Employee Health and Wellness Programs

Given the huge growth of wellness programs over the last two years, it was inevitable resistance would creep up among watchdog groups.

In Washington, lobbyists have spearheaded a push for Congress, the DOL and IRS to crack down on “punitive” health promotion programs.

In particular, the groups seek to limit wellness programs in which employees’ share of their medical costs are directly tied to their willingness to take part in a wellness program.

HIPAA’s non-discrimination rules prohibit companys from building negative financial incentives for staff with health risks.

For  instance, you can’t raise someone’s premium share because he or she smokes. What you are able to do is offer a discount if someone completes a tobacco use cessation program.

Reason -  the law does allow for financial incentives to workers who willingly participate in wellness programs.

The watchdog groups seek greater regulation to be sure incentives and discounts are used only as rewards for healthful behavior, not as a thinly veiled form of discrimination against high-risk workers.

A recent survey finds nearly 42% of businesss with 200 or fewer staff have some sort of disease management (DM) program.

That’s a gigantic increase from four years ago, when just 28% of smaller businesss offered such wellness programs.

There’s more to come, too. Fifteen percent of respondents that didn’t currently have a disease management (DM) component to their health plan hope to add one by 2011.

The highest-demand disease management programs are for diabetes, asthma and heart disease.

Source -  Small Business Benefits Survey, PDR Consulting Group, 9/1/2008.

Thinking about an obesity-related disease management program for your corporation? Here’s what you need to know.

In order to be effective, the health promotion program must meet participants’ individual medical and psychological needs, not to mention your own organization’s need to control long-term health costs.

Precisely how wide-reaching should the program be? After all, it doesn’t make sense to pay for services your staff members don’t want or can’t use.

Mary Beth Chalk of Resources for Living suggests that obesity programs could be broken down into four tiers of staff member need, from which your organization’s Return On Investment (ROI) can also be measured.

Tier 1 -  Education

Tier I employees struggle with weight control problems but don’t need a health Coach.  Instead, they could benefit from a self-directed program that provides weight-management related materials online, targeted mailing, and/or access to nurse call line.

Just how to measure Return On Investment (ROI) -  utilization. Do workforce click on the Web site? Do they return to the site regularly? Do people  use the nurse line? Your health promotion program provider should provide you detailed use stats.

Tier 2 -  Clinical supervision

If the employee has been diagnosed as obese â.” a BMI  score over 30 is obese, over 35 is clinically obese â.” he or she would do better working with a wellness coach in a clinically supervised health promotion program.

Three keys to getting maximum results -

1. Periodically have participants rate their relationship with their health Coaches. Not everyone clicks, so a change could  be in order.

2. Coordinate your disease management care with your worker assistance program (EAP)services. Reason -  Inability to control weight is often closely tied with mental health issues â.” and one can adversely affect the other.

The more closely your EAP and obesity program managers work together, the higher the chance for success.

3. Beware of the fade-out effect. Many staff in weight-loss programs get off to a excellent begin and then fall back into old habits. People  should re-commit to the program after three sessions, four months and nine months.

To measure Return On Investment (ROI), look at utlization, goal achievement and lowered presenteeism. of course, presenteeism is notoriously difficult to measure with reliable dollar figures. So how can you overcome that problem?

o  Begin with employees’ salaries. Let’s suppose one participant earns $40,000 a year.

o  Ask employees to self-report how energetic and productive they feel on the job, on a percentage scale. Then have supervisors estimate the employee’s productivity and split the difference. for this example, let’s assume it averaged to 50 percent.

o  Collect scores again six months and one year into the program and then multiply the difference by salary.  The result is your estimated productivity Return On Investment (ROI).

In the example above, if the worker earning $40,000 improves from 50 percent to 75 percent after one year, the productivity related Return On Investment (ROI) is $10,000.

