managing a strategy

5. Aligning consumer incentives with desired behaviors in 3 areas:

• health risk and condition management

• network utilization

• benefits plan utilization

17CULTURE OF HEALTH

4-STAR1-STAR

1. Expanding

available program

offerings

beyond the

basic “wellness”

program

Health coaching

Healthy food

service

Program offerings

for employees:

health risk

assessment

telephonic health

coaching

Web tools

on-site health fairs

off-site vendor

programs (for

example, Weight

Watchers, gym

memberships)

Offer telephonic

and/or Web-based

health coaching

to employees and

dependents

Subsidize several

healthy food

options (salads,

fruit) or offer a “buy

10 healthy meals

and get 1 free”

program

Additional program

offerings:

on-site

lunch-n-learns

on-site preventive

screenings

on-site fitness

activities

healthy cafeteria

choices

Plus, bring health

coaches to

biometric screening

events to build

relationships with

employees

Enhance nutrition

education by

labeling worksite

food choices with

green, yellow and

red labeling based

on nutritional value

Additional program

offerings for

employees and

dependents:

on-site clinical

education and peer

support groups

on-site health

counseling

on-site screening

kiosks and resource

centers

healthy living-

promoting

environments,

including tobacco-

free campuses

on-site care

In addition, health

coaches identify

those who would

benefit from and

are receptive to

working with a

telephonic coach

Re-allocate pricing

of food items so

that healthy items

labeled “green”

are cheaper and

subsidized by

unhealthy items

labeled “red,” such

as french fries

Program

offerings are:

available to

incentivized

employees,

dependents

and retirees

integrated

through data

proactive and timely

interventions

Plus, bring health

coaches on-site to:

support chronic

condition

management

groups

address individual

health needs

put employees on a

path toward health

Eliminate unhealthy

food options from

cafeteria, vending

and meetings

2-STARPROGRAM

COMPONENT3-STAR

18CULTURE OF HEALTH

4-STAR1-STAR

2. Leader, manager

and supervisor

engagement

and personal

leadership

3. Evolution of

accountability

process

Evolution of

measurement

process

4. Transitioning

from managing

a program to

managing a

strategy

Obtain buy-in of

CEO only through

sale of business

case

Sites are asked

by corporate to

communicate

national program

offerings to

employees and offer

a health screening

event at the

worksite

Measure program

participation only

Focus on

corporate-office

solutions only

that are directed

and managed

by vendors with

minimal metrics

Also obtain buy-

in of leadership

team through sale

of business case

during a senior

leadership health

summit

Business locations

are also responsible

for achieving

goals in national

programs (for

example, percent

participation in

screening event)

Plus, measure

changes in health

behaviors, changes

in health status

of population

and employee

satisfaction

Focus on

programmatic

specific ROI rather

than dividends to

the enterprise

Engage managers’

and supervisors’

support by:

identifying “what’s

in it for them”

aligning objectives

with incentives

sponsoring

manager education

workshops on

leading health

transformation

Sites are responsible

for creating and

implementing local

program offerings

for employees and

family members,

such as weight

management

competitions or

chronic condition

support groups,

with specific goals

and incentives

Plus, measure

changes in health

care costs and cost

drivers and absence

and disability data

Leverage a mix of

corporate and local

site programmatic

solutions and

community

resources. Also

benchmark current

performance vs.

“world class” and

strive to move

toward world class

Obtain buy-in of all

leaders, managers

and supervisors by:

showing them how

the culture of health

will help achieve

their short- and

long-term personal

and professional

goals

aligning incentives

with goals

Business leaders

report to CEO on

what their business

line/function is

doing to develop

a health culture

and have personal

incentives in place

to achieve results

Plus, measure

presenteeism and

productivity and

the impact on unit

costs and operating

margins

Partner with

vendors, but take

ownership over

strategy, planning,

communication

and goal setting.

