Archive for April, 2009
Employer Wellness : Selecting a Provider
When staffing your wellness program you need to consider whether to hire a wellness employee or contract with wellness professionals from outside your business.
Small and medium size worksites do not usually have a wellness professional on employee. If your workplace is in this category, you will need to contract with providers outside your corporation.
Large organizations [...]
Employer Wellness : Beginning
An yearly plan for the primary wellness programs and activities is a useful management tool. This is an excellent Worksite Wellness Program Committee task. Often an exercise and wellness theme per month is available to staff members.
Some corporations choose to follow a National Health Observances calendar which offers advantages. The materials developed by these various [...]
Employer Wellness : Health Risk Appraisal
A Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) is sometimes used in conjunction with a health assessment. An HRA is a computerized assessment tool which looks at an individual’s family history, health status, and lifestyle. An HRA seeks to identify precursors associated with premature death or serious illness and quantifies the probable impact for each individual.
An HRA instrument [...]
Employer Wellness : Heart Health
The most common screening performed in Workplace Wellness Programs is heart health assessment.
The assessment can include a written heart health test, Blood Pressure measurement, cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol test, glucose (blood sugar), weight, educational materials specific to diet, nutrition, exercise, blood lipids, smoking, and weight.
The health professional conducting the screening then provides a consultation and helps set objectives [...]
Employer Wellness : Health Screening
The backbone of wellness programming at the workplace is health screening. It is the first major activity a organization must do when first starting a wellness program. Health screening 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 [...]
Employer Wellness : Goals and Objectives
Goals are broad-based statements about what the program is expected to do. The goal of the wellness program is to enhance the health of the individual and the company. Goals like mission statements offer direction in a program.
Objectives are specific and provide a means of measurement of the program to determine effectiveness. There are two [...]
Employer Wellness : Company Wellness Program Committee
Wellness committees are valuable in that they create a sense of ownership in the program, and facilitate various tasks involved in wellness programming at the workplace. The Employee Health Promotion Program Committee must be composed of a cross-section of staff members representing various occupations, levels, and subgroups with the employer.
A common mistake is filling the [...]
Employer Wellness : Company Culture
Effective wellness programs recognize the significance of building a supportive cultural environment. The worksite culture includes shared values/heartfelt beliefs about what is significant. It includes social standards of expected and accepted behavior called “cultural norms.”
It includes peer reinforcement from family, friends, and co-workers. This reinforcement can help one adopt healthy lifestyles. Tools are available to [...]
Employer Wellness : Work Environment
Effective wellness programs attempt to create healthy workplace climates. A healthy workplace climate is one which encourages teamwork, cooperation, and empowerment of the individual.
People have a sense of community, a shared vision, and a beneficial outlook. Policies promote and support wellness efforts within the worksite.
• Effective programs identify ways that employer policies and employer traditions [...]
Employer Wellness : Needs Assessment
An initial health assessment can include a survey of staff members’ interests as part of the assessment. Effective wellness programs are designed to meet the needs and interests of the staff members. The information you need to get from a survey depends on the scope of your program. A sample survey can be obtained in [...]