Posts from — August 2009

Want some wellness program ideas and wellness policy ideas to get you started? Or maybe you want to jump start or better upon your current wellness program? The list below provides ‘best practices’ that have the potential to help meet any wellness program budget! The Worksite Wellness Program ideas are divided into topic areas.

General Wellness Progam Ideas

• Conduct an Employee Needs & Interest Survey
• Design a Company Health Promotion Program Committee
• Choose health insurance plans that cover costs for weight management and tobacco cessation
• Waive co-pay or reimburse for preventive medical care visits
• Put up pamphlets on a variety of wellness topics for staff members to take
• Design a wellness resource center or library with videos, books, magazines, DVD’s on a variety of issues of interest to workers
• Identify employees who are mentors or champions for healthy activities and ask them to present or to list as a contact for other employees
• Plan and encourage periodic or regular educational sessions.
• Create monthly educational sessions on the national health observance topic
• Post a Wellness Bulletin Board & update it monthly
• Display messages from national health observances during the month
• Provide healthy tips in newsletters, paycheck stuffers, bulletin boards, etc.
• Organize a benefits fair
• Develop corporation fitness and healthy eating challenges
• Offer business health fairs or other onsite activities

Nutrition Programs

• Provide free, healthy snacks for workers (fruit, nuts, popcorn)
• Offer healthy meal choices in cafeterias and at employer activities
• Give information to staff members about the nutritional content of food served in the cafeteria
• Establish a fresh fruit “snack basket” in the breakroom or cafeteria
• Stock snack machines with healthier options
• Partially fund healthy foods in the cafeteria or vending machines (10¡ apples may be more appealing than $1.00 candy bars)
• Create a weekly or monthly healthy lunch club
• Provide brochures available on a variety of healthy eating subject matters
• Include nutrition articles in corporation newsletters
• Have a healthy meal tasting contest Free
• Schedule educational sessions at lunchtime-time on a variety of nutrition topics of interest
• Organize an employee healthy meal cookbook. Either sell the cookbook and use profits for programs, or purchase a cookbook for all staff members

Weight Loss Programs / Weight Management Programs

• Provide flexible work schedules so that employees can take part in weight-loss programs
• Partially fund registration expenditures for weight-management programs
• Form a support group to help employees who are trying to lose weight
• Arrange for registered dieticians near your worksite as a resource for employees who want information on healthy eating, meal planning or weight management
• Offer individual counseling for workers trying to lose weight
• Provide workplace fitness and weight-management programs through your local hospital, Weight Watchers, TOPS or local, registered dietician
• Provide an educational session on diet myths and healthy eating

Physical Activity Programs

• Offer flexible work schedules to encourage exercise
• Create a fitness space with aerobic equipment, and weights
• Organize accessible walking paths, trails, and/or bike routes
• Encourage employees to walk more by parking farther away from the entrance
• Develop a gym with aerobic equipment, weights, aerobic classes, fitness professionals
• Hold walking meetings
• Make the stairways more appealing (carpet, fresh paint, artwork, posters)
• Provide reduced gym membership fees to all employees
• Provide facilities for employees to secure bikes
• Schedule 5 – 10 minute stretch breaks during the day
• Partially fund gym membership for workers who take part a minimal number of days per week (ex., 3 days per week)
• Support lunchtime walking/running clubs or employer sports team
• Urge stairwell use and incentives and rewards
• Install a basketball hoop outside
• Urge & support neighborhood walks or fitness events
• Promote walking during breaks and other off-time periods
• Provide periodic fitness incentive programs to encourage exercise
• Provide educational sessions on fitness activities

Smoking Cessation Programs / Tobacco Cessation Programs

• Organize a tobacco-free grounds
• Design a tobacco-free workplace
• Encourage the use of 1-800-QUIT-NOW, North Carolina’s no cost Tobacco Use Quitline. Or check www.QuitlineNC.com
• Reimburse workers for tobacco replacement products
• Subsidize the expense of smoking cessation workshops
• Give handouts and information on health effects from tobacco use and tobacco cessation
• Provide awareness sessions to arouse staff members to try to quit tobacco use
• Schedule workplace tobacco cessation sessions

Employee Health Screening

• Discount healthcare insurance premiums or lower co-payments for staff members who participate in screenings and who participate in managing their risk factors
• Install Blood Pressure (BP) monitoring equipment
• Provide flu shots for employees and family members
• Offer Health Risk Assessments to all workers, including counseling and follow-up
• Provide periodic Blood Pressure screenings and follow-up
• Offer periodic screenings for cholesterol, blood sugar, body composition, etc.

