Healthy Living News and Research Update June 19, 2017 The materials provided in this document are intended to inform and support those groups that are implementing the SelectHealth Healthy Living product as part of their employee wellness program. You will be receiving similar updates twice each month. If you would prefer not to receive these regular updates please let me know. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Best Regards, Tim Tim Butler, MS, MCHES Senior Wellness Program Management Consultant 801-442-7397 [email protected] Healthy Living Program Updates • Registration for the Next Core Activity Challenge Begins 6/21 Upcoming Wellness Events • Utah Worksite Wellness Council “Time Out for Wellness” Networking Event Workplace Wellness • Wellness programs on the rise as employers consider more than ROI • Financial wellness push is promoting the health of 401(k) plans • Rising health care costs threatening employees’ financial goals • How Arianna Huffington Is Getting Female Business Leaders to Embrace Corporate Wellness • Views Why employers should include spouses in well-being programs • The ‘Why’ Behind Wellness Programs • Nurses are burnt out. Here's how hospitals can help • Minority employees struggling with financial wellness • The Latest Office Perk: Help Managing Your Financial Life • It’s Time for Employee Wellness/Wellbeing to Reconnect with Our WHY • How Antea Group uses 3-pillared approach • American job seekers care about this issue just as much as money Lifestyle Medicine News • Why Weight Training Is Ridiculously Good For You • Build strength to age well! The benefits of progressive resistance training • 70-Year-Old Challenges Sports Stereotypes (TIME) • Pregnancy Weight Gain: Too Much or Too Little Is Unhealthy • Reducing SBP Targets Below Current Guidelines Cuts Risk • Childhood Obesity Raises Risk of Arterial Damage in Adulthood, Study Finds • Overcoming Mental Illness Stigma While Improving Treatment for All Ages • Aerobic Exercise Reverses Alzheimer Symptoms • Regular recreational running may benefit hip, knee health: Study • Diet soda consumption in pregnancy linked to child obesity • Obese Kids Lose Weight with Multipronged Approach • Simple way to boost cancer survival rates: diet and exercise, studies say • Sleep apnea leads to three-fold increased risk of type 2 diabetes, researchers report • Short Sleep Linked to Death in Patients With Heart Disease, Stroke • Long-term type 2 diabetes risk continues to rise with extreme obesity • Pounds Shed Before Adulthood Reverses T2D Risk for Heavy Kids • Drug crisis is pushing up death rates for almost all groups of Americans • One-third of world now overweight, with US leading the way • Social Interaction Is Critical for Mental and Physical Health • Study: Vegetarian diets twice as effective at weight loss • 'Couch Potatoes' May Face Higher Risk of Kidney, Bladder Cancers • Exercise: The secret to aging slowly Healthy Living Program Updates Registration for the Next Core Activity Challenge, U.S. National Parks, Begins 6/21 The four week challenge runs from 7/3 – 7/30 8691865_VPUSNation alParks_ScreenSaverM Upcoming Wellness Events Utah Worksite Wellness Council “Time Out for Wellness” Networking Event Attend the Wellness Networking Event of the Year in Utah What: 3rd Annual Time out for Wellness Networking Event When: Wednesday, June 28th, 11:00 am-2:00 pm Where: Tribe House, Orem, University Mall Cost: $25 for attendees, lunch included | $150 for exhibitors 3 Reasons to Attend: Over 60+ Industry Leading Professionals in Utah and surrounding states, HR Directors, Wellness Students, Insurance Brokers, and Wellness Vendors will be in attendance Mingle, meet and become familiar with some of the latest and greatest wellness exhibitors locally Have the ability to crowdsource all your wellness program woes and brainstorm solutions, share all your awesome ideas you have implemented with your wellness program successes, and learn all of the greatest program trends right now Does this sound like fun? What are you waiting for? Sign up today, as this event will sell out! Take 2 minutes to Register here. Workplace Wellness Wellness programs on the rise as employers consider more than ROI June 8, 2017, by Marlene Y. Satter http://www.benefitspro.com/2017/06/08/wellness-programs-on-the-rise-as-employers-conside The survey finds 63 percent of employees are not willing to spend at least an hour a day on health-related activities such as exercise, researching healthy food or recipes or engaging in wellness coaching. (Photo: Shutterstock) More employers are offering them and more employees are interested in them. Wellness programs are becoming ever more widespread, and employers are looking at more than dollar signs, considering factors other than return on investment as they evaluate the results. According to UnitedHealthcare’s consumer sentiment survey, there’s a lot of positive action around workplace wellness programs. More employees (73 percent) say they’re interested in them, and those who have access to one credit them with improving their health (59 percent say so). In fact, 