It’s been well over a year since I wrote here. That’s a long story that I won’t tell today. Instead, I’d like to share an illuminating excerpt of Malcolm Gladwell’s upcoming book, “Outliers.”

The excerpt tells a short tale of a community of Italians that emigrated to Pennsylvania, and showed an extremely low rate of heart disease compared to the rest of the country. From the Wall Street Journal (emphasis is mine):

In transplanting the paesani culture of southern Italy to the hills of eastern Pennsylvania the Rosetans had created a powerful, protective social structure capable of insulating them from the pressures of the modern world. The Rosetans were healthy because of where they were from, because of the world they had created for themselves in their tiny little town in the hills.

“I remember going to Roseto for the first time, and you’d see three generational family meals, all the bakeries, the people walking up and down the street, sitting on their porches talking to each other, the blouse mills where the women worked during the day, while the men worked in the slate quarries,” Bruhn said. “It was magical.”
…
Wolf and Bruhn had to convince the medical establishment to think about health and heart attacks in an entirely new way: they had to get them to realize that you couldn’t understand why someone was healthy if all you did was think about their individual choices or actions in isolation. You had to look beyond the individual. You had to understand what culture they were a part of, and who their friends and families were, and what town in Italy their family came from. You had to appreciate the idea that community—the values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with—has a profound effect on who we are. The value of an outlier was that it forced you to look a little harder and dig little deeper than you normally would to make sense of the world. And if you did, you could learn something from the outlier than could use to help everyone else.

This brings me to one of my lingering questions about natural medicine. It seems to be such an obvious answer to many of our health care ills, but yet it struggles to grow widely. Why is that? What does it need? It’s sad to me that stories like this, over 50 years old, still go largely untold.

Because the natural medicine revolution is in its relative infancy (so far!), I love it when I get a chance to show shining success stories of naturopathic medicine and other alternative benign modalities.

The most common model you’ll see in such stories goes something like this:

• person endures suffering in the form of illness/disease/deficiency
• person endures additional suffering in the form of symptom suppression and lack of root-cause analysis from “traditional” medicine
• person by serendipity or research finds natural medicine
• person achieves previously unattainable levels of wellness and literally turn their lives upside-down

I have a similar story about how I found naturopathic medicine that I’ll have to share sometime. But one person, who has created one of the most candid and intimate blogs on the internet, has such a story.

This person is Gluten Free Girl, aka Shauna James Ahern. Her recent post, for those of you new to this site, gives an abbreviated version of her story. Here’s a little excerpt:

In the early spring of 2005, I was terribly ill. My body required 18 hours of sleep a day, my stomach ached all the time, and I could barely move without hurting. Doctors ordered one medical test after another, and none of them yielded answers.

…..
My gastroenterologist refused to test me for it, even though it only required a blood test before I could stop eating gluten. He refused. Actually, he had his nurse call me. “Celiac is really rare,” she said on the message. “That’s a long shot. We’ll talk about it during your follow-up in two weeks.”

…..
I went to a naturopath, who did the blood test. I stopped eating gluten.

…..
When I received the official diagnosis — you have celiac — I clapped my hands and said yes! The naturopath was a little surprised to see my celebration.

The gastroenterologist was even more surprised, the next week, when I showed up for my follow-up appointment in great health, blood test results in hand. He confirmed it — I have celiac. And he left the room, embarrassed.

Yes! It’s a great story, and as you’ll see if you follow Shauna’s blog, her life really has been revolutionized since. I’ve been reading her blog for a long time now. I originally found it looking for gluten-free recipes and now that my wife is baking and selling gluten-free goodies at her work, we feel like Shauna is an old family friend.

The other story I have to share is over at the Helfgott blog: Bill Maher talks healthcare. Love him or hate him, Bill gives it to you straight. In this snippet of his show, he talks about the need for folks to forget about healthcare reform (sound familiar?) and throws light on my point that the consumers of health care should stop taking so many aptly-named “drugs,” and start simply doing something, anything.

Technorati: naturopathic medicine, proactive health, gluten free girl

One idea clarified in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People is that you should begin with the end in mind. Clarify your end goal and then plot the course to get there.

