A workplace wellness calendar is a useful tool for companies and employers to manage employee health and wellness. Share a wellness calendar with the management team and employees can build connections between them and offer transparency of information around corporate wellness programs. It also demonstrates the organization’s faith in maintaining the whole company healthy and prospering.
Prepare for a good start in 2023 by developing a strategy to incorporate appropriate health observances in your workplace throughout the year.
Know about health observances
Health observances are events that are aware of both nationally and globally to promote things about various aspects of health. It contains information from learning about common health topics to developing good habits or quitting bad ones. By including health observances in your wellness calendar, you can educate, engage, and raise awareness about major health issues in your company.
Apart from educating the public, wellness events also raise awareness of a certain health issue or cause. This social event can help you address common health and wellness issues while maintaining a sense of connection with each other.
The importance of health observances
Health observances are a great way to bring people together for a wellness-related topic that matters to you and your employees. They give you a chance to provide educational materials and enhance your entire corporate wellness program. Employees can manage their health and make their wellness journey visible by improving overall awareness. Employees will feel encouraged, motivated, and driven to act toward change while socially connected in this program.
Health observances combine awareness, education, and social interaction to maintain health and well-being at the forefront of your employees’ thoughts all year.
We recommend that you use these dates as a key strategy to improve your wellness program.
How can I include health observances in my corporate wellness program?
After introducing the background, how do you make use of health observance days in your corporate wellness program? Let’s start making a simple wellness calendar.
What is a workplace wellness calendar?
A workplace wellness calendar is a yearly corporate schedule used to highlight important events, activities, and programs related to health and wellness. Employees will be informed about what health programs the company offers throughout the year and how they can participate. Important dates, activities, tips for health, and any other available wellness programs can be found on calendars.
A wellness calendar is an excellent method to raise awareness of wellness that are important to you and your employee. Pick the dates that are related to your company culture and employees’ values and arrange some events accordingly. Furthermore, you can highlight healthy habits that you want to promote, such as highlighting Gratitude Month in November.
Tips for building a workplace wellness calendar
Work and rest
Employees are more likely to participate in wellness activities if they are designed and published properly. We suggest scheduling pauses between various fitness programs and being aware of any busy times of the year in your business. By having breaks, you’ll also offer people a chance to get pumped up for the next event while preventing burnout.
Balance
Maintain a balance in how you engage employees in health-related activities. Combining a variety of activities, challenges, and wellness events can keep things interesting and fresh. To ensure that your yearly health schedule is comprehensive and robust, plan and prepare ahead of time.
Focus on communication
The way you communicate with your employees will make a significant impact on the effectiveness of your health program. Consider which channel is most likely to be effective in reaching people at your company. Email, Slack or WhatsApp, company portals, company calendars, and fliers are a few examples. Design and create your wellness calendar in a motivating, clear, and concise way.
Relevance
Don’t forget to check that the wellness calendar you’re developing is relevant to your employees. Employee participation and passion are both increased when the themes are interesting and useful. Before you start, it’s a good idea to ask people about their interests in health and wellness to make sure you’re going in the correct direction.
What should be included in a wellness calendar?
Include specific dates while creating your yearly wellness calendars, such as health benefits details, workplace holidays, and fitness challenge dates. Additionally, we recommend arranging a variety of health observances you wish to celebrate during the year and putting together a well-balanced calendar of ideas!
Combining a health observance day with a fitness activity or an intentional communication approach might be effective. This may be the best strategy for encouraging employees to take part in health and fitness events.
Here are some creative ideas you may use in your workplace:
Run a fitness challenge
A fitness challenge is used to inspire employees to move and take actions that improve their health or help them form good habits. We suggest that run a challenge that lasts for a month to maintain participants motivated and engaged.
Step challenge is the most popular company fitness challenge type in the workplace. It’s easy to create and manage. People compete to see how many steps they can get during the challenge period. Pacer for Teams is a useful platform for you to start your office step challenge in minutes.