Tier 3 -  Medical management

At this level, the obese staff member needs a higher level of care than a wellness coach can offer.  The staff member has chronic medical conditions related to obesity â.” such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and/or sleep apnea â.” and needs a physician case manager.

Particularly, the staff member needs to set up regular visits with the physician and create a treatment plan.

To measure Return On Investment (ROI), start with the lower-tier criteria, then track quarterly and year differences in FMLA or paid absences, and prescription drug costs. Then compare it to the per-participant cost of the obesity program.

Tier 4 -  Morbid obesity

At this level, the employee has been diagnosed as morbidly obese â.” Body Mass Index (BMI) over 40 â.” and is considered a potential candidate for gastric bypass surgery.

Return On Investment (ROI) is measured through ongoing health claims in addition to the previous criteria.

Develop a culture of wellness within your corporation

Create Exemplary Management Support

In the most successful Wellness Programs, senior level managers lead their corporations by example.  And they work to ensure that the senior level management structure not only allows, but actively encourages their staff to participate.

Organize a Health Promotion Advisory Team

Wellness committees serve as the eyes, ears, arms and legs of the wellness program, representing peers ideas and concerns, and helping reshape the organizational culture toward health.

Conduct an Assessment of Financial and Human Assets and Liabilities

Successful Wellness Programs are built upon a foundation of information, including claims review, demographic analysis of the workforce, senior level management and staff member surveys, health risk data, history of organizational wellness, and health benefit plan design.

Create Obviously Stated Vision, Mission and Outcomes

Establish a clear vision of wellness program direction, expectations and measures to answer the questions, “Where are we going and how’ll we know when we get there?”

Create a Robust and Strategic Health Promotion Program

A multi-component plan should consist of strategically developed and implemented awareness, lifestyle change, and supportive environment programs, as well as policies and activities that target appropriate health risk behaviors and needs of the workers.

Identify an Incentive and Reward Strategy

Incentives show the organizational commitment to the health promotion program and motivate person to participate. Incentives vary commonly from program to program, but can include such things as time off, reduction in health insurance premiums or co-pays, cash incentives, discounts to fitness centers, free pedometers, etc.

Communicate to Employees

Your wellness program must be simple and concise, use an identifiable brand, and rely on a variety of media to communicate with staff members and managers.

Evaluate Outcomes

Evaluate wellness program participation, satisfaction levels and behavioral change. You may want to track the number of workers’ compensation claims, productivity, turnover morale and absenteeism.

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Health Promotion Program - Management Support.

Create Exemplary Management Support

Goal -  A Health Promotion Program established into the organization’s culture.

Focus - Create support and excitement for the wellness program from all levels of the corporation -  upper management, mid-level management, and grass-roots workforce.

Obtaining senior level management’s buy-in is essential to launching an effective wellness program.  The employees must understand that senior level management is supportive of the wellness program.

Actions -

Create an Senior Management Executive Team to determine high-level decisions â.” positions that ought to be included are the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Communications Officer, and other appropriate division-level managers and wellness program professionals, as necessary.

The Upper-Level Management Executive Team will -

o  Communicate to all levels of upper management about the health promotion program and drive the integration of the Health Promotion Program as a part of the company culture.

o  Ensure that organizational resources are available for health promotion program planning and implementation.

o  Make certain to encourage employees to participate and to assist in “recruiting” other employees, get the momentum going, and keep it growing.

o  Share success stories within the corporation, and continue to elevate the perceived value of participation.

Organize a Health Promotion Advisory Team

Goal - Develop a working committee that consists of workers and essential functional parts of the business.

Focus -  to assist in reshaping the organizational culture to support employee-wellness activities by serving as messengers and supporters for the health promotion program.

Wellness Advisory Committees serve as an essential part of the infrastructure of your Wellness Program.  The team members are the eyes, ears, arms, and legs of the health promotion program.

They represent their peers by sharing ideas and concerns about the health promotion program.