An interesting extension of this is to consider what you want to leave behind when your time on this planet is up. What comes to your mind? Leaving your family better off? Making a positive imprint on your community through your job or through other efforts?

Somewhere in the busyness of life, I think a lot of folks forget about their health, at least until a problem arises. The question this brings forth is, what is your health legacy?

Did you make the most of that astounding human body? That complex organism that defies and eludes the greatest minds of science? Were you able to teach your kids/friends/family/colleagues/acquaintances how to eat well, how to strengthen the body and how valuable that knowledge can be?

I hope I do this myself. I think I owe it to my fellow humans. I think I’m obligated to help the next generations achieve new levels of success, and to do that, they must be healthy.

Technorati: nutrition, health, fitness

I worry that some of the funds used to create and implement these [environmental] programs might be taken away from other employee programs that encourage health, balanced lifestyle, and fitness.

She brought up Wal-Mart’s recent announcement to invest $500 million in sustainability and wondered how much of that might have been used for employee wellness. I think this is a legitimate concern, but I don’t think these two things have to be mutually exclusive.

Coupled together, employee health and environmental sensitivity are mandatory pieces of any corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.

For instance, commuter challenges such as the BTA’s Bike Commute Challenge have the double benefit of reducing pollution and congestion caused by employees driving to work and of getting employee bodies moving. These types of jump-start efforts are extremely low cost to all involved. To keep employees riding, employers should jump in and provide facilities and incentives and maybe even create periodic competitions throughout the year.

Further, encouraging employees to be more active invariably gets them outside more, slowly increasing their appreciation for the value of open space and quality air. I may be pushing my luck a little here, but I think it’s a logical possibility. People whose outdoor engagement consists of walking from the garage door to the car and then from the car to the office door certainly don’t have the same experience as folks traveling through town by bike. Getting folks to add some more activity to their lives has the distinct probability of increasing their overall appreciation and value of their environment. Or at least that would be my hope!

It is only the most advanced employee health management programs that provide the facilities to help employees make the lifestyle changes required to transform their health, which might include gyms, clinics and various coaches and practitioners. However, even the most lightweight program can leverage the extensive resources available in the community to encourage physical activity, healthier eating and more environmentally-friendly living. I believe it can and should accomplish both goals of maximum health and minimum environmental impact.

Technorati: corporate social responsibility, blog action day, employee health management

The first thing I discovered is that this is a complex subject to search for! As with any internet search, the words you use in the search, the search engine and even the ordering of the words can affect the quality of what you find. In my not-so thorough search so far, I haven’t found much. If you search for “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) and “public health,” you mostly get references to articles that refer to a company’s responsibility to not damage public health. For instance, you’ll find an article that talks about the Woburn, MA case where leukemia in children was linked to contaminated municipal wells [PDF]. I think it’s obvious that companies should not be a danger or detriment to the health of the communities in which they operate. The question is, should they take part in the proactive health of that community?

The Center for Corporate Citizenship (another term for CSR, further confounding research) includes in its definition of corporate citizenship the statement that companies should be participating voluntarily to help solve social problems (such as education, health, ….). Right! As far as I can tell so far, it’s not happening.

Although many companies are starting to go so far as hosting clinics for their employees, there doesn’t seem to be any effort to expand the pro-active, lightweight and very effective methods (dare I say, naturopathic?) of employee health management beyond employee populations. The key factor in motivating companies to participate in CSR-related efforts is that they get something back: brand recognition, profit, productivity or some other identifiable return. The increase in the “greening” of corporations is currently teetering between responsibility to not damage the environment (think of giant smoke stacks) to being pro-active in achieving a healthier planet (utilizing renewable materials and energy, for instance). Going for the latter, companies advertise and market their greenness, and evidence is showing that there’s value in doing so.

Now, we have two more questions: 1) would corporations gain in some way by contributing knowledge, effort and technology to improving community health and 2) how would they do it?

It would take some rigor to answer both questions, but at this point, I think it would be worth a look. However, I’m not encouraged by what I’ve found so far. The National Business Group on Health defines itself as “the national voice of large employers dedicated to finding innovative and forward-thinking solutions to the nation’s most important health care issues.” Reading on the site, it appears the main point of this group is to share methods between companies and to serve as a voice in our nation’s capital, including working to “Counter Employer Coverage Mandates.”

