Corporate Wellness BlogCorporate wellness and employee wellness blog

Health Risk Assessments (HRAs), are an assessment tool or questionnaire scientifically designed to identify health risks and outline information to assist person in making healthy changes that impact their health and prevent chronic illness.

Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) have four standard elements in worksite settings -

o  A Questionnaire

o  A Computerized Program to Evaluate Health Risk

o  Confidential Individual Reports

o  Group Summary Report

Individuals complete a lifestyle questionnaire that includes for instance nutrition practices, height and weight, exercise habits, family history, stress perceptions, use of tobacco history, and work satisfaction.

Another important feature to consider is readiness to change questions to determine participation interest. Including biometric testings such as cholesterol and blood pressure (BP) results increases the advantages of an Health Risk Assessment (HRA) by providing a more precise health assessment and hence bettering lifestyle choice decisions and health promotion program choices.

However, it’s imperative that you determine when the Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) could be used without including this information.

The questionnaire information is entered into a computer program and an individual confidential report is generated that summarizes health risks in addition to information on how to lower risk factors.

Individual reports are completely confidential. Depending on the reason for starting the Health Risk Assessment, it is vital that you consider the kind of report the company will receive as well.

A group report summarizing major risk factors and recommendations for wellness programs to begin for reduce staff member and corporation risks provides valuable information for your wellness program.

The Health Risk Appraisals (HRAs) could be used to -

o  Bring awareness to individual employee’s health status

o  Motivate workers to make healthier lifestyle changes

o  Coach high-risk employees

o  Plan wellness programs based on the identified needs

o  Measure health promotion program success by comparing Health Risk Appraisals (HRAs) completed at set intervals like each year.

There are numerous benefits to considering a part-time or full-time occupational and environpsychological health nurse (OHN). Occupational health nursing is the specialty practice that provides for and delivers safety and health programs and services to staff members, and staff member populations.

The practice focuses on promotion and restoration of health, avoidance of disease and injury, treatment of work and non-work related injuries and diseases, and protection from work related  and environmental hazards.

OHN roles can include –  Case management, Counseling, Wellness, 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 can design, conduct and evaluate activities that help increase the health of all your workforce. They’re subject matter professionals who might  be a valuable asset regardless your health promotion program needs and objectives.

They can help form a Wellness Committee and implement many of its health promotion programs and services, for instance or depending on the structure and time commitments of your Wellness Committee, they can also coordinate the entire health promotion program as well.

Integrating the activities of the Committee and/or Wellness Expert services within your operations, including within your safety and occupational medical program will provide additional benefits!

We’re planning company health promotion programs to help you feel better and stay healthful. In order to plan health promotion programs that best meet your needs and interests we’d like your suggestions!

Please take several minutes to answer some questions about your interests. Your answers will be combined with those of other’s and reviewed to help plan wellness programs for you. Don’t sign your name.

Please complete the survey today and return it to__________. Thank you for your valuable input! Your help is important for planning successful health promotion programs. Return the completed form by _____________.

Rate your interest on a scale of 1 â.” 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 health promotion programs during my lunch break 1 2 3

Learning healthy consuming choices 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

Healthful snack choices 1 2 3

Learning how to quit use of tobacco 1 2 3

Attending courses to help me quit use of tobacco cigarettes 1 2 3

Stress Mangement skills 1 2 3

Balancing work, family, and personal life 1 2 3

Time management skills 1 2 3

Participating in a beginning fitness program 1 2 3

Planning time to exercise for busy individuals  1 2 3

Getting health information that I can peruse or watch at home 1 2 3

Learning about cancer prevention 1 2 3

Heart health choices 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 raise intake of fruits and vegetables 1 2 3

Parenting Topics (age of kids –  ) 1 2 3

On-Site exercise classes –  walking Yoga aerobic other –  1 2 3

Biometric testing like blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar 1 2 3

Program analysis might  be the last step, but it should be planned at the starting of your efforts! Analysis assists you identify what parts of the health promotion program are working well and what parts need improvement.

Then, based on the evaluation data, adjustments may be made to fine-tune your wellness program.   Adjusting the wellness program based on evaluation data is vital to its continued success.

Investigating your health promotion program does not have to be complicated.  HOWEVER, it is important to plan how you will monitor your wellness efforts and determine success during the planning phase.

In addition remember to evaluate the wellness program based on the objectives and objectives you already identified during your planning process.

