The Power of Staying Well Video

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The Power of Staying Well

Ivy Hartman: Rising health care costs are a burden for small and midsize businesses and wellness programs are delivering real cost savings. In fact in 2006 research by the Society for Human Resource Management found almost half of companies provided some sort of incentive to encourage wellness. And our guest today offers helpful tips on the power of staying well. A small business owner, wellness consultant, licensed therapist and author, Patricia E. Adams works with small firms. Welcome to SBTV.com Patricia, how can a small business owner compete, you know, with these larger companies who can may be afford or already offering wellness programs? Patricia E. Adams: The key is starting small that’s why we’re called the small business. I was at a wellness conference just a couple weeks ago and listen to some of the large firms and did you know that 80 to 90% of their wellness products are online. So I think the benefit for a small business owner is you’re still small enough to have that one-on-one interaction between you and that provider of service. You go online and you look at the wellness products that they’re offering, there’s nothing wrong with it. Most of it are assessment online, is tips that come in everyday on how to access these services whereas a small business owner still has the ability to say, “We can still touch you, we can still personalize these programs to meet the needs of our employees.” And that’s where we step in to the gap, it’s like Zeitgeist doing in San Antonio. Ivy Hartman: Yes, a couple a little bit more about the specifics of how Zeitgeist has been successful because you are in a grading, a whole wellness center and so it’s not just for your employees but it’s all—your clients are out participating in this overall wellness and wellbeing intervention kind of thing. Patricia E. Adams: Yes and what we did was it went to small businesses and we said, “Look. We can bring a small product on site for you that includes a personal trainer, a nutritionist, a massage therapist and a behavioral specialist.” We don’t like to call them counselors any more, they’re behavioral health specialist. And so what we do is we take our program on the road and we call it Jumpstart. And we said that if you give us 12 to 16 weeks in the beginning, we will jumpstart your employees into wellness and we believe that wellness doesn’t just incorporate the physical but also the spiritual and the psychological and the physical as well so you get the nutritionist, you get the personal trainer who teaches you how to workout at work using the components of your jobsite including the stairs versus the elevator, parking further away in the parking lot then having to have that space right by the door. So we take your environment and we make it a wellness environment for you and if you want, you can take it to the next level and come to us on site where we offer those services as well. Ivy Hartman: That’s wonderful, because I think on other interviews here on SBTV.com we’ve eluded to a wellness center and seeking went out in your areas as small business can be a great way, that’s one of those things you can outsource but offer to your employees. How could a person find some place like your wellness centers if it’s—you’re in 18 states, but do you find it online? Patricia E. Adams: Or you can find Zeitgeist online, of course the ZeitgeistWellnessGroup.com but what we do is we actually go into your community, we bring that there already and we find the components of wellness products which means, we go find a nutritionist, we find a personal trainer, we find a behavioral health specialist and the massage therapist and we create Jumpstart Teams for you and then we place them in your business. And I will tell you, that most nutritionists and massage therapists and personal trainers and counselors are small business owners themselves. They’ve never ever really seen a component like this where we bring them together and we create Jumpstart Teams for them across the cut in United States and then they go in and do the work that that small businesses asked us to do. Ivy Hartman: Okay, so once a wellness program has been designed, what are some great incentives for an employer or small businesses already implement in order to make sure it’s a success. Patricia E. Adams: Well that’s where you go back to the employees and say, “What do you want? How does this benefit you?” I mean we got some employees that are 50, 60, 70, pounds overweight. So they won’t need, won’t request the same thing that someone that’s not 50 pounds overweight. So you have to ask you team, “What would you like? What components of this Jumpstart program would best suit us?” And then you create the program that best fits that employee. You and I, again you know we’re at different level, so let’s individualize the program, let’s keep it simple like that. And it gives to those small business owners, those massage therapists and personal trainers and other folks who never really seen themselves as a part of a larger picture. Zeitgeist is going to revamp how small businesses come together, how they do work and how they support one another. So we love our product and we think that it is going intervention for small businesses today. Ivy Hartman: Speaking of that, as a small business owner and I implement a wellness program, can I see a difference in my bottom line eventually or right away even? Patricia E. Adams: Of course! Of course, some of our programs, you can see how much change right away because the bottom line for small businesses is to decrease their health insurance premium. We want to be pro-activist then to react and we talk about that all the time so let’s say you bought in as part of your Jumpstart was smoking cessation, if you have an employee who start smoking, your health insurance premium goes down. If you have an employee whose 50 pounds overweight and he or she looses weight, your health in premium goes down. So the bottom line for small business owners, look at their insurance premium and go, “Where can I cut my cost?” And part of that is going back to the employee and helping them to become holistically well and that’s our job, that’s our tasks, just like I said. Ivy Hartman: May be you’ve have an example or testimonial you could share about a small business owner who may have really used your services and you followed up and have seen something really clicked for them that you might be able to share with some other small business owners. Patricia E. Adams: The one now, the big one across the cut in United States is the smoking. It’s huge, the amount of money that we spend in the long run on health issues as it relates to primary smoke and secondary smoke is huge and so when the small business owner gets their team of folks together and say you know, “Are you interested in stopping smoking?” You’re cutting your cost for not just today but for years to come. And you’re also improving a quality of someone’s life if they stop smoking, so that’s the first one. And of course we’ve seen see in a lot you know, the surgeries done, the gastric bypasses and the things like that and the reason that some employers are even paying for that, again it’s to decrease their health insurance premiums. Actually in some companies put their employees on payment plan so the employer pays for it, small businesses, I’m not talking large companies. A small business owner who says, “I will pay for you to get that surgery.” Because in the long run—and they’re good employees and they want to keep them. But if we don’t take care of these obesity issues in our country, you know, we’re asking for our health insurance premiums to go up, because the cost later is much more expensive. I mean we can talk about marriage counselors the same thing too because the more money I spend on a front end to help save a marriage and decrease those marital crisis issues, cuts on the cost long term too. I was on a plane coming down here and I saw—I looked at a row of children sitting behind me, “Well, I’m going home to see mommy” and their, you know what I’m talking about. So it’s like, gosh, we could really save ourselves some money on the back end if we just spend a little money on the front end. Ivy Hartman: Thank you Patricia for being here and helping us jumpstart a wellness program in your small business, it could be as simple as encouraging your employees to take the stairs or parking further away from the office and also getting buy end from them so that you’re not dictating to them what wellness means to them. And if you’d like more information, Patricia Adam’s book is the ABC’s of change and her firm Zeitgeist Wellness Group provides services to residence of 18 states and they’ll come to wherever you are so you can look for her on her website or look for her at the wellness segments right here on SBTV.com where small business is the only business.