The Partnership for Prevention (dig that name) sounds more promising. The group’s goal is to “seek to increase investment in preventing disease and promoting health and to make prevention a national priority.” Unfortunately, this again looks mostly like an organization focussed on influencing political policy:

Working closely with the Congressional Prevention Caucus, a bipartisan caucus formed in 1998, Partnership raises the level of knowledge in Congress about prevention and identifies strategies that can lead to a healthier nation.

Is this the way real changes are going to happen, by informing Congress? I do think that getting prevention in the minds of policy makers and into the agenda is a good thing to do. But where’s the action? Am I asking too much?

Technorati: corporate social responsibility, public health, employee health management

Your body was designed for throwing baseballs, shooting hoops, and jumping off diving boards and stuff. In the secret language of children, the word “fitness” doesn’t exist. It’s called “having fun.”

As I said before, “fitness” in some form or another has always been part of my life. I think it’s an important part of being a human being to make the most of this body. I’ve gotten flattering feedback from friends and colleagues that I influenced them to live healthier, more active lives. For me, the key keeping active, and heck, being happy in general, is to have fun doing it.

My favorite exercise is without question riding my bike, where I get out in the fresh air, see a variety of landscape and scenery, and have the opportunity to ride as easy or hard as I want. Sometimes I do go to the gym, but even there, I still enjoy it! That’s probably not a very popular idea. It seems most people who have a gym membership sign up with the hope that that will be motivation enough, but the fact that they don’t really enjoy that atmosphere overrides it and stops them from going. Gyms count on this behavior.

So why do big companies have gyms? My guess is that it’s the easiest type of facility to implement, and they likely get insurance rate discounts by having it. But maybe a gym is too elaborate. How about some frisbees? Or walking trails? Let people get creative. Again from the article:

Everything can be a game. Why slog through the same workout routines in boredom, when you can add a little fun?

Great point. What good is any routine if you’re not enjoying it? It won’t be much a routine for long if you stop doing it. Whatever exercise you do, keep the mission clear: have fun!

In one example, a diabetic who had been laid off and lost his insurance explained that he had to pay $400 for an office visit to get a four-month prescription. Rather than drop another $400 on a 5-minute office visit, he started ordering pharmaceuticals online from Mexico. Four hundred bucks for an office visit? Naturally, I wondered if this person had ever considered naturopathy, where he could likely get an appointment for $100-$150, would be treated like an entire person, would likely talk to the doctor for an hour or so, and would be able to take control of his own health. Previous and ongoing studies show that specific dietary and lifestyle habit changes have significant, positive effects as treatment for diabetes.

And that gets to my point. The story brings forth two possible ideas to help solve this problem: universal health care on one hand and bringing health care prices down to “reality” to reflect a more capitalistic market. Both ideas hover far above any one person’s reach. Whether either could work or actually occur involves uncounted person-effort and time. In addition, both ideas, and the many other related ideas currently being stumped and hailed, don’t even begin to commonly define or clarify the problem.

However, there exists a solution for each and every one of us. The solution requires no kind of doctor, no special prescription, no bending of laws, no acts of Congress, and no economic analysis. Say it with me: I own my health. I have within me the power to shape my life, my mind, and my body as I see fit.

Through small, incremental changes in nutrition, exercise, your job, and even your state of mind, you can take charge of your health and get it out of the hands of any ongoing debate. You’ll know that you are doing all you can to prevent any disease or sickness. Hopefully, you’ll get to a place where you think that health insurance should be like any other kind of insurance: an investment to deal with the now unlikely event of catastrophe. At that point, you’ll know that you’ve strengthened your body and multiplied it’s natural ability to maintain wellness.

a time when health literacy advocates around the world promote the importance of understandable health information.

The site includes listings of events, resources and a newsletter. I think the idea of helping regular folk obtain, process and comprehend health-related information is absolutely crucial to overcoming the increasing disease and cancer occurring today. I of course have to repeat the fact that one of the six principles of naturopathy is doctor as teacher. Naturopathic practitioners seek to enable each patient’s ability to take control of their own health and healing. Rather than quickly cover brief symptoms and rush you out the door with a prescription, the naturopath takes the time to understand everything that ails you, in your entirety, and will then take steps to enable you to overcome those ailments. In my mind, it’s always health literacy month for the natural healer!

