Posts from — May 2009

As corporations today continue to compete in the global economy, expenditure containment strategies will be increasingly significant. Controlling the rising expenditure of employee ill health is becoming a priority for corporate leaders. The emerging corporate culture in the U.S. is one which has an employee population centered in health, safety and wellness.

Developing a corporate strategy for Company Wellness Programs and disability management makes good business sense. The following eight-step process ensures a strategic, integrated, needs-driven and outcome-oriented approach.

The following process works best in organizations with strong leadership and a long-term responsibility to employee health.

1. Identify Your Company Wellness Program Champion

This person ought to be a leader in your organization and a strong advocate of health. Typically this is an individual who actively pursues his or her own personal quest for good health.

The program champion must have the resources and authority to propel the program forward. The program champion’s key role is to ensure the strategic plan for health is in line with with the company’s objectives, strategic focus and company values. For example if the organization promotes that “our strength is our people” the wellness program must show how pushes will nurture and protect that significant resource.

2. Form Your Company Wellness Program Strategy Team

The Worksite Health Promotion Program Strategy Team ought to include decision makers and stakeholders from areas of the employer that can effect health and the company’s bottom line. These areas may include; finance, human resources, training and development, health services, compensation and benefits, employee assistance services (EAP), marketing, facilities, health and safety, rehabilitation, cafeteria or meal services and the union. A group of six to eight representatives is recommended.

The role of the Strategy Team is to develop and implement the strategic plan, look for opportunities to encourage health, make sure the program is integrated into key areas of the organization, streamline efforts, maximize company resources and program evaluation.

3. Complete an Company Health Audit

The purpose of an Business Health Audit is to evaluate your existing programs and services, physical environment and policies & procedures that support health. It is also significant to look at your business culture or “how things are done” around the business.

Participants of the Strategy Team complete the Audit independently and then meet to discuss their assessment. During the assessment process, health issues and opportunities are discussed in preparation for the development of the strategic plan.

4. Analyze Your Organization’s Cost Pressures

Cost pressures are identified by analyzing a number of areas including; benefit expenditures, Workplace Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) claims, drug usage, type of paramedic claims, absenteeism data and EAP utilization. This process helps to target areas that can be positively impacted by a Company Health Promotion Program and to offer a baseline for evaluating change.

5. Conduct a Health Risk Appraisal or Employee Needs & Interest Survey

The next step is to determine your employee’s health risks, interests and readiness to change. A confidential health risk appraisal can accomplish countless objectives and goals. It supports a baseline from which to measure personal lifestyle changes, supports employees with relevant health information, motivates employees to take charge of their health and assists in program planning. Most health risk appraisals offer individual reports and a corporate report identifying elevated-risk areas in the employer.

Many businesses choose to administer customized needs and interest survey to evaluate employee needs. The benefit of this approach is that the organization is able to gather information on the employees’ perceived wellness needs and program interests. This information can be incorporated into the strategic plan. Administering a survey also has the added benefit of fostering a sense of employee ownership to the program.

6. Establish Your Strategic Plan for Wellness

The strategic plan should incorporate information gathered from the Corporation Health Audit, your organization’s expenditure pressures, and health risk appraisal data or employee survey results. The strategic plan should include your program mission, three or four objectives and several pushes under each objective. The strategic plan supports a framework to encourage, support and evaluate “best health practices.”

It is also significant that the plan align itself with the vision, goals/objectives of the organization.

The sample strategic plan that follows was developed for blue jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co. (Canada) Inc. Levi Strauss & Co.’s mission statement and aspirations (how staff members interact with each other in a employer environment) guided the development of the plan.