Measure most or all

appropriate metrics

with focus on total

dividends for the

enterprise

2-STARPROGRAM

COMPONENT3-STAR

19CULTURE OF HEALTH

4-STAR1-STAR

5. Examples of

aligning incen-

tives with desired

behaviors for

various stake-

holders

Health risk

and condition

management

Network

utilization

Benefits plan

design and

utilization

Offer incentive

for enrolling in a

program

Offer standard in-

and out-of-network

health plan benefits

to employees

Waive preventive

office visit co-pays

to remove financial

barriers

Offer incentive

for completing a

program or for

self-reporting

health-behaviors

information (for

example, daily

exercise)

Offer enhanced

medical plan

benefits to

employees

for accessing

medical centers of

excellence

In addition, cover

prescription

nicotine-

replacement

therapy under the

benefit plan

Offer incentive

for verified health

behaviors and

health status (for

example, blood

pressure results,

daily exercise as

reported through

a national fitness

center data feed)

Offer enhanced

medical plan

benefits to

employees for

accessing providers

who meet specific

quality measures

(for example,

Bridges to

Excellence)

In addition, reduce

or eliminate

prescription drug

co-pays for certain

chronic conditions,

such as diabetes

and asthma

Offer financial

incentives for

achieving health

goals (for example,

losing weight,

quitting smoking,

reducing blood

pressure)

Offer enhanced

medical plan

benefits to

employees for

accessing providers

who have been

educated on your

healthy-culture

program and

available resources

and who have

committed to drive

program support

and engagement

with patients

In addition, offer

enhanced medical

plan benefits

to individuals

considering

surgery only after

first discussing

available treatment

alternatives with a

health coach (in an

effort to enhance

consumerism)

2-STARPROGRAM

COMPONENT3-STAR

20CULTURE OF HEALTH

KEY IMPLEMENTATION STEPS

Ready to start but not sure how to begin? Here are some suggestions.

CONDUCT AN ORGANIZATIONAL OPPORTUNITY ASSESSMENT.

One size does not fit all when it comes to the shape and timing of creating a healthy culture. One employer

may have had a success with a best practice case study; however, it may not be the right solution for

you. Motivations and resources vary among companies. Before you get started, conduct an opportunity

assessment of your organization. Address the following questions to find the right approach:

• How does our organization’s performance measure up to “world class” standards?

• What is the economic and social impact of poor health and poor health care of employees and family

members on the organization?

• How important is reducing the total impact to the overall organizational mission and goals?

• How ready is the organizational leadership to embrace and lead a healthy culture as a way of enhanc-

ing sustainability and employee relations?

• How ready are employees and family members to embrace a healthy culture?

• What health behaviors and conditions are most prevalent that we could positively influence for the

most significant results?

• What environmental and other factors are the primary drivers of health status and health care system

utilization?

The results will provide information needed to begin building a roadmap toward becoming a “4-star

organization” and achieving significant financial and productivity results.

DEVELOP YOUR STRATEGY FOR CREATING A HEALTHY CULTURE.

Use the following to build a tailored map for your journey toward creating healthy culture:

• Use the results of the opportunity assessment to demonstrate the potential value of reducing the to-

tal cost of poor health care and poor health—potential to increase operating margins by 50–200 basis

points and shareholder value by 5 percent to 20 percent.

• Create a vision of how managing health becomes part of “how we do things around here”—building

on established norms for other elements of culture and strategy, such as safety, quality, customer ser-

vice, “going green” or Six Sigma.

• Prepare a plan to equip leaders and managers. Make sure to define their roles and provide them the

tools and support to be successful.

• Balance short- and long-term goals. Sometimes you must invest today to earn dividends down the road.

Those expenses can be offset by also investing in program modules that have nearer term dividends.

• Build a healthy culture with an all encompassing strategic approach. Do not simply roll out healthy

culture programs.

21CULTURE OF HEALTH

Potential pitfalls to avoid or barriers to overcome (See section, “Avoid Potential Pitfalls and

Barriers to Engagement”):

“ I don’t want to participate in that program because I don’t like to (fill in the blank) … talk to people on the

phone, go online, participate in small group discussions, etc.”

“I don’t have access to a computer to take the Health Risk Assessment or access to those other tools.”

GAIN LEADERSHIP COMMITMENT AND ENGAGEMENT.