However, I still like the idea of taking extra steps to raise awareness. The federal Health Resources and Services Administration has a page devote to health literacy here. In addition, there are tools such as Yahoo! Health, Google Directory Health, and Revolution Health with a wealth of resources and information. I haven’t spent much time on these sites to say anything about the quality of the content, but I like the support for empowered consumers taking charge of their health. The more knowledgeable the health consumer, the better choices of treatment and lifestyle can be made.

It will be distributed solely to American Indians; tribal wellness programs and tribal schools nationwide will be able to purchase the shoe at wholesale price and then pass it along to individuals, often at no cost.
…
The company anticipates selling at least 10,000 pairs and raising $200,000 for tribal programs.

Talk about a commitment to creating more athletes!

You might argue that Nike doesn’t have a peerless history, but I think the overall impact of the company is positive. How many people have been inspired to get out there and “just do it,” to get outside and get active? Coupled with good nutrition, consistent physical activity is the best way to shape, strengthen, and vitalize your body. There’s simply no better way to prevent illness than to enliven the athlete in your body.

I love to see efforts like this that target neglected niches in the world of health and fitness. I’ve seen a similar trend happening in the world of cycling over the last few years. I’ve been an avid cyclist for years now, and I make it my preferred transportation option as often as I can. When folks ask me about what bike they should choose for their style of riding, I always make the same point: make sure the bike fits. No matter how nice the bike, you won’t ride it if it’s not comfortable. Once upon a time, you could either get a beach cruiser or road racing bike. Nowadays, there are a dizzying array of bicycle designs, and more importantly, there are bikes made specifically for women or folks who are BIG and tall. Better yet, the number of custom bike builders only increases over time, giving the customer complete control over the fit, handling and utility of their bike (check out Sweetpea Bicycles for instance, which makes bikes specifically for women here in Portland).

Wait, what about that title? If you have a body, you are an athlete. At some point in high school, I realized that I wanted to always be an athlete in body and mind. In other words, I wanted to get the absolute best about both aspects of my development. I hope that others see this in themselves, too. I think that each person has the ability to define what “athlete” means in their own life, and to take the steps required to become that athlete. Until someone develops a pill to mimic exercise, being comfortable in your shoes or on your bike is requisite for you to develop an activity routine.

So cheers to you Nike, for helping another neglected population get out there and just do it. I hope it is a rousing success and influences other companies to follow your lead.

Discovered via BHIC blog

I recently updated the theme of this site to a very clean and simple skin that includes 2 columns over there —>. At the top of the left column is the RSS feed for this site. I’m using feedburner, which eases subscription for whichever online or off-line reader you use and also provides some tools and reports I can use. If you don’t know what I’m talking about with all this RSS acronym fun, the second link, New to RSS?, is for you. Next, is the link to subscribe by e-mail, where you’ll get each new post delivered to the e-mail address of your choice if you’d prefer that.

Next, we have recent posts, which is self-explanatory. Below that are the categories that I’ve used for my posts up to this point, and how many posts reside in each. Approach, for instance, will give you the complete series on a naturopathic approach to corporate wellness. Under tags are links to all my archives by date.

Lastly, I have two badge links: FAVE THIS BLOG TO TECHNORATI, and BOOKMARK. The Technorati link will save this blog to your Technorati profile. I have to admit, despite being a veteran blog consumer, I never used Technorati before I started this blog. Technorati is THE search and index engine for all internet blogs, so I’m going to have to play with it more. The BOOKMARK link allows you to save any page here on the blog to the social bookmarking tool of your choice (del.icio.us, digg, stumbleupon, …). It will save the page that you are on, so if you clicked a particular blog post, you’ll save that link. If you’re on the main page, then http://corporatenaturopathy.wordpress.com/ will be saved. If you’re viewing this via my feedburner feed, then you already see the delicious and digg links right there at the bottom of each post!

Now on to the right-most column. First is a search box, and below that is a list of recent articles that I’ve found that relate to the subjects here. Due to the many different ways that corporate wellness is named, I occasionally search for news with multiple sets of terms and save it here. Check back every now and then!

