Employee Wellness Newsletter : Health Risk Appraisals / Health Risk Assessments

Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals, are an assessment tool or questionnaire scientifically designed to identify health risks and outline information to support  Americans in making healthy changes that effect their health and prevent chronic conditions.

Health Risk Appraisals / Health Risk Assessments have four standard components in worksite settings:
• A Questionnaire
• A Computer Program to Evaluate Health Risk Factors
• Confidential Individual Reports
• Group Summary Report

Staff Members complete a lifestyle questionnaire that includes for example nutrition practices, height and weight, exercise habits, family history, stress perceptions, smoking history, and work satisfaction. Another important feature to consider is readiness to change questions to determine participation interest. Including health screenings such as blood lipids and Blood Pressure (BP) results increases the benefits of an Health Risk Appraisal / Health Risk Assessment by offering a more accurate health assessment and therefore improving lifestyle choice decisions and program options. Nonetheless, it is important to determine if the Health Risk Appraisal / Health Risk Assessment can be used without including this information.

The health risk questionnaire information is entered into a computer program and an individual confidential report is generated that summarizes health risks as well as information on how to cut risk factors. Individual reports are fully confidential. Depending on the reason for implementing the Health Risk Appraisal / Health Risk Assessment, it’s valuable to consider the type of report the business will receive as well. A group report summarizing major risk factors and recommendations for programs to implement in order to cut employee and business risks supports valuable information for your wellness program.

The Health Risk Appraisals / Health Risk Assessments can be used to:
• Raise awareness to individual employee’s health status
• Encourage workers to make healthier lifestyle changes
• Coach elevated-risk staff members
• Establish Worksite Health Promotion Programs based on the identified needs
• Assess program performance by comparing Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals completed at set intervals such as yearly.