Use the proposal you built in your “strategy development” to present to the senior leadership team (and

other leaders and managers throughout the organization) about establishing health management as

“the right thing to do for our business and our people” and as a core component of business strategy,

budgeting and planning. Remember to tailor your presentation to the WIFM (“what’s in it for me”) of the

group to which you are presenting (the WIFM will be different for each group). Make sure you demonstrate

the audiences’ interests and values. Also, provide tangible evidence of what outcomes can be achieved

organizationally and share stories of the potential life-changing impact to employees.

Potential pitfalls to avoid or barriers to overcome:

“My union leaders told me not to participate in the program.”

“My manager won’t let me leave my workstation to participate in that event.”

BUILD YOUR TEAMS.

It’s time to build your team. Consider who should have a role in the planning, implementing and evolving

healthy culture initiatives.

Assign the:

• Program owner/leader (Who will lead and manage the program, program team regularly?)

• Program champion (Who will help the program owner and team overcome obstacles?)

• Development/planning team

• Corporate implementation team

• Healthy culture committee in each location

• Additional internal and external support

– IT for data interfaces

– Supply chain management for RFP and negotiations support

– Communications

– Legal

– Vendors

– Community resources

– Clinical resources, such as a medical director or vendors’ physician, to opine on clinical appropriate-

ness of proposed strategic initiatives

22CULTURE OF HEALTH

Prior to bringing your team together, determine how to assign roles and what preparatory work needs to

be done to facilitate an organizational culture change, such as:

• Support from key leadership that improving health and productivity is part of everyone’s job.

• Align business leaders and managers to take comprehensive (cross-functional and cross-business

unit) approaches to opportunities.

• Enhance the skills and scopes of staff members in their formal roles or as “sparkplugs.”

Once you bring your team together, be prepared to encounter skepticism, anxiety and resistance. Individuals

may be concerned if the initiative will be a success or if they have the support, time and skills to contribute.

Having already done the work to gain leadership commitment at some level, it will be necessary to have their

involvement in the early team building activities and to serve as the change agents.

Potential pitfalls to avoid or barriers to overcome: “Is this wellness program legal?”

CREATE AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN AND WORK WITH YOUR TEAM TO BUILD CONSENSUS

AROUND THE FOLLOWING TOPICS:

a. Program components and resources

Build a project plan for each resource/activity/program deployment to ensure required resources are

allocated with a timeline. Start by conducting a three-step process of reviewing all available data,

identifying health behaviors you want to address and proposing the activities/events/resources to offer

nationally. Consider any senior management directives, pre-designated funding parameters and the clinical

appropriateness of strategic initiatives as part of your planning process. In addition, don’t forget to meet

regularly during the planning and implementation period to determine status of deliverables and timeline

and to address issues that arise.

b. Target audiences

Once your team has completed the three-step process, determine how to target the intended program

audience. Be thoughtful of how to communicate with the audience. Individuals typically do NOT want to

feel as if they are specifically being targeted based on a particular health issue or their claims data.

Don’t forget to involve and communicate with employee spouses and family members. Remember to

include employees who don’t have a typical schedule. Keep in mind each group will differ based on their

needs and interests.


“ My spouse cooks for us at home, and that’s why I can’t lose weight” … and other excuses blaming health

status on family behaviors/decisions.

23CULTURE OF HEALTH

c. Resources and funding

Consider how the program and incentives will be funded. Ask yourself:

Will you receive special funding from the CEO’s office? Will funding

come out of the HR or Benefits budget? Do you have the option to bill

back the business locations for their fair share of the program costs

as an offset to medical costs? Can you consider raising medical plan

contributions to offset the incremental expense?

d. Deployment timeline

Build a detailed comprehensive deployment timeline/project

plan that includes these components:

• Plan proposal and refinement

• Leadership and funding approval

• Contracting with vendors

• Legal issues (leave plenty of time for legal review)

• Communications. Consider the following questions:

– Are advance communications to certain stakeholders required?

– Will it be a targeted or general communication?

– Who will need to approve the communications?

e. Key communication messages

Be sure to include these messages in every communication:

• How will the program work?

• What are the WIFM’s for each target audience?

• What are the incentive components, if any?

• What’s happening with employee and family member data?

Is it confidential?

• Are there perceived inequities to address?

• What are the timelines or deadlines for action?

• Where do you go for more info?


“Who sees my health data?”

“ It’s not fair that you are rewarding diabetics with incentives and

I don’t get anything and have been healthy all my life.”