One-day health event
A one-day health event is a quick and effective way to raise awareness of a specific topic. Inform everyone in the company before the event, so that people can prepare for it well.
For instance, encourage a cycling-to-work day on September 22nd, which is World Car Free Day. Employees can switch to eco-friendly transportation to get to the office. Exercising while promoting environmentally friendly concepts.
Some companies have R U OK DAY to host some health activities, such as meditation sessions, therapy, and massages. These short activities reduce employees’ anxiety and show them that the company cares.
Build a virtual adventure
Virtual adventure is a virtual route on a map, participants race to finish while immersing themselves in the world’s most famous locations or the places related to your organization. Unlock new locations along the map as participants progress through the challenge. Each new location is a chance to immerse themselves in the virtual experience and learn about local landmarks, history and culture.
For example, employees usually get tired at the end of the year. Creating an interactive fitness challenge can help people keep motivated while having fun. Pacer for Teams provides more than 50 pre-designed routes for you to choose from, and you also can plot your own route to create a unique route for your employees.
Fundraiser for a charity purpose
A fundraiser is a good approach to implementing wellness initiatives while improving health awareness. Share a charitable topic with your employees and get support from them. Design a fitness event that can help attract attention and raise money for that purpose.
February 4th is World Cancer Day, contact a local cancer charity and organize a 10K walk or run to let people pay more attention to it and raise money for people who are suffering from cancer. Employees will get more active and engaged because they know they are doing something good for society.
Share useful information
Communicate with your employees! If you do not have the time and budget to run a fitness event, sharing useful wellness reminders is another good point that can be included in your calendar. Communications can help you share more health-related information as well as show the company’s support for employee wellness.
For example, May is Mental Health Month, you can run some psychological tests for employees to help them know the situation of their mental health. Create printable and digital materials to promote this topic. Employees can learn from the materials how to deal with stress, and what to do when they feel down.
Health Observances in 2023
Here are the health observances in 2023, find the ones that are fit for your company to enrich your corporate wellness program.
January
Month
National Mentoring Month
Walk Your Dog Month
Day
January 21 – National Hug Day
January 23 – National Reading Day
January 31 – Give Kids A Smile Day
February
Month
Boost Your Self-Esteem Month
Heart Month in the USA
Low Vision Awareness Month
Week
February 7 – 13 – African Heritage & Health Week
Day
February 3 – Go Red for Women
February 2 – Time to Talk Day – United Kingdom
February 4 – World Cancer Day
February 7 – Send a Card to a Friend Day
February 17 – Care Day
March
Month
National Nutrition Month
National Save Your Vision Month
Workplace Eye Wellness Month
Week
March 12 – 18 – National Sleep Awareness Week
March 13 – 19 – Brain Awareness Week
March 14 – 20 – Nutrition and Hydration Week
Day
March 4 – Employee Appreciation Day
March 18 – World Sleep Day
March 20 – International Day of Happiness
March 22 – World Water Day
April
Month
Move More Month
National Autism Awareness Month
National Donate Life Month
National Interprofessional Health Care Month
Occupational Therapy Month
Week
April 3 – 9 – National Public Health Week
Day
April 1 – Walk-to-Work Day
April 7 – World Health Day
April 22 – International Mother Earth Day
April 28 – World Day for Safety and Health at Work
May
Month
Better Hearing and Speech Month
Global Employee Health and Fitness Month
Healthy Vision Month
May Measure Month
Mental Health Month
National Physical Fitness and Sports Month
National Walking Month – United Kingdom
Skin Cancer Prevention Month
Week
May 7 – 13 – North American Occupational Safety and Health Week
May 14 – 20 – National Women’s Health Week
May 21 – 27 – Healthy and Safe Swimming Week