25 percent of employees now own an activity tracker — that’s up from just 13 percent only last year. And employers are buying in, too; UnitedHealthcare cites a Forbes piece which points out their rising popularity and says more than 70 percent of American employers are offering them (up from 58 percent in 2008). Related: • 4 wellness lessons from the University of Louisville’s “Get Healthy Now” program • 7 wellness benefits to maintain employees' zen • Wellness programs, financial incentives on the rise But that doesn’t necessarily mean that employees are ready to commit serious effort to physical fitness or dietary improvements. The survey finds 63 percent of employees are not willing to spend at least an hour a day on health- related activities such as exercise, researching healthy food or recipes or engaging in wellness coaching. Of course, some are more willing than others; 36 percent say they’re willing to spend more than an hour a day on improving their physical condition. One scary thought: The 63 percent who seem to be resolved to stay couch potatoes apparently don’t even know how to estimate fitness targets, or their numbers might be even larger. The survey finds 71 percent of employees underestimate the distance necessary to achieve 10,000 daily steps, an approximate distance of five miles. That’s the target some health experts recommend to prevent a sedentary lifestyle. About 28 percent of respondents think 10,000 steps was a distance of two miles; 26 percent estimate three miles; and 17 percent say four miles. Only 21 percent correctly estimate it as a distance of five miles. The good news? A report from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans finds employers are looking beyond ROI as they evaluate the effectiveness of these plans. In its Workplace Wellness 2017 Survey Report, IFEBP says 75 percent of employers are offering wellness initiatives “primarily to improve overall worker health and well-being. Only 1 in 4 employers say the main reason for offering wellness initiatives is to control/reduce health-related costs,” the report says, adding that continued increases in productivity and decreases in absenteeism strengthen the case for such programs. “Employers are realizing that wellness is not just about cutting health care costs, because wellness is not only about physical health,” Julie Stich, CEBS, associate vice president of content at IFEBP, says in the report. She adds, “Embracing the broad definition of wellness has led to a tremendous impact on organizational health and worker productivity and happiness.” More than half of the employers who offer such programs and measure the results, the report finds, say that they see a decrease in absenteeism. In addition, 63 percent are experiencing financial sustainability and growth in the organization, 66 percent reported increased productivity and 67 percent say employees are more satisfied. While 77 percent of employers offer free or discounted flu shots, many are offering other “emerging” wellness benefits, such as chiropractic services coverage (62 percent); community charity drives/events (59 percent); on-site events/celebrations (58 percent); wellness competitions like walking/fitness challenges (51 percent); healthy food choices in cafeteria or vending machines (44 percent); standing/walking work stations (42 percent); and even those wearable fitness trackers workers are increasingly using (23 percent). As to why workers aren’t participating more, or more enthusiastically, the IFEBP report cites the following reasons as “common barriers:” difficulty for workers to find enough time to participate (39 percent); dispersed population (27 percent); difficulty maintaining momentum (26 percent); prohibitive costs (25 percent); and lack of interest by workers (24 percent). Financial wellness push is promoting the health of 401(k) plans June 4, 2017, by Richard Stolz https://www.employeebenefitadviser.com/news/financial-wellness-push-is-promoting-the-health-of-401-k-plans As employers start to see employees struggle with paying bills and saving for retirement, financial wellbeing programs have sprouted up across American businesses. Rob Austin, director of retirement research at Aon Hewitt, has spent nearly two decades working with employers to improve the retirement outcomes of their workers. An enrolled actuary by trade, Austin says he has “a passion for analyzing data.” As a member of the ERISA Industry Committee, he works with large employers to advocate for and shape legislation and regulations on key employee benefits issues. He spoke with Employee Benefit News about his recent work that focuses on financial well-being and behavioral finance. Rob Austin Why has financial wellness become such a hot topic for employers? Rob Austin: Back during the financial crisis, companies were just trying to keep their lights on. Although things are much better today, employers still want to get the most bang for their benefits buck. They’re saying, “Let’s try to find out ways that we can really help employees out.” And here’s where I think where financial wellness comes in.