We recently featured this ad in Crain's Detroit Business.

The ad talks about how KAPNICK strive® was developed to change the wellness marketplace in the belief that improving employee health and accountability are the ideal paths to reduce your group’s health and workers’ compensation costs.

In the past couple of years, the worksite wellness industry has talked a lot about having the right “culture”. A positive wellness culture in the workplace contributes to the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of workers. It takes an integrated approach to wellbeing that includes not only our physical health, but our emotional health, our sense of purpose, our connections to our community and our overall quality of life.

One area to consider when expanding your wellness offerings is volunteering. One aspect of wellbeing is that tends to be overlooked is community wellbeing – engagement and involvement in one’s community. More and more employers are realizing that volunteering can help a person’s overall wellbeing. According to a UnitedHealth Group study, 76% of people who volunteered in the last 12 months say volunteering has made them feel healthier, and 94% say that it improves their mood. Companies are giving their employees opportunities to give back to their communities through any number of initiatives and they are reaping the benefits of happier, healthier workers.

Volunteering stands out as an activity that has all the right stuff.   We’ve known for a long time that the hours and resources that individuals contribute through volunteer efforts make our communities better places. What this research from the UnitedHealth Group affirms is that there is a lot more: volunteering makes people feel better. Individuals who volunteer tend to be more active and engaged in their communities and in their health. Additionally, employers can play a significant role in allowing volunteering (see “Time Off for Volunteering”), and enjoy real benefits as a result.

According to an Aon Hewitt study, 79% of consumers view making smart choices every day as the number one factor that leads to good health. At the same time, 85% of consumers also say obstacles such as lack of time and affordability often get in the way of them making smart choices. As a provider of worksite wellness programs, we often hear these same obstacles from our participants.

Your organization has been tossing around the idea of implementing an employee wellness program for months….or possibly even years.   We are well aware that Americans spend a lot of time at work—more than the hours they devote to sleep, leisure or sports.   It’s no wonder then that so many of workers suffer from chronic diseases - health and wellness usually take a back seat to earning a living. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 117 million people in the U.S. had one or more chronic health conditions as of 2012 (“Chronic Diseases and Health Promotion,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 9, 2014).

When looking for a solution for any type of initiative, I can’t imagine an organization wanting a “one-size-fits-all” strategy.  Every organization is different….with unique goals and objectives.  In worksite wellness, we need to keep that in mind when it comes to participants.

INTRODUCTION:

Kapnick Insurance Group has been offering wellness services to our clients for the past 8 years. However, our traditional wellness services were not enough for our clients to see an impact on their organization. We realized we needed a different approach. Our wellness team spent months creating a strategy that would inspire employee’s to be accountable for their own health. This strategy is what we call Kapnick strive^®.

"Employers can improve the overall health of their employees by implementing interventions that focus on improving the behaviors linked to obesity"

For those of us in the workplace wellness industry, it doesn't come as a surprise to learn that obesity and occupation are related. In working with construction companies and law firms and everything in between, we have learned that different populations have different health issues.

In the past few years, interest in the business value of worksite wellness has grown substantially with the hope of seeing lower healthcare costs. However, there is more to evaluate than just looking at healthcare costs. If an employer accepts that a healthier workforce is likely to be more productive, then improved productivity with the potential for greater business profitability is a reasonable expectation.

So you have senior management support and your employees are interested in a worksite wellness program, but now what?   A great way to start is by offering onsite biometric screenings.