Corporate employee wellness programs are now going beyond free flu shots and discounted passes to a local gym.

Locally, businesses are incorporating more efforts to address Oklahomas high rates of obesity and chronic weight-related conditions.

To receive the designation, companies have to show documentation of policies, procedures and programs available to their employees to support a healthy lifestyle. As of February, more than 750 businesses statewide have Certified Healthy status.

Although some components, such as a smoke-free workplace policy, are standard for Certified Healthy businesses, Julie Dearing with the Center for the Advancement of Wellness has noticed an emerging trend that brings in an unexpected ally: the office vending machine.

While representing the Certified Healthy program at a conference, Dearing was approached by a representative of a vending machine company who had multiple Oklahoma-based clients shift their offices offerings toward nuts, sunflower seeds and other healthier pre-packaged options.

That weve got companies giving that push to vending machine vendors and then have the distributor come up and talk to me about it is something, she said. If the demands not there for healthier items, theyre not going to supply them.

Dearing said she has also noticed more businesses start subsidizing personal fitness trackers and encouraging step count contests to get their employees moving more during the day.

With an estimated 20 percent of American adults experiencing depression or other mental health issues, more employers nationally are starting to take a holistic approach.

The National Business Group on Health is a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of large companies on national health policy issues and works with those companies to manage and improve health care for their employees.

LuAnn Heinen, the organizations vice president for workforce well-being, productivity and human capital, primarily works with larger companies and has noticed an uptick in organizations attempting to address mental health.

To bring stress levels down, meditation and mindfulness training via mobile apps are gaining popularity, she said.

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Additionally, more companies are taking steps to help employees access counselors at work.

What were seeing is that some companies are bringing their counseling services on site and having them set up shop in the clinic, she said. You go in through the same door, and no one knows if youre there for mental health services or a flu shot.

Several employers are also expanding their wellness programs to address issues that can lead to stress and reduced efficiency at work, including financial problems.

If you cant pay your bills, its going to take up so much mind space, making it hard to be productive, she said. Its potentially a big distraction.Nationally, about 30 percent of companies offered subsidies or discounts for pedometers or other fitness wearables in 2016.

Weve got companies that are being creating and using whats out there in terms of technology to demonstrate that OK, Im going to invest this extra $150 in you, but you need to show me that youre keeping your step goals up, she said. And employees are doing it because they see the value its reciprocal.

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Employee wellness: More employers taking holistic approach to wellness - Tulsa World