The road to well: how to set up a wellness and fitness program at your business that's good for your employees--and your bottom line.

In a state where eight out of 10 adults have one or more risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), chronic diseases like diabetes are on the rise and the incidence of smoking is increasing among teens, it's pretty obvious that something has to be done--and done fast--to improve the health of Michigan's citizenry.

Otherwise, health care and prescription medication costs will continue to skyrocket, productivity at businesses large and small could suffer and overall corporate profits may decline significantly.

If you're a small business owner, you have a particularly crucial need to keep your employees healthy and on the job. If a key person in your organization becomes ill, injured or disabled, your business could suffer tremendously and perhaps irrevocably. And if that key person happens to be you, and you're laid low for an extended period of time, the prognosis for a complete recovery for your business could be very grim, indeed.

Fortunately, local health-care and insurance providers have long recognized that prevention is as important as treatment when it comes to health maintenance. As a result, they've implemented a variety of wellness programs designed to encourage our state's sedentary, stressed-out, overweight workforce to lead healthier lives. From health screenings to complementary alternative medicine techniques, these programs are available to employers of all sizes, sometimes at no additional cost. What makes them particularly beneficial is that a healthy workforce is a productive workforce--meaning that your bottom line will be healthy, too.

"We've been offering wellness programs (to our subscribers) for years and years," says Christine Bramlitt, project manager, Michigan Marketing and Sales, at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. "Preventive benefits put people into better shape for the future, which helps them and the companies they work for."

Generally speaking, comprehensive wellness programs today have three major components: health screenings, health and wellness education and fitness programs. Of the three, screenings are the most important, since they have the potential to uncover potential health risks before they become problems.

One way to detect such risks is by holding regular on-site health fairs. Optimally, such fairs should screen for the eight controllable lifestyle risk factors identified by the Michigan Department of Community Health that contribute to the development of CVD, including smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, lack of physical activity, alcohol and drug abuse, poor nutrition and diabetes. After checking key health indicators like weight, blood pressure, body mass index and cholesterol levels, health fair organizers then can provide sage advice about lifestyle changes that can help employees reduce or eliminate their risk.

Health fairs are usually conducted by nurses or other trained medical personnel. If your company is too small to have its own occupational nurse, you can contact an organization like the Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan for assistance.

Providing wellness information on a regular basis also should be an important part of a wellness program. Many local hospitals offer wellness materials on topics like smoking cessation, proper nutrition and exercise that can be used to keep employees informed about health issues.

Finally, providing fitness activities and opportunities important for any successful wellness program. Many companies have on-site exercise facilities that may be used by employees at no charge during off hours. Alternately, some companies pay for low-cost memberships at the local YMCA or a gym for employees who are motivated to join.

Your own health insurance provider is another viable source for wellness programs and information. Depending on the level of coverage you've selected, you'll have access to a comprehensive slate of wellness benefits, including periodic physical exams, flu shots, allergy testing and healthy pregnancy visits.

Of course, wellness plans are beneficial only if employees actually use them. So remember to post details about them on your company's intranet, bulletin board or newsletter. You might also consider offering a small cash incentive or prize to make participation even more attractive.

Big plans, small budget?

If your budget is modest but your needs are great, the state of Michigan offers options to help promote a healthy worksite.

Its Worksite and Community Health Promotion (WCHP) program offers grants to help employers increase awareness and help reduce the behavior risk factors that can lead to cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases.

Start-up grants are awarded to help employers purchase worksite health promotion services like smoking cessation clinics and weight management to help employees change their behavior.

While all worksites in Michigan are eligible to apply for grant money, WCHP gives special consideration to small companies (defined as having fewer than 500 employees), those that are less likely to start wellness programs without financial assistance and those with employees at higher risk of CVD.

For more information, contact the Michigan Department of Community Health Promotion Clearinghouse at 1-800-537-5666 or the Southeastern Michigan Health Association, which administers the programs in the Detroit area, at [phone].

Worth noting

Annual health-care costs for employees with high-risk behaviors are $272 to $960 higher than for employees with low-risk behaviors.

Source: Journal of Occupational Medicine

Clip and save: Online wellness links

www.semha.org--Southeastern Michigan Health Association. Detroit-area administrator for the Michigan Department of Public Health's Worksite and Community Health Promotion program. Click on WCHP.

www.cimiweb.com/news/7.html--More background on the Worksite and Community Health Promotion program, including eligibility requirements.

www.welcoa.org--The Wellness Councils of America A general clearinghouse for information on wellness and fitness programs, including several cost-benefit studies.

www.oakland.edu/mbhei--Oakland University's Meadow Brook Health Enhancement Institute. Offers education and service in preventive medicine, nutrition, physical conditioning and behavioral modification. For more information, call [phone].

www.vna.org--Visiting Nurse Association of Southeast Michigan. Provides occupational nurses to companies that are unable to hire their own.

www.umich.edu/~hmrc--The University of Michigan's Health Management Resource Center. Includes sample health questionnaires for employees.

www.med.umich.edu/mfit--U-M's M-Fit Corporate Health Promotion, Works with employees to help them make healthy lifestyle choices. For more information, call [phone].

www.mapnp.org/library/emp_well/emp_well.htm--Management Assistance Program for Nonprofits. Dozens of links and on-line discussion groups related to wellness and fitness programs.