What is a Health Promotion Program?

As reported by the American Journal of Wellness, “Wellness is the science and art of assisting individuals  change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health.

Optimal health is defined as a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual health. Lifestyle change may be facilitated through a combination of efforts to enhance awareness, change behavior, and develop environments that support good health practices.

Of the three, supportive environments will probably have the greatest impact in producing lasting change.”

Wellness Program –  Action Steps

The process of building a Wellness Program involves -

o  Identifying the current health status of your personnel

o  Determiningthe appropriate health promotion programs and interventions to offer

o  Advertising and beginning the health promotion programs

o  Building in motivational incentives

o  Evaluating the impact

o  Revising health promotion programs based on analysis outcomes

It may even include developing policies and procedures that support staff member participation in wellness activities at your worksite (like flextime).

Steps to Beginning a Health Promotion Program

o  Conduct an organizational assessment

o  Get senior level management support

o  Establish a wellness committee

o  Get staff member input

o  Create objectives and objectives

o  Design and implement health promotion program activities

o  Choose incentives

o  Assess outcomes

One of the ways the government plans to enhance the nation’s health is through extensive Health Promotion Programs.

As reported by the USA Department of Health and Human Services, these health promotion programs might help employees live healthier lifestyles by creating supportive work environments and offering awareness, education and behavior change programs.

In fact, one of the goals of Healthful Individuals  2010, a set of health goals for the nation to achieve by the year 2010, is to raise the proportion of staff members that participate in a extensive Health Promotion Program at their worksite to 75 percent.