Levi Strauss & Co.’s aspirations include the following statement: Above all, we want satisfaction from accomplishments and friendships, balanced personal and professional lives, and to enjoy our endeavors. The wellness program plan included a number of components to see that it embraced this statement including the following:

1. A vision statement, which tied in with the company’s aspirations.
2. An incentive system to encourage and reward the accomplishment of healthy milestones.
3. A recognition system to applaud performance.
4. Friendly competitions between Levi Strauss & Co. locations to ensure a fun environment.
5. Opportunities to participate in small group educational programs to foster group reinforcement.
6. Initiation of support groups for staff members completing wellness programs (i.e. smoking control support group).
7. Programs dealing with work and family balance.

Other information that was analyzed and used to cultivate the plan included:

1. Business demographics
2. Focus groups
3. Cultural audit
4. Top prescription drug report
5. EAP utilization
6. Employee benefit services report
7. Health and dental claims
8. Operational success summaries
9. Health risk appraisals
7. Prepare a Employer Case to Support Your Plan

Your corporation case for wellness supports the necessary details for approval at the management level. The corporation case includes:

1. The Strategic Plan for Health
2. A proposed program budget
3. Marketing strategies
4. Program leadership options
5. An implementation plan
6. Evaluation methodology.

In presenting the strategic plan it is significant to highlight how the plan aligns itself with the strategic direction of the organization.

The program budget ought to include educational resources, marketing costs, rewards and incentives, leadership costs and supplies.

Marketing strategies should address how the program will be promoted and rolled out to various groups within the organization i.e. decentralized locations, elevated risk workers, older workers.

Program leadership ought to address how volunteers will be used, internal resources  and whether consultants have been proposed. All play an equally significant role in the implementation of your wellness program.

The program implementation plan must incorporate the following types of programs that help establish awareness of positive health practices, help  staff members in making lifestyle changes and drives, which support long-term change.

Awareness programs create an awareness of the effect of healthy lifestyle practices and arouse staff members to take the next step. Examples of awareness programs include posting educational posters, newsletter articles and lunch and learn courses.

Lifestyle change programs are more inclusive and longer in duration. They are designed to support  employees in changing behavior. Examples of lifestyle change programs are diet education programs, stress management programs, back care classes and smoking control programs.

A supportive corporate environment encompasses everything from corporate policies & procedures, the physical environment and creating a corporate culture that supports good health practices. Follow-up sessions and support groups for staff members who have completed 6-10 week wellness programs also support a supportive environment for long-term change.

Evaluating the effectiveness of a Employee Wellness Program is ongoing. A formal assessment ought to be conducted each year and may include; re-administering steps three to five, program participation statistics and a year end survey to revisit “soft” concerns such as morale, program satisfaction and future program direction.

8. Solicit Input and Communicate Your Plan

Employee input is critical to the long-term success of your program. An Employee Advisory Committee should be formed to roll out the plan. Another key responsibility of this team is to solicit feedback from all echelons of the organization to ensure buy-in. Front line Manager’s Information Sessions and focus groups are also significant. This group needs to buy-in to the notion that they play a key role in supporting positive health practices. Regular gatherings are advised with front line managers to receive ongoing input, address issues and orient new managers.

Conclusions

The World Health Organization’s definition of health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity.” In order for us to create healthy workplaces, wellness drives must have a program champion, have employee ownership, be upper management supported, outcome driven and strategically aligned with the overriding organization objectives of the organization.

Wellness initiative that embrace these qualities will have a beneficial influence on an organization’s bottom line. Canadian research points to many case studies where worksite programs have resulted in decreased absenteeism, lower claims and increased productivity.

Corporations who have embraced wellness as part of “how they do business” share one thing in common. They prove a responsibility to their most valuable resource – their people. They know the increased pressures associated with downsized employers, a rapidly changing workplace, an aging work force and the challenge of balancing work and family obligations. And they share a common belief that healthy workers are happier, absent less and more beneficial.

