Health and Wellness Leads : Workplace Wellness Program Screening And Workplace Wellness Program Intervention Programs

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.