WORKPLACE

Workshop Wellness Forum: Twenty companies turned out last week to a Worksite Wellness Forum in Irvine sponsored by Health Net, a health maintenance organization based in Woodland Hills.

Carolyn Kashian, supervisor of Health Net’s 2-year-old wellness program, said the company presented the results of a survey of 270 employers who had expressed interest in learning more about providing their employees with health education. She said 32% of respondents said they had established wellness programs.

Kashian said Health Net clients in Orange County that offer wellness programs to their employees include Archive in Costa Mesa, Parker Hannifin in Irvine, Hughes Aircraft in Newport Beach, the city of Huntington Beach and McDonnell Douglas in Huntington Beach.

Employers in the survey said they were interested in the free and low-cost services offered by Health Net and nonprofit community organizations such as the American Heart Assn., American Lung Assn. and March of Dimes.

The services that employers selected as most desirable included hand-out literature on topics ranging from exercise to weight control and diabetes, cholesterol screening and smoking cessation programs.