References:
Design of Company Health Promotion Programs by Michael P. O’Donnell. 1995. Published by the American Journal of Health Promotion.
Pro Fit-ability by Veronica Marsden. Group Healthcare Management. May 1997.
Meeting Expectations by Laura Mensch. Employee Health and Productivity. August 1999
7 Steps to Health Promotion by Daphne Woolf and Veronica Marsden. Group Healthcare Management. February 1996.
Published in The Journal of Health Promotion for Northern Ireland, Issue 9, March 2000

Want some wellness program ideas and wellness policy ideas to get you started? Or perhaps you want to jump start or improve upon your current wellness program? The list below provides ‘best practices’ that are able to help meet any wellness program budget! The Corporate Health Promotion Program ideas are divided into topic areas.

General Wellness Progam Ideas

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

Nutrition Programs

• Provide free, healthy snacks for workers (fruit, nuts, popcorn)
• Provide healthy meal choices in cafeterias and at organization events
• Provide information to workers 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
• Subsidize healthy foods in the cafeteria or snack machines (10¡ apples may be more appealing than $1.00 candy bars)
• Start a weekly or monthly healthy lunch club
• Provide handouts available on a variety of healthy eating subject matters
• Include diet articles in business newsletters
• Provide a healthy food tasting contest Free
• Provide educational sessions during lunch-time on a variety of nutrition topics of interest
• Sponsor an employee healthy diet cookbook. Either sell the cookbook and use profits for programs, or purchase a cookbook for all staff members

Weight Loss Programs / Weight Management Programs

• Offer flexible work schedules so that workers can take part in weight-loss programs
• Partially fund registration costs for weight-management programs
• Form a support group to help staff members who are trying to lose weight
• Arrange for registered dieticians near your workplace 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
• Schedule an educational session on diet myths and healthy eating

Physical Activity Programs

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

Smoking Cessation Programs / Tobacco Cessation Programs

• Organize a smoke-free grounds
• Establish 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
• Fully reimburse (or partially reimburse) for tobacco replacement products
• Partially fund the expense of smoking cessation workshops
• Give pamphlets and information on health effects from tobacco use and smoking cessation
• Have awareness sessions to motivate workers to try to quit tobacco use
• Schedule workplace tobacco cessation courses

Employee Health Screening

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

Stress Management Programs / Work Life Balance Programs

• Allow flexible schedules for family/work life balance
• Provide and reward an Employee Assistance Program(EAP)
• Provide information on substance abuse prevention
• Provide pamphlets and information on stress management and mental health
• Provide brochures and information on work life balance, such as financial planning, childcare, parenting, elder care, etc.
• Offer supervisor and manager training on communication, relationship building, corporation stressors, etc.
• Assess business policies and work schedules to identify business stressors
• Evaluate the Employee Assistance Program to be sure it is meeting the needs of the workers and company
• Provide educational sessions on stress management and work life balance
• Provide workshops on relaxation, stress management, and work life balance subject matters

Wellness screenings are significant programs to identify chronic disease in their early stages. Once identified, wellness behavior modification programs can help prevent a disease from progressing. Working with local hospitals and other employers, you can obtain information on offering screening and behavior modification 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 assist you in getting started.

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

• Blood Pressure (BP) Checks to identify staff members with pre-hypertension or hypertension (high 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 wellness screenings depending on your worker population and needs

Your local hospital, employer physician practice, or health department may provide assistance. Nevertheless, if you have staff members you may want to concentrate on programs that will keep them healthy instead of 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 workers. 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 evaluation results are included on the Health Risk Appraisal / Health Risk Assessment, which provides a more comprehensive snap shot of health risks. The summary results provide the important information to plan appropriate interventions.

Workplace Health Promotion 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 frequently motivates staff members to consider making healthier changes. It’s the follow up interventions that provide the important backing and assistance necessitated for staff members to actually make and maintain those changes. The interventions have the potential to include individual follow-up and ongoing counseling, individual or group health coaching on the risk factors, behavior modification programs, and/or business backing. Examples include:

• Strategies to lower Blood Pressure
• Managing diabetes
• Taking care of your heart
• Healthy eating
• Weight loss ideas
• Improving physical activity
• Smoking Cessation

Of course, 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 outcome and your Company Health Promotion Program Committee goals you are able to plan the best strategies for your organization and staff members. Consider the area resources available to provide services, such as health associations, hospitals, medical providers, and/or public health agencies.

