Your employees most likely made at least one New Year’s resolution regarding their health in 2014. Help them keep these resolutions by giving them the wellness training exercise in today’s Advisor.
 |
This exercise is applicable for all employees and comes from one of BLR’s popular HR Training Presentations in PowerPoint® sessions on Healthy Aging. The objective of the exercise is to find out how well trainees are meeting the requirements of healthy aging.
Instructions: Have trainees complete the work sheet below. (Let them know that this is a voluntary exercise.) Then discuss (see detailed discussion points below) the results as a group. (Let trainees know that they do not have to share all their answers and that confidentiality of medical information will always be maintained.) Answer any questions.
1. Describe the steps you are taking to ensure proper nutrition.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
2. Describe your weekly physical activity schedule.
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
3. When was the last time you went to the doctor for a physical exam? When was your last visit to the dentist? The eye doctor? Have you ever had your hearing checked?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Great news! BLR’s renowned Safety.BLR.com® website now has even more time-saving features. Take our no-cost site tour! Or better yet, try it at no cost or obligation for a full 2 weeks.
4. Which medications do you take (if any), and how do you think they are helping you keep healthy and improve your chances of healthy aging? (Include any vitamin or mineral supplements you regularly take.)
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
5. Do you smoke? Drink alcohol? How do you think these habits will contribute to or undermine healthy aging?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Discussion Points
Use these discussion points for each question as you talk about each aspect of healthy aging with your employees.
1. Nutrition strategies to help ensure healthy aging include:
- Eating foods from the basic food groups in healthy amounts
- Drinking plenty of fluids
- Taking vitamin and mineral supplements, if necessary
- Sparingly eating foods with sugar, fat, and cholesterol
- Getting about 45 percent to 65 percent of daily calories from carbohydrates
- Getting 10 percent to 35 percent of daily calories from protein
2. Physical activity requirements for healthy aging include:
- At least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days of the week
- At least 30 minutes of high-intensity activity at least 3 days a week
- Strength training with weights or an exercise machine a few days a week
If you do experience symptoms of a heart attack, take immediate action. Get to a hospital immediately if you experience:
- Chest pain that lasts longer than 10 minutes. This could range from slight discomfort to pressure or tightness to crushing pain.
- Pain that radiates to the left shoulder, arm, back, teeth, and/or jaw even if you rest, change position, or take medicine
Your one-stop safety management resource, available 24/7. Go here to take a no-cost site tour or here to try it in your own office!
3. The appropriate schedule for medical exams depends on a trainee’s age, sex, and physical health. For the younger people in good health, once every few years might be enough. By middle age, people should generally be getting a physical every couple of years. And once a person is over 50, he or she should be examined annually.
Trainees with diagnosed health problems should be getting regular checkups—generally every 6 or 12 months. Screening for various diseases generally depends on a person’s sex and age. Trainees should check with their doctor about such things as breast and prostate exams.
In addition to seeing the doctor, trainees should be seeing a dentist twice a year for cleanings and checkups. They should also get regular eye exams as well and have corrective lenses changed as necessary. And if they work in a noisy environment or experience hearing problems, they should have their hearing checked regularly as well.
4. Lead a discussion about medications and how they can help keep trainees healthy and improve their chances of healthy aging. Remind trainees that they should always take medications properly, following the doctor’s instructions.
5. Remind trainees that smoking cigarettes is the single most preventable cause of disease and death in the United States. People who quit smoking begin seeing the health benefits almost immediately and improve their chances of living a longer and healthier life. Moderate alcohol consumption in most cases is not deemed harmful by health professionals. However, alcohol abuse can lead to serious health conditions, including liver and heart disease.
BLR’s complete training session, Healthy Aging, contains a PowerPoint session with slide show notes, a trainer’s guide, handout, exercises, and quiz.
Why It Matters
- Wellness training is a proven benefit that gives organizations a profitable return on investment.
- Giving wellness training early in the year can help employees keep their health-related New Year’s resolutions.
- Healthy employees are less costly to organizations and more productive overall.