Actions -

The Health Promotion Advisory Committee will -

o  Be sure to work with upper-level management and the Health Promotion Program coordinator in the design, implementation, and investigation of the wellness program.

o  Develop methods to enhance the acceptance and success of the activities of your Wellness Program by stimulating staff member ownership of the wellness program.

o  Hold periodic meetings to keep the committee informed of upcoming plans and events and to provide feedback to the health promotion program coordinator about their thoughts, ideas, and suggestions, and those of their colleagues.

o  Recommend policy and environmental changes that are aimed at bettering the health and safety of staff members.

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Wellness Program - Vision and Mission.

Goal - Develop a baseline of information and identify human and organizational needs.

Focus -  Review a variety of information to better understand past and current conditions regarding health care utilization, organizational culture, demographic overview, and wellness programs.

Data collection plays an important role in planning, monitoring, and evaluating  a wellness program. It’ll also set the baseline for continued and future evaluations of wellness program efficiency, effectiveness, and feasibility.

Actions -

o  Claims review (health care, pharmaceutical) -

o  What have been the 10 most expensive major illness categories in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars paid for each?

o  What have been the 10 most costly therapeutic courses of drugs in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars compensated for each?

o  What have been the 10 most frequently prescribed and filled therapeutic classes of drugs in each of the past five years? What are the number of claims and dollars paid for each?

o  Demographic analysis of worker population (may include dependents) -

o  List your number of staff members, by gender, for each of the past five years and the percentages of males and females by age groups.

o  Think about any other factors that might have affected the health of your staff members and their use of the health care system.

This may include mergers, acquisitions, workplace trauma, worker strikes, layoffs, early retirement offers, etc.

Management survey -

o  Conduct surveys of mid-level management to understand their concerns and measure their level of interest and buy-in.

o  Employee-interest survey -  Gather information to determine what the workers want and to measure the level of participation, satisfaction, and “success” of any previous activities.

Risk data (health-risk assessments) -

o  Is there any data from health-risk appraisals over the past five years?

Participation in similar activities -

o  List and describe all health promotion programs that have been implemented over the past five years, including participation rates.

Design of the health plan, and anticipated changes -

o  Have there been any significant changes in the health plan’s design in each of the past five years, like a change from an Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) to a PPO, increased co-payments or deductibles, or increased staff member contributions?

Create Obviously Stated Vision, Mission and Outcomes

Goal -  Establish a clear vision of wellness program direction, expectations, and measures.

Focus - Establishing a vision, mission, goals and goals to keep your Health Promotion Program focused toward its desired outcomes. It’ll answer the questions, “Where are we going?” and “How will we know when we get there?”

Actions -

o  Identify two to five obviously stated objectives. Make sure that your wellness program is capable of having an impact in the area desired, and be sure that you are capable of measuring that impact.

Example Goal - Employees having access to healthier food options

o  Start two to five measurable goals that particularly state what your wellness program is going to accomplish, by when, how, and how it will be measured.

Example Objective -  Modify all vending machines to include 50% healthy food choices.

o  Identify several activities that’ll help you reachyour objective. Activities are very specific.

Example Activity - Make certain to work with vending machine owners to identify healthy food choices and restock with 50% of items that are healthier food choices.

o  Identify who is going to do what, by when, and what resources are needed.

Example Detail -  the Program coordinator will contact XXX Vending Company by September 30.

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Wellness Program Incentives.

Create a Robust and Strategic Wellness Program

Goal -  A robust Health Promotion Program plan.

Focus -  Development of a plan that consists of a selection of awareness, lifestyle change, and supportive environment program, policies, and activities that will target risk behaviors, needs, and interests of staff members.

Your Health Promotion Program ought to provide an integrated, strategic approach specific to the needs, goals, and culture of your company, designed throughout an annual cycle.

It’ll be vital that you review and revise existing policies governing such areas as tobacco use, vending machines, and the staff cafeteria. Also, it’s useful to examine what company health promotion or health-promotion activities are offered under your existing health-benefit plan.

