Employee Wellness SurveyEmployee Wellness Programs – Corporate Wellness Programs

Stress continues to drive employees’ work-related health concerