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Please explore the many opportunities to improve your health and: • Be Active • Eat Smart • Watch Your Weight • Stress Less • Have a Healthy Heart • Learn More • Practice Prevention • Live Well

About the Wellness Division

The Cape May County Wellness Division is dedicated to promoting healthy lifestyle choices for all Cape May County employees. Through a collaborative approach to health education, promotion, and facilitation of present services offered to our community; we are committed to providing opportunities that support growth in the multiple dimensions of health: physical, emotional, social, and environmental. The goals of the Wellness Division are to:

Offer programs and services emphasizing awareness, prevention, and positive health behavior change,
Provide current and accurate information on personal and community health issues
Foster a campus environment (with outreach to satellite divisions) supportive of a healthy lifestyle, and
Provide knowledge and skills to improve and maintain health that may enhance personal and/or work performance.

Why do we have a Wellness Program?

Identifying the need for worksite wellness programs is a fairly simple task. We as Americans are a very unhealthy group of people. Consider that the leading causes of death are usually listed as heart attack, stroke, cancer, etc. However, the leading “actual” causes of death in the United States are risk factors that can be modified.

According to an article in the March 10, 2004 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association, smoking is still the leading actual cause of death, killing 435,000 Americans in 2000, up from 400,000 in 1990. However, poor diet and physical inactivity are a close second. Predicted to replace smoking as the leading actual cause of death in the near future, these two chronic disease risk factors accounted for 400,000 deaths in 2000, up from 300,000 in 1990. Being overweight or obese can greatly increase the chances of contracting heart disease, stroke, many types of cancer, diabetes, gall bladder disorders and many other ailments. The reasons why chronic diseases and obesity flourish in the U.S. are many:

Lack of time in a fast-paced society coupled with growing numbers of fast-food outlets and restaurants, making it convenient to eat out.
Restaurants and fast-food outlets serving extremely large portions of food with these foods being high in fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, calories and sodium while relatively low in fiber and nutrients necessary for health.
Vending machines, snack bars and cafeterias with few, if any, healthy choices.
Increased inactivity due to modern labor-saving devices, computers, video/DVD games, security concerns, lack of sidewalks, walking trails and bike paths.
Using tobacco for smoking, chewing, dipping, etc.

There has been little progress during the past decade in reducing deaths attributable to the risk factors of poor nutrition, physical inactivity, obesity and tobacco use. We have always told people “they need to eat better and exercise.” This admonition has met with little success.

People must live healthier lifestyles, but they need help. Communities, schools, worksites, medical centers and government need to work together to establish environments and create policies that eliminate the barriers to, and increase the opportunities for, people to live healthy.

What are the benefits of worksite Wellness Programs?

There are numerous benefits of worksite wellness programs. In fact there are more than 200 scientific studies indicating the positive return-on-investment for worksite wellness programs.

That said, this listing is not extensive, but will note some of the widely accepted benefits of worksite wellness programs.
Worksites are crucial to improving the health of their workers. Most adults spend more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else, making it a prime venue for promoting healthful habits.

The worksite organizational culture and environment are powerful influences on behavior and this needs to be put to use as a means of assisting employees to adopt a healthier lifestyle. Benefits of worksite wellness programs for employees include:

Weight reduction
Improved physical fitness
Increased stamina
Lower levels of stress
Increased well-being, self-image and self-esteem

Employers can also benefit from worksite wellness programs. According to recent research, employers’ benefits are:

Enhanced recruitment and retention of healthy employees
Reduced healthcare costs
Decreased rates of illness and injuries
Reduced employee absenteeism
Improved employee relations and morale
Increased productivity

A U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report in 2002 revealed that at worksites with physical activity programs, employers have:

Reduced healthcare costs by 20 to 55 percent
Reduced short-term sick leave by six to 32 percent
Increased productivity by two to 52 percent

Thanks to modern medicine, life expectancy for Americans has continually increased. How much we enjoy these additional years, however, depends greatly on how we have lived our lives. If our quality of life is to remain high so that we can fully enjoy these extra years, we must practice good eating habits, be active and refrain from using tobacco products. Worksite wellness programs can help support these healthy behaviors. This guide indicates only a small portion of the existing evidence that shows worksite wellness works. Take advantage of these benefits in your organization. Start a worksite wellness program now! Use this guide to assist you and direct you to resources that you can use to create a successful program.

Source: Wellness Proposals.com

Disclaimer

This is an elective employee wellness program with a goal of facilitating improved health and well being. No assurance can be given that the wellness program's will improve health and or functional capacity. Check with your health care professional before starting an activity plan. He or she can advise you about safety concerns to be aware of, as well as which activities are best for you. Do not exercise if you have any physical problems that might influence your ability to become more active. Stop exercising and call your doctor if you feel dizzy, nauseated, short of breath, or if you feel pain in your chest. If you are more than 40 pounds overweight, you should not work out at a high intensity level without professional supervision.