Corporate wellness presenter Dan DeFigio is the director of BASICS AND BEYOND, a health and fitness education service based in Nashville, Tennessee. He has over 10 years of experience designing employee wellness programs and conducting health fair workshops around the country.

Dan DeFigio
Corporate Wellness Presenter and
Internationally Certified Fitness Professional
www.gettingfit.com

Please email us for information on our corporate health and wellness programs, or telephone (615) 386-0434.

Dan DeFigio is the Director of Basics and Beyond, LLC, and the host of the television show Fitness Basics and Beyond. He is certified as a Personal Trainer, a Sports Nutrition Counselor, a Post-Rehab Conditioning Specialist, and a Continuing Education Specialist. Dan is a frequent consultant to The Tennessean's Health and Fitness section, and is a contributing editor of the journal of the National Federation of Professional Trainers. Dan has been featured in SELF magazine, Personal Fitness Professional, and ACE Certified News. The continuing education workshops that he presents to other fitness professionals have been featured on the cover of Personal Trainer Magazine. Dan is recognized by the American Council on Exercise® as one of only a handful of Continuing Education Specialists in the state of Tennessee. He is also a State Exam Official for the National Federation of Professional Trainers. In addition to teaching exercise and nutrition, Dan studies and teaches martial arts and self defense.

Sample topics for presentations during a company health and wellness day:

FUNCTIONAL EXERCISE
Which exercises for which muscles, and which exercises can improve various movements. How to get an effective workout in a short amount of time.

NUTRITION
Eating for body fat loss -- low-carb unraveled.
Which supplements are helpful, and which are worthless.

POSTURE AND FLEXIBILITY
Postural analysis and flexibility techniques to improve problematic conditions.

HOME FITNESS PRODUCTS
An analysis of several home fitness products, their potential uses, and the pros and cons of each.

KNEE, BACK, AND SHOULDER
Injury prevention techniques, and post-injury exercise advice.

The Benefits

Companies are increasingly implementing corporate wellness programs in order to improve the overall health of their workers and to increase the bottom line. In fact, 86% of companies with more than 50 employees have incorporated wellness programs. Companies who have implemented wellness programs are experiencing major benefits -- from lower health care costs and reduced absenteeism, to greater productivity, higher morale -- and a positive return on investment. Many companies are reporting double digit decreases in sick leave, hospital admissions, disability days and per capita workers compensation costs as a result of their implementation of a corporate wellness program.

Reduced Health Care Costs
Companies who implement wellness programs consistently find that their health care costs are reduced, and that there is a significant difference in medical claims between exercising employees and non-exercising employees.

Increased Productivity
Medical professionals often recommend regular exercise to their patients as a means to improve one's ability to perform, reduce stress, and to enhance one's self-image. These improvements to the individual, and how they relate to improved job performance are sometimes hard to quantify. However, many organizations credit the implementation of corporate fitness programs for productivity gains in the following areas:

Improved Decision-Making
Improved Efficiency
Reduced Mental Errors
Reduced Employee Turnover
Improved Staff Quality
Decreased Absenteeism & Disability Time

The cost-effectiveness of corporate wellness programs is based on the premise that employees with health risk factors, such as high blood pressure or a sedentary lifestyle, are more likely to incur medical expenses. And recent research has revealed that "psychosocial" risk factors are associated just as closely -- if not more so -- with high costs. One study showed the following results: - people who report being depressed have health care expenditures 70% higher than others - those that say that they have a lot of stress, 46% higher - people with abnormal body weight, 21% higher - smokers, 14% higher - people with elevated blood pressure, 12% higher - those with a sedentary lifestyle, 10% higher - employees with multiple risk factors for heart disease, 228% higher - those with multiple psychosocial symptoms had expenses, 147% higher. Given these statistics, it makes sense for employers to provide a means for employees to improve their health. The most effective way to reduce the costs of your health insurance benefits, while still providing comprehensive health care coverage, is to integrate a corporate wellness strategy into the health plan. Hundreds of studies have been published over the last 10 to 15 years on the cost-effectiveness of Corporate Wellness programs. In 1999 a major study of Citibank employees sought to determine the financial impact of a wellness program. The corporation realized a return on investment (ROI) greater than $4.50 for every dollar spent. Additional studies have shown similar results, with ROIs ranging from 3.40:1 to 4.75:1. A review of 32 studies of corporate wellness programs, published in 1997, found that for all participants included in the studies: + claims costs were reduced by 27.8% + physician visits declined by 16.5% + hospital admissions declined by 62.5% + disability costs were reduced by 34.4% + the incidence of injury declined by 24.8% Besides the reduced use of health insurance, other benefits of Corporate Wellness programs include: + Reduced sick leave/absenteeism + Improved productivity + Reduced workers' compensation claims + Fewer injuries + Attraction and retention of the most effective employees + Improved employee morale + Enhanced attitude of employees toward their employer. References Fries, JF, Koop, CE et al: Beyond Health Promotion: Reducing Need and Demand for Medical Care: Health care reforms to improve health while reducing costs. Health Affairs, 1998; 17 (2); 71-84. Vickery, DM, Kalmer H, et al: Effect of a self-care education program on medical visits. Journal of the American Medical Association, 1983; 250 (21): 2952-2956. Elsenhans, VD, Marquardt, C, and Bledsoe, T: Use of Self-Care Manual Shifts Utilization Pattern. HMO Practice, 1995; 9(2):88-90. Lorig, KR, Sobel, DS et al: Evidence suggesting that a chronic disease self-management program can improve health status while reducing hospitalization: a randomized trial. Medical Care, 1999; 37(1), 5-14. Prochaska, JO, Velicer, WF: The Transtheoretical Model of Health Behavior Change. American Journal of Health Promotion, 1997; 12(1), 38-48. Ozminkowski, RJ, Dunn, RL, Goetzel, RZ et al. A return on investment evaluation of the Citibank, N.A., health management program. American Journal of Health Promotion, 1999;14(1):31-43. Golaszewski T, Snow D, Lynch W, Yen L, Solomita D, Fries JF, et al. A benefit-to-cost analysis of a worksite health promotion program. Journal of Occupational Medicine 1992;23:1164-72 Otis J. Medical claims-based study reveals $4.75 savings for every $1 invested in demand-management program. News release, Apri1, 1995. Aldana SG, Jacobson BH, Harris CJ, Kelley PL, Stone WJ. Influence of a mobile worksite health promotion program on health care costs. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 1994; 9:378-92. Chapman, LS. Update on the Cost-Effectiveness of Worksite Health Promotion Programs. Newsletter of the National Wellness Association 1997;13:1-5. Goetzel, RZ, Anderson, DR, Whitmer, RW. The relationship between modifiable health risks and health care expenditures, 1998; Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine, 1998;4(10)

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