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Ivy Hartman: Rising health care costs are a burden for small and midsize businesses and wellness programs are delivering real cost savings. In fact in 2006 research by the Society for Human Resource Management found almost half of companies provided some sort of incentive to encourage wellness. And our guest today offers helpful tips on the power of staying well.

A small business owner, wellness consultant, licensed therapist and author, Patricia E. Adams works with small firms. Welcome to SBTV.com Patricia, how can a small business owner compete, you know, with these larger companies who can may be afford or already offering wellness programs?

Patricia E. Adams: The key is starting small that’s why we’re called the small business. I was at a wellness conference just a couple weeks ago and listen to some of the large firms and did you know that 80 to 90% of their wellness products are online. So I think the benefit for a small business owner is you’re still small enough to have that one-on-one interaction between you and that provider of service.

You go online and you look at the wellness products that they’re offering, there’s nothing wrong with it. Most of it are assessment online, is tips that come in everyday on how to access these services whereas a small business owner still has the ability to say, “We can still touch you, we can still personalize these programs to meet the needs of our employees.” And that’s where we step in to the gap, it’s like Zeitgeist doing in San Antonio.

Ivy Hartman: Yes, a couple a little bit more about the specifics of how Zeitgeist has been successful because you are in a grading, a whole wellness center and so it’s not just for your employees but it’s all—your clients are out participating in this overall wellness and wellbeing intervention kind of thing.

Patricia E. Adams: Yes and what we did was it went to small businesses and we said, “Look. We can bring a small product on site for you that includes a personal trainer, a nutritionist, a massage therapist and a behavioral specialist.” We don’t like to call them counselors any more, they’re behavioral health specialist. And so what we do is we take our program on the road and we call it Jumpstart.

And we said that if you give us 12 to 16 weeks in the beginning, we will jumpstart your employees into wellness and we believe that wellness doesn’t just incorporate the physical but also the spiritual and the psychological and the physical as well so you get the nutritionist, you get the personal trainer who teaches you how to workout at work using the components of your jobsite including the stairs versus the elevator, parking further away in the parking lot then having to have that space right by the door. So we take your environment and we make it a wellness environment for you and if you want, you can take it to the next level and come to us on site where we offer those services as well.

