Wellness @ Case
Over the years, the cost of health care has steadily been on the rise. This year, the cost of health care increased nationally by 9 percent. Here at Case, the driver for the increased health care cost is utilization. Cost follows risk. Risk follows productivity. To break this cycle, society has to gravitate away from a treatment oriented approach to a preventive oriented approach. There is evidence that many of the leading causes of death, illness and disability are due to modifiable and potentially avoidable behaviors. With that said, implementation of a Health and Productivity Management program is not an option but a requirement.
Extensive research indicates that Health and Productivity Management programs can not only improve the health of your employees but can ultimately make your organization financially healthier as well. This would be one of the major reasons that Case has made the Wellness Program Initiative a priority. By creating a program that consists of four components: education, intervention, physical fitness and incentives, our hope is to provide a work environment that will contribute to a healthier workforce, improved employee morale and productivity, reduced absenteeism, presenteeism and turnover while reducing our health care related costs.
Presently Case's Wellness Initiative is in the formative stages. The Wellness Committee, composed of 14-16 faculty and staff, holds monthly meetings to create goals for the program. These goals, used in conjunction with data provided by a Wellness survey completed by the Case population in the future, will produce an operating plan. These recommendations will be presented to the President's Council, hopefully by the end of this year.
On behalf of the Department of Human Resources, I invite you to share in our enthusiasm as we move toward offering a program to improve the health and welfare of our employees.
If you have ideas that you would like to share regarding the wellness initiative, please e-mail them to me at James.E.Ryan@case.edu.
Healthy wishes.
|