Stress Management Programs / Work Life Balance Programs

• Consider offering flexible schedules for family/work life balance
• Provide and reward an EAP
• Offer information on substance abuse prevention
• Provide pamphlets and information on stress management and mental health
• Offer brochures and information on work life balance, such as monetary planning, childcare, parenting, elder care, etc.
• Provide supervisor and manager training on communication, relationship building, organization stressors, etc.
• Assess corporation policies and work schedules to identify corporation stressors
• Assess the Employee Assistance Program(EAP) to be sure it is meeting the needs of the staff members and business
• Have educational sessions on stress management and work life balance
• Schedule classes on relaxation, stress management, and work life balance topics

Wellness screenings are significant programs to identify chronic conditions in their early stages. Once identified, wellness intervention programs can help prevent a disease from progressing. Working with local hospitals and other corporations, you can obtain information on providing assessment and intervention programs that might improve your employees’ health and save your corporation money in absenteeism, treatment for disease complications, and reduced work rate. Below are some ideas to help get you started.

Based upon your Employee Needs & Interest Survey and the demographics of your workplace, consider offering periodic screenings to find specific health risks such as:

• Blood Pressure Checks to identify staff members with pre-hypertension or hypertension (elevated blood pressure),
• Cholesterol Screenings for total, HDL (good cholesterol), LDL (bad cholesterol) and/or Triglycerides
• Blood Sugar Screenings fasting or non-fasting to screen for possible diabetes,
• Body composition, such as body mass index (BMI) or body fat measures
• Bone density for potential risk of osteoporosis,
• Cancer screenings such as, skin examinations, mammograms, or PSA screenings,
• Vision checks for glaucoma, or visual acuity
• Other health screenings depending on your worker population and needs

Your local hospital, company physician practice, or health department may provide assistance. Nonetheless, if you have workers you may want to concentrate on programs that will keep them healthy rather than screening for early identification of chronic disease. The focus of your wellness program might be healthy lifestyle practices to cut risk and prevent disease.

In addition to the wellness screenings, consider offering a Health Risk Appraisal / Health Risk Assessment to all staff members. The Health Risk Appraisal / Health Risk Assessment will help to identify factors that may lead to additional risks, such as smoking history, stress levels, image of health, family history, job satisfaction, support systems, and mental health. Often the assessment results are included on the Health Risk Appraisal / Health Risk Assessment, which supports a more comprehensive snap shot of health risks. The summary results support the important information to plan appropriate interventions.

Employee Wellness Program Interventions

The key to the success of screenings and Health Risk Appraisals / Health Risk Assessments is the interventions or follow-up programs. The data collected during the screenings increases awareness and often motivates staff members to consider making healthier changes. It’s the follow up interventions that support the important reinforcement and assistance needed for staff members 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 employer reinforcement. Examples include:

• Strategies to lower Blood Pressure
• Managing diabetes
• Taking care of your heart
• Healthier eating
• Weight loss plans
• Growing physical exercise
• Smoking Cessation

Naturally, this is for individual information only. Any follow-up interventions planned by the business would be based on interest expressed by the employee.

Based on the results and your Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee goals/objectives you are able to plan the best strategies for your corporation and workers. Consider the neighborhood resources available to provide services, such as health associations, hospitals, medical providers, and/or public health agencies.

Health Risk Appraisals / Health Risk Assessments, are an assessment tool or questionnaire scientifically designed to identify health risks and outline information to help  American citizens in making healthy changes that impact their health and prevent chronic disease.

