Our employees are under a great deal of pressure. They work long hours, they’re constantly on their feet and they deal with a stressful environment as they help sick children and their families.
Stress is one of our top risk factors. We help our patients focus on behavioral and mental issues, but we needed that for our employees, too. We wanted to make sure they knew they aren’t alone.
Started wellness journey
That’s why we turned to a comprehensive wellness program to help our 16,000 employees deal with stress and fight burnout.
We started our wellness journey about a decade ago, but we’ve been adding components ever since.
We partnered with RedBrick Health to offer expanded wellness and health management services to assist each employee in achieving optimal health.
We now offer a variety of wellness programs, including:
• anxiety and depression coaching
• free on-site fitness centers
• financial counseling
• disease/condition care management, and
• mindfulness coaching and classes.
Boots on the ground
One of the most successful programs has been the on-site health coaching.
It’s really boots on the ground – the coaches are there to listen to our employees about everything.
It’s about going beyond healthy food to focus on things like mental issues, energy management and stress resilience.
We also offer health coaching by phone to provide quick and easy sessions, scheduled via a mobile app, that can fit into their lives.
Sixty percent of employees who work with a health coach meet or exceed their health goals in six months or less.
We believe when employees are at their best, they’re better able to take care of themselves, each other and the patients we serve every day.
83% participation rate
Overall, the vast majority of our employees (83%) engage in our wellness program, and 50% of them participate in behavioral change programs to address issues like sleep, nutrition and exercise.
In addition, we’ve seen a decline in employee stress risk from previous years, which we can attribute to this program.
Valued & appreciated
The positive measures that have been achieved are more important than simply saving our company money. It’s not based on return on investment (ROI) and saving money on our health plan.
For us, it’s the value and impact it has on our people. It’s about having our employees feel valued, appreciated and cared for.
This article is courtesy of Lauren Chestnut, wellness and work life program manager, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia)
