Company Health and Wellness : Health Screening

The backbone of wellness programming at the worksite is health evaluation. It is the first major exercise a organization ought to do when first starting a wellness program. Health evaluation is often used in conjunction with the administration of a Health Risk Appraisal (HRA).

The most effective way to screen is to utilize a health professional trained in wellness screening techniques and counseling to privately and individually evaluate participants. This wellness professional takes a brief health history and measures Blood Pressure and blood lipids. With computerized blood lipids desktop analyzers, results are obtained in about four minutes.

Immediate feedback, consultation, and educational materials are offered. 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 supports an immediate opportunity to register participants in various health improvement programs based on their interests and identified health risks.

Health screening can be done on an annual basis and used as a means of monitoring health risks within the workplace.

A health evaluation program needs to support multiple opportunities for participation. The service ought to be offered for all the various shifts of a company. The evaluation program ought to be conducted in highly visible areas so the process can be observed.

Reluctant staff members often like to be able to see what the program is about before they participate. When wellness screeners are not busy, they should perform outreach going to areas where staff members gather and attempt 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 beneficial impact on management producing support for further programming.