Scrolling down, I have a little blogroll going, with some inspiring and thought-provoking blogs that I think you’ll be interested to read. This list will surely grow over time.

Finally, I have two badges at the moment. The first is Blog Action Day, which is October 15th. On that day, any blog who wishes to volunteer will write about the environment, hopefully within the context of their usual subject matter. As naturopathy definitively urges you to return to nature, this will be an easy one for me. Don’t let me forget! Finally, the colorful butterfly is a meme started at the Helfgott blog:

The butterfly in this context specifically shows support for a universal health care involving compassionate health practitioners, who seek the root cause for suffering, who are educated with effective tools for treating sickness and suffering, who possess exemplary bed-side mannerisms, and who rely on treatment methodology that does not harm the patient.

I hope this helps, or at least got you to check more out!

As I’ve delved into the world of corporate wellness, I’ve found that there a lot of words for it. So far, I’ve discovered:

• corporate wellness!
• worksite health promotion
• occupational health
• workplace wellness
• employee wellness
• employee health management
• health and productivity management

And the list, no doubt, goes on.

Occupational health is probably the original place that the move towards corporate wellness started. As defined, occupational health focuses on workplace safety and therefore reducing and preventing anything that might be detrimental to the health of each employee. Over years, many companies have been able to build safety into corporate culture, therefore making it automatic. At my work, people call you out if you even motion to stand on a chair. My dad, who batches concrete, has to wear steel-toed boots even though he spends all day behind a computer. Many employees might whine about such measures being overbearing, but no one wins when an employee gets hurt at work: the worker loses income, the employer loses productivity and gains health cost, and the co-workers have to pick up the slack. The result of safety efforts, training and awareness campaigns is that employees pro-actively ensure workplace safety as a part of their job. I don’t think you could find a better measure of success than that.

As many companies experienced sterling safety records, they wondered what else they could do. The next logical step was to go beyond removing detriments to health and to help each employee achieve optimum health. Although a significant challenge, the quantifiable and uncountable benefits for the employee and the employer are immense. In addition, many factors are pushing employers in this direction. Although I’d like to believe that everyone wants to nourish their inner athlete, I know that the universal motivator for change is increasing: money. As health care costs rise at an accelerating pace, many companies are seeing their related expenditures rise into the billion$ and as a result, they are pushing those costs onto their employees. Besides that, the employer always loses when an employee misses work or cannot work at full speed due to illness. From their perspective, a healthy employee means a productive employee that brings their A-game to work on a consistent basis.

In the last decade or so, many companies have been able to create the culture of prevention that I’ve been talking about. However, we’re slow to see these effects spill into society as a whole. As companies help employees identify health risk factors, introduce healthy eating habits and provide better options in work cafes, and in some cases, provide facilities for fitness and physical activity, our health care dilemma only increases. Obesity, diabetes and cancer are marching strongly forward. Is it time that workplace wellness programs set bigger goals? Is this an avenue that the general health care community can use to achieve public health goals? Should public health encroach into corporate social responsibility?

This is a revolutionary possibility. Corporations have demonstrated that with a naturopathic approach to corporate wellness, employees can take charge and improve their personal health. The question now is, how can the methodologies and technologies developed by corporations to create a successful culture of prevention be applied to a wider community?

In my mind, naturopathic medicine is one answer, at least on a smaller scale. By definition, naturopathic doctors work closely with each patient to identify the roadblocks to their ideal health, to correct the root cause of those roadblocks by tapping into the patient’s innate ability to heal, and to move into a state of prevention and education about healthy living. Corporate wellness programs seek to do exactly the same thing.

In the end, maybe there’s a partnership here that can happen. While naturopaths can provide the knowledge and techniques to make preventive, holistic health the norm, the corporations can provide expertise and information technology to apply it on a bigger scale. Although corporations might see their successful wellness programs as strategic advantages to attracting the best and brightest, they could also realize that these programs could be applied to become a transformative force and asset to the health of the communities in which they operate. Although there might exist a number of preconceptions on both sides of this partnership, I think a lot could be learned with open discussion and debate.