Actions -

o  Create activities based on your health promotion program goals and the specific needs of your workers. Focus on those topics that are of greatest interest to your workers and the greatest needs of your corporation, in that order. Prevent topics with narrow appeal.

o  Keep it simple. Design the wellness program so it’s easy for the participants to understand and track. Let staff focus their learning efforts on their own behavior, not on the rules and regulations of the wellness program.

Also, simplify the wellness program administration. Let people  record their own activities when possible; develop a mixture of self-reported activities along with verified activities.

o  Integrate a combination of activities to include awareness, educational, and behavior elements. Link the activities throughout the year to allow for desired behavior repetition.

o  Pick activities that every staff member can participate in.

Examples -

o  Challenges -  Activities that focus on practicing a desired behavior and continue for 4-8 weeks and focus on specific topics (like physical activity, nutrition, or stress management).

o  Learning experiences (seminars, videos, classes) -  One-time activities that last for a relatively short time and focus on a specific topic; these can precede “challenge activities” to prepare participants for behavior change.

o  Behavior changes (such as tobacco use cessation) -  Interventions may or may not be offered at the worksite; individuals should be encouraged to make lifestyle changes that they wanted to make even without the incentive.

o  Illness management (support and education groups for diabetes and hypertension) -  These may  be provided or supported by the company through disease-management vendors, or by community, health, or religious organizations.

o  New skills (first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation) -  These might  be provided or supported by the organization, or by community, health, or religious organizations.

o  Screenings, wellness assessments, physical exams -  A wellness assessment provides the company with aggregate data that could be used in health promotion program planning and investigation; preventive screenings and physical exams could be encouraged by awarding credits to workers.

o  Program support (membership or leadership in wellness committee or challenge team) -  Reward those who work with you to help make your Wellness Program a success.

o  Community events -  Reward participation in events like the Heart Walk or March of Dimes Walk; limit the number of these events that can be counted toward the annual total, and be selective about which events you allow to be counted.

Develop an Incentive Strategy

Goal -  to motivate and reward worker participation and completion.

Focus - Create a sense of interest in participation and completion of wellness activities.

Providing incentives and rewards will send an important message to the workers that the business is committed to bettering their health and will share the rewards that these changes will bring. It also plays a significant role in exciting individuals to participate.

Actions -

o  Identify through workforce what incentives they value most.

o  Identify what incentives the company can provide.

o  Integrate your incentives into your benefits strategy.

o  Ensure that every participant who achieves a goal receives some recognition.

o  Give participation incentives.

o  Avoid offering incentives for the “best” or the “most.”

o  Avoid rewards for biometric changes.

o  Use incentives to promote your Wellness Program, through logos and branding.

Examples -

Paid time off, reduction in health insurance premiums or co-pays, cash incentives, discounts to fitness clubs, free pedometers, etc.

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Wellness Program Communication.

Goal -  Increase awareness of and participation in the Wellness Program.

Focus -  Promote the Wellness Program to workers to encourage participation in activities and benefits.

A well-designed communications strategy is paramount to successful health promotion program awareness and participation. Even a “world class” health promotion program design won’t succeed if nobody knows that it’s available or how to get involved.

Workers who do not get involved in the wellness program must be doing so because they choose not to participate, not because they did not know about how, when, or where to participate.

Actions -

o  Conduct a Resources and Communications Audit to identify internal and external resources available to support your Wellness Program, in addition to knowing how information are going to be disseminated.

o  Keep the wellness program simple and concise -  easy to read about, understand, and act upon.

o  Build the brand; be sure it’s something that staff can identify with. Add the brand to T-shirts, water bottles, mouse pads, stress balls, etc.

