Posted by Health Handouts | Posted in Health Handouts, Health Tips | Posted on 05-07-2009
The program design options hinge upon the goals/objectives and desired outcomes of your program. If your intention is to help staff members change behavior, cut risk factors, or save medical care dollars then your wellness program would be designed to accomplish those outcomes and a budget would be necessary to support that design.
There are different wellness program design levels depending on desired outcomes and budgets. Each level has pros and cons. The intentions or results are quite different, are not interchangeable in terms of obtaining the same results, and therefore ought not be confused. By way of example, scheduling activities such as an employee wellness fair or lunchtime education sessions, or having brochures available do not usually result in behavior change, but may increase awareness on a topic. If the intention is behavior change then a different design is necessary, such as Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs and Business Support. The outline below outlines the wellness design levels with a brief explanation.
Awareness Programs: At this level a company makes health information available and accessible to employees. This type of program frequently includes pamphlets on a variety of subject matters, wellness articles in newsletters, bulletin board displays, e-mail health messages, etc. Also, most health & wellness fairs are designed as awareness programs with vendors providing information and providing wellness screenings to employees.
Awareness programs are cheap and do not require extensive employee or organization time commitments. However, these programs do not usually result in behavior modification. Increasing awareness isn’t usually sufficient to generate lifestyle changes for most Americans, unless used to innervate staff members to register for a program being offered at the organization or community on the topic. An example of this would be offering information on the harmful effects of smoking and inviting staff members who smoke to register for a smoking cessation class.
Education Programs: Educational programs frequently offer more information on a topic and can also provide time for Q & A, but are similar to awareness programs. An example is lunch-n-learn sessions on a health related topic. These cost the corporation a modest amount more than awareness programs; however, they are still inexpensive and do not require a whole lot of time for planning or attending a session. Again, expanding awareness and providing information may not lead to the desired behavior change unless ongoing reinforcement or rewards and incentives are also planned.
Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs: These programs are designed as 4 to 12 weekly sessions or workshops to offer health and wellness education, address barriers and offer opportunities to practice the desired skills. Behavior change programs therefore require additional company resources, cost more, and also require additional employee responsibility, time and effort. The results are often the desired beneficial lifestyle change, which if sustained can lead to potential cost savings.
Examples are smoking cessation classes, weight loss and weight management meetings, or an ongoing exercise program.
Environmental and Employer Support: Environmental reinforcement is often considered the highest and most valuable level to include when designing your wellness program in order to support and maintain healthy behaviors. These types of design options include policy changes such as:
• Creating a tobacco-free workplace
• Designating a walking path,
• Establishing workplace fitness centers,
• Ensuring healthy vending machines choices,
• Offering healthy food choices in the cafeteria, and/or
• Securing flex-time policies.
Other examples include subsidizing healthy vending machines or cafeteria choices; reimbursing gym or weight loss and weight management program memberships; or offering insurance incentives/rewards for healthy behaviors.
Ideally, the wellness program design would include some of all of these options. The more comprehensive the approach, the more efficacious the outcome will be. By way of example, a corporation can have tobacco cessation information available; can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of smoking and how to quit; can enable an workplace tobacco cessation program, supply self quit smoking kits, or support staff members to attend a neighborhood program; and/or on an environmental reinforcement level can establish a tobacco-free workplace and grounds, offer decreased health insurance for non-smokers, or support pharmacological quit smoking aids for free.
Employee Health Promotion Program: Components for Success
There are several critical elements that need to be considered to see to the performance of your Company Wellness Program or Company Wellness Program. These include:
• Senior Management Backing & Employee Involvement
• Active Corporate Wellness Program Committee
• Program is Based on Employee Needs & Interests
• Goals and Objectives are Established
• Detailed Action Plan Based upon Resources & Budget
• Program Implementation & Internal Marketing
• Evaluation of Outcomes and Program