Wellness and Employee Assistance Grant Program
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Wellness?
Wellness refers to an overall sense of well being. Wellness represents an intentional choice of a lifestyle characterized by personal responsibility, balance, and maximum personal enhancement of physical, mental and spiritual health. The lifestyles we choose greatly affect our health and well being. Our daily decisions about how we eat, sleep, exercise, relax, drive, smoke, etc. are the most important contributors to illnesses and early deaths.
Some health conditions linked to unhealthy lifestyle choices include: high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, back pain, depression, alcoholism/substance abuse, and obesity.
Wellness is based on the idea that we can change our habits and behaviors. We can choose to live a healthier lifestyle, decrease our disease risk and improve our quality of life.
Why do we need a Wellness Program?
Each year, millions of dollars are spent on health conditions caused by unhealthy lifestyle choices. We all foot the bill for these expenses through higher insurance premiums. Direct costs from unhealthy lifestyles result in higher health care costs, more frequent and severe workers' compensation claims and high disability claims. Indirect costs stem from high absenteeism, excessive medical leave, lost productivity and high turnover rates.
In response, many organizations have started on-site employee wellness programs. Organizations of any size - and their employees - can reap the personal and financial benefits of wellness programs. Healthier employees are happier and more productive workers.
What is an Employee Assistance Program?
An Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers f ree, confidential, short-term problem solving services for employees and their family members needing help with financial, legal, health, relationship, stress, work, substance abuse or other work-life issues; training for supervisors in learning how to spot and help troubled employees; help for employees experiencing poor job performance due to personal problems.
Why do we need to have an Employee Assistance Program (EAP)?
Employee problems at home make a big impact at work from lost of productivity translating into thousands of dollars being lost each year. EAP also is a great resource to help supervisors to get employees they work with the help they need.
For these reasons, as well as caring for the health and well being of your employee group, regardless of size, towns and cities should have an EAP
What can the NCLM Risk Management Services Wellness and Employee Assistance Grant Program offer our group?
If your employees take better care of themselves, this will translate into fewer medical and workers' compensation claims, giving you healthier employees, less absenteeism, higher productivity and dollars saved.
Who is qualified to receive a grant?
Any group participating in a medical program is eligible to apply
for Wellness and Employee Assistance Grant funds. Those
who participate in the workers' compensation program are eligible for Employee
Assistance Grant funds.
How much funding does a grant provide?
From $400 to $6,000 per group (depending on number of full-time employees) for start-up, maintenance or enhancements to existing programs.
How often can we receive a grant?
A group may apply for a renewal grant every 12 months.
How can the grant money be used?
Sample Wellness Program Grant Money uses:
Health screenings (health risk appraisals, flu/tetanus shots, cholesterol, diabetes, all cancers, etc.)
Health fairs/team events/employee incentives
Training classes (topics such as weight/stress/sleep/diabetes/ high blood pressure/cholesterol/ asthma management, CPR/first aid certifications and re-certifications, smoking cessation, etc.)
Equipment purchases (pre-approved weight scales, blood pressure cuffs, industrial-version fitness items), and other pre-approved team activities)
Sample Employee Assistance Program grant money uses:
Start, maintain or enhance an EAP
Training supervisors in related subject areas such as how to document poor employee performance, learn effective communication skills, prevent or cope with workplace or domestic violence, harassment issues, and manage with diversity
Training employees in defined EAP utilization issues such as financial--pre-retirement planning, setting up a budget, college planning, using the 401(k) plan skills, teaching effective parenting skills, improving communication skills with your partner/children/supervisor and others
Whom do we call to get an application?
Please call Lisa Battaglia, wellness/EAP consultant at (800) 228-0986 for free consultation services to help you in reaching these goals using the League's Wellness and EAP Grant Programs described above.
Do you have any videos, audios or resource books we may be able to borrow to help us in facilitating some Wellness and/or EAP sessions at work?
Yes, the League maintains a Wellness and Employee Assistance Lending Library stocked with more than 650 videos, audios and books free for use by MIT and NCIRMA members. Please download the catalog from the www.NCLM.org homepage. After making your selections, call 1-800-228-0986 and ask to speak to Brenda Rich to borrow any of these excellent resources.
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