Today, many employers are creating wellness programs for their employees at work. Are they really health programs? Check out the reasons the reasons why they might not be.
In the context of workplace wellness, I often find ourselves thinking of problems as either/or instead of being inclusive. Many of the programs for wellness at work nowadays aren’t about wellbeing in any way instead, they are focus on improving the health of the employees. Although our focus is on the health status of our employees but that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t begin to provide wellness-related programs and interventions , too.
What’s the difference?
There are many of wellness definitions to be consider, I’ll adopt the definition and model propose by the National Wellness Institute (NWI). NWI describes wellness as “an active process in which people are aware of and make decisions towards an improved quality of life.” This NWI definition of health is made up of six interconnect dimensions:
- Physical
- Social
- Intellectual
- Spiritual
- Emotional
- Occupational
Similar to the concept of wellness, health is usually describ as an all-encompassing concept. The definition of health is typically by:
- Physical ailments like disability, pain, or conditions that could cause death
- Emotional disorders
- Social functioning
- The absence or presence of illness
- The existence or non-existence risk factors
- It is the severity and extent of disease that are present
Health perceptions of the general public
The workplace is where employees’ health status is typically measure by using biometric and health risk assessments as well as biometric screenings.
As far as I can discern, there isn’t an definitive measure of health. Since the measure of health status includes the perception of overall health, the concept of health status is also a bit subjective.
In my opinion it is time to put aside the term “worksite wellness” and call what we are doing in the present worksite wellness and label it improvement in employee health status and employee health enhancement instead. Instead of creating fake workplace wellness programs, we should instead concentrate on creating strong EHSI-based programs that work.
As your health is an integral reflection of the state of health, risk factors , and general health perception Let’s concentrate the focus of EHSI programs to prevention of chronic diseases, control, self-care for medical issues, and aiding employees to understand and take action on their health condition.
The mere act of prevention or avoidance won’t bring about health. To achieve wellness, you must take a series of deliberate steps to go beyond avoidance or avoiding health risks. Prevention and avoiding are dependent on the pathogenesis model that will not, in itself, make you healthier.
Take note of the definition of health. Wellness creates opportunities to live “a more fulfilling life.” It is a process in which the health of employees is an indeterminate snapshot at the exact time. Wellness is closely connect to the notion of salutogenesis or the creation of new opportunities to improve health.
Since the concept of wellness has multiple dimensions I’m sharing my current thoughts on what constitutes the definition of wellness in the workplace to address all of the dimensions of wellness:
Physical – This area will be cover by the EHSI program.
- Social – Building positive, supportive, and employee first or employee-centric workplace environments and cultures and random acts of kindness or employee-led volunteer programs
- Brain health – Intellectual and fitness
- Spiritual” – Helping staff to find the meaning and purpose of their work and in life
- Emotional – Workplace Mental health promotion, managing stress Building resilience
- Workplace – Integration into employee safety and employee development and training
I believe that pathogenesis and salutogenesis are two distinct segments of the health and wellness continuum, and they can coexist by leveraging each other’s basic principles. Employers should and can offer both EHSI and workplace wellness programs.
Doing Both
Risk reduction and prevention will not lead to health. I encourage you to allow me to assist you in developing your own successful, effective and long-lasting program. I specialize in coaching coordinators at work and in creating Done With You worksite employee health and wellness programs.