In my approach to corporate wellness, all the previous principles I have applied have been shaped to help the employee achieve proactive wellness through prevention. The process flow now looks like this:

• employee clarifies their personal health goals
• employee realizes they hold the power and responsibility to reach those goals
• the program works with the employee to identify the root cause of what is hindering them from reaching their goals
• the program helps the employee take a 360-degree view of their internal and external health, to reach their goals in totality
• the program empowers the employee with knowledge and strategies to make their goals happen
• celebrate and share success! and now reset goals and continue the process again

This process positions the employee population to take charge of their health and foster a culture of prevention. Imagine a workplace where folks talked about how good they feel as opposed to how much they’re paying for prescriptions and how tired they are all the time. Obviously the workplace itself can attribute to such negativity, but if employees have already taken charge of their health, they’ll be that much more able and motivated to take charge of their work and the shape of their company. I don’t know about you, but I want to work with that workforce!

Within naturopathic medicine, doctor as teacher means that the naturopath realizes that it is up to the patient to take charge of their own healing. Knowing this, the naturopath then works to empower and enable the patient to follow a path that will maximize that healing ability. The naturopath acts as a catalyst for the patient’s wellness revolution.

Within corporate wellness, I think this means that wellness coaches and programs should endeavor to empower the employee with knowledge and strategies to make their self-defined wellness goals happen. This seems obvious, but I think the key here is to always realize that it’s up to the employee to make these changes happen. Therefore, pragmatic and actionable information is key. To provide libraries or indexes of already available information adds no value. But if proven, time-tested and simple strategies to help the employee make incremental changes in their routines are made available, then the more likely they will actually be applied. And better yet, provide the employees a forum to share their progress, challenges and successes with their peers. A little cheering and motivation goes a long way.

Within the world of corporate wellness, this principle can be applied directly. The wellness program should provide the employee the tools and expertise to identify and rectify any and all factors preventing their ideal health. This should include resources to improve physical and mental health, encouragement and strategies for lifestyle modification, and ideally, should provide emotional support through the employee’s evolution.

Companies must realize that employees are more than resources that complete tasks between 8am and 5pm. To foster a relationship that realizes the vast contributions that each employee can make to a company’s success, the company should partner with the employee for mutual success. In my mind, this means helping the employee achieve this holistic health. This way, the employee will not only perform better in their tasks, but their positive energy will infect their coworkers and help all achieve extraordinary accomplishments.

Any good doctor, no matter their treatment approach, should apply this principle when dealing with a patient’s problem. However, either due to social conditioning, lack of time, or simple lack of expertise, it doesn’t seem to be followed consistently in the medical community. In my own case, such treatment fortunately led me to discover naturopathy!

Late in the summer of 2004, I traveled to the Philippines to implement a new software system at work. Upon returning, I developed a nagging digestive problem: constipation. I tried some things on my own, but resorted to seeing the primary care physician that was assigned to me through my insurance. This doctor prescribed milk of magnesia, enemas and eventually even X-rayed my torso. All these treatments were focused on reducing the symptom of my problem, but got nowhere in stopping it for more than a day or so. Around this same time, a new teammate joined my cycling team, and his wife happened to be a naturopathic doctor. She spoke at a team meeting and I immediately sought out her help. And help I did receive! Through the use of homeopathy and mineral supplementation, we were able to root out my problem and restore normal digestive function.

Naturopathic physicians, by oath, work to address the fundamental cause of disease. They recognize that symptoms signify the body’s efforts to heal and therefore should not be suppressed through treatment. Further, they know that causes may exist within physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual planes, and will not assume any single cause simply due to symptoms.

How can this philosophy be applied to corporate wellness? Ideally, I think that wellness programs and coaches should go beyond superficial “risk assessments,” generic tips and documentation, or blood tests. They should spend the necessary time to work with each employee to determine what it is internally and externally that is keeping them from their ideal health. Although this will require more one on one time, it will further ensure the effectiveness of the program: the changes required to achieve wellness will be identified, and they’ll be applicable long term. Further, if the employee believes in the identified solutions, having taking part in the process of rooting them out, then they’ll feel more engaged in their journey to ideal health from the start.