24CULTURE OF HEALTH

f. Key metrics. Determine how to measure success and to identify needs for

mid-course corrections to the plan.

How will you measure success? Consider developing a mix of metrics from the following categories:

• Workplace environment

• Resource commitments

• Program participation

• Behavior change

• Health status

• Outcomes:

– financial

– absence

– productivity

– presenteeism

– satisfaction

Be sure to set goals and publicize the results to keep all stakeholders accountable. Consider building

health management metrics and benchmarks into a corporate balanced scorecard and/or HR performance

management system. Goal setting can be handled through the annual operating plan process, and results

can be shared and reported out on a quarterly basis with key stakeholders. This is a great way to keep the

organization focused on achieving healthy culture goals and to improve the performance of the programs.


“ What’s in it for me? Why should I bother to get involved with this program and/or

change my health behaviors?”

g. Data integration

The program offerings that support your culture of health should be selected and evolve based on

data and fact-based decisions. Data is significantly more valuable when you integrate everything that

is available to you—that includes health plan, prescription drug, vision, dental, disability, health risk

assessment, biometric screening and absence data. Often, it can take much more time to integrate data

than you initially anticipated, but it’s definitely a worthwhile investment. After all, how can you determine if

the strategy and programs are effective if you don’t have the data to assess the outcomes?

h. Vendor integration

You likely have multiple vendors offering a variety of programs to employees and their family members. It’s

important that the vendors work together in sharing data and in planning for and coordinating the timing

of their interactions with individuals to minimize confusion. Put yourself in your employee’s shoes. How

would you feel if you received a call from a health plan case manager, a disease management health coach

and the pharmacy benefit manager in the same week? You would likely feel overwhelmed and quickly

opine the health plans just can’t seem to coordinate their efforts. Beyond employee satisfaction, vendor

coordination makes for a more effective and efficient program.

25CULTURE OF HEALTH

MOBILIZE AND DEPLOY RESOURCES.

Don’t forget to think beyond the resources of your organization as

you plan for deployment. Be sure to:

• Build coalitions of multiple stakeholder groups within your

organization and in your community.

• Engage and mobilize providers to practice shared decision–

making and serve as the role of educator with their patients (who

are your employees or their family members).

• Educate retailers that healthiness can be profitable for businesses.


“My doctor says that I should just listen to his/her advice.”

MEASURE AND EVALUATE.

Post-event evaluation (postmortem debriefs) can provide great value

in learning from the past and applying knowledge to enhance the

program in the future. Here are key questions you’ll want to discuss

with your team:

• What were the outcomes?

– Did we achieve our goals?

– Were there impacts we had not anticipated?

• What lessons did we learn and which lessons are transferable?

• How will we improve our processes?

• How will the data be integrated for future fact-based

decision making?

• Who should we share the results with? After all, what is measured

is managed.

PLAN FOR THE EVOLUTION OF INITIATIVES AND PROGRAMS.

Keep the program fresh to sustain employee engagement over a long

period of time. Ensure you continually look to enhance and augment

the program offerings.

26CULTURE OF HEALTH

AVOID POTENTIAL PITFALLS AND BARRIERS TO ENGAGEMENT

Perhaps you have developed your implementation plan and are prepared to move forward in creating

or enhancing a healthy culture in your organization. Before you do so, you may want to learn from the

mistakes of other employers and anticipate challenging questions and negative comments your employees

may pose.

THE EMPLOYEES QUESTION OR COMMENT

“ WHO SEES MY HEALTH DATA?”

“ ‘THE DOG ATE MY HOME-

WORK’ …AND OTHER EXCUS-

ES WHY I AM NOT GOING TO

PARTICIPATE OR CONFORM TO

YOUR HEALTHY CULTURE.”

Many employees will have a

real concern about not only

who will see personal health

data, but whether third parties

having that data will affect the

employee’s health insurance,

secure job status or eligibility for

promotions.

Prepare to hear the following

excuses from your employees

as to why they don’t want to

participate in health initiatives.

Sometimes they are legitimate

and other times they are mislead-

ing and inappropriate forms of

resistance and fear of change.

I don’t believe my information will

be kept confidential.

I don’t have time.

I have a relationship with my doctor.

