Blog

A Personalized Approach to Metabolic Syndrome

2012-05-09T16:45:11Z

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors, including waist circumference, triglycerides, glucose and blood pressure that together create an elevated negative effect on your employees’ health. It’s a growing health condition, with nearly 50 million Americans living with metabolic syndrome, causing an increase in employer health spending and health-related productivity loss costs.

There are clear benefits to employers who address metabolic syndrome. Employers who have healthier employees have less lifestyle-related health expenditures, and more healthy and productive employees. Employers can help employees manage or eliminate their condition by a carefully executed risk management/reduction strategy that includes a supportive work environment with a health-enhancing culture, and dedicated interventions. A personal health coach is effective in helping employees manage or eliminate health risks associated with metabolic syndrome.

TotalWellness offers Lifestyle Management Health Coaching that is designed to guide participants through the stages of change to reach their overall goal and encourage permanent behavior change. Empower your employees to live more healthy and productive lives by offering health coaching as a personalized approach to managing metabolic syndrome.

Pre-Book for the 2012-13 Flu Season

2012-05-01T16:01:16Z

The 2011-12 flu season has come to an end. Many areas reported unusually mild flu seasons, and nationally the season didn’t even officially begin until February, the latest start in 29 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So it’s time to prepare for the next flu season. The flu is unpredictable and viruses are always changing. A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee selected the three influenza virus strains that will make up the nation’s 2012-13 flu vaccine. Among those strains is an A/California/7/2009 (H1N1)-like virus, which was used in the 2011-12 influenza vaccine. An A/Victoria/361/2011 (H3N2)-like virus and a B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like virus (Yamagata lineage) also will be included.

TotalWellness has the expertise, resources, and processes to make your flu vaccination efforts easier. From scheduling and planning, to providing you with friendly, trained and professional nurses, TotalWellness will work with you each step of the way to implement a successful flu shot clinic. We also offer a voucher program for remote employees.

TotalWellness is booking flu shots for the 2012/13 season. Give us a call today at 888.434.4358 or email news@totalwellnesshealth.com to schedule your hassle-free flu shot clinic.

Bringing Preventive Care into the Office

2012-04-13T16:45:00Z

For many employees, preventive health care is completely disconnected from their daily routines. In fact, only about 1 in 5 Americans gets a general physical check-up each year. So given how much time employees spend at work, it’s only natural to bring wellness to them. Health screenings provide employees with a “snap shot” of their current health status and enable employers to objectively measure the well-being of their workforce.

Advantages of offering on-site health screenings:

- Convenient to attend
- Removes barriers and gives everyone access
- Creates a healthy work environment
- Builds awareness
- Employees feel that the company cares about them

Let us help you design, deliver, and evaluate your biometric health screening program.

Diabetes Screenings

2012-04-03T13:31:27Z

The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) estimates that about 26 million people in the U.S. have diabetes. About seven million of these individuals are undiagnosed. The rising prevalence of Type 2 diabetes should not be overlooked by employers: In 2007, diabetes and pre-diabetes cost the U.S. an estimated $218 billion in direct and indirect costs due to higher medical expenses and lost productivity. In addition to increasing risk of glaucoma, stroke, or heart disease, people with diabetes often suffer from acute symptoms such as fatigue, irritability, and infections. No matter how large or small your workforce, your company will be increasingly affected by diabetes.

The first step: People should get screened. Free screenings for employees are a good investment, a fight against a costly illness.

TotalWellness offers on-site health screenings that include blood glucose and A1C tests, which can help identify diabetes among your employees. An A1C test helps participants understand how well blood sugar has been controlled over a period of time. Blood sugar values fluctuate over the course of a day or week, so an A1C gives them a picture of the average blood sugar over the past three months.

Why Wellness?

2012-03-05T21:13:13Z

More companies are investing in employee health today than ever before. Why? Studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that worksite wellness programs significantly improve productivity and reduce health care costs. Organizations that implement these programs see substantial returns on their investments through reductions in hospitalizations, chronic diseases, and absences.

TotalWellness partners with employers to provide prevention and wellness initiatives that help employees stay healthy and productive. Healthier employees translate to a healthier bottom line.

Three Ways to Promote Wellness

2012-02-23T19:55:28Z

Are you doing enough to show your employees that you value their health? Having a quality employee health and wellness program shows employees, including prospective employees, that you value your employees. Here are a few simple things you can do to create a healthier workplace.

1. Bring the flu shot in.
Bring vaccinations to the workplace for flu season. Providing your employees with flu vaccinations is a smart investment. When your employees avoid the flu, they avoid missing days of work.

2. Put prevention into practice.
On-site health screenings give employees the opportunity to check important numbers such as cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose. Providing this service for your employees can go a long way in preventing serious medical conditions.

3. Provide a coach.
For some employees, coaching may be the way to go. Lifestyle management health coaching pairs employees with health professionals who can guide them through the steps of behavior change.

