Resources

The National Drug Hotline at (844) 289-0879 is available 24/7. You can call for yourself or your loved one. Seeking help for yourself, a friend, or a family member can make a big difference.

September is National Recovery Month. Recovery Awareness Month, often called National Recovery Month, is a nationwide observance held every September in the United States. Its primary purpose is to increase awareness and understanding of substance use disorders and mental health issues, celebrate the achievements of those in recovery, and promote the availability and accessibility of treatment and support services. This month-long campaign helps reduce the stigma associated with addiction and encourages individuals to seek help and support.

The Importance of Raising Awareness

Reducing Stigma. One of the significant hurdles individuals with addiction face is the pervasive stigma associated with their condition. Recovery Awareness Month seeks to break down these barriers by fostering empathy and understanding. Educating ourselves and others about the nature of addiction can help reduce the shame and judgment that often prevents people from seeking help.

Encouraging Help-Seeking. Awareness campaigns like Recovery Awareness Month highlight the importance of seeking help. Many people struggling with addiction may not be aware of the available resources or may be reluctant to ask for support. By providing information and showing compassion, we can encourage individuals to take the first steps toward recovery.

Celebrating Recovery. Recovery is an ongoing process filled with small and significant victories. Recognizing and celebrating these achievements during Recovery Awareness Month boosts the self-esteem of those in recovery and inspires others. Success stories can instill hope and motivation.

Ways to Support Someone Battling Addiction

According to the United States Department of Human and Health Services, 46.3 million Americans are struggling with or have struggled with addiction. Making it likely that you, or someone you know, has been affected by addiction. Continue reading for ways to support someone in your life who is battling addiction, which can be a lifelong journey, and ways to care for yourself so you can continue providing support.  

Educate Yourself. Understanding the nature of addiction and recovery is fundamental to offering practical support. Knowledge equips you with the tools to empathize better and assist your loved one.

Seek Professional Help. Addiction is a complex issue that often requires professional guidance. Encourage your loved one to seek treatment and therapy and consider attending therapy yourself to navigate the emotional challenges.

Attend Support Groups. No one should face addiction alone. Support groups are available for both those battling addiction and the loved ones affected. These groups provide a safe space to share experiences, exchange coping strategies, and find solace in the shared journey.  

The Addiction Group website offers resources to find the right group for you.  

Practice Active Listening. Being there for your loved one means offering a non-judgmental and empathetic ear. Active listening allows them to express their thoughts, feelings, and fears without fear of criticism.

Promote Healthy Choices. Encourage your loved one to adopt healthy habits and activities supporting recovery. Physical fitness, mindfulness practices, and creative outlets can be beneficial.

Celebrate Milestones. Recognize and celebrate your loved one's progress and milestones in their recovery. Acknowledging their achievements is a powerful motivator, whether a day, a week, a month, or a year of sobriety.

Self-Care Strategies While Supporting Someone with an Addiction

“To Take Care of Others, Start by Taking Care of Yourself”

To begin, make sure you are prioritizing self-care. Caring for yourself is not a luxury; it's a necessity, and at specific points in our lives, our self-care strategy needs to go beyond face masks and bubble baths.  

Here are some tips for providing yourself with extra support.  

Build a Support System. Seek support from friends, family, or support groups for loved ones of individuals with addiction. Connecting with others who share similar experiences can provide solace and understanding.  

Set Realistic Expectations. Understand that recovery is a process filled with ups and downs. Be prepared for setbacks and maintain realistic expectations for your loved one's journey.

Manage Stress. Develop stress management techniques such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, or yoga to cope with the emotional challenges that may arise.

Keep Personal Goals. Don't neglect your own goals and aspirations. Maintaining a sense of purpose and accomplishment outside your caregiver role is essential.

Utilize Your Available Resources. Many companies have EAPs available to provide the extra support we mentioned. Wellworks For You offers learning series such as “Addiction and Recovery” and “Family Trauma and Recovery,” which aim to provide insight and education into the recovery process.  

Monitor Your Emotional State and Ask for Help When You Need It. Pay attention to your emotional state, and watch for repeated feelings of depression, overwhelm, and burnout. The amount of support, or “self-care,” you require will fluctuate. At times, the above options may be the right balance, and at other times, you may require professional help. Be sure to ask for help,  

Recovery Awareness Month in September is a vital reminder of the struggles individuals battling addiction and their loved ones face. Remember that regardless of how you are being affected by addiction, you are not alone. Resources and communities are available to help you navigate this challenging journey.  

Resources:

If You Are Struggling with Addiction

• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): SAMHSA’s National Helpline | SAMHSA
• To Find Narcotics Anonymous Meeting Near You: NAWS : Find a meeting  
• To Find an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting Near You: Alcoholics Anonymous (aa.org)

If You Have A Loved One Struggling with Addiction

• To Find a Families Anonymous Near You: Find A Meeting – Families Anonymous
• To Find an Al-Anon Near You: Al-Anon Meeting Search - Al-Anon Family Groups

Despite increased awareness of the risks of smoking, a recent study revealed that almost 20% of adult employees smoke during work hours. Why do they smoke? Nicotine can produce a calming or pleasant effect that many claim, “calm the nerves.” Others may say that smoking helps to keep them awake during work. No matter the justifications for smoking, research proves that nicotine, whether absorbed through smoking or vaping, is harmful to the body. By helping employees find tools and techniques on how to quit smoking, employers can help promote improved health in the workplace, reduce expensive medical costs, and more.