At this point, I’ve explained that the process begins with the employee identifying their own vision of their ideal health. Next, the employee is presented with the fact that they already have the tools in their own life to achieve their desired result. Now, we dig into the employee’s life and ask, what is it in your life that is preventing you from achieving your health goals? Could it be: nutrition, lack of exercise, disorganization at home/work, clutter, relationships, old habits, self-image, stress, pressure, time, support? What small step can made today to start to change that?

In the context of corporate wellness, I think this translates to the need to recognize that each employee has within themselves the power to shape their own health. As with first do no harm where I explained that you want to allow the employee to clarify and envision their own ideals of wellness, here you want to show them that the path to this vision already lies within them. Through small lifestyle changes that the employee either never placed enough value to finally pursue or that they simply didn’t recognize they could change, leaps in health can be achieved. Such changes might include food choices, quantities and timing; integrating exercise into routines; or adjusting life routines and schedules to allow for more “me time.”

Previously we asked, what is your picture of your ideal health? Now we ask, what changes can be made to get there? What would you do if time and money were limitless? How can we remove those factors and make those activities possible?

• First do no harm
• The healing power of nature
• Identify and treat the cause
• Treat the whole person
• Doctor as teacher
• Prevention

How can we apply these principles to corporate wellness? I believe that the approach that these principles guide could be very effective in combating our most pressing public health issues such as diabetes and obesity.

To begin let’s look at First do no harm. This principle is shared across all forms of medicine from different perspectives. In naturopathy, this means that therapeutic actions should complement the body’s natural healing abilities to correct the root cause of an illness rather merely suppress the symptoms of that illness.

Within the environment of workplace health promotion, I think this perspective can be utilized in a unique way. Here, First do no harm suggests that you must not project your own idea of wellness onto each employee. Do not “harm” their psyche by presenting the idea that their wellness is something you, as a coach, can directly change. Instead, work with each person to clarify and define their own idea of wellness, based on their own personal values. From there, provide them with information and tools and support and encouragement to make the gradual lifestyle changes that might be necessary to reach their personal health goals. Overall, rather than fixing what you perceive as their opportunities to improve their health (symptoms), you can work with them, within the boundaries of what they find important and feel capable of, to better their life in a way they feel empowered to affect (the root cause).

Related to this, Scott McStravic has written a great series of articles at the World Health Care blog, starting with Healthcare Providers as Health Managers: Credibility Issues. Scott explains that hospitals are hamstrung by “both the inherent conflicts of interest between what makes revenue sense given their dependence on sickness care revenue and what is needed to succeed in employee health management, and their reputations as high-cost providers.” In his other articles, he also tackles cost, continuity, clock (time) and convenience as challenges for health care providers in employee health management. Conversely, companies that utilize in-house wellness programs overcome those challenges nearly automatically:

• Cost: employer-provided programs achieve economies of scale. The company can tailor programs to meet clear and specific goals, and have the flexibility to shape the implementation of the program accordingly. Plus, although return-on-investment can be difficult to calculate, employers clearly benefit from a healthier workforce.
• Continuity: employers have an interest in retention and long-term investment in their employees, so again, they can be flexible in building programs that might be quarterly or yearly, or in some cases, driven by the employee and their own personal health goals.
• Clock: Scott presents here the idea that our society, as a whole, is not good at “lifetime health management.” Although employers are dealing mostly with folks in the “working prime” of their lives, there’s no doubt that the effects of healthier lifestyles can be contagious to the whole family.
• Convenience: what could be more convenient than wellness at work?

In my view, the advantages of employer-provided wellness programs and management are clear. But the question remains: how do employers overcome problems with trust in getting employees engaged in their personal health?

Further, I’m going to investigate corporate wellness, which goes by many names, such as employee health, worksite health promotion, and more. In a nutshell, I define corporate wellness as the deployment of programs in the workplace to help employees with health risk identification and wellness improvement. It can range from simply providing online tools and resources for health, to nutritional counseling and coaching, all the way to providing a gym and medical center.

I believe that corporate naturopathy is the logical way that corporations, in particular, should view the health of their employees. The benefits can include both measurable financial savings and immeasurable effects such as reduced absenteeism and more engaged employees. And certainly much more to come!