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

o  Program topic and numbers of staff members who participated

o  The numbers of handouts taken by personnel or distributed and on what topics

o  The number of participants in a behavior modification program and how many met their goals as well as how many attended all of the sessions

o  Numbers of employees who continued the healthy behavior change following the wellness program?

o  Overall staff member satisfaction with the health promotion program or each topic. Here is a sample analysis form.

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

o  Absentee rates

o  Injury rates

o  Health risk factors Insurance costs

Summarize and Report Health Promotion Program Results

Once you have collected all the evaluation information it needs to be reviewed with the Wellness Committee and summarized. You’ll probably have positive results and some areas where a change is needed or additional focus required for continuous improvement.

This not-so positive information can be used to make any needed changes as well as to plan for next year and is imperative that you include in your report.

It is vital that you communicate the health promotion program results to both upper management and workforce.  Consider how upper management ordinarily receives reports on operations and productivity issues and include the annual health promotion program report in the same format.

At some organizations the reports are made during upper-level management meetings using presentation styles such as power point slides.  At other organizations, graphs and bar charts are the norm or a list of the goals and the summary outcomes reported.

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

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

o  Company newsletters,

o  Bulletin boards,

o  E-mails

Additionally consider celebrating successes and recognizing achievements by -

o  Posting pictures from events

o  Highlighting success stories

o  Posting pictures of successes

o  Scheduling a celebration

o  Recognizing champions

Armed with data, Wellness Program topic preferences, objectives, and objectives â.” and a Wellness Committee rearing to get things done â.” it’s now time to decide how best to take action.  This website provides tools to help you!

You can peruse about the different types of health promotion programs offered by other corporations to get an idea of what may work for your company.

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

Important Health Promotion Program considerations include -

1. Formally Introduce the Wellness Program and consider policy statements that state the importance of the wellness program.  Examples include a general policy regarding the commitment to worker safety and health as well as specific policies such as No Use of tobacco, Healthy Eating and Exercise.

2. Communicate Your Program –  the best planned health promotion program with excellent health promotion programs will not be advantageous when your personnel don’t know about it or don’t understand the choices or how to participate.  Communicate your health promotion program using a variety of methods to ensure the message and “how-to’s” are heard!

Wellness Program Communication Strategies could include -

o  Newsletter articles

o  Postings on the organization’s intranet or internet

o  A designated Champion of the wellness program

o  Formal or informal meeting to announce wellness program, “the kick-off”

o  brochures / table tents,

o  Bulletin boards / kiosk where all material is promoted or found,

o  Email / phone messages,

o  Mailings or distributions

3. Use Health Promotion Program Incentives –  You will be amazed to figure out what individuals  will do for a free T-shirt.  Incentives can both support and motivate participation among staff members.

Consider both formal or corporation incentives and informal or wellness program rewards/prizes from local resources to reinforce participation in Health Promotion Programs. Either way, it’s crucial to provide incentives that are attractive and meaningful to your employees.

Company Structural or Formal Wellness Program Incentives -

o  Discounts on employee medical insurance premiums or co-pays, or contributions to 401K programs, employee stock options, or other mechanisms.  Click here for additional information on medical plan incentive ideas

o  Health Club/Health Club discounts or enrollment fee coverage

o  Public transportation vouchers

o  Flexible work time options

o  ”Health Promotion Days” off work

Rewards/Prizes or Informal Health Promotion Program Incentives -

o  Cash â.” a very effective incentive!

o  Prize incentives like gift certificates to heart healthful restaurants; music player to use while exercising, emergency kits, or any other prizes that would motivate your staff members.

o  T-Shirts, water bottles, or other cheap rewards

4. Assess community resources available to provide some of the wellness services.  The local health department or your company health care provider could  be able to assist you with this information.  There are also vendors throughout the State providing great wellness services for organizations. They are available to help you strategize and find the best choices available.

5. Implement your wellness 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 Health Promotion Committee should set out a plan for the entire year that outlines accomplishing objectives and objectives, in addition to provides details for advertising and marketing and assessing  the wellness program.

The plan is the detailed map of what kinds of wellness programs are going to be offered, when and where they will be scheduled, how they will be marketed and investigated, and what the budget is.

It’s crucial to plan your wellness activities based on your goals and goals, in addition to the budget since different strategies will yield different outcomes.  For example, if your objective is to elevate awareness on a topic, then distributing handouts or scheduling a one-time education session might  be appropriate.

Nonetheless, when your goal is to change behavior, then different strategies might  be necessary, such as ongoing weekly sessions and support groups.  Click here to link to Program Design Choices for additional ideas.

