Workplace wellness programs have been around since the early 1980s.
Traditional Wellness Programs are Falling Short of Their Objective.
The incentives for employers to have healthier employees are undeniable, but are all workplace wellness programs the same? The answer is a resounding, no. Traditional programs rely heavily on Health Risk Assessments (HRA) to guide employee change. These programs use objective data (via biometrics and HRA’s), but this is not the solution to changing people’s diet, exercise, and stress levels. Most people have heard these recommendations dozens of times from a variety of healthcare providers and have likely heard the same thing from friends and family members for many years. Sticking to lifestyle changes is very difficult for most people. The reason many workplace wellness programs fail is that in the absence of a personalized approach, just using HRA and biometric data is little different from what the employee has experienced before with no support system provided to help them set goals and then accomplish those goals.
Chews Your Health Workplace Wellness Programs Are Unique…
Where other workplace wellness programs have had moderate results (or less) with traditional objective intervention, Chews Your Health, Inc. (CYH) relies on subjective employee data (observable data gathered through increasingly detailed conversations with the employee). Chews Your Health, Inc. is a mid-Missouri based professional health coaching company and serves a unique niche among workplace wellness programs. While the majority of wellness programs predominantly utilize biometric screenings as the foundation of wellness care, CYH uses an integrative approach emphasizing subjective client evaluation, together with a supplemental HRA data-set. With one-on-one coaching meetings and monthly follow-ups, CYH staff establish relationships with each participant. Relationships are the key ingredient!
Because Each Employee is Unique!
Trusting, empathetic CYH staff succeed where other programs fail because of the attention placed on relationship-building. When each employee feels they have their own personal health coach, the otherwise intimidating task of making lifestyle changes seems much more doable. CYH coaches take the time necessary to understand the unique qualities of each individual employee. Each person brings a different life situation; a different degree of self-motivation; a different degree of self-esteem; a different emotional competence that ultimately affects that individual’s adherence to recommended lifestyle change. It’s not an accident that elite athletes have personal coaches. Elite athletes need a coach for the same reasons that your average employee at your average company needs a coach. A coach…a good coach, connects with each person and establishes a relationship. This relationship is the foundation for providing the athlete with the motivation, support, guidance, advocacy and encouragement they need to accomplish their goals. These are the same things we all need as human beings, but especially when making lifestyle changes.
CYH coaches become a trusted, caring and empathetic support system for employees as they navigate the complexity of their lives including their own health and well-being. A company coach, who establishes supportive connections with employees becomes a member of a care-giving team that includes physicians, nurses, friends and family members. Chews Your Health, Inc. provides the needed personal touch to the traditional workplace wellness program and it is this unique strategy, that makes CYH a leader in the profession.