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

Workers complete a lifestyle questionnaire that includes for example diet practices, height and weight, exercise habits, family history, stress perceptions, smoking history, and work satisfaction. Another valuable feature to consider is readiness to change questions to determine participation interest. Including wellness screenings such as cholesterol and Blood Pressure results increases the benefits of an Health Risk Appraisal / Health Risk Assessment by providing a more accurate health assessment and therefore improving lifestyle choice decisions and program options. Still, it is valuable 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 important to consider the type of report the organization will receive as well. A group report summarizing major risk factors and recommendations for programs to start in order to cut employee and organization risks provides important information for your wellness program.

The Health Risk Appraisals / Health Risk Assessments are able to be used to:
• Raise awareness to individual employee’s health status
• Motivate workers to make healthier lifestyle changes
• Coach elevated-risk employees
• Develop Workplace Wellness Programs based on the identified needs
• Review program performance by comparing Health Risk Appraisals / Health Risk Assessments (HRA’s) completed at set intervals such as yearly.

There are countless advantages to considering a part-time or full-time occupational and environmental health nurse (OHN). Occupational health nursing is the specialty practice that provides for and delivers health and safety programs and services to workers, and worker 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 risks.

Onsite Heath Professional roles can include: Case management, Counseling, Workplace Wellness Program, 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 are able to design, conduct and evaluate activities that help improve the health of all your workers. They are subject matter experts who may be a valuable asset regardless your program needs and goals/objectives. They are able to help form a Corporate Wellness Program Committee and enable many of its programs and services, for example or depending on the structure and time commitments of your Corporate Wellness Program Committee, they are able to also plan the entire program as well. Integrating the activities of the Committee and/or Corporate Wellness Program consultant services within your operations, including within your safety and occupational health program will support additional advantages!

We are planning Corporate Wellness Programs to help you feel better and maintain your health. In order to plan programs that best meet your needs and interests we would like your recommendations! Please take a minute to answer some questions about your interests. Your answers will be combined with those of others’ and reviewed to help plan programs for you. Do not sign your name.

Please complete the survey today and return it to__________. Thank you for your significant input! Your help is significant for organizing thriving programs. Return the completed form by _____________.

Rate your interest on a scale of 1 – 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 am interested in:

Participating in wellness programs before work 1 2 3
Participating in wellness programs after work 1 2 3
Participating in wellness programs during my lunch break 1 2 3
Learning healthy eating options 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 lifestyles 1 2 3
Healthy snack options 1 2 3
Learning how to quit smoking 1 2 3
Attending classes to help me quit smoking cigarettes 1 2 3
Stress Mangement skills 1 2 3
Balancing work, family, and personal life 1 2 3
Time senior staff skills 1 2 3
Participating in a beginning exercise program 1 2 3
Planning time to exercise for busy people 1 2 3
Getting health information that I can read or watch at home 1 2 3
Learning about cancer prevention 1 2 3
Heart health options 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 boost intake of fruits and vegetables 1 2 3
Parenting Topics (age of children: ) 1 2 3
Onsite exercise classes: walking Yoga aerobic other: 1 2 3
Health screening such as Blood Pressure (BP), blood lipids, blood glucose 1 2 3

Program evaluation may be The previous step, but it ought to be planned at the onset of your efforts!  Assessment helps you identify what parts of the program are working well and what parts could use improvement.  Then, based on the evaluation data, adjustments are able to be made to fine-tune your wellness program.   Adjusting the program based on evaluation data is vital to its continued performance.  

Evaluating your program need not be terribly complex.  However, it is valuable to plan how you will oversee your wellness efforts and determine effectiveness during the planning phase or Step 5.  Also remember to evaluate the program based on the goals you already identified during your creating process.  

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

• Program topic and numbers of staff members who participated
• The numbers of brochures taken by workers or distributed and on what issues
• The number of participants in a behavior modification program and how many met their objectives as well as how many attended all of the sessions
• Numbers of employees who continued the healthy behavior modification following the program?
• Overall employee satisfaction with the program or each topic.  