Help Your Employees Become Heart Healthy

2012-02-14T17:24:33Z

February is American Heart Month, a time to raise awareness about heart disease and educate employees on what they can do to live heart-healthy lives. One of the first steps on the path to heart-healthy living is for employees to “know their numbers.” Key numbers for heart health include:

-Total Cholesterol
-High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) “good” cholesterol
-Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL)
-Triglycerides
-Blood Pressure
-Fasting Glucose
-Body Mass Index (BMI)
-Waist Circumference

TotalWellness can help your employees “know their numbers” through our on-site health screenings and give them the power to reduce the chances of getting heart disease.

Five Ways to Pump Up Your Wellness Communications

2012-02-06T18:13:40Z

When we partner with companies to provide wellness solutions, we often get asked the same question: What is the best way to communicate our wellness events to employees? While each organization’s culture is a little bit different, there are a few things that seem to work best:

Survey.
Ask your employees which way they would prefer to receive information about the wellness program. Is it on the Intranet? Face-to-Face or print materials? Just ask them.

Connect the dots.
Clearly explain how the wellness program is connected to the company’s overall strategy. Messages about the wellness program are best received when they come from the organization’s leaders. The wellness program shouldn't be just an "HR program" – it must be an intrinsic part of the organization’s culture.

Keep it simple.
Medical terms can be overwhelming and scary to many people. Wellness programs need to be communicated in a way that makes sense. Use visuals and bullet points, graphics, charts, and FAQs.

Focus on confidentiality and privacy.
Continually reassure employees that their privacy will be protected and the results of any wellness program tests will be kept absolutely confidential.

Communicate frequently.
Ongoing communication with employees is key to building understanding and influencing behavior.

Health Coaching Testimonials

2012-01-30T21:45:09Z

TotalWellness started offering health coaching last year and we are excited to report that our program has been a great success so far. We are truly impacting people’s lives! We recently received some feedback from our clients and here’s what they had to say about their coaching experience:

“It was so helpful to have another person in my corner to listen and offer much needed advice. I still think about her and her awesome text messages she would send to me to help keep me on track. Being accountable has been such a huge motivation and working factor for my success.”

“There were times when my view of how I was doing was not realistic (being too hard on myself) and Beth was able to put things into perspective and talk me though some of what was going on in my head. I couldn’t have accomplished all of my goals without my coach and this program. I am so thankful, you changed my life!”

“I feel I have found a friend. It is so helpful to be accountable, and have someone who has your health and well being in mind.”

Strategy for Controlling Health Care Costs

2012-01-20T16:45:20Z

According to a report from The Commonwealth Fund, between 2003 and 2010, the cost employers paid for family coverage rose 50% to an average of $13,871 a year. With health care costs continuing to increase each year, employers across the United States are increasingly seeing the value of workplace wellness programs as a way to control premium increases and claims costs.

Ranging from health screening tools to personal health coaching wellness-related offerings will continue to become a bigger part of employee benefits to control health care costs and increase productivity.

New Year, New Focus

2012-01-12T14:26:28Z

The start of the year signifies endless possibilities. It’s a time for new resolutions, priorities and plans. If your employee wellness program is in need of a fresh start or maybe just needs to start-up, TotalWellness can help. From hosting health fairs, to providing lifestyle management coaching to strategic planning and consulting, TotalWellness offers customized solutions to move your employee wellness program in the right direction.

Flu Season

2011-08-10T20:31:06Z

Flu season is just a sneeze away. Vaccinate your employees with the help of TotalWellness. We provide on-site corporate flu shots events nationwide. We’ve received our first shipments of vaccine and can schedule your event for as early as September 1st. Our nurses are our own nurses that specialize in providing friendly and efficient services.

Lifestyle Management Health Coaching

2011-08-06T20:56:36Z

TotalWellness is now offering Lifestyle Management Health Coaching! We developed a program in conjunction with Dr. Joseph Leutzinger that focusing on guiding participants though the stages of change. Our program targets areas of change including physical activity, life satisfaction/depression, fatigue, nutrition/weight control, tobacco use, stress/stress management, cholesterol, blood pressure, and musculoskeletal. Our telephonic coaching program is tailored around the individual and aims to create lifelong behavior changes.

Health Screenings

2011-08-02T20:55:52Z

Health Screenings are a great way to get the pulse of your organization. TotalWellness offers a complete wellness solution, including on-site health screenings. We utilize our own team of nurses and send a specially trained event coordinator to each event to ensure consistency. Our most popular package is our Biometric Screening Package. It includes a Cholesterol & Glucose Blood Test, Blood Pressure Check, Height, Weight, BMI, and Waist Circumference Measurements, and Nurse Counseling. Other popular services include Carotid Artery Screenings, Bone Density Screenings, and Body Fat Testing.