Use a variety of media -

o  Print â.” flyers, fliers, posters, banners, paycheck inserts, newsletter articles, bulletin boards, literature racks, post cards.

o  Electronic â.” Web, intranet, e-mail, closed-circuit televisions, sign lines, audiovideo productions.

o  Staff meetings and business events; word of mouth.

o  Use existing channels of communication â.” what works best in your business â.” and be certain to know about all points of contact and systems of distribution.

Timing for communications -

o  Prior to activity to create awareness and to educate.

o  During activity to stimulate participation.

o  After an activity to report results.

o  Between activities to maintain momentum and interest.

Consistency of communications -

o  Use branding; maintain a consistent look, feel, and tone of messages.

o  Maintain this consistency throughout the wellness program.

Surveys and forms -

o  Collect information.

o  Disseminate information.

Research studies show that untargeted health-promotion campaigns have little long-term impact.

Chronic conditions, which rob individuals and families of their health and happiness, represent major costs to employers in the form of health care and disability costs, lost productivity, and absenteeism.

Wellness Programs should address risky behaviors that can help your staff members eat healthier, increase their level of exercise, help reduce stress, lower blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol, and quit smoking. Health promotion programs should focus on assisting staff members achieve and maintain their optimal health status.

Comprehensive wellness programs focused on changing lifestyle behavior have been shown to yield a $3 to $6 return on investment for each dollar invested. It takes about three to five years after the initial wellness program investment to realize these savings.

Ninety-three percent of U.S. organizations offer some kind of health promotion program for their staff members, but is it the right type?

Main Kinds of Health Promotion Programs

Programs focusing on disease management. These wellness programs monitor and treat specific illnesses. Disease management follows the 80/20 rule -  80% of health care costs are spent on 20% of employees.

Disease management is stated to have a $7 to $10 return on investment within a year.  The 20 percent of staff requiring the greatest medical expenditures today are usually not the same 20 percent who will cause the greatest medical expenses a year or two down the road.

Programs focusing on health enhancement and risk management. These wellness programs focus on lifestyle behavior change, and offer a $3 to $6 return on investment within two to five years, as reported by a 2004 report issued by the National Business Group on Health.

It’s crucial that you note that a $3 to $6 return on an entire staff member population produces a higher total savings than does disease management.

Good Data Drives Good Company Decisions

o  Based on more than 120 research, the National Business Group on Health announced that, within five years of wellness program implementation, overall benefit-to-cost ratios (return on investment) of -

o  $3.48 in decreased health care costs per dollar invested.

o  $5.82 in reduce rates of absenteeism per dollar invested.

The Facts Speak for Themselves - Health Promotion Helps Reduce Costs

o  A 2003 evaluation of one large USA company found that simply assisting staff control their blood pressure (BP) alone can save $547 per person per year.

o  Johnson and Johnson claims to have saved $38 million in healthcare costs for its workforce between 1995 and 1999 by promoting healthy lifestyles.

Healthcare expenses decreased $224 per worker annually (averaged over four years), and this rate improved over time.  The business found most benefits in the third and fourth years after health promotion program initiation.

o  A 2004 University of Michigan study of 23,500 General Motors employees showed that nonexercising employees claimed at least $100 more per year in healthcare costs than exercisers.

The study  also announced that obese, sedentary personnel who began exercising at least twice a week decreased their costs by an typical of $500 a year.

o  The Washoe County School District in Nevada estimated that, in a single year, it spent $300,000 on direct costs associated with obesity and $1 million for gastric-bypass surgeries. It instituted a weight-loss program that paid workers $10 per pound lost, up to 25 pounds.

Program participants missed three fewer workdays per year, producing a cost savings of $15.60 per program dollar spent.

Staff Time

Building a successful Wellness Program requires staff time as well as money. Some larger companies may spend 20 hours per week for three to six months preparing all the steps before launching a Wellness Program.

Business Costs

Monetary costs can fluctuate widely, depending on whether the company compensates all costs, the staff pay all costs, or the costs are shared.

A 1992 study indicated that 28% of corporations spent $5 or less per employee, and 19% spent between $6-10 per employee.

