Business Case For Health Communication

Business Case for Health Communication

"Stress is both additive and cumulative in its negative effects on individuals, organizations and societies" (Stress Directions, n.d.). Stress is growing not only in people's personal lives but in the workplace as well. "More than 50% of adult Americans suffer adverse health effects due to stress;" and it is, "estimated that up to 90% of illness and disease is stress-related." Stress can be linked to many causes of death. These causes are lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, suicide, heart disease, and cancer (Stress Directions, n.d.). The purpose of this paper is to educate the employees of Great-West. The employees will be educated to learn how to identify the causes of stress, how to deal with those causes and how to make better choices in their lives to help them reduce stress.

Program Content

The format of the one hour stress management seminar will include a brief introduction. During this time, participants will receive a handout that follows the presentation in addition to pens and notepads to make notes. The introduction will be followed by a 10 minute question and answer session to assess employees' ability to identify stressors in their life and address coping mechanisms. A PowerPoint presentation will coincide with the 30 minute lecture detailing information on stress such as warning signs of stress, health risks associated with stress, resources, the positive and negative value of stress, and positive stress coping mechanisms such as meditation or exercise. Following the presentation, participants will have 5 minutes to complete the evaluation. The final 15 minutes of the seminar will address questions of the audience. At this time, the presenter will ask participants how their perception of stress has changed and will receive a positive stress management brochure outlining important resource contact numbers, coping skills, and benefits of reducing stress.

Program Goal

The goal of our health communication program is to educate and empower the employees at Great-West Life, Colorado on stress reduction and build a healthier and more productive workforce within a 5 year period.

Program Learning Objectives

The first program learning objective is for the participants to recognize the health consequences of unmanaged stress. The second learning objective is to identify the warning signs of stress and accurately identify sources of stress in participants' lives. The third learning objective is for participants to have the ability to effectively handle the stress. The final learning objective of the stress management program is for participants to know where and how to seek assistance to alleviate the stress.

Program Behavioral Objectives

Upon completion of the stress management seminar, three behavioral objectives will be completed. The first program behavioral objective is the participants will develop an individualized stress management plan that includes strategies to reducing daily stress in their lives. The second program behavioral objective is that the participant applies coping skills to immediately address stressors. The participants will engage in regular physical exercise, meditation, or other such practices regularly to combat the build up of stress.

Benefits to Company

"Stress is manageable, workable, and reversible" (Stress Directions, n.d.). Research shows that due to stress:

Ð'* Inappropriate anger in the workplace is a leading cause of firings. This was cited ahead of job incompetence.

Ð'* In the workplace there are nearly 2 million instances of assault per year.

Ð'* From 1992 to 1996, homicide was the second leading cause of death in the workplace (Corporate Stress Solutions, n.d.).

By reducing stress at work, health benefit costs will be reduced, employee turnover will be reduced, and worker's compensation claims will also be reduced. Each one of these reductions saves the company money. One study shows that for every dollar spent on stress management the company received a $7 return. Reducing stress at work will benefit the company in other ways.

When an employer reduces the stress level of the employees the benefits are increased productivity and accuracy, better morale, loyalty and employee retention. When workers see a proactive employer commitment and feel valued