Companies Have the Opportunity and Responsibility to Improve Employee and Community Health & Wellbeing

The prevalence of chronic disease continues to grow in staggering numbers across the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that as of 2012, about half of all adults (or 117 million people) have one or more chronic health conditions and 25 percent have two or more chronic health conditions. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently noted that 48 percent of all health care spending in 2006 was for the 50 percent of the population who have one or more chronic medical conditions. Similarly, the American Heart Association estimates the total cost of diagnosed diabetes in 2012 was $245 billion, including $176 billion in direct medical costs and $69 billion in decreased productivity. We are at a turning point in this country.  The health of our Nation and vitality of our communities depends on companies stepping up to the plate and solving for this very public epidemic, not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because it can have a significant impact on the overall performance of the organization. In addition to the obvious – healthier, happier employees – organizations can save millions on health care and disability costs, increase workforce productivity, reduce employee absenteeism and decrease rates of illness and injuries. Furthermore, corporate-sponsored health and wellness programs are an essential element to competitive employee compensation and benefit packages which attract and retain the best talent. In the past, employers have worked to help improve employee health by providing resources—from free and discounted gym memberships and fitness programs, healthy options in employer-provided dining rooms and cafeterias, reimbursements for preventive care through managed healthcare, and even nutrition and diet counseling. But despite their best efforts, low engagement and lack of employee compliance has yielded minimal tangible returns.  This can largely be attributed to lack of education, lack of trust of the current screening systems, concern for privacy breaches of personal health information (PHI), as well as an overall lack of time, motivation and money. The complexities of these issues have been expounded upon in the work done by Dr. Soeren Mattke from RAND Health, whose studies in worksite wellness has shown mixed results in the actual engagement of employees in direct solutions or interventions to improve their health. Companies need to seek approaches that reach into the community, improve support for individuals both at their worksite and at home, engage the entire family unit to support healthy habits and behavioral changes, and ultimately increase engagement and compliance rates into evidence-based programs for chronic disease prevention and intervention, particularly for moderate and high risk employees. With an eye on addressing the current achievement gap in employer wellness programs, Sodexo and the YMCA of Central Florida have formed a unique partnership resulting in a new comprehensive approach to health and well-being that focuses on expanding the value, availability, access and effectiveness of workplace wellness programs. The groundbreaking 3-year pilot program, entitled Communities for Health, is currently underway and aimed at combating preventable chronic illnesses that escalate healthcare expenditures, which accounts for 18 percent of the GDP and is projected to rise sharply. The initiative is designed to enhance traditional, and mostly underutilized, employee wellness programs through a comprehensive, system-based approach that engages employees at work and at home, increasing the likelihood of success and yielding a more significant impact than traditional workplace wellness initiatives. The program triages participants for their level of risk and readiness for change, connects employees with a lifestyle coach, embraces a peer-to-peer approach, encourages a “buddy system” that extends into the community, leverages technology, and strategically uses incentives throughout. Communities for Health aims to achieve five specific objectives:

1. Engage individuals to participate in a robust health and wellness program through their employer; by building a network of support, both in the workplace, the community, and at home;

2. Leverage community health partners, local and national merchants, and integrated technology systems to support health management and incentive-based rewards for healthy behaviors;

3. Strategically segment the workforce to connect participants to the appropriate evidence-based program, based on risk level and readiness to change;

4. Reduce employee and family health risks by encouraging healthy behaviors that will positively impact performance and reduce healthcare costs; and

5. Leverage healthier behaviors of the employee to change the behaviors of their neighboring community.

The program is organized in phases, as it is designed to take a systems-based (integrated) approach to improving health at the population and individual level. The four phases of the pilot are described in greater detail below. Phases of the Communities for Health Pilot At Sodexo, we consider health and wellbeing programs to be a critical component of improved performance for individual employees, organizations and the community at large. As the 18th largest employer in the world, serving 80 million consumers daily, we believe that we have an opportunity and a responsibility to help improve our nation’s health and well-being.  By taking a systems-based approach to employee health management that leverages community-based organizations (including both the public and private sector), employers, healthcare providers and family/community relationships we can improve engagement in and compliance to evidence-based prevention and chronic disease management programs. Our collaborative approach is intended to address the challenges facing employers, providers, insurers and individuals, but also to leverage the collective assets of these sectors to drive employee and family engagement. Using the power of peer to peer engagement, the strength of evidence-based programs, the impact of behavioral modification in lifestyle management, and the influence of friends, family and other community-based support; we are positioning ourselves to tackle the barriers that plague most wellness programs. I encourage you to learn more about Communities for Health by visiting www.communitiesforhealth.com .   About the Author: Nebeyou Abebe is Senior Director, Health & Wellbeing in Sodexo North America’s Office of Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility. Sodexo is the world’s largest quality of life services company and is among the most admired company in its sector, according to Fortune’s 2015 corporate reputation survey.