The Health Promotion Council of America estimates the cost per staff member to be between $100 and $150 a year for an effective wellness program that produces a return on investment of $300 to $450. A sample expenditure for various levels of wellness programs include -

Program Type

A minimal (largely paper) wellness program          $1 - $7

A moderate wellness program

A medium wellness program with a few activities       $16 - $35

A fairly comprehensive health promotion program             $36 - $75

A very comprehensive, effective wellness program       $76 - $112

o  The news isn’t encouraging. As reported by Corporation Week, family healthcare premiums increased 49% from 2000 to 2004.

Another increase of 12-15% is expected in 2005. General Motors expects to spend $5.6 billion on healthcare costs in 2005, or 40% more than it earned in profits in 2004.

o  More and more research shows that poor diet andphysical inactivity are major drivers of increases in health care costs for businesss.  The number of obese adults has doubled since the 1970s.

o  The rise in obesity has a meaningful impact on health care costs. on average, 2002 health care costs for an obese individuals were $1,244 higher than for a individuals with a healthy weight.

o  Obesity is causing rapid increases in kind 2 diabetes and contributes directly to a 65% increase in diabetes treatment from 1987 to 2002. Almost $1 of every $5 spent on healthcare in the United States is for a individuals with diabetes.

Treating worker health care as an investment, rather than a cost, can yield long-term dividends

o  At least 50 percent of your organization’s healthcare costs are driven by the lifestyle related behaviors of your personnel, such as smoking, poor diet, and lack of exercise.

o  In the past 10 years, the annual return on investment for Health Promotion Programs has been as much as $6 saved for every $1 spent, doubling the return on investment of earlier health promotion programs.

o  The typical reduction in health-plan costs, sick leave, disability costs, and workers’ compensation is more than 25 percent for well-designed Health Promotion Programs.

o  Fit personnel are more productive personnel, with fewer sick days, fewer accidents, higher morale, and lower job turnover.

The concern for worker health promotion is an increasing trend for American company. Why? the link between worker health promotion and the bottom line is clear and consistent.

Employers who integrate wellness in their overall goals find they experience reduced absences, better morale, reduced health risks, and reduced healthcare costs.

The purpose of this guide to is to encourage and help you launch your own Health Promotion Program. When you already have a wellness program, but are not receiving the results you expected, perhaps some ideas and best practices in this toolkit will help you and your staff members reap the advantages of a healthier workforce.

At least 50 percent of healthcare expenditures are lifestyle-related, and as a result, potentially preventable. Yet despite the $5,000 an average business spends on healthcare per employee each year, most businesss are spending less than 5 percent of that on biometric testings and prevention.

The most comprehensive meta-evaluation of Wellness Program studies shows something very exciting! It shows that Wellness Programs aren’t only effective at helping to reverse the rising spiral of healthcare costs, but these health promotion programs are also becoming more effective.  The average cost-benefit ratio has increased from 1 - 3 for earlier health promotion programs to 1 - 6 today.

Simply put, the average reduction in healthcare costs, sick time, disability costs, and workers’ compensation is more than 25 percent for well designed wellness programs.

Employee wellness provides a long-term approach for assisting keep staff well.  The single most important thing you are able to do for your staff is to start a Health Promotion Program now.

In our modern and hectic lives filled with the demands of family, work, and much more, it might seem challenging to tackle our wellness on our own.

Many of us create objectives that seem beyond reach and we can’t seem to stick to a specific health promotion program for an extended period of time.

With the numerous struggles that prevent us from reaching our optimum individual wellness, many of us would welcome the assistance and guidance of a expert wellness coach.

A wellness coach is a trained professional who works with individuals to help them to reach their wellness objectives by developing and beginning personal wellness programs.

A wellness coach is highly educated and usually maintains advanced degrees in areas such as Exercise Physiology, Occupational or Physical Therapy, Athletic Training, and Nutrition.

