Affordable wellness resources for small and midsized companies

Most full-time workers spend at least half of their waking hours on the job. This means employers have an opportunity to promote smart lifestyle choices that can make a direct impact on their workers' health. The advantages of having healthier employees include lower insurance premiums, worker's compensation claims and absenteeism and higher productivity and employee retention rates.

In addition to helping employees stay healthier, research has shown that an effective workplace wellness program can improve your employees' mental health, morale and sleep quality.

However, 99% of U.S. employers have fewer than 500 employees. Many of these small and midsize companies lack the knowledge, money and staff time required to develop effective wellness programs.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Workplace Health Promotion provides a wide range of free resources to small and midsized employers who want to start a workplace health program. This CDC initiative includes:

• Workplace Health Resource Center: A searchable database of more than 700 tools and resources to help employers promote employees' physical, mental, emotional and financial well-being.
• Workplace Health Model: A comprehensive strategy for addressing health risk factors.
• Work@Health Program: An employer-based training program that focuses on reducing the risk of injury and chronic diseases among your employees.
• Worksite Health ScoreCard: A tool to help you assess the effectiveness of your wellness strategies on reducing chronic diseases in your workplace and find the best ways to help improve your workers' health.

In addition, the CDC's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity provides helpful resources for promoting good nutrition, regular physical activity and ways to maintain a healthy weight.

No time to dedicate to this? Allstate Benefits can help

Even with the availability of free CDC resources, many small and midsize companies lack the considerable resources required to initiate and maintain their own wellness and support programs. Allstate Benefits can help. We offer flexible, convenient and cost-effective solutions specifically designed to help employees of small and midsize businesses stay physically and mentally healthy.

Wellness program

The Vitality® wellness program, available with the Allstate Benefits Self-Funded Program, encourages members to make lifestyle choices that improve quality of life, increase life expectancy, and reduce health care costs for everyone.

Vitality promotes:

• Physical health by providing incentives to build long-term physical activity habits.
• Mental health by encouraging sleep and mindfulness habits that improve mental well-being.
• Nutrition through educational courses, recipes and assessments designed to improve eating habits.
• Good financial practices that can lessen stress-related illnesses.

The Vitality program has proven effective:

• Highly engaged members have 15% to 19.5% lower claims.
• 80% of members say Vitality feels personalized to them.
• 90% of members say Vitality has made them more aware of their health.
• 66% of members complete point-earning activities each month.

Flexible family care

Family care programs can significantly reduce stress and improve the mental and emotional health of your employees – 73% of whom likely have caregiving responsibilities outside of work. Allstate Benefits includes flexible family care with all Allstate Benefits self-funded and supplemental products. Members get 10 hours a year of in-person help from vetted and trained companions at no cost and can purchase additional hours as needed to help lighten employees' second- (or third-) shift loads. Family care services are also included with our fully insured Secure Choice health plans.

Family care can provide your employees with:

• Backup care for children ages three and older, and assistance with homework, snacks, meals and playtime.
• Help with errands, light housework or pets.
• Companionship, transportation, and more, for aging or ill loved ones, near and far.

Contact an Allstate Benefits Group Health sales representative to learn more about how Allstate Benefits can help your company and your employees.

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