Day
May 21 – World Meditation Day
May 26 – Don’t Fry Day
May 26 – Heat Safety Awareness Day
May 31 – National Senior Health & Fitness Day
June
Month
Men’s Health Month
National Safety Month
Week
June 12 – 18 – National Men’s Health Week
June 26 – 30 – World Well-being Week
Day
June 5 – Cancer Survivors Day
June 10 – Family Health & Fitness Day USA
July
Month
UV Safety Month
Week
July 29 – August 5 – Love Parks Week – United Kingdom
August
Day
August 4 – Cycle-to-Work Day – United Kingdom
August 7 – National Aged Care Employee Day
August 18 – Never Give Up Day
September
Month
Fruits & Veggies – More Matters Month
Healthy Aging Month
National Food Safety Education Month
National Preparedness Month
National Recovery Month
National Yoga Awareness Month
Pain Awareness Month
Whole Grains Month
Week
September 18 – 22 – Malnutrition Awareness Week
Day
September 5 – International Day of Charity
September 21 – Get Ready Day
September 22 – World Car Free Day
September 27 – National Women’s Health & Fitness Day
September 29 – World Heart Day
October
Month
Health Literacy Month
National Physical Therapy Month
Week
October 1 – 7 – Mental Illness Awareness Week
October 12 – 20 – Bone and Joint Health Action Week
October 15 – 21 – National Healthcare Quality Week
October 16 – 20 – National Health Education Week
October 23 – 31 – Red Ribbon Week
Day
October 1 – World Vegetarian Day
October 7 – World Smile Day
October 10 – World Mental Health Day
November
Month
Movember – National Men’s Health Awareness Month
Day
November 6 – National Stress Awareness Day – United Kingdom
December
Month
Safe Toys and Celebrations Month
Week
December 2 – 8 – National Hand-washing Awareness Week
December 20 – January 5 – Festival of Winter Walks – United Kingdom
Day
December 1 – World AIDS Day
Workplace wellness calendar sample
Here is a sample of the workplace wellness calendar we come up with. You can use the information above to design your own one.
January
Step into the New Year! A step challenge to inspire people to get active and pay attention to health at the beginning of a new year.
February
Fundraiser for Cancer Patients. Raise awareness of cancer prevention and join a fundraiser run to help cancer patients.
March
World Water Day! Take part in a mini challenge to raise awareness of the 2 billion people living without access to safe water and remind everyone to keep hydrants in the workplace.
April
No physical events this month, but health-related tips will be shared via email.
May
R U OK? Join us in a meditation session, therapy, or a 15-min massage onsite. Mend brains and minds by removing and reducing stress.
June
All Sweat, No Rest. Prepare for an active summer and take a 5k run to get ready for the hot days.
July
Adventure begins. Try your best to finish a virtual route on the map. Travel the world virtually and get fitness at the same time.
August
Wellness fair. Local vendors and businesses will come to the office for a day of discussion about nutrition and fun workplace health activities.
September
Cycle-to-work challenge. A great way to promote wellness while also reducing pollution.
October
Break.
November
Daily step goal challenge. Finish a daily 10,000 steps goal as many days as you can. A good habit starts now.
December
Join a virtual adventure – Rovaniemi! Let’s celebrate Christmas!
What’s next? Give feedback on this year’s wellness program and share your ideas on what we can do in the next year.
Start your workplace wellness challenges today
Pacer for Teams can help you create a variety of company fitness challenges and plan long-term corporate wellness programs for your company. Pacer for Teams is a virtual platform to easily create, launch, and manage corporate step challenges. Companies and organizations use fitness challenges to improve people’s health and wellness in the workplace.
Participants use the Pacer Pedometer & Fitness app to access their corporate step challenge and track their physical activity on all devices. Participants access their daily activity data on the app.
Want to start your corporate fitness program right away? Try the most powerful step challenge app! Start a 14-day free trial with Pacer for Teams today.
Source
National Health Observances https://health.gov/news/category/national-health-observances
Awareness Days https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/