A wellness coach sets achievable objectives for the patron, holds them accountable, and acts as a guide, motivator, and support system for that individual.  They focus on behavioral change by using individually designed wellness programs to meet the unique needs of the patron while offering creative solutions to help them achieve their objectives.

In order to fully understand the role of a wellness coach it’s vital that you understand the various factors that involved in overall wellness.  The five major components of wellness are health risks, exercise, stress management, weight control, and nutrition.

A wellness coach focuses on each of these areas of wellness while meeting the specific needs of the client whether they are attempting to lose weight, get in shape, reduce stress, or quit tobacco use.

They evaluate a person’s needs based on a highly scientific study known as a Health Risk Assessment (HRA) .  After a wellness coach has determined the specific needs of the customer, he or she’s able to develop the health promotion program, set achievable goals for that individual, and monitor them while they reach success.

Wellness coaches focus on physical health as well as mental and emotional health to develop a balance in the client’s life.  They not only work on helping the client with their current wellness issues, but they assist the client to maintain their individual health by creating future objectives in their wellness program.

Every individual has unique needs and time constraints that require attention in different ways.  A wellness coach provides convenience with their services by working with customers in a variety of ways.

The customer and coach may use telephone meetings, e-mails and instant messaging (electronic coaching), face-to-face interactions, or a combination of these various forms of communication.

Despite the fact that electronic coaching is becoming the most popular method because of its lower cost and efficiency, each customer may pick the method or methods will work best for them.

The wellness coach is available 24 hours a day through web-based communication to make it even more convenient for the customer to reach his or her goals.

Wellness coaches offer the kind of assistance that fits the needs of each client for make it easier for the client to embrace their personal health promotion program.

Based on the convenience, knowledge, and assistance that is offered by a wellness coach, it is easy to see why more individuals  are taking benefit of these coaches to assist them in achieving their ultimate wellness goals.

How to Take Control of Stress and Improve Your Wellness

What is Stress?

Stress is the emotional, physiological, and psychological effects caused by internal or external mental pressure. It’s an unavoidable part of life, but despite its negative connotation, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Stress may even be beneficial in cases when it enhances performance and helps individuals  to achieve challenging objectives. Notwithstanding, when stress is excessive and causes a personal to feel loss of control, health problems can occur like headaches, tension, anxiety, depression, exhaustion, irritability, and digestive problems.

When stress levels elevate to this point, wellness is compromised. Individuals may seek the assistance of a stress management coach to help them take control of their lives and improve their wellness.

Who are Stress Management Coaches?

Stress management coaches are educated professionals who create health promotion programs to assist person in developing coping strategies to manage stress and minimize the presence of stressors in daily life.

Coaches explore the reasons why an individual may react in certain ways to various situations by using health assessments as well as depression and anxiety screenings.

After determining an individual’s causes for their feelings, stress management coaches are better able to develop wellness programs tailored to meet specific needs.

Coaches set attainable goals, act as a mentor and a support system, and use techniques that are most suitable for each specific individual.

There are lots of effective methods to reduce stress, and stress management coaches can help you to achieve your goals to make yourself happier and healthier.

Precisely how Controlling Stress Improves Your Health

When individuals are faced with chronic stress it starts to cause physical symptoms which can range in severity.  Chronic stress can weaken the immune system, as a result making the individual more susceptible to colds and the flu in addition to more serious health problems like heart illness and diabetes.

Wellness may also suffer because the maintenance of healthy habits is often diminished in priority in the presence of stress.  There are lots of helpful techniques that a stress management coach can help you develop to protect your health from the dangers of excessive stress.

Take Control

Stress can be as detrimental to individual health as a poor diet or even smoking when it’s out of control.  Managing stress is an achievable goal and will certainly be a reality with the help of a professional.

With a stress management coach person might work to accept that stress and act to manage it.  Learning to effectively deal with stress will improve current daily life and protect your wellness in the future.