• Reduce the number of employees who use tobacco.
• Improve the nutritional choices available to employees.
• Increase the number of employees getting age-appropriate screenings.
• Increase the number of employees participating in physical activity.
• Increase the number of employees who are at a healthy weight.

Health Department officials point to recent local success for programs that have followed the basic guidelines for a worksite wellness program:

• As of July 2007, there were 2,427 registered participants (24 percent) in the Arkansas Healthy Employee Lifestyle Program (AHELP); of those registered, 2,158 logged in some sort of daily activity (89 percent). Since April 2005, 648 participants have earned and redeemed the incentive of one hour off from work, 39 have earned one day and 40 have earned two days. An additional 108 participants have earned and redeemed three days off.

• Over the one-year pilot of the AHELP intervention, there have been statistically significant improvements in eating a low-fat diet and eating three or more vegetables a day. Results revealed changes in dietary behavior with increased consumption of both fruits and vegetables and trends toward decreased consumption of sweets/desserts, fats and processed meats.

• The Central Arkansas Veterans Health System Health and Wellness Program saved an estimated $817,000 the first year of the program, a savings of $8 for each $1 invested.

A meta-review of 42 published studies of worksite health promotion programs shows:

• Average 28 percent reduction in sick leave absenteeism
• Average 26 percent reduction in health costs
• Average 30 percent reduction in workers’ compensation and disability management claims costs
• Average $5.93-to-$1 savings to cost ratio.

January 2008

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