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How to 5X Your Workplace Wellness Program
“The basic fact is that people are not getting healthier, unhealthy people are not as productive and they cost companies money, so it’s important to impact as many people as we can.” – Alex Haschen
In today’s episode of Healthcare Simplified, we spoke with Alex Haschen, Personal Trainer and head of Wellness Adherence at BurnAlong. Alex has a robust background and he can enlighten us on the current marketplace state of wellness ad nutrition, as well as BurnAlong’s role.
Background
Alex did not see himself being involved in Wellness at first. He started out at school working towards a degree in business marketing. However, once he graduated, his path changed when he realized that he loves health & wellness. That is when he transitioned fully into personal training for the past 7 years focusing primarily on behavioral change and employee wellness.
“I love to be able to simplify it down so people can digest it a little easier” said Alex when talking about his passion for all things health.
Corporate Mindset Regarding Wellness
Studies have shown that when a company is healthier, employees are happier, more productive and MUCH cheaper to insure.
That’s why it’s no surprise that wellness is on everyone’s minds. Employers are striving to have a healthier workforce, become more inclusive, and have a better return on investment. However, no matter what they do, their workforce is not getting any healthier.
The corporate mindset is becoming increasingly over complicated. “The industry is spitting out new methods of accomplishing goals every day that are masqueraded as revolutionary but they all share the same fundamental makeup” Said Alex. For the most part, all of these methods come back to just eating whole foods and moving a little bit more. The problem is that there is so much information being pushed and there has been a lot of over exaggeration of both positive and negative behaviors. This is creating lack of confidence for people that are trying to navigate this personal health landscape.
Another large problem is that HR pros have the daunting task of making decisions for whole populations. When trying to decide what is best for their entire workforce, it can be very difficult and this can cause them to push off the decision or make decisions that won’t be as effective on an individual level. Wellness programs need to be about action. If there is no call for action involved, then change is not going to be likely.
BurnAlong
Technologies like machine learning, AI, mobile apps, wellness gamification and social rewarding the site/app BurnAlong is transforming workplace wellness.
BurnAlong is a health & wellness video platform that focuses on wellbeing and social motivation. The platform includes a website and an app and provides individualized media content to people. BurnAlong offers health videos from five-minute stretches to do at your desk to hour-long workouts. They also cover nutrition, mental health, financial health, life coaching and more.
BurnAlong focuses on 3 main aspects of wellness.
1. Choice
There are tons of topic options to choose from, so each participant can focus on what is best for them and can create an individualized plan for themselves based on what they want to change and work on.
2. Social Motivation
The BurnAlong app has created a way for each participant to find people will hold them accountable. Participants can create groups and watch video together.
3. Guidance
BurnAlong will give participants suggestions to help them guide them through their own personalized wellness journey.
While the BurnAlong platform is all about creating an individualized program for the user, it can be utilized for corporate wellness programs as well. The App include administrative support and can be used to create corporate wellness challenges as well as incentives wellness participants. Employers can also create schedules for classes and stream them in the office to create group activities on-site for their workforce.
When companies use BurnAlong they see big increases in wellness participation.
End-User Experience
If you would like to try BurnAlong for yourself, go to www.burnalong.com and sign up.
First, you will create an account and tell them why you have joined (what are your goals). Then just start exploring. Find groups, check out all the content, and start creating your perfect wellness schedule, all without having to deal with the dreaded “Gym Stare”.
This blog is based off of our Healthcare Simplified podcast. To hear this episode, and many more like it, you can subscribe to Healthcare Simplified by clicking here.
