Elon University
PAE-T2-5: Employee Wellness Program

Elon University’s Faculty and Staff Wellness Center offers holistic programming for Elon University employees and retirees as a work place benefit. The mission of the wellness program is to promote a culture and climate where faculty and staff can become more engaged in healthy lifestyle behaviors through the provision of health and wellness resources, programs and information. The university believes in a holistic approach to wellness which enhances work/life balance for our university community. The Faculty/Staff Wellness program offers services such as medical provider appointments (to treat minor illnesses such as flu, colds, etc.), lab and wellness screening tests, massage therapy, an employee assistance and counseling program through the local hospital and a smoking cessation program. Wellness activities offered include educational lunch and learn sessions, movement classes (Zumba, Yoga, Pilates, Weight Lifting) and wellness challenges, such as an annual pedometer competition program. Elon Wellness has also partnered with the university’s health insurance provider, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC), to provide a program called Healthy Outcomes. Healthy Outcomes gives employees the resources they need to live healthier and make healthier lifestyle choices delivered through an informative, easy to use website. The wellness program was a finalist in 2013 for Best Practice by SACUBO (Southern Association of College and Universities Business Officers), and staff from the Wellness Office presented a program at SACUBO’s annual conference. A report released in summer 2012 by The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area ranked the Elon University Faculty and Staff Wellness Center as best in class among employers with 500 to 1,499 employees. The report, entitled, "Healthiest Employers," was compiled by national research firm Healthiest Employer LLC and measured Wellness programs in the Triad on six key areas: culture and leadership commitment, foundational components, strategic planning, communications and marketing, programming and intervention and reporting and analysis. Wellness services have greatly impacted Elon’s health insurance costs. As evidence of the success of the Wellness program in controlling costs, there has been a 33% reduction in laboratory costs and a 49% reduction in emergency room costs.