Posts from — September 2010

Medical screenings are important health promotion programs to identify chronic condition in their early stages. Once identified, wellness intervention programs can help prevent a disease from progressing.

Working with local hospitals and other corporations, you are able to obtain information on providing screening and intervention programs that could improve your employees’ health and save your business money in absenteeism, treatment for disease complications, and decreased productivity.

Here are some ideas to help get you started.

Based on your Employee Needs and Interest Survey and the demographics of your workplace, consider offering periodic screenings to find specific health risks like -

o  Blood Pressure Checks to identify workers with pre-hypertension or hypertension (high blood pressure),

o  Cholesterol Screenings for total, HDL (good cholesterol), LDL (bad cholesterol) and/or Triglycerides

o  Blood Sugar Screenings fasting or non-fasting to screen for possible diabetes,

o  Body composition, like Body Mass Index (BMI)  or body fat measures

o  Bone density for potential risk of osteoporosis,

o  Cancer screenings such as, skin evaluations, mammograms, or PSA screenings,

o  Vision checks for glaucoma, or visual acuity

o  Other screenings depending on your employee population and needs

Your local hospital, business doctor practice, or health department my provide assistance. Notwithstanding, if you’ve a young workforce you might want to concentrate on health promotion programs that will keep them healthy rather than screening for early identification of chronic illness.

The focus of your health promotion program could  be healthy lifestyle practices to reduce risk and prevent disease.

In addition to the biometric testings, consider offering a Health Risk Assessment (HRA) to all personnel.  The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) will help to identify factors that may lead to additional risks, such as use of tobacco history, stress levels, perception of health, family history, job satisfaction, support systems, and psychological health.

Oftentimes the screening results are included on the Health Risk Appraisal, which provides a more robust snap shot of health risks.  The summary results provide the important information to plan appropriate interventions.

Wellness Program Interventions

The key to the success of screenings and Health Risk Appraisals (HRAs) is the interventions or follow-up programs.  The information from the screenings increases awareness and often excites personnel to consider making healthier changes.

It’s the follow up interventions that provide the essential support and assistance needed for workforce to actually make and maintain those changes.

The interventions can include individual follow-up and ongoing counseling, individual or group health coaching on the risk factors, behavior change programs, and/or organizational support. Examples include -

o  Strategies to lower blood pressure

o  Managing diabetes

o  Taking care of your heart

o  Healthy eating

o  Weight loss strategies

o  Increasing physical activity

o  Tobacco use Cessation

Of course, this is for individual information only. Any follow-up interventions planned by the company would be based on interest expressed by the staff member.

Based on the results and your Wellness Committee objectives you are able to plan the best strategies for your business and workers. Consider the community resources available to provide services, such as health associations, hospitals, healthcare providers, and/or public health agencies.

HRAs, are an assessment tool or questionnaire scientifically designed to identify health risks and outline information to assist individuals in making healthy changes that impact their health and prevent chronic disease.

Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) have four standard elements in worksite settings -

o  A Questionnaire

o  A Computerized Program to Evaluate Health Risk

o  Confidential Individual Reports

o  Group Summary Report

Person complete a lifestyle questionnaire that includes for example nutrition practices, height and weight, exercise habits, family history, stress perceptions, use of tobacco history, and work satisfaction.

Another important feature to consider is readiness to change questions to determine participation interest. Including medical screenings like cholesterol and blood pressure (BP) causescreases the benefits of an HRA by providing a more exact health assessment and hence improving lifestyle option decisions and health promotion program choices.

Nevertheless, it’s crucial to determine when the HRA can be used without including this information.

The questionnaire information is entered into a computer program and an individual confidential report is generated that summarizes health risks in addition to information on how to lower risk factors.

Individual reports are completely confidential. Depending on the reason for starting the Health Risk Appraisal, it is imperative that you consider the type of report the corporation will receive as well.

A group report summarizing major risk factors and recommendations for wellness programs to begin for reduce worker and business risks provides valuable information for your wellness program.

The HRAs could be used to -

o  Bring awareness to individual worker’s health status

o  Motivate workers to make healthier lifestyle changes

o  Coach high-risk employees

o  Plan wellness programs based on the identified needs

o  Evaluate health promotion program success by comparing Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) completed at set intervals such as yearly.

There are many benefits to considering a part-time or full-time occupational and environpsychological health nurse (OHN). Occupational health nursing is the specialty practice that provides for and delivers safety and health programs and services to staff, and employee populations.

The practice focuses on promotion and restoration of health, prevention of illness and injury, treatment of work and non-work related injuries and illnesses, and protection from work related  and environmental hazards.

