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As we get a firm foothold on the new year, we wanted to offer an additional look at some workplace wellness trends for 2017 (other trends can be found here, here, and here).

The round of insights comes from Future of Business and Tech, which writes that “employers are searching for ways to improve the productivity of their business. They are also concerned about the health of their business and their people. The reality? They’re one and the same.”

Important trends to consider:

• Place greater emphasis on sleep: “Employers are getting wise to the impact of sleep loss on their business… Wellness programs can encourage better sleep habits through healthy sleep routines, which can have an enormous impact on productivity and overall well-being.”
• Continue to stay on top of wellness regulations: “Employers that offer wellness programs that collect employee health information will now be required to inform employees of what information will be collected, how it will be used, who will receive it, and what will be done to keep it confidential.”
• Embrace new technologies: “There is also a unique opportunity for wellness programs to serve as a sort of “hub” in terms of coordinating health care and access to resources for all your employees.”
• Focus on total well-being, not just physical health: “Wellness programs that address both the physical and emotional well-being of employees — the mind-body connection — can provide a means of addressing overall health that is truly holistic. A corporate wellness solution like Interactive Health addresses emotional health using their clinically-based, proven approach in order to foster your employees’ physical and emotional health outcomes.”
• Give back to the community: “Offering company-supported wellness programs with activities that serve the community can create an added incentive for your employees to adopt healthy behaviors because the activities benefit more than just the individual.”
• Create a healthy work environment: “By focusing continued efforts to create programs within the office environment improve on your actual worksite and the design of the workplace, you may be surprised to discover you have higher rates of employee engagement and healthier behaviors in the office, resulting in improved health outcomes overall.”