Ivy Hartman: That’s wonderful, because I think on other interviews here on SBTV.com we’ve eluded to a wellness center and seeking went out in your areas as small business can be a great way, that’s one of those things you can outsource but offer to your employees. How could a person find some place like your wellness centers if it’s—you’re in 18 states, but do you find it online?

Patricia E. Adams: Or you can find Zeitgeist online, of course the ZeitgeistWellnessGroup.com but what we do is we actually go into your community, we bring that there already and we find the components of wellness products which means, we go find a nutritionist, we find a personal trainer, we find a behavioral health specialist and the massage therapist and we create Jumpstart Teams for you and then we place them in your business.

And I will tell you, that most nutritionists and massage therapists and personal trainers and counselors are small business owners themselves. They’ve never ever really seen a component like this where we bring them together and we create Jumpstart Teams for them across the cut in United States and then they go in and do the work that that small businesses asked us to do.

Ivy Hartman: Okay, so once a wellness program has been designed, what are some great incentives for an employer or small businesses already implement in order to make sure it’s a success.

Patricia E. Adams: Well that’s where you go back to the employees and say, “What do you want? How does this benefit you?” I mean we got some employees that are 50, 60, 70, pounds overweight. So they won’t need, won’t request the same thing that someone that’s not 50 pounds overweight.

So you have to ask you team, “What would you like? What components of this Jumpstart program would best suit us?” And then you create the program that best fits that employee. You and I, again you know we’re at different level, so let’s individualize the program, let’s keep it simple like that. And it gives to those small business owners, those massage therapists and personal trainers and other folks who never really seen themselves as a part of a larger picture. Zeitgeist is going to revamp how small businesses come together, how they do work and how they support one another. So we love our product and we think that it is going intervention for small businesses today.

Ivy Hartman: Speaking of that, as a small business owner and I implement a wellness program, can I see a difference in my bottom line eventually or right away even?

Patricia E. Adams: Of course! Of course, some of our programs, you can see how much change right away because the bottom line for small businesses is to decrease their health insurance premium. We want to be pro-activist then to react and we talk about that all the time so let’s say you bought in as part of your Jumpstart was smoking cessation, if you have an employee who start smoking, your health insurance premium goes down. If you have an employee whose 50 pounds overweight and he or she looses weight, your health in premium goes down.

So the bottom line for small business owners, look at their insurance premium and go, “Where can I cut my cost?” And part of that is going back to the employee and helping them to become holistically well and that’s our job, that’s our tasks, just like I said.

Ivy Hartman: May be you’ve have an example or testimonial you could share about a small business owner who may have really used your services and you followed up and have seen something really clicked for them that you might be able to share with some other small business owners.

Patricia E. Adams: The one now, the big one across the cut in United States is the smoking. It’s huge, the amount of money that we spend in the long run on health issues as it relates to primary smoke and secondary smoke is huge and so when the small business owner gets their team of folks together and say you know, “Are you interested in stopping smoking?” You’re cutting your cost for not just today but for years to come. And you’re also improving a quality of someone’s life if they stop smoking, so that’s the first one.

And of course we’ve seen see in a lot you know, the surgeries done, the gastric bypasses and the things like that and the reason that some employers are even paying for that, again it’s to decrease their health insurance premiums. Actually in some companies put their employees on payment plan so the employer pays for it, small businesses, I’m not talking large companies. A small business owner who says, “I will pay for you to get that surgery.” Because in the long run—and they’re good employees and they want to keep them. But if we don’t take care of these obesity issues in our country, you know, we’re asking for our health insurance premiums to go up, because the cost later is much more expensive. I mean we can talk about marriage counselors the same thing too because the more money I spend on a front end to help save a marriage and decrease those marital crisis issues, cuts on the cost long term too.

I was on a plane coming down here and I saw—I looked at a row of children sitting behind me, “Well, I’m going home to see mommy” and their, you know what I’m talking about. So it’s like, gosh, we could really save ourselves some money on the back end if we just spend a little money on the front end.

Ivy Hartman: Thank you Patricia for being here and helping us jumpstart a wellness program in your small business, it could be as simple as encouraging your employees to take the stairs or parking further away from the office and also getting buy end from them so that you’re not dictating to them what wellness means to them.

And if you’d like more information, Patricia Adam’s book is the ABC’s of change and her firm Zeitgeist Wellness Group provides services to residence of 18 states and they’ll come to wherever you are so you can look for her on her website or look for her at the wellness segments right here on SBTV.com where small business is the only business.

Transcription by: Scribe4you Transcription Services

The Power of Staying Well

The Power of Staying Well -

The Power of Staying Well -