Thursday, May 24, 2012

Wellness at work: Employers find healthier workers are more productive

Trent Tangen, assistant director of fitness and wellness for the department of recreation sports, said University of Illinois Springfield employees get periodic email blasts and video blogs offering health tips and healthy recipes. The university’s health services department also puts on an employee health fair that includes bone density and cholesterol screenings and eye exams.

Employees and their spouses — the university employs just over 1,000 full-time and part-time faculty and staff — also can purchase membership at the recreation center.

The biggest challenge for employees? Tangen said it’s keeping energy level up.

“If you have more energy throughout the day, your work product is going to go up,” said Tangen. “You’re going to have energy to exercise or take the kids to the park.”

Wellness programs were featured in an May 24, 2012, article in the State Journal-Register.

Read the article online