OHN roles can include –  Case management, Counseling, Wellness, Legal and regulatory compliance, Clinical services, and Hazard detection and controls.

The American Association of Occupational and Environmental Health Nurses is the national association, www.AAOHN.org.  The State Chapter also has a website with information including local chapter information to help you find a contact near you, www.NCAOHN.org.

Health educators can design, conduct and evaluate activities that help enhance the health of all your workers. They’re subject matter professionals who may  be a asset regardless your health promotion program needs and objectives.

They can help form a Health Promotion Committee and implement many of its health promotion programs and services, for instance or depending on the structure and time commitments of your Health Promotion Committee, they can also coordinate the entire health promotion program as well.

Integrating the activities of the Committee and/or Health Promotion Expert services within your operations, including within your safety and occupational health program will provide additional benefits!

We’re planning company wellness programs to help you feel better and stay healthy. In order to plan wellness programs that best meet your needs and interests we would like your suggestions!

Please take several minutes to answer some questions about your interests. Your answers are going to be combined with those of other’s and reviewed to help plan wellness programs for you. Do not sign your name.

Please complete the survey today and return it to__________. Thank you for your valuable input! Your help is important for planning successful wellness programs. Return the completed form by _____________.

Rate your interest on a scale of 1 â.” 3 with one (1) being of little or no interest; two (2) being of some interest and three (3) indicating that you are very interested. Indicate your response by circling or “Xing” the number.

I’m interested in -

Participating in wellness programs before work 1 2 3

Participating in wellness programs after work 1 2 3

Participating in health promotion programs during my lunch break 1 2 3

Learning healthy eating choices to lose weight 1 2 3

Sports nutrition 1 2 3

Healthier cooking 1 2 3

Helping my children eat healthier 1 2 3

Quick, healthy meals for busy life choices 1 2 3

Healthful snack options 1 2 3

Learning how to quit use of tobacco 1 2 3

Attending courses to help me quit use of tobacco cigarettes 1 2 3

Stress Mangement skills 1 2 3

Balancing work, family, and personal life 1 2 3

Time management skills 1 2 3

Participating in a beginning fitness program 1 2 3

Planning time to exercise for busy individuals  1 2 3

Getting medical information that I can read or watch at home 1 2 3

Learning about cancer prevention 1 2 3

Heart health choices 1 2 3

CPR and First Aid 1 2 3

Team sports activities at work 1 2 3

Learning how to stretch 1 2 3

Learning how to raise intake of fruits and vegetables 1 2 3

Parenting Topics (age of kids –  ) 1 2 3

Onsite exercise classes –  walking Yoga aerobic other –  1 2 3

Health screening such as blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar 1 2 3

Program analysis could  be the last step, but it ought to be planned at the beginning of your efforts! Analysis assists you identify what parts of the health promotion program are working well and what parts need improvement.

Then, based on the investigation data, adjustments could be made to fine-tune your wellness program.   Adjusting the wellness program based on investigation data is crucial to its continued success.

Investigating your wellness program doesn’t have to be complicated.  HOWEVER, it’s imperative that you plan how you will monitor your wellness efforts and determine success during the planning phase.

Moreover remember to evaluate the wellness program based on the goals and goals you already identified during your planning process.

In order to evaluate your health promotion program you need to have a system to document specifics as you go along.  This could be as simple as maintaining file folders on health promotion programs that are offered, or a computer document with a table or spreadsheet summarizing information gathering.  Consider -

o  Program topic and numbers of workforce who participated

o  The numbers of flyers taken by staff members or distributed and on what topics

o  The number of participants in a behavior modification program and how many met their goals as well as how many attended all of the sessions

o  Numbers of staff who continued the healthy behavior change following the health promotion program?

o  Overall staff member satisfaction with the health promotion program or each topic. Here’s a sample analysis form.

Depending on your objectives and objectives, gather desired data and compare it to previous data collected during the initial assessment to determine if the objectives were met.  Such data might include

o  Absentee rates

o  Injury rates

o  Health risk factors Insurance costs

Summarize and Report Health Promotion Program Results

Once you’ve accumulated all the investigation information it needs to be reviewed with the Wellness Committee and summarized. You’ll probably have positive results and some areas where a change is needed or additional focus required for continuous improvement.

This not-so positive information could be used to make any needed changes as well as to plan for next year and is crucial to include in your report.

It’s crucial that you communicate the wellness program results to both executive management and workers.  Consider how executive management usually receives reports on operations and productivity issues and include the annual wellness program report in the same format.

