During the past decade, employee health improvement efforts in the workplace have spread rapidly. About 80% of all employers with 50 or more employees now offer some form of health promotion effort.
MMS HC is working with local businesses on a worksite wellness initiative. Worksite wellness efforts are an organized approach to making the work environment, policies and programs support employee health and encourage positive lifestyle behaviors such as increase physical activity, improved healthy eating, smoking cessation services, reduced tobacco exposure and reduced stress. Worksite wellness is fast growing because many preventable health risks can be addressed at the workplace and thereby help improve employee productivity.
A healthy, motivated employee is vitally important to a workplace as a whole and has a significant impact on an employer’s bottom line.
An investment in worksite health promotion
- Improves employees’ health, productivity and quality of life;
- Assists in the management of the cost of health care, benefits and insurance; and
- Creates a desirable work environment.
Current MMS SHIP Interventions
Comprehensive Worksite Wellness
Partner with local worksites to implement a comprehensive employee wellness initiative that provides health assessment with follow-up coaching; ongoing health education, and has policies and environment supports that promote healthy weight and healthy behaviors.
MMS HC is currently working with 6-8 worksites per county
Components of a comprehensive employee wellness initiative include:
- The opportunity to take an annual health risk assessment with personalized follow-up
- A catering/vending policy that promotes healthy food choices
- Flexible work schedules that make it convenient for employees to add physical activity into their day
- Facilities that promote physical activity such as safe and accessible stairways, bike racks fitness equipment, space to relax, showers and lockers
- Private rooms for breast milk pumping and refrigerated storage
- A tobacco-free campus
- Opportunities for accessing comprehensive cessation benefits and services
Resources
- Healthy Minnesota Workplace Program and Employer Toolkit
- Guidelines for Offering Healthy Foods at Meetings, Seminars and Catered Events
- Healthy Vending: Recommended Beverages & Snacks
For resources specific to your county, please go to Meeker, McLeod, and Sibley County’s individual resource pages.
