The Maine chance

Citation

(2005), "The Maine chance", International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Vol. 54 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijppm.2005.07954daf.004

The Maine chance

We all know that there is a link between wellness and productivity – fit and healthy employees are much more likely to be productive. Now, in the USA, the University of Southern Maine is starting a new institute to promote wellness programs in businesses as a way to contribute to productivity and to combat the growing health-care crisis.

The “Institute for Workplace Health Promotion” will be a business unit of the college’s Lifeline Center for Wellness and Health Promotion, and will feature a pilot program to specifically develop wellness strategies for small businesses. Pilot-program organizers will work with small employers to design a set of best practices and strategies that is reflective of their needs.

Wellness programs take a variety of forms, from providing cash incentives for healthy activities like walking or going to the gym, to on-site health screenings or even practices as simple as having vending machines stocked with juices instead of soda. It is difficult for small businesses to put such programs into place, as owners are often pressed for time, money and resources.

Lifeline is in its 28th year, said director Thomas J. Downing, but it has become clear the center had to take its work to the next level. Lifeline, a non-profit department at USM, has always provided health/wellness consulting and program management for businesses, municipalities and other groups. But the problem of increasing health-care costs and public-health concerns, such as obesity, is growing to the point where Lifeline is looking to have a broader impact.

Through the new institute, the organization plans to publicly promote wellness programs to businesses as a way to increase productivity and decrease health-care costs.

Attention has been focused on the insurance side of the health-care crisis. The state recently launched its Dirigo program, which is designed to expand access to insurance for Mainers through small businesses. Employers have increased insurance co-pays and implemented high-deductible plans.

But Downing argues that an ounce of prevention may be worth a pound of such cures.

“We need to get over on the health management side of that solution”, said Downing. “We’ve been treating the symptom, not the problem.”

Downing said that 75 percent of Mainers die from four chronic diseases:

1. 1.

   lung disease;

2. 2.

   cancer;

3. 3.

   diabetes; and

4. 4.

   heart disease.

Development of these diseases is heavily influenced by lifestyles – such as poor nutrition, lack of exercise, smoking and other behaviors. Because people spend so much time at work, programs run by employers can have a real influence on lifestyle choices, he said.

“If we can encourage employees and their families to take better care of themselves, it doesn’t mean they won’t become sick”, Downing said, “but people who lead healthy lifestyles develop less chronic diseases”.

Part of the institute’s campaign will be to convince businesses that there is a return on investment for spending money on some sort of wellness initiative, that it’s not just a nice thing to do for employees. Downing said he has received a verbal agreement with USM’s Muskie School of Public Service to work on evaluating and measuring how a business benefits from having a wellness program.

Larger businesses would pay the college for various development and evaluation services. The small-business pilot program would ideally be funded through outside sources, such as grants, but the overall funding plans have yet to be fully developed.

By increasing the amount of return-on-investment data regarding wellness programs in Maine, the programs will become an easier sell to businesses.

The pilot program for small businesses is important for Maine, Downing said, because 97 percent of Maine companies employ 20 people or fewer.