Worksite Wellness Programs for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention

Abstract

W ith Ͼ130 million Americans employed across the United States, workplaces provide a large audience for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and stroke prevention activities. Experience has shown that workplace wellness programs are an important strategy to prevent the major shared risk factors for CVD and stroke, including cigarette smoking, obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, physical inactivity, and diabetes. An estimated 25% to 30% of companies' medical costs per year are spent on employees with the major risk factors listed above. 1 Employees and their families share the financial burden through higher contributions to insurance, higher copayments and deductibles, reduction or elimination of coverage, and trade-offs of insurance benefits against wage or salary increases. When programs are successful, their influence extends beyond the individual workers to immediate family members, who are often exposed to their favorable lifestyle changes. Worksite wellness programs that can reduce these risk factors can ultimately decrease the physical and economic burden of chronic diseases, including CVD, stroke, and certain cancers.The societal benefits of a healthy employed population extend well beyond the workplace. As such, comprehensive, culturally sensitive health promotion within the workplace can improve the nation's health. The Healthy People 2010 goal is for 75% of all worksites, regardless of size, to develop comprehensive wellness programming. 2 However, the development of comprehensive programs takes time and resources, especially for smaller employers. Because program development and initiation can be resource intensive, the American Heart Association (AHA) supports incremental efforts to achieve a comprehensive worksite wellness program to address CVD and stroke prevention and makes the following recommendations. Summary of Recommendations Components of Wellness Programs• A comprehensive program aimed at improving employees' cardiovascular and general health should include the following: Tobacco cessation and prevention, regular physical activity, stress management/ reduction, early detection/screening, nutrition education and promotion, weight management, disease management, CVD education that includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation and automated external defibrillator training, and changes in the work environment to encourage healthy behaviors and promote occupational safety and health.• Programming should be integrated into the organizational structure of the workplace by use of the following proven strategies: Health education that relies on existing valid sources and is focused on skill development that is consistent with employees' readiness to make behavior changes; initiatives that are incorporated into existing employee assistance programs; and voluntary worksite screening linkedThe American Heart Association makes every effort to avoid any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may arise as a result of an outside relationship or a personal, professional, or business interest of a member of the ...

Description of a large-scale study design to assess work-stress-disease associations for cardiovascular disease

“…In fact, there is much evidence that shows CVD, MD and MSD are related to low control in our modern social organizations. For example, after reviewing 46 studies Belkic et al, concluded that low workplace control and high job demands were a major risk factor for CVD, a connection now acknowledged by the American Heart Association [5,13,14]. Bongers et al find a similar picture for the upper extremity MSD risk factors in a review of 28 studies: identifying mental work load, low workplace control, and lack of workplace support as significant causes [15].…”

Towards Effective Design and Evaluation of Workplace Wellness Programs

“…Studies have indicated participation rates in workplace health promotion programs differ by gender 71 and socioeconomic status. 72,73 Female employees were more reactive to environmental changes (e.g. snacks offered in cafeterias) and blue-collar employees perceived less emphasis on health in the workplace.…”

Prevention and Management of Non-Communicable Disease: The IOC Consensus Statement, Lausanne 2013

“…However, upon development of a working program, its success depends on its distribution and scale. Thus, it is important to successfully transfer such programs to primary care, the workplace, wellness initiatives [3,109], and the fitness industry. This can take place through licensing agreements transferring content, skills and expertise to interested health care professionals in order to create a network of branded prevention centres (Fig.…”