Health Promotion Program Goals and Objectives.

A Health Promotion Program without goals and goals is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you won’t know where you are going, how to get there, what you want to do once you’ve arrived, or even whether or not you’ve arrived!

The trip might end up ok, or it might end up disastrously.  Yet, with a little thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a successful experience.  Clear goals and goals are needed to plan your wellness program for ensure success!

Wellness program objectives and objectives are different from one organization to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources. Nonetheless, well thought out objectives based on your corporation’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a successful health promotion program!

Health Promotion Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Wellness Program.  The mission statement is the overall expression of what the Wellness Committee wants to accomplish by implementing a wellness program.

It’s imperative that you consider how your Health Promotion Program fits in with the company mission statement, contributes to the overall mission and supports the company bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the company operations.

Here are some examples of Wellness Program mission statements -

At XYZ Business, maintaining an environment that supports employee safety and health is our underlying value. It’s the mission of the Health Promotion Program to assist in developing wellness services that fosters and upholds that value.

It is the mission of the XYZ Health Promotion Committee to foster healthier lifestyle options to reduce health risk factors, improve overall well-being, and maintain a productive, active work force.

Wellness Program Goals

The goals and goals further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, senior level management expectations and worker interests, examples of goals can include -

The goal(s) of XYZ Wellness Program in year XXXX is to –   (one or more of the following examples)

o  Reduce absenteeism by one day per staff member

o  Lower musculoskeletal injuries by 10%

o  Decrease unnecessary emergency room visits

o  Decrease or contain healthcare costs

o  Improve dietary habits of employees

o  Reduce health risk factors

Wellness Program Objectives

Specific Health Promotion Program goals help meet your long-term goals and vision.  Both short term and long term goals should be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and mission.

In addition to goals for the expected participant outcomes, process goals should also be developed for the health promotion program process itself.  For  instance, process goals might include how many workers you want to take part in the health promotion programs, how many sessions on a topic will be offered, the type of wellness sessions that’ll be implemented, etc.

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

o  Specific (one behavior or outcome)

o  Measurable (one result that can be observed or examined),

o  Attainable (but also challenging),

o  Realistic (do you have the resources to achieve?), and

o  Time specific (within 3 months â.” up to 5 years)

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  For example, an objective for a weight reduction program that has an overall goal of improving healthful eating and promoting a healthful weight is that -

Participants (who) will lose an typical of .5 â.” 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) after the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per participant (attainable and realistic).

Or -

Participants (who) will attend 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 objective for coaching workforce with elevated cholesterol could  be -

To reduce the total cholesterol (specific what) of high risk staff members with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions offered at the worksite (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic and time specific when) to lower the risk factor for heart illness (why).

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

By the end of the 4-week tobacco use cessation program, 10% of the participants will have quit tobacco use.  Each participant are going to be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process objective) and 10% of those who quit will still be smoke free after one year.

You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including establishing your Health Promotion Committee. It is now time to plan your wellness activities!