At some organizations the reports are made during senior management meetings using presentation styles such as power point slides.  At other organizations, graphs and bar charts are the norm or a list of the goals and the summary outcomes reported.

No matter the format, it’s important to convey the outcomes and successes achieved, including any anecdotal stories, in addition to areas for improvement. Make sure to link the outcomes to the corporation mission and bottom line whenever possible.

Employees want to receive the same information!  Consider using the same communication channels used when informing workforce of the wellness program -

o  Corporation newsletters,

o  Bulletin boards,

o  E-mails

Also consider celebrating successes and recognizing achievements by -

o  Posting pictures from events

o  Highlighting success stories

o  Posting pictures of successes

o  Scheduling a celebration

o  Recognizing champions

Armed with data, Wellness Program topic preferences, objectives, and objectives â.” and a Wellness Committee rearing to get things done â.” it’s now time to decide how best to take action.  This website provides tools to help you!

You can peruse about the different kinds of wellness programs offered by other corporations to get an idea of what may work for your business.

When your planning phase was well executed, you should simply have to follow through with the plans you have already made.

Important Health Promotion Program considerations include -

1. Formally Introduce the Wellness Program and consider policy statements that state the importance of the wellness program.  Examples include a general policy regarding the commitment to worker safety and health in addition to specific policies such as No Tobacco use, Healthful Consuming and Exercise.

2. Communicate Your Program –  the best planned wellness program with great wellness programs will not be advantageous when your workers do not know about it or do not understand the choices or how to participate.  Communicate your wellness program using a variety of methods to ensure the message and “how-to’s” are heard!

Wellness Program Communication Strategies could include -

o  Newsletter articles

o  Postings on the corporation’s intranet or internet

o  A designated Champion of the wellness program

o  Formal or informal meeting to announce health promotion program, “the kick-off”

o  brochures / table tents,

o  Bulletin boards / kiosk where all material is promoted or found,

o  Email / phone messages,

o  Mailings or distributions

3. Use Wellness Program Incentives –  You’ll be amazed to find out what individuals  will do for a free T-shirt.  Incentives can both support and motivate participation among employees.

Consider both formal or business incentives and informal or wellness program rewards/prizes from local resources to reinforce participation in Health Promotion Programs. Either way, it is important to provide incentives that are attractive and meaningful to your personnel.

Corporation Structural or Formal Wellness Program Incentives -

o  Discounts on staff member health insurance premiums or co-pays, or contributions to 401K programs, staff member stock choices, or other mechanisms.  Click here for additional information on health plan incentive ideas

o  Health Club/Health Club discounts or enrollment fee coverage

o  Public transportation vouchers

o  Flexible work time options

o  ”Health Promotion Days” off work

Rewards/Prizes or Informal Health Promotion Program Incentives -

o  Cash â.” a very effective incentive!

o  Prize incentives such as gift certificates to heart healthy restaurants; music player to use while exercising, emergency kits, or any other prizes that would motivate your workers.

o  T-Shirts, water bottles, or other low cost rewards

4. Assess community resources available to provide some of the wellness services.  The local health department or your corporation healthcare provider might  be able to assist you with this information.  There are also providers throughout the State providing excellent wellness services for organizations. They’re available to help you strategize and find the best choices available.

5. Implement your health promotion program as planned documenting information and outcomes as you go like numbers of participants, dates of activities, and any other special details you are tracking.

The Health Promotion Committee should set out a plan for the entire year that outlines accomplishing goals and goals, in addition to provides details for marketing and advertising and analyzing  the health promotion program.

The plan is the detailed map of what types of wellness programs are going to be offered, when and where they’ll be scheduled, how they’ll be marketed and examined, and what the budget is.

It is crucial that you plan your wellness activities based on your goals and goals, as well as the budget since different strategies will yield different outcomes.  For  instance, if your objective is to elevate awareness on a topic, then distributing handouts or scheduling a one-time education session might  be appropriate.

Notwithstanding, when your goal is to change behavior, then different strategies might  be necessary, like ongoing weekly sessions and support groups.  Click here to link to Program Design Choices for more ideas.

Health Promotion Program Advertising

This is the time to plan your marketing strategies! Exactly how can you market the wellness program and ongoing activities?  No matter how you decide to, market often, keep it fresh, and remind employees again and again!

Consider having an overall kickoff activity to let everybody know about the health promotion program. Executive Management should provide the introduction or invitation so that all staff are cognizant of their support and leadership in the health promotion program.

