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Top stories from the February CVS/pharmacy® Wellness Newsletter!

 Wellness programs continue to evolve into 2016, challenging employers to keep things fresh. This edition of the CVS/pharmacy® Wellness Newsletter focuses on using rewards and incentives to encourage healthy behavioral changes, resources on how to maintain engagement and secure long-term program success, CVS news and more.  Read below for more on what this edition has to offer.

Smoking at work is not what it used to be. In the days of Don Draper, it was something everyone did, all the time, whether they were at work or home. Now, it's difficult to find a restaurant that even has a smoking section. According to a recent SHRM study that addresses smoking at work, employers have smoking cessation programs on their minds. According to the survey, 47% of responding employers restrict their employees smoking in some way during working hours.

Staying healthy at work isn’t always easy. With anywhere from 8-10 hours in the office, healthy snacks at work are a must to keep employees energized and focused. So what are the best healthy snacks for the office? SnackNation reached out to 40 health experts, from nutritionists to dietitians, and asked them “What are your favorite healthy snacks to keep at the office (or wherever you work) and why?"

This year marks the 10th anniversary of CVS's decision to stop selling tobacco products, a bold move that transformed the company's role in public health. When CVS first made the decision in 2014 to remove tobacco from its 7,800 stores, the move was seen as controversial by some but groundbreaking by others. Since then, CVS has evolved from a retail pharmacy chain to a healthcare leader, and its commitment to public health has been underscored by significant research and industry recognition.

Health screenings are lifesaving techniques that are designed to find certain chronic diseases before a person begins to exhibit any signs of illness. In the U.S. alone, early detection health screenings save over 100,000 lives per year. The majority of healthcare providers also cover these screenings at no additional costs to members when in-network options are applied. In recent years, employer wellness programs have focused on obtaining a baseline biometric screening on employees. Employers use these baseline biometrics and then, once a member is engaged in applying and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, employers can use additional health screenings as a way to properly incentivize their employees. Our newest white paper, Rewards for Action: Building a Healthier Workforce through Early Detection, provides 10 critical preventative health screenings that can save lives.