Toolkit for Employers

Employers and other groups can implement training programs on preventing chronic pain in workplaces, employers and health plans will improve mood and relationships, increase productivity, reduce absenteeism and disability, reduce health care costs, and enhance recruitment and retention of employees and plan members. You'll implement a program for preventing chronic pain in employees or health plan members. Each Employer Toolkit includes staff training seminar for implementation, secure on-line personal assessments for each employee or member, on-line self-management assessment and training program, and access to pain preventing tools for employees. You will also receive a letter of appreciation, a certificate that authenticates your important role in the transformative health care revolution, and can become part of the Preventing Chronic Pain Network with access to information, tools, and resources for preventing chronic pain.

The overall goal of this Toolkit is to help health plan members, employees, and their families understand how to reduce chronic pain risk factors such as repetitive strain, stress, and injury as well as implement daily activities such as protective posture, specific exercises, and pacing that can prevent chronic pain.

The impact of chronic pain in the workplace is the most expensive conditions since it leads to high health care costs, missing work, loss of productivity, disability, and other consequences. By implementing a program to prevent chronic pain in the workplace, employers will improve mood and productivity, reduce absenteeism and disability, reduce health care costs, improve productivity and enhance recruitment and retention of employees. Since pain is a universal experience, it is a great hook to encourage both safety and wellness activities by employees.

The impact of chronic pain within families including children can lead to many personal issues such as interference in daily activities, lower school performance, depression, conflict, and poor relationships. There are many risk factors at home and within families that may contribute to the development of chronic pain. By implementing a program to help people of all ages prevent chronic pain can have a major positive impact on improving quality of life.

Once a health plan or employer enroll in the program, they can easily offer employees, plan members and their family participation in the program via access to a secure website. Simple instructions for 8 weeks of training with an optional use of a health coach are offered for preventing chronic pain. Each Toolkit includes:

1. Staff training: One day seminar to facilitate understanding and implementation
2. Personal Assessments: Secure on-line personal assessments for each employee
3. Self-management training: 8 week on-line training programs to reduce risks and enhance protective factors
4. Resources: Books, handouts, and pain preventing tools for members and employees
5. Health coach: Access to health coach for people to achieve goals. (cost separate)

Implementing the Toolkit includes a 5-step process:

1. Leadership buy-in
2. Team development, setting goals and planning
3. Assessment
4. Marketing and implementation of programs
5. Evaluation

The goal of the two-day in person staff workshop is provided to support employers in implementing a preventing chronic pain training program in the workplace. The two-day seminar and workshop includes:

1. The chronic pain dilemma
2. Principles of transformative care
3. Implementation team goals and planning
4. Use of technology
5. Use of support and health coaching
6. Implementation of training programs with employees
7. Ongoing evaluation of outcomes

Results from studies of wellness programs show that the return on investment in the company’s most important asset, the employees, will result in about a 6 to 1 return regardless of the size of the company. In addition, employees with the highest number of preventable risk factors for chronic pain, cost 8 times more than low risk employees and the goal of work-site wellness programs as a way of creating a healthier more successful workforce. For example, implementing wellness and pain prevention programs have

1. Reduced employer healthcare costs by 20 to 55%
2. Increased employee productivity on the job by 9%
3. Reduced absenteeism and disability by 14 to 19%

With chronic pain being the top health care and work loss cost driver, implementation of training programs for preventing chronic pain make sense for both the well-being of employees and profitability of the company.

Order your toolkit at Toolkits