Health Promotion Program Marketing and Advertising

This is the time to plan your advertising strategies! Precisely how can you market the wellness program and ongoing activities?  No matter how you decide to, market often, keep it fresh, and remind employees again and again!

Consider having an overall kickoff activity to let everyone know about the health promotion program. Upper Management ought to provide the introduction or invitation so that all workforce are aware of their support and leadership in the health promotion program.

Possible marketing and advertising methods -

o  Sending email messages, including reminders

o  Posting flyers,

o  Displaying bulletin board postings,

o  Writing articles,

o  Sending letters or

o  Sending special invitations.

Other Health Promotion Program Considerations -

o  Is the health promotion program promoted to all staff or to a specific target audience?

o  Do you’ve a wellness program champion (someone who is connected with different groups in the organization, and well respected) who can help in your promotion efforts?

o  When your marketing efforts do not seem to be working, do you have a way to revisit and adjust your strategy?

o  Exactly how will you determine success and evaluate your wellness program?  and how will you collect the information needed to evaluate your wellness program?

Topics most often included in Health Promotion Programs -

o  Nutrition

o  Physical Activity/Exercise

o  Tobacco Use Cessation

o  Bone Health

o  Heart Health

o  Healthy Back

o  Stress Reduction

o  Chronic Condition Awareness and Prevention

o  Self-care; Wise Healthcare Consumer

o  Screening Services (BMI, blood pressure, bone density, cholesterol, glucose, posture, vision, and otherâ..)

o  Ergonomic Assessments

o  Wellness Fairs

o  Kids/family Events

o  Others topics that workers have interest in

The topics and type of Wellness Program planned depend on the needs and interest, overall goal and resources available.

Program Design Choices include awareness programs like brochures and/or education sessions, behavior modification or modification programs like tobacco use cessation and weight reduction classes, and environmental or organizational support like no tobacco use policies or healthy selections in vending machines.

The wellness programs planned also depend on the demographics of your workforce. When you’ve a young, healthy workforce, you may want to focus the wellness attention on keeping employees healthy and not need to screen for illness.

Instead you could want to focus on healthful lifestyle behavior such as exercise and good nutrition to prevent the start of illness.  Click here for additional information on strategies for keeping workforce well, identifying illness early, or returning workforce to work who already have a chronic condition.

It’s also imperative that you consider, and plan how you’ll evaluate the success of your wellness program.  The system needs to be established for tracking certain data and recording events depending on the wellness program objectives and desired outcomes.

Step 7 discusses health promotion program analysis in more detail.   and Step 6 will launch your health promotion program!

A Health Promotion Program without objectives and objectives 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 have arrived, or even whether or not you have arrived!

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

Health Promotion program objectives and objectives are different from one business to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources. However, 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 starting a health promotion program.

It’s crucial to consider how your Wellness 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 Corporation, maintaining an environment that supports worker health and safety is our underlying value. It is the mission of the Wellness Program to assist in developing wellness services that fosters and upholds that value.

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

Health Promotion 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 staff member 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 health care costs

o  Improve dietary habits of employees

o  Reduce health risk factors

Wellness Program Objectives

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

In addition to objectives for the expected participant outcomes, process objectives should also be developed for the wellness program process itself.  For example, process objectives could include how many workers you want to participate in the wellness programs, how many sessions on a topic are going to be offered, the kind of wellness sessions that will be implemented, etc.

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

o  Specific (one behavior or outcome)

o  Measurable (one result that could be observed or analyzed),

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 loss program that has an overall goal of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that -

Participants (who) will lose an average 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 reduction 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 staff with elevated cholesterol may  be -

To reduce the sum 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 disease (why).

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

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

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

Before you begin planning your Health Promotion Program you need to know where you’re now and then decide where you want to go.  Completing a thorough needs assessment is vital to the success of your health promotion program for two reasons -

o  First it ensures that your wellness program activities are going to be targeted to meet your corporation’s specific needs so that outcomes can be achieved.

o  Secondly the needs assessment provides the information you will need to evaluate the effectiveness of your wellness program.

It’s often tempting to rush the assessment – in particular when time is limited or those with experience already have an idea of needs. Do not give in to this temptation!

It is crucial to understand what your business needs are, what upper-level management expects, and what workforce want as well as expect, before you create a wellness program.