Possible advertising methods -

o  Sending email messages, including reminders

o  Posting flyers,

o  Displaying bulletin board postings,

o  Writing articles,

o  Sending letters or

o  Sending special invitations.

Other Health Promotion Program Considerations -

o  Is the wellness program promoted to all staff members or to a specific target audience?

o  Do you have a health promotion program champion (someone who is connected with different groups in the company, and well respected) who can help in your promotion efforts?

o  When your advertising and marketing efforts don’t seem to be working, do you have a way to revisit and adjust your strategy?

o  Just how will you determine success and evaluate your wellness program?  and how’ll you collect the information needed to evaluate your wellness program?

Topics most often included in Wellness Programs -

o  Nutrition

o  Exercise/Exercise

o  Tobacco Use Cessation

o  Bone Health

o  Heart Health

o  Healthy Back

o  Stress Reduction

o  Chronic Condition Awareness and Prevention

o  Self-care; Wise Healthcare Consumer

o  Screening Services (Body Mass Index, blood pressure, bone density, cholesterol, glucose, posture, vision, and otherâ..)

o  Ergonomic Assessments

o  Wellness Fairs

o  Kids/family Events

o  Others topics that workforce have interest in

The topics and kind of Health Promotion Program planned depend on the needs and interest, overall goal and resources available.

Program Design Options include awareness programs like flyers and/or education sessions, behavior modification or modification programs like use of tobacco cessation and losing weight classes, and environmental or organizational support like no use of tobacco policies or healthful selections in vending machines.

The health promotion programs planned also depend on the demographics of your workforce. If you’ve a young, healthy workforce, you might want to focus the wellness attention on keeping staff members healthy and not need to screen for illness.

Instead you might want to focus on healthy lifestyle behavior like exercise and good nutrition to prevent the start of disease.  Click here for additional information on strategies for keeping workforce well, identifying disease early, or returning workforce to work who already have a chronic illness.

It’s also crucial to consider, and plan how you’ll evaluate the success of your health promotion program.  The system needs to be established for tracking certain data and recording events depending on the health promotion program objectives and desired outcomes.

Step 7 discusses health promotion program analysis in more detail.   and Step 6 will launch your health promotion program!

A Health Promotion Program without goals and goals is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you won’t know where you are going, how to get there, what you want to do once you’ve arrived, or even whether or not you’ve arrived!

The trip might end up ok, or it may end up disastrously.  Yet, with a little thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a successful experience.  Clear goals and goals are needed to plan your health promotion program to ensure success!

Wellness program goals and goals are different from one business to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources. Notwithstanding, well thought out goals based on your organization’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a successful health promotion program!

Wellness Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Health Promotion Program.  The mission statement is the overall expression of what the Health Promotion Committee wants to accomplish by implementing a health promotion program.

It’s important to consider how your Health Promotion Program fits in with the company mission statement, contributes to the overall mission and supports the company bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the company operations.

Here are some examples of Wellness Program mission statements -

At XYZ Corporation, maintaining an environment that supports employee safety and health is our underlying value. It’s the mission of the Health Promotion Program to assist in developing wellness services that fosters and upholds that value.

It’s the mission of the XYZ Wellness Committee to foster healthier lifestyle options to reduce health risk factors, improve overall well-being, and maintain a productive, active work force.

Health Promotion Program Goals

The objectives and objectives further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, upper management expectations and worker interests, examples of objectives can include -

The goal(s) of XYZ Health Promotion Program in year XXXX is to –   (one or more of the following examples)

o  Reduce absenteeism by one day per worker

o  Lower musculoskeletal injuries by 10%

o  Decrease unnecessary emergency room visits

o  Decrease or contain healthcare costs

o  Improve dietary habits of employees

o  Reduce health risk factors

Health Promotion Program Objectives

Specific Wellness Program objectives help meet your long-term objectives and vision.  Both short term and long term objectives must be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the objectives and mission.

In addition to objectives for the expected participant outcomes, process objectives should also be developed for the health promotion program process itself.  For  instance, process objectives could include how many employees you want to take part in the health promotion programs, how many sessions on a topic will be offered, the kind of wellness sessions that’ll be implemented, etc.

Goals need to be easily measurable within a set time frame. Attempt using the SMART formula to create both your long and short-term objectives and objectives -

o  Specific (one behavior or outcome)

o  Measurable (one result that can be observed or investigated),

o  Attainable (but also challenging),

o  Realistic (do you’ve the resources to achieve?), and

o  Time specific (within 3 months â.” up to 5 years)

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  For  instance, an objective for a weight reduction program that has an overall goal of improving healthy consuming and promoting a healthy weight is that -

Participants (who) will lose an typical of .5 â.” 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) after the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per participant (attainable and realistic).

