CDC Jumps Into Wellness Game

The wellness business is hot, and Uncle Sam wants in.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is about to hold a series of free webinars to launch the National Healthy Worksite Program.

The CDC recently hired Viridian Health Management L.L.C., Phoenix — a private, for-profit wellness firm founded in 2005 — to run the program.

Viridian, a company formerly known as Diversity Wellness L.L.C., will be organizing groups of up to 15 employers in 7 different regions in an effort to help CDC researchers evaluate the effectiveness of worksite wellness programs.

The CDC will hold the first webinar for employers interested in participating in the program Dec. 20 and hold several more webinars in January 2012.

The wellness program Viridian would help an employer develop would include:

• An assessment of employer and employee needs, interests, health risks and existing capabilities.
• A wellness program planning and development process.
• Help with implementing programs, policies, and practices designed to address risk factors related to physical activity, nutrition, and tobacco use.
• Help with building wellness committees and creating the kind of leadership needed to keep the program going over the long term.
• Training and technical assistance.

A typical program could include a change in worksite smoking rules, changes in the food choices available through worksite cafeterias and vending machines, and promoting work schedules that help employees exercise more, officials say in a notice published today in the Federal Register.

The program will not provide grants or other direct financial assistance for participating employers.