Consider and gather data on -

o  Demographic Information

o  Health Risk Factors

o  Medical Claims

o  Injury Rates and Causes

o  Workers’ Compensation Claims

o  Short and Long Term Disability Claims

o  Absenteeism

o  Culture Audits

o  Worker perceived needs and health risks

o  Management expectations or desired outcomes

There are numerous ways to assess this information. Despite the fact that some of data gathering process could  be time eating, remember that it is notwithstanding essential to plan wellness programs that target specific issues.

This information will be crucial to set goals and for evaluating  health promotion program success. Exactly how else can you know if outcomes have been achieved?

Choices to help gather the wellness program information -

o  Confidential HRAs with a Business Group Summary Report click here for more information on HRAs or Assessments

o  Medical Testings like cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar click here for more information on biometric testings.

o  Staff Member Needs and Interest Surveys

o  Suggestion boxes placed around the corporation

o  Focus Groups or hosting a luncheon meeting as a focus group

o  Sending out a confidential email questionnaire

o  Review records and databases including OSHA logs, first aid reports, insurance costs

Once your needs assessment is complete, the Wellness Committee can review the results and start planning and prioritizing health promotion program choices.

Planning should be based on goals and identified outcomes, Step 4 of the seven step process!

Establishing an active Health Promotion Committee provides opportunities for both upper management and employee involvement in the wellness program.  The Committee should be a team of staff and managers who formally meet to plan activities to promote healthier employee lifestyles.

Typical Functions of a Health Promotion Committee -

o  Investigating needs and interests

o  Brainstorming health promotion program ideas

o  Planning activities

o  Developing communication plans

o  Promoting wellness programs to coworkers

o  Serving as champions of the Wellness Programs

o  Assisting with analysis

Your Health Promotion Committee should be representative of all levels of the company.  Consider all areas of the workforce â.” multiple sites, shift employees, diversity (race, gender, ethnicity), and departments.

It is also crucial that you consider who’ll chair or co-chair the Wellness Committee and whether or not there are the finances to support a wellness manager or occupational health professional, even on a part-time or contractual basis.  Click here for additional information on the benefits of a health professional.

Depending on your corporation size and resources, if you already have a corporation Safety Committee you might want to consider making it the Safety and Wellness Committee.  You can request volunteers or invite employees to participate.

The number of Health Promotion Committee members depends on the size of your company; however, you need enough members to get the work done and yet not too many to keep it manageable, ordinarily a minimum of 4 members and maximum of 12 to 15 members.

It’s crucial to include skeptics of wellness as well and not just those employees already practicing healthy lifestyles.

Depending on your workplace, consider representatives from the following areas -

o  Staff Member representatives from a cross section of different departments,

o  Upper-Level management ,

o  Health and safety specialist(s),

o  Human resources (HR) professional(s),

o  Benefits staff or someone from finance,

o  Your staff member assistance program (EAP) provider (if applicable), Click here for additional information on EAPs

o  Medical or occupational health staff (if applicable).

Establish an effective Health Promotion Committee!  the Health Promotion Committee should meet regularly with a planned agenda and action items.  Successful Health Promotion Committees have a shared mission, vision and goals.

Members need to believe that their participation is worthwhile and appreciated, that their work is important, benefits the business and coworkers, and they’re recognized for their contributions. Refer to the NC Workplace Programs section for instances of what other companies have implemented.

As with any health promotion program, the two critical elements for the success of your health promotion program are executive management support and staff member involvement. Upper management sets the vision and provides the resources from which action plans flow.

Genuine support from upper management also lends credibility to the wellness program. It is key that upper management be visible supporters and role models for your Health Promotion Program.

Employees need to be involved on a few levels so that they feel ownership of the health promotion program. Employees are the health promotion program stakeholders!

All workers should have an opportunity to provide input and feedback through needs and interest surveys and health promotion program evaluation tools.  The information gathered must be used to plan health promotion programs that target those needs and interests to ensure participation, buy-in, and support.

There are several methods to identify staff member needs and interests such as -

o  Conducting Worker Focus Groups

o  Discussing Wellness Interests During Department Meetings

o  Distributing and Summarizing a Needs and Interest Survey

o  Including an Opportunity to Provide Suggestions on Each Analysis Tool

Any one or combination of a few techniques will ensure that the wellness program meets what personnel want.  Click here for a sample Needs and Interest Survey.

Step 3 provides additional information on deciding wellness program needs.  But first, establishing a Wellness Committee can help you involve upper management and employees, determine need, and plan your wellness program.