I don’t want people calling or

sending me things.

Confidentiality and data privacy

are legitimate employee con-

cerns, but they are not insur-

mountable. Proactively address

the confidentiality at the launch

of your program, explaining and

perhaps demonstrating specifi-

cally what health data is available

and is shared with other vendors

and other employees. Explain

who is permitted to see it and

under what circumstances and

why all of this data sharing is im-

portant to the program’s success.

Concerns about confidentiality

are a major obstacle to facili-

tating behavior change within

a population. Consider ways to

arrange site visits to data-man-

agement vendors by employee

representatives, which might

include union leadership.

Expect to receive a litany of ex-

cuses as to why individuals don’t

want to participate. Despite their

concerns, offer positive points of

view as to why they could benefit

from aspects of the program.

WHY IT’S A VALID CONCERNPROACTIVELY ADDRESSING

THE ISSUE

27CULTURE OF HEALTH


“ I DON’T WANT TO PARTICIPATE

IN THAT PROGRAM BECAUSE

I DON’T LIKE TO (FILL IN THE

BLANK) … TALK TO PEOPLE

ON THE PHONE, GO ONLINE,

PARTICIPATE IN SMALL GROUP

DISCUSSIONS, ETC.”

“ I DON’T HAVE ACCESS

TO A COMPUTER TO TAKE

THE HEALTH RISK

ASSESSMENT OR TO

ACCESS THOSE OTHER

TOOLS.”

“ MY SPOUSE COOKS FOR US

AT HOME, AND THAT’S WHY I

CAN’T LOSE WEIGHT”… AND

OTHER EXCUSES BLAMING

HEALTH STATUS ON FAMILY

BEHAVIORS/DECISIONS.

People have different preferred

learning and communication

styles that you need to consider

accommodating if you want to

minimize frustration and maximize

engagement and success.

While it feels as though everyone

is using computers these

days, there are still many U.S.

households without computers

and/or individuals with minimal to

no computer skills.

One size does not fit all when

it comes to learning styles

or preferred methods of

communication. Some people are

visual or auditory learners. Some

prefer communication on the

computer or are better in small

group settings. Some employees

and many of the spouses/

dependents will not be able to

access program resources at the

worksite. Be sure to consider

how they will engage with the

programs and what additional

resources will be necessary.

Ensure that your facility provides

adequate resources (for example,

computer kiosks) at the worksite.

It is easier to justify the cost as

part of an overall strategy for

benefits self-service and em-

ployee communications. Beyond

providing access to computers,

be prepared to offer technical

support for those who do not

have computer skills.

The first step is to make family

members eligible for your healthy

culture programs. Once eligible,

identify ways to involve spouses

and dependents in the program

from the start. Consider leverag-

ing existing company programs

to engage the family members.

For example, if your company has

an annual picnic with employees

and their families, offer health

screenings and an orientation

to the healthy culture program,

resources and incentives.

If you want to make an impact on

an individual’s health behaviors,

you will be much more successful

when you engage the family unit,

so that they can work together

toward a common goal.


THE ISSUE

28CULTURE OF HEALTH


“ MY DOCTOR SAYS THAT I

SHOULD JUST LISTEN TO HIS/

HER ADVICE.”

There are significant challenges

to motivating individuals to be-

come consumers of health—just

as they are consumers of other

products and services. Innova-

tive employers have recognized

the need to address this issue

from both the “demand” and

the “supply” sides. From the

“demand” side, you may want to

start by explaining to employees

that physicians typically can only

spend between 7 and 11 minutes

on average with each patient;

this means that their physician

is likely not able to address all

of their health needs on a daily

basis. As such, they could benefit

from engaging in the program

and perhaps sharing some of the

literature with their physician to

obtain their buy-in. Also, it is im-

portant to explain that medicine

is not “one-approach-fits-all.” The

right treatment choice is often a

function of the patient’s values

and preferences. It is important

for the patient and the physician

to work as partners in deciding a

course of action for the patient.

Educating the entire medical

community may not be feasible,

but it is possible to focus on spe-

cific physicians that have a sig-

nificant amount of a company’s

employees and family members

as patients. Be sure to educate

the physicians on the healthy

culture tools and resources and

ask for their support.

