Posted by Corporate Wellness | Posted in Corporate Wellness, Wellness Programs | Posted on 27-08-2010
The backbone of health promotion programming at the worksite is health testing. It is the first major activity a organization ought to do when first starting a health promotion program.
Health testing is often used along with the administration of a HRA .
The most effective way to screen is to utilize a health expert trained in wellness screening techniques and counseling to privately and individually assess participants.
This wellness specialist takes a brief health history and measures blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol. With computerized cholesterol desktop analyzers, results are acquired in about four minutes.
Immediate feedback, consultation, and educational materials are provided. for those identified at-risk, follow-up appointments can be scheduled at this time. The whole process takes about twenty minutes per individual.
The screening also provides an immediate opportunity to register participants in various wellness programs based on their interests and identified health risks.
Health screening can be done annually and used as a means of monitoring health risks within the workplace.
A medical testing program needs to provide multiple opportunities for participation. The service should be provided for all the various shifts of a organization. The screening program should be conducted in highly visible areas so the process can be observed.
Reluctant staff members often like to be able to see what the health promotion program is about before they participate. When wellness screeners are not busy, they should perform outreach going to areas where staff members gather and try to recruit staff members.
When well-planned and promoted, health screening can attract participation rates of 60% to 100%. These high participation rates have a positive impact on upper management producing support for further health promotion programming.