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

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

Employees complete a lifestyle questionnaire that includes for example nutrition 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 health 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. Nonetheless, 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 lower risk factors. Individual reports are completely confidential. Depending on the reason for implementing the Health Risk Appraisal / Health Risk Assessment, it’s significant to consider the type of report the company will receive as well. A group report summarizing major risk factors and recommendations for programs to enable in order to lower employee and company risks provides significant information for your wellness program.

The Health Risk Appraisals / Health Risk Assessments can be used to:
• Raise awareness to individual employee’s health status
• Motivate workers to make healthier lifestyle changes
• Coach elevated-risk employees
• Establish Company Health Promotion Programs based on the identified needs
• Evaluate program performance by comparing Health Risk Appraisals / Health Risk Assessments completed at set intervals such as yearly.

There are countless benefits 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, Corporate 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 employees. 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 implement 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 coordinate 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 benefits!

We are organizing Workplace Wellness Programs to help you feel better and stay healthy. In order to plan programs that best meet your needs and interests we would like your suggestions! 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__________. We appreciate your important input! Your help is important for creating successful 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
Adopting 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 full 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 management skills 1 2 3
Participating in a beginning physical activity program 1 2 3
Developing 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 improve 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 assessment such as Blood Pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose 1 2 3

Program assessment may be The last step, but it ought to be planned at the beginning 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 assessment data, adjustments have the potential to be made to fine-tune your wellness program.   Adjusting the program based on assessment data is essential to its continued performance.  

Analyzing your program need not be complicated.  However, it is significant 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 and objectives you already established during your organizing process.  

In order to evaluate your program you must have a system to document specifics as you progress.  This can be as simple as maintaining file folders on programs that are available, 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 topics
• The number of participants in a behavior modification program and how many met their goals/objectives as well as how many attended all of the sessions
• Numbers of employees who continued the healthy behavior change following the program?
• Overall employee satisfaction with the program or each topic.  

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

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

Summarize and Report Worksite 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 changes as well as to plan for next year and is significant to include in your report.  

It is important to communicate the wellness program results to both senior staff and staff members.  Consider how senior staff usually receives reports on operations and productivity issues and include the yearly wellness program report in the same format.  At some businesses the reports are made during senior staff gatherings using presentation styles such as authority point slides.  At other businesses, 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 corporation mission and bottom line whenever possible.

Employees desire to receive the same information!  You might use the same communication channels used when informing workers of the wellness program:

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

Also consider celebrating successes and recognizing achievements by:

• Posting pictures from activities
• 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 ready to get things done – it is now time to decide how best to take action.  This website supplies tools to help you!  You can read about the different types of wellness programs provided by other companies to get an idea of what could possibly prove effective for your employer.  There are Statewide Resources listed as well as national non-profit groups offering resources, and particular examples of resources available on various wellness topics.  In addition, keep looking under Steps to an Effective Program for ideas to get you started!

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

Important Workplace Health Promotion Program considerations include:

1. Formally Introduce the Worksite Health Promotion Program and consider policy statements that state the significance 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 won’t be advantageous if your workers are unaware of it or do not understand the options or how to participate.  Communicate your wellness program using a variety of methods to make sure the message and “how-to’s” are heard!

   Corporate Health Promotion Program Communication Strategies could 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 / handouts / brochures / table tents,
   • Bulletin boards / kiosk where all material is promoted or found,
   • Email / phone messages,
   • Mailings or distributions  

3. Use Workplace Health Promotion Program Incentives:  You’ll be amazed to learn what people will do for a no cost T-shirt.  Incentives can both support and arouse participation among employees.  Consider both formal or corporation rewards and incentives and informal or program rewards/prizes from local resources to reinforce participation in Workplace Health Promotion Programs. Either way, it’s important to offer rewards and incentives that are enticing and meaningful to your employees.

