Kaiser Permanente Launches New Tool to Encourage Employers to Form Wellness Committees in the Workplace

Free Toolkit Helps Employees Lead Wellness Efforts

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Apr 04, 2012, 04:27 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., April 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Kaiser Permanente announces the launch of a new workforce wellness toolkit aimed at helping employers maintain a healthier workforce. Using a variety of ideas, tips and materials, this free do-it-yourself resource from HealthWorks by Kaiser Permanente shows employers and employees how to create a wellness committee at the workplace.

Why is this important? Employees spend more than 2,000 hours a year at work, so it makes good business sense to keep them healthy. Wellness committees play an important role in engaging and motivating employees in developing initiatives that promote health and well-being. Keeping employees healthy means they are less likely to be absent and suffer from presenteeism – on the job but not productive because of an illness or chronic condition. Companies with highly effective health and productivity programs have 20 percent more revenue per employee, according to the Watson Wyatt Staying@Work report, 2007–2008.

"Creating a wellness committee demonstrates to employees that your company is committed to leading people to better health," says Jennifer Christian-Herman, PhD, executive director, HealthWorks by Kaiser Permanente. "Our toolkit offers easy, step-by-step materials that will help your organization form a leadership group or team. By bringing together a variety of talents and perspectives, you enhance the credibility and importance of the message, and better ensure that your wellness program meets the needs of all employees."

The toolkit includes a number of elements for an employer to develop a wellness committee, including:

A committee formation checklist
Member recruitment email
A guide for the first six committee meetings
A commitment pledge for potential committee members to sign

The toolkit can be found on Kaiser Permanente's BusinessNet website. In addition to the Wellness Committee Toolkit, HealthWorks provides a host of customized workforce health programs to help businesses reduce absenteeism, presenteeism and other hidden costs that can add to the bottom line. Kaiser Permanente's integrated care and groundbreaking electronic medical records and other online tools help create effective employee wellness programs with measurable results.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is committed to helping shape the future of health care. We are recognized as one of America's leading health care providers and not-for-profit health plans. Founded in 1945, our mission is to provide high-quality, affordable health care services and to improve the health of our members and the communities we serve. We serve approximately 8.9 million members in nine states and the District of Columbia. Care for members and patients is focused on their total health and guided by their personal physicians, specialists and team of caregivers. Our expert and caring medical teams are empowered and supported by industry-leading technology advances and tools for health promotion, disease prevention, state-of-the art care delivery and world-class chronic disease management. Kaiser Permanente is dedicated to care innovations, clinical research, health education and the support of community health. For more information, go to: www.kp.org/newscenter.

For more information, contact:
Diana Yee, 510-271-6671, [email protected]

SOURCE Kaiser Permanente