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

• Absentee rates
• Injury rates
• Health risk factors Insurance costs  

Summarize and Report Workplace Wellness Program Results

Once you have collected all of the evaluation information it needs to be reviewed with the Corporate Wellness Program Committee and summarized.  You will probably have positive results and some areas where a change is required or additional focus required for continuous improvement.  This not-so positive information can be used to make any required adjustments as well as to plan for next year and is valuable to include in your report.  

It is valuable to communicate the wellness program results to both upper management and employees.  Consider how upper management usually receives reports on operations and productiveness concerns and include the yearly wellness program report in the same format.  At some organizations the reports are made during upper management gatherings using presentation styles such as power point slides.  At other organizations, graphs and bar charts are the norm or a list of the objectives and the summary outcomes published.  

No matter the format, it’s important to convey the outcomes and successes achieved, including any anecdotal stories, as well as areas for improvement.  Be sure to link the outcomes to the employer mission and bottom line whenever possible.

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

• Company newsletters,
• Bulletin boards,
• E-mails  

Also consider celebrating successes and recognizing achievements by:

• Posting pictures from programs
• Highlighting performance stories
• Posting pictures of successes
• Scheduling a celebration
• Recognizing champions  

Armed with data, Worksite Health Promotion Program topic preferences and objectives – and a Worksite Health Promotion Program Committee eager to get things done – it is now time to decide how best to take action.  This website supports tools to help you!  You can read about the different types of wellness programs offered by other organizations to get an idea of what could possibly prove effective for your company.  There are Statewide Resources listed as well as national non-profit groups offering resources, and specific examples of resources available on various wellness subject matters.  In addition, keep looking under Steps to an Effective Program for ideas to get you started!

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

Important Corporate Health Promotion Program considerations include:

1. Formally Introduce the Corporate Wellness Program and consider policy statements that state the importance of the wellness program.  Examples include a general policy concerning the commitment to employee health and safety as well as specific policies such as No Smoking, Healthy Eating and Physical Activity.
2. Communicate Your Program: The best planned program with great wellness programs will not be productive if your staff members don’t know about it or do not understand the options or how to take part.  Communicate your wellness program using a variety of methods to make sure the message and “how-to’s” are heard!

   Worksite Health Promotion Program Communication Strategies might include:

   • Newsletter articles
   • Postings on the company’s intranet or internet
   • A designated Champion of the program
   • Formal or informal meeting to announce program, “the kick-off”
   • Flyers / pamphlets / brochures / table tents,
   • Bulletin boards / kiosk where all material is promoted or found,
   • Email / phone messages,
   • Mailings or distributions  

3. Use Employee Wellness Program Incentives:  You will be amazed to discover what people will do for a free T-shirt.  Incentives have the potential to both support and innervate participation among employees.  Consider both formal or corporation incentives and rewards and informal or program rewards/prizes from local resources to reinforce participation in Employee Wellness Programs. Either way, it’s important to offer incentives and rewards that are attractive and meaningful to your employees.

   Formal Worksite Health Promotion Program Incentives:

   • Savings on employee health care insurance premiums or co-pays, or contributions to 401K programs, employee stock options, or other mechanisms.  
   
   Click here for more information on health plan incentive ideas
   
   • gym/Fitness Center discounts or enrollment fee coverage
   • Public transportation vouchers
   • Flexible work time options
   • “Wellness Days” off work  

   Prizes or Informal Workplace Health Promotion Program Incentives:

   • Cash – a most effective incentive!
   • Prize rewards and incentives such as gift certificates to healthy restaurants; media player to use while working out, emergency kits, or any other prizes that would excite your workers.
   • T-Shirts, water bottles, or other inexpensive rewards

4. Evaluate area resources available to offer some of the wellness services.  The local health department or your business medical care provider may be able to support  you with this information.  There are also vendors throughout the State offering great wellness services for businesses.  They are available to help you strategize and find the best options available.

