Stories are the way that humans make sense of the world. When your colleagues ask you about how you spent your weekend, you don’t start with facts and figures. You tell them stories.

Most employers offer some form of wellness benefits. From on-site health screenings to personal health coaching, employers are acknowledging the need for wellness. But many corporate wellness programs never reach their full potential.

Incentives for Nondiscriminatory Wellness Programs in Group Health Plans. Not exactly what you had in mind for some light summer reading, eh? You probably won’t be toting the 123 page Affordable Care Act (ACA) final wellness regulations document with you to the beach, but it’s still critical that workplace wellness programs understand the changes. You can read the full ruling here but we’ve summarized a few key things so you can still enjoy your summer.

How many times have you found your employees reacting in an irrational, fearful or overly emotional way to wellness or benefit announcements? This type of response happens to all of us from time to time, and much of it can be explained by looking at a small but important part of the brain: the Amygdala.

Everybody knows that Chuck Norris is invincible, right? There is nothing that Chuck Norris can't do. And there's a good chance that you've heard a few jokes like: His strength makes Superman look like a wimp. He carved Mt. Rushmore with his teeth. He’s counted to infinity - three times. He doesn't wear a watch because he simply decides what time it is. He can even slam a revolving door.

Summer and sunshine go hand-in-hand. But all that carefree summer fun means more exposure to the sun's UV rays. Sun exposure has been linked with melanoma and skin cancer. May is National Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month and it's a perfect time to raise awareness among your employees. 

You're busy. We get it! Wellness practitioners and HR professionals must juggle daily operations, budget, industry trends -- not to mention changing the health and in turn, lives, of your employees. You're making a real difference in the world but sometimes you need a little pick me up. 

Can you imagine how now nice it would be if your stakeholders could get a snapshot of the overall health of your company's wellness initiative in less than 15 seconds? Well then, consider creating a data dashboard.

Health risk assessments (HRA). Health appraisals. Personal health assessments. Well-being assessments. Whatever you call them, they are valuable tools for measuring the key drivers of health and risks for future illness.

More than half of workers say they don’t know enough about their company’s wellness programs to participate in them according to a 2012 Colonial Life survey. Yet well­ness programs only work if your employees par­tic­i­pate.