Physicians can be incredibly

powerful program champions

and drive successful engagement

with their patients. You may even

consider sending a mailer that

describes the program resources

to the physician’s office that can

be placed in the patient’s file as a

gentle reminder.

The patient may or may not have

discussed the program resources

with the physician. But regard-

less, it is difficult for a physician

to recommend that an individual

participate in his or her employ-

er’s healthy culture program

without knowing the specifics

of the program and if it’s based

on sound clinical guidance and

evidence-based medicine.


THE ISSUE

29CULTURE OF HEALTH


“ IS THIS WELLNESS PROGRAM

LEGAL?”

“ IT’S NOT FAIR THAT YOU ARE

REWARDING DIABETICS WITH

INCENTIVES AND I DON’T GET

ANYTHING AND HAVE BEEN

HEALTHY ALL MY LIFE.”

“ MY MANAGER WON’T LET ME

LEAVE MY WORKSTATION TO

PARTICIPATE IN THAT EVENT.”

As you are planning your

programs, engage your attorney

to review your use of health data

and incentive structures, to insure

that you are legally compliant.

You will need to be prepared to

address these perceived ineq-

uities. Certainly the healthy em-

ployee may feel that he has paid

more than his fair share through

subsidizing the high health care

costs of the unhealthy employ-

ees; however, an employer’s

incentivizing individuals with

chronic conditions will benefit

everyone in the long run through

reduced aggregate health care

costs in the future. Also, be sure

to offer incentives to each indi-

vidual regardless of her health

status. This may mean admin-

istering different incentives for

different individuals, but working

to keep the healthy individuals

healthy is just as important, if

not more important, than helping

individuals with chronic condi-

tions to improve their condition

management skills.

As you work to engage lead-

ers, managers, supervisors and

employees, focus on establish-

ing commitment throughout the

organization in the belief that

participation in program activities

is deemed not only acceptable,

but also valuable to organization

sustainability. In those situations

where workers can’t simply walk

away from their workstation when-

ever they choose (for example,

customer service or manufacturing

line), invest time in supporting

managers to develop plans to

enable their employees to partici-

pate. Managers will be much more

supportive when you collaborate

with them in this process vs. dic-

tating what they will do.

Legislation focused on “wellness

programs” continues to evolve,

and what was legal last year sim-

ply may not be legal now.

Employees want to be treated

fairly, and many “healthy” em-

ployees feel cheated when their

peers are earning incentives for

participating in programs when

they have maintained life-long

poor health behaviors and racked

up historically higher health care

costs, which the healthy employ-

ee has subsidized.

Failure to effectively engage

leaders and stakeholders (not

identifying and promoting

appropriate “WIFM”) will create

perceived participation barriers

for all employees.


THE ISSUE

30CULTURE OF HEALTH


“ MY UNION LEADERS TOLD ME

NOT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE

PROGRAM.“

“ WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?

WHY SHOULD I BOTHER TO

GET INVOLVED WITH THIS

PROGRAM AND/OR CHANGE

MY HEALTH BEHAVIORS?”

“ WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?

WHY SHOULD I BOTHER TO

GET INVOLVED WITH THIS

PROGRAM AND/OR CHANGE

MY HEALTH BEHAVIORS?”

Start by sitting down with the union leaders and talking about the importance of building a healthy culture and how it benefits the business, their livelihood and them personally. Find the “WIFM” for those union leaders and make a commitment to help them achieve their WIFM. Ask them to participate in the planning ses-sions so that they feel ownership over the process and outcomes. Consider arranging site visits for the union leaders to the facilities of the vendors for key programs. Their first-hand experiences will likely yield powerful marketing messages for many years to come.

Consider what incentive structures are needed to motivate behaviors for all of the key stakeholders, including your team, wellness committee volunteers, businesses working toward wellness goals, business leaders, managers/super-visors, occupational health nurses, safety leaders, union leadership and members, employees and spouses. They don’t all need to be financial in nature—many individ-uals will feel incentivized by small giveaways (T-shirts) or public ac-knowledgement. Regardless of the structure, plan incentive structures up front and modify as necessary to maintain or build engagement.