Or -

Participants (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier consuming change at the end of the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of an objective for coaching staff with elevated cholesterol might  be -

To reduce the sum cholesterol (specific what) of high risk workers with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions offered at the workplace (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic and time specific when) to lower the risk factor for heart disease (why).

And one last example of a process objective for a smoking cessation program with an overall goal to assist participants in committing to quit for life -

By the end of the 4-week smoking cessation program, 10 percent of the participants will have quit smoking.  Each participant will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process objective) and 10 percent of those who quit will still be smoke free after one year.

You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including establishing your Wellness Committee. It’s now time to plan your wellness activities!

Before you begin planning your Health Promotion Program you need to know where you’re now and then decide where you want to go.  Completing a thorough needs assessment is critical to the success of your wellness program for two reasons -

o  First it ensures that your health promotion program activities will be targeted to meet your corporation’s specific needs so that outcomes could be achieved.

o  Secondly the needs assessment provides the information you’ll need to evaluate the effectiveness of your health promotion program.

It is often tempting to rush the assessment – specifically when time is limited or those with experience already have an idea of needs. Do not give in to this temptation!

It is crucial to understand what your company needs are, what senior management expects, and what staff want in addition to expect, before you develop a wellness program.

Consider and gather data on -

o  Demographic Information

o  Health Risk Factors

o  Medical Claims

o  Injury Rates and Causes

o  Workers’ Compensation Claims

o  Short and Long Term Disability Claims

o  Absenteeism

o  Culture Audits

o  Employee perceived needs and health risks

o  Management expectations or desired outcomes

There are lots of ways to assess this information. While some of data collecting process might  be time consuming, remember that it’s nevertheless essential to plan health promotion programs that target specific issues.

This information are going to be crucial to set goals and for evaluating  wellness program success. How else can you know if outcomes have been achieved?

Options to help gather the health promotion program information -

o  Confidential HRAs with a Company Group Summary Report click here for additional information on HRAs or Assessments

o  Medical Testings such as cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar click here for additional information on medical screenings.

o  Employee Needs and Interest Surveys

o  Suggestion boxes placed around the corporation

o  Focus Groups or hosting a luncheon meeting as a focus group

o  Sending out a confidential email questionnaire

o  Review records and databases including OSHA logs, first aid reports, insurance costs

Once your needs assessment is complete, the Health Promotion Committee can review the results and begin planning and prioritizing wellness program choices.

Developing ought to be based on goals and identified outcomes, Step 4 of the seven step process!

Establishing an active Health Promotion Committee provides opportunities for both upper management and employee involvement in the health promotion program.  The Committee should be a team of workers and managers who formally meet to plan activities to promote healthier employee lifestyles.

Typical Functions of a Wellness Committee -

o  Investigating needs and interests

o  Brainstorming health promotion program ideas

o  Planning activities

o  Developing communication plans

o  Promoting wellness programs to coworkers

o  Serving as champions of the Wellness Programs

o  Helping with evaluation

Your Health Promotion Committee ought to be representative of all levels of the business.  Consider all areas of the workforce â.” multiple sites, shift workers, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.

It’s also important to consider who will chair or co-chair the Health Promotion Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support a wellness manager or occupational health professional, even on a part-time or contractual basis.  Click here for additional information on the benefits of a health professional.

Depending on your company size and resources, when you already have a company Safety Committee you may want to consider making it the Safety and Wellness Committee.  You can request volunteers or invite workers to participate.

The number of Health Promotion Committee members depends on the size of your company; nevertheless, you need enough members to get the work done and yet not too many to keep it manageable, normally a minimum of 4 members and maximum of 12 to 15 members.

It’s important to include skeptics of wellness as well and not just those staff members already practicing healthy lifestyles.

Depending on your worksite, consider representatives from the following areas -

o  Employee representatives from a cross section of different departments,

o  Upper management ,

o  Health and safety expert(s),

o  Human resources (HR) expert(s),

o  Benefits staff or someone from finance,

o  Your staff member assistance program (EAP) provider (if applicable), Click here for additional information on EAPs

o  Medical or occupational health staff (if applicable).

Establish an effective Wellness Committee!  the Wellness Committee should meet regularly with a planned agenda and action items.  Successful Wellness Committees have a shared mission, vision and objectives.

Members need to believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated, that their work is important, benefits the organization and colleagues, and they’re recognized for their contributions. Refer to the NC Workplace Programs section for examples of what other organizations have implemented.