Employee Wellness Newsletter : Employee Health Screening Programs

Health risk assessment programs ought to be carried out on a one-on-one basis by trained healthcare professionals. Health risk measures ought to include the following:

• Blood Pressure (BP) measurements – at least two Blood Pressure (BP) measurements taken during the screening episode, using a mercury sphygmomanometers or regularly calibrated aneroids.
• Blood Pressure (BP) treatment status – ascertain whether the colleague is under a doctor’s care, on any medication, on a prescribed diet, or any other type of treatment for hypertension.
• Blood cholesterol measurement – total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol taken either using a properly tested and maintained table top blood analyzer providing immediate feedback to the client, or sending blood to a laboratory providing feedback using a method that is as effective as immediate feedback.
• Cholesterol treatment status – ascertain whether the client is under a doctor’s care, on any medication, on a prescribed diet, or any other type of treatment for elevated cholesterol.
• Obesity – utilize an accepted method for estimating obesity. By way of example assess participants height and weight and use the 1959 Metropolitan Life Height/Weight charts or use Body Mass Index.
   o Identify people 20 percent or more above their ideal weight.
• Smoking status – evaluate whether the participant currently smokes cigarettes, whether the client has quit or never smoked, and the number of cigarettes smoked/day.
• Exercise habits – evaluation questions may be limited to frequency and duration exercise. Do participants exercise in a moderately vigorous fashion at least three times per week for 30 minutes or more.
• Diabetes – whether the client has diabetes, and whether or not it is currently under control. A blood glucose may be also done via finger stick and desk top analyzer. Several manufactures make available cassettes which include blood lipid and glucose measurements.
• Cerebrovascular disease or occlusive PVD – evaluate if the client has had a stroke or other kind of blood vessel disease.
• Family history of cardiovascular disease – ascertain whether any of the participants’ parents or siblings had a heart attack or sudden death due to heart disease before age 55.
• Coronary heart disease – evaluate if the client has had a heart attack or other sort of coronary heart disease.
• Stress – attendant’s assessment of stress in work and/or personal life. A series of well-tested and validated questions assessing levels of stress are available from the Worker Health Program.
• Participant release form (see forms) – A release form is necessitated in which the colleague authorizes the program to draw blood for testing to send information to the colleague’s health care provider if health care risks are identified, and to get information from the provider about diagnosis and prescribed treatment.
• Participant interest survey – if an assessment of interest has not been collected previously, the evaluation exercise must evaluate levels of interest in programs such as: weight management, tobacco cessation, fitness or exercise, stress management, diet, self-care, cholesterol control.
• Health education messages – the screener must review with the colleague his/her identified health risks and what they mean to the colleague’s central health, and give the colleague a written record of the Blood Pressure (BP), total cholesterol, and any other physiological measures taken.
• Referral of participants for treatment – participants with elevated risks must be referred to appropriate sources of diagnosis and possible treatment following nationally or locally recognized guidelines for such referral.

Demographic information must include location of the evaluation, worksite, client’s name, address, social security number, work and home phone numbers, sex, race, birthdate, relevant job information (e.g., hourly or salaried), department number, and work shift.