health promotion

Almost 60% of women ages 18-64 use the internet to look up health information.

How this female population uses the web to improve their health is unclear.  Additionally, the effectiveness of online behavior change programs in the workplace is still unproven.

What is clear, however, is that after visiting a health portal, these web surfers are very likely to embark on a program to exercise and lose weight. They prefer both online and offline information about wellness. They respond to incentives, especially cash in excess of $250 and reductions in health insurance premiums. They will use the web as a catalyst to schedule a preventative exam or reduce stress. The better educated they are, the more likely they are to track their progress via the web. And, as is the case with most critical changes in any behavior, spousal support goes a long way to ensure success.

The web is a great place to start, assess, and track healthy behaviors for college-educated women in the workplace. Keeping them motivated to sustain a healthy lifestyle takes offline support by a trusted partner, some cash, and the confidence in knowing that their information is secure.

Organizational culture can occur through default or design. When creating a culture of health and wellness in your company, striving for the best in design is the ultimate goal. David Hunnicut, President of The Wellness Councils of America, interviewed dozens of wellness experts and speakers at the 2010 American Journal of Health Promotion Conference and discovered that the path to perfection has four guidelines:

1. Establish a broad base of senior leadership support

2. Engineer a health promoting environment with obvious options to be active, eat well and minimize stress

3. Strive to change the influential policies

4. Tap into every communication channel at your disposal

An appropriate culture of health can make a world of difference in the performance of your human resources. Are you designing what you and your leaders want, or are you accepting just what you can get?

Let’s review.  What is health promotion and what does it mean to your human capital?   When you empower your team with the tools for a healthy life, you also facilitate their productivity at work and at home.

In my last blog I talked about how obesity starves your company’s bottom line.  But I also wonder how you take a population of people who are wired differently than normal weight people and convince them to make a change?  People like to make their own choices, even if they are bad ones. Obese Americans know that excess weight reduces their lifespan by about 2.5 years, yet obesity rates continue to rise.