Take time to review your benefit plan design, confirming that it aligns with desired behaviors and consumer-driven decisions. For example, you likely don’t want expensive and often unnecessary MRIs to have a low co-pay, but you might want to eliminate co-pays for all preventive office visits. If you are going to incentivize employees to undergo basic biometric screenings (for example, blood glucose and cholesterol), but cannot make them available at the workplace, you may want to waive any lab fees associ-ated with the screenings.

Collectively bargained employ-

ees look to their union leadership

to determine if engaging in your

healthy-culture initiatives is the

right thing to do, and you need to

insure that the union leadership

team is on board with your mission.

Incentives and publicly shared

metrics will engage individuals

to work toward a common goal.

How will you incentivize stake-

holders to engage?

Incentives and publicly shared

metrics will engage individuals

to work toward a common goal.

How will you incentivize stake-

holders to engage?


THE ISSUE

31CULTURE OF HEALTH

FURTHER READING

Aldana, SG. (2001) Financial Impact of Health Promotion Programs:

A Comprehensive Review of the Literature. American Journal of

Health Promotion, 15(5):296-320.

Baicker, K, Cutler, D, Song, Z. (2010) Workplace Wellness Programs

Can Generate Savings. Health Affairs, 29(2):304-311.

Burton, W, Schultz, A, Chen, C, Edington, D. (2008) The Association

of Worker Productivity and Mental Health: A Review of the

Literature. International Journal of Workplace Health Management,

1(2):78-94.

Burton, W, Chen, C, Conti, D, Schultz, A, Pransky, G, Edington,

D. (2005) The Association of Health Risks With On-the-Job

Productivity. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine,

47(8):769-77.

Edington, D, Schultz, A. (2008) The Total Value of Health: A

Review of the Literature. International Journal of Workplace Health

Management, 1(1)8-19.

Edington, D. (2001) Emerging Research: A View From One Research

Center. American Journal of Health Promotion, 15(5):341-349.

Yen, L, Schultz, A, Schnueringer, E, Edington, D. (2006) Financial

Costs Due to Excess Health Risks Among Active Employees of

a Utility Company. Journal of Occupational and Environmental

Medicine, 48:896-905.

Wellness Leadership: Creating Supportive Environments for

Healthier and More Productive Employees by Judd Allen, PhD.

Human Resources Institute, 2008.

Zero Trends: Health as a Serious Economic Strategy by Dee W.

Edington, PhD. Health Management Research Center, University of

Michigan, 2009.

32CULTURE OF HEALTH

CONTRIBUTORS

Beacon Health Options gratefully acknowledges the following individuals for their inspiration, insights,

contributions and review of the content contained within this document.

Judd Allen, PhD

President

Human Resources Institute, LLC

Eric Anderson

Graphic Designer

Beacon Health Options

Jill Meece Barnette, MSW, LCSW

Counselor/Senior Coach

Health & Performance Solutions


Amy Daugherty

Editor



Anthony Davis

Vice President

Marketing & Communications


Christopher Dennis, MD, MBA

Chief Medical Officer

Commercial Division


Dee W. Edington, PhD

Director

Health Management Research

Center

University of Michigan

Sue Giordano

Vice President, Health

Improvement


Kathy Greco, LMSW, CEAP

Commercial Sales Director


Matt Grenier

Vice President, Project

Management


Eric Hamilton, MS

Vice President

Clinical Informatics


HealthSTAR Advisors

Ed Jones, PhD

Executive Vice President

Commercial Division


Marla LaMontagna, LCSW-R,

CEAP, CCM

Vice President

Account Services


Harold A. Levine, DO

Chief Medical Officer


Bob Mitchell, LPC, NCC, CEAP

Creative Solutions Counseling

Rich Paul, MSW, CEAP

Vice President



Maggie Ramsay

Editor



Andrea Rizzo

Editor



Ginny Sedberry

Regional Director

Account Services


Beverly Shepard

Director of Marketing


Carrie Sioberg, LCSW

Training and Development

Specialist



Elizabeth Thorpe, MA, CEAP

Vice President


Operations


Sandy Werner

Director, Communications



33CULTURE OF HEALTH

Date post:	19-Sep-2020
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CULTURE OF HEALTH Organizational Support and Engagement ...€¦ · A COH DELIVERS UNIQUE HEALTH...

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