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McDowell Wellness Center working on corporate wellness

Helping individuals to develop healthy lifestyles has long been the focus of the activities and services provided through McDowell Wellness Center in Danville. The Wellness Center is now expanding that focus to area industries, through wellness and healthy lifestyle programming as well as through its rehabilitation services.

–One of the ways that industries can manage the high cost of health care is to help their employees to make healthy lifestyle choices, by stopping smoking, exercising regularly and managing their weight,” said Robert Jameson, manager at McDowell Wellness Center. McDowell Wellness Center offers a variety of services as part of its corporate wellness program. Those include:

• WELL for Life, a 12-week program to help individuals learn how to manage their weight while making exercise and a healthy diet a part of their lifestyle. It is offered regularly at McDowell Wellness Center, but can also be brought on-site to local industries.
  
• Smoking Cessation programs. The Wellness Center takes the Cooper-Clayton Smoking Cessation program on-site to interested industries.
  
• Exercise groups. Wellness Center staff can lead exercise groups on-site at interested industries. Exercise programs may include walking or other non-structured exercises, such as those using resistance bands and hand weights.

Jameson said companies traditionally have been concerned about occupational issues, such as making sure their employees work in safe conditions and are properly trained for the job they do.

–That's only part of the solution to contain costs,” Jameson said. –We're now beginning to see employers who want to help their employees to be healthier. We're trying to respond to that.” According to Jameson, some companies have identified employees who are at high risk for medical conditions, such as diabetes, that are costly to control.

–Companies are realizing that they're paying for their employees' health decisions,” he said. –If they don't make wise decisions, we're paying for it through increased health care costs.” Jameson said statistics show that employers benefit financially when their employees are in better health. The financial impact may not be noticeable right away, but generally employers realize cost savings of two to six times their investment, he said.

The Wellness Center staff is also working towards the development of a rehab/wellness mix with some area companies, focusing on three roles: prevention, intervention and conditioning.

–We work with companies to fit the worker to the job, by identifying the critical demands of each job, looking at the job description and helping the employer to choose the best worker for that job,” said Ron Barbato, P.T., director of rehab services. 

Within that role, rehab specialists are training management teams at industries to identify high-risk areas. If injuries do occur, the Wellness Center provides intervention services in the form of occupational therapy and physical therapy to rehabilitate the injured employee.

–Once these individuals regain their functionality, we encourage them to continue their conditioning with a membership at the Wellness Center,” Barbato said. 

The Wellness Center offers a special rate of a two-month membership for $25 per month for such individuals. Jameson said a fair amount of people accept the special membership offer.

–Our goal is to institute a healthy lifestyle change,” Jameson said. –Companies that make this investment will see people perform better at work and injury rates will decrease, absenteeism will decline, productivity will increase and costs will be reduced.”