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

The Workplace Health Promotion Program Committee ought to set out a plan for the entire year that outlines accomplishing goals/objectives, as well as supports details for marketing and evaluating the program. The plan is the detailed map of what types of programs will be offered, when and where they will be scheduled, how they will be marketed and evaluated, and what the budget is.  It is significant to plan your wellness activities based on your goals/objectives, as well as the budget since different strategies will yield different outcomes.  By way of example, if your mission is to increase awareness on a topic, then distributing pamphlets or scheduling a one-time class may be appropriate.  Nonetheless, if your intention is to change behavior, then different strategies may be necessary, such as ongoing weekly meetings and support groups.  Click here to link to Program Design Options for additional ideas.

Company Wellness Program Marketing

This is the time to plan your marketing strategies!  How can you market the wellness program and ongoing activities?  No matter how you decide to, market often, keep it fresh, and remind employees repeatedly!  Consider having an overall kickoff activity to let everyone know about the wellness program.  Senior Leadership ought to support the introduction or invitation so that all employees are knowledgeable about their support and leadership in the program.

Possible marketing methods:

• Distributing email messages, including reminders
• Organize flyers,
• Hanging bulletin board postings,
• Writing articles,
• Mailing letters or
• Sending special invitations.  

Other Worksite Health Promotion Program Considerations:

• Is the Workplace Health Promotion Program promoted to all employees or to a specific group?
• Do you have a Worksite Wellness Program champion (someone who is joined with different groups in the organization, and well respected) who can help in your promotion efforts?
• If your marketing efforts do not seem to be working, do you have a way to revisit and adjust your strategy?
• How will you determine performance and evaluate your program?  And how will you collect the information required to evaluate your program?  

Topics most frequently included in Company Health Promotion Programs:

• Nutrition
• Physical Activity/Exercise
• Tobacco Use Cessation
• Bone Health
• Heart Health
• Healthy Back
• Stress Reduction
• Chronic Disease Awareness & Prevention
• Self-care; Wise Medical Care Consumer
• Screening Services (BMI, Blood Pressure (BP), bone density, cholesterol, glucose, posture, vision, and other…)
• Ergonomic Assessments
• Health Fairs
• Kids/family Events
• Others issues that staff members have interest in  

The issues and type of Worksite Health Promotion Program planned hinge upon the needs and interest, central intention and resources available.  Program Design Options   include awareness programs such as brochures and/or education sessions, behavior modification programs such as smoking cessation and weight loss classes, and environmental or employer support such as no smoking policies or healthy selections in snack machines.  

The programs planned also hinge upon the demographics of your workforce.  If you have a young, healthy workforce, you may want to focus the wellness attention on keeping workers healthy and not need to screen for disease.  Instead you might want to focus on healthy lifestyle behavior such as exercise and great nourishment to prevent the start of disease.  Click here for more information on strategies for keeping workers well, identifying disease early, or returning workers to work who already have a chronic conditions.

It is also important to consider, and plan how you will evaluate the performance of your wellness program.  The system needs to be demonstrated for tracking certain data and recording activities depending on the program goals/objectives.  Step 7 discusses program assessment in more detail.   And Step 6 will launch your program!

A Employee Health Promotion Program without goals/objectives is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you won’t know where you’re going, how to get there, what you want to do once you have arrived, or even whether or not you have arrived!  The trip may end up ok, or it may end up disastrously.  Yet, with a bit of thoughtful planning, you broaden your chances for a efficacious experience.  Clear goals/objectives are needed to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!

Wellness program goals/objectives are different from one employer to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources.  Still, well thought out objectives based on your company’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a efficacious wellness program!

Company Health Promotion Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Employee Health Promotion Program. The mission statement is the overall expression of what the Employee Health Promotion Program Committee wants to accomplish by implementing a wellness program.  It is valuable to consider how your Employee Health Promotion Program fits in with the organization mission statement, contributes to the overall mission and supports the organization bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the organization operations.  