   Formal Company Health Promotion Program Incentives:

   • Discounts on employee health 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  

   Rewards or Informal Employee Wellness Program Incentives:

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

4. Assess community resources available to provide some of the wellness services.  The local health department or your employer medical care provider may be able to assist  you with this information.  There are also vendors throughout the State providing excellent wellness services for companies.  They are available to help you strategize and find the best options available.

5. Begin 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 Company Wellness Program Committee ought to set out a plan for the entire year that outlines accomplishing goals/objectives, as well as supplies details for marketing and evaluating the program. The plan is the detailed map of what types of programs will be available, when and where they will be scheduled, how they will be marketed and evaluated, and what the budget is.  It is valuable 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 objective is to broaden awareness on a topic, then distributing brochures or scheduling a one-time education session may be appropriate.  Nevertheless, if your goal is to change behavior, then different strategies may be necessary, such as ongoing weekly sessions and support groups.  Click here to link to Program Design Options for additional ideas.

Worksite 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 frequently, keep it fresh, and remind staff members over and over!  Consider having an overall kickoff exercise to let everyone know about the wellness program.  Senior Management ought to offer the introduction or invitation so that all staff members are alert to their reinforcement and leadership in the program.

Possible marketing methods:

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

Other Workplace Health Promotion Program Considerations:

• Is the Company Health Promotion Program promoted to all workers or to a specific target audience?
• Do you have a Corporate Wellness Program champion (someone who is coupled with different groups in the organization, and well respected) who can help in your promotion efforts?
• If your marketing efforts aren’t working, do you have a way to revisit and change your plan?
• How will you determine performance and evaluate your program?  And how will you collect the information needed to evaluate your program?  

Topics most often included in Employee 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, bone density, blood lipids, glucose, posture, vision, and other…)
• Ergonomic Assessments
• Health Fairs
• Kids/family Events
• Others topics that staff members have interest in  

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

The programs planned also depend on 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 diet 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 significant to consider, and plan how you will evaluate the performance of your wellness program.  The system needs to be determined for tracking certain data and recording events depending on the program goals/objectives.  Step 7 discusses program assessment in more detail.   And Step 6 will launch your program!

A Worksite Health Promotion Program without goals 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 successful experience.  Clear goals are needed to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!

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

Worksite Health Promotion Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Company Wellness Program. The mission statement is the central expression of what the Company Wellness Program Committee wants to accomplish by launching a wellness program.  It is significant to consider how your Company Wellness Program fits in with the organization mission statement, contributes to the central mission and supports the organization bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the organization operations.  

Below are some examples of Worksite Health Promotion Program mission statements:

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

“It is the mission of the XYZ Worksite Wellness Program Committee to develop healthier lifestyle choices to decrease health risk factors, improve overall wellbeing, and maintain a beneficial, active work force.”

Corporate Wellness Program Goals

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

The objective(s) of XYZ Employee 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 10%
• Lower unnecessary emergency room visits
• Lower or contain health care expenditures
• Improve dietary habits of employees
• Decrease health risk factors  

Company Wellness Program Objectives

Specific Company Wellness Program objectives help meet your long-term goals and objectives.  Both short term and long term objectives should be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and objectives.  In addition to objectives for the expected colleague outcomes, process objectives should also be developed for the program process itself.  By way of example, process objectives may include the number of staff members you want to participate 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 set up both your long and short-term objectives:

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)
• Measurable (one result that can be observed 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, an objective for a weight loss program that has an overriding objective 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 participant (attainable and realistic).

Or:

Members (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 employees with high cholesterol might be:

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

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

By the end of the 4-week tobacco cessation program, ten% 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 intention) and ten% of those who quit will still be tobacco-free after one year.

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