Five Ways to Educate and Empower Employees on How To Quit Smoking

Many people, employers included, are curious about the most successful way to stop smoking. Like many things, there really isn’t one win-all solution. At Wellworks For You, we recognize that the best smoking cessation program for the workplace needs to be one that addresses the specific needs of each individual.

As an employer, offering a smoking cessation program for the workplace is a wonderful way to demonstrate support for employee wellness, reduce illness and modifiable chronic diseases, and can end up saving money on expensive health premiums and healthcare costs.

Ready to help learn about how to quit smoking? Here are a few ways to help employees find their personal method toward quitting vaping and smoking:

1. Resources and Reliability
   To add a level of transparency and authenticity, offering employees personal testimonials of success stories about quitting smoking can be a source of inspiration and encouragement. In addition to shared real-life experiences, providing the aid of a personal health coach who specializes in smoking cessation provides an accountable, reliable resource for employees seeking to kick a nicotine habit.
2. Power in Numbers
   Working as a group has a tremendous impact toward reaching wellness goals. A group setting invokes camaraderie among coworkers joined in the common endeavor to quit smoking.
3. Individual Challenges
   Some personality types are well-suited to solo challenges. In these instances, a smoking cessation program can be customized on a personal level. Rewards when particular milestones have been accomplished are often positive and successful motivators for individual-minded employees on the pathway to quit smoking.
4. Medications
   Medication may be helpful in certain scenarios based on the longevity and amount of nicotine used by certain employees. Those who have smoked large quantities of cigarettes for a number of years may potentially benefit from aids to stop smoking, such as nicotine replacement, or other types of supplements or medication designed to reduce cravings.
5. Behavioral Therapy
   Certain therapeutic modalities, such as cognitive behavior therapy, has been shown to be effective in helping individuals to stop smoking.

Quitting Smoking Saves More than the Life of The Smoker

While eliminating nicotine helps reduce the likelihood for developing a preventable chronic disease and adds benefits such as improvement in teeth, gums, and lung health, when a nicotine user ceases to smoke, even more advantages occur, including:

• Lower chance of bad breath
• Elimination of second-hand smoke around coworkers
• Increase in pocket change
• Stronger immune system
• Better cardiovascular health

If you’d like to learn more about how to help employees quit smoking, Wellworks For You can help. In addition to offering customizable smoking cessation programs, we also have a diverse range of programs to help newly non-smokers to continue to improve their health, such as health risk assessments, fitness and nutrition, education and ideas, and much more.

Please contact us any time at sales@wellworksforyou.com or call us at 800-425-4657 for more information.

Read how a Wellness Program can leverage onsite biometric screenings and Wellworks For You Know Your Number health risk assessment to help organizations reduce employee health risk.

A Southeastern U.S. County health plan was experiencing rapidly rising medical claims. While the county had an existing employee wellness program, they were seeing much higher than the national norms for diabetes/ prediabetes, metabolic syndrome, and body composition.

Working in the field of hospice care in South Carolina, a client came to Wellworks For You in 2016 ready to help their employees and spouses make lasting health improvements. The employer offers gym membership discounts, diabetic counseling, and onsite biometric screenings performed by a local health system.  

The initial health concerns for this company included:

• Weight Management
• Poor Nutrition Habits
• Health Education
• Diabetes Prevention and Management

Within the first year, Wellworks was able to identify this client's high-risk categories and implement our unique wellness approach.

A leading San Antonio-based health system, which has been providing healthcare throughout South Texas since the early 1990s, was experiencing rapidly rising health insurance claim costs for their employees. The health system needed to reduce health insurance claims. To accomplish this, they understood they needed to implement a wellness program. They required a wellness program with an easy-to-follow process, coupled with a HIPAA-compliant secure online portal and health coaching to assist employees to improve their current lifestyles. Wellworks stepped in to offer a comprehensive wellness solution to meet all of their needs.

A leading manufacturing company based in Texas was facing a weighty challenge with failing employee health. The company CEO began to notice an increasing trend in unhealthy lifestyles among employees. With above average rates of obesity, hypertension, cholesterol, and depression among employees, the CEO wanted to make a change by providing and promoting a culture of wellness. The CEO also wanted to include rewards for those who actively participated in wellness to incentivize change. The company knew they had to look beyond their own expertise and abilities to make this happen and turned to Wellworks for help. 

A leading integrated healthcare delivery system serving more than 100,000 residents in central Kentucky was in search of a wellness program for their 1,500+ employees. While the company had an existing wellness program, they needed more engagement from their employees to make positive lifestyle changes. The company had implemented incentives for wellness and offered smoking cessation programs. Even so, they were experiencing an increase in claims, and health risks were much higher than national norms for diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol, stress, and body composition. The company reached out to Wellworks For You for a solution.