Below are some examples of Worksite Wellness Program mission statements:

“At XYZ Employer, maintaining an environment that supports employee health and safety is our underlying value.  It is the mission of the Worksite Wellness Program to support  in beginning Worksite Wellness Program services that fosters and upholds that value.”

“It is the mission of the XYZ Workplace Wellness Program Committee to cultivate healthier lifestyle choices to reduce health risk factors, improve central wellbeing, and maintain a productive, active work force.”

Corporate Wellness Program Goals

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

The objective(s) of XYZ Corporate Wellness Program in year XXXX is to:  (one or more of the following examples)

• Decrease absenteeism by one day per employee
• Cut down on musculoskeletal injuries by ten%
• Lower unnecessary emergency room visits
• Lower or contain healthcare costs
• Improve dietary habits of employees
• Decrease health risk factors  

Workplace Wellness Program Objectives

Specific Employee Health Promotion Program objectives help meet your long-term goals and objectives.  Both short term and long term objectives ought to be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and objectives.  In addition to objectives for the expected colleague outcomes, process objectives ought to also be developed for the program process itself.  For example, process objectives may include the number of staff members you want to take part in the programs, the number of sessions on a topic will be provided, the type of wellness sessions that will be implemented, etc.

Objectives must be easily measurable within a set time frame.  Try using the SMART formula to establish both your long and short-term goals and objectives:

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)
• Measurable (one result that can be monitored or evaluated),
• Attainable (but also challenging),
• Realistic (do you have the resources to achieve?), and
• Time specific (within 3 months – up to 5 years)  

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  For example, a goal for a weight loss program that has an overriding goal of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that:

Members (who) will lose an average of .5 – 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) at the end of the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per colleague (attainable and realistic).

Or:

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

An example of an intention for coaching staff members with high cholesterol might be:

To reduce the total 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 provided at the worksite (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic & time specific when) to reduce the risk factor for heart disease (why).  

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

By the end of the 4-week smoking cessation program, 10% 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 mission) and 10% of those who quit will still be smoke-free after one year.

You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including adopting your Employee Wellness Program Committee.  It is now time to plan your wellness activities!

Before you start planning your Workplace Wellness Program you need to know where you are now and then decide where you want to go.  Completing a thorough needs assessment is vital to the effectiveness of your wellness program for two reasons:  First it ensures that your Workplace Wellness Program activities will be targeted to meet your company’s specific needs so that outcomes can be achieved.  Secondly the needs assessment provides the information you will need to evaluate the effectiveness of your wellness program.

It is often tempting to hurry through the assessment – especially when time is limited or those with experience already have an idea of needs.  Do not give in to this temptation!  It is vital to be aware of what your business needs are, what senior staff expects, and what employees want as well as expect, before you establish a Worksite Wellness Program.  

Consider and accumulate data on:

• Employee Demographic Information
• Employee Health Risk Factors
• Health Claims
• Injury Rates & Causes
• Workers’ Compensation Claims
• Short and Long Term Disability Claims
• Absenteeism
• Employer Culture Audits
• Employee perceived needs and health risks
• Senior Leadership’s expectations or desired outcomes

There are many ways to assess this information.  Although some of data gathering process may be time consuming, remember that it is nonetheless important to plan programs that target specific concerns.  This information will be vital to set goals and objectives and for evaluating program success.  How else can you know if outcomes have been achieved?

Options to help gather the information:

• Confidential Health Risk Appraisals (HRAs) with a Business Group Summary Report
• Health Screenings such as cholesterol, Blood Pressure and blood sugar click here for additional information on wellness screenings.
• Employee Needs and Interest Surveys
• Suggestion boxes placed around the organization
• Focus Groups or hosting a luncheon meeting as a focus group
• Sending out a confidential email questionnaire
• Review records and databases including OSHA logs, first aid reports, insurance costs  

Once your needs assessment is complete, the Employee Wellness Program Committee can review the results and start creating and prioritizing program options.  Creating should be based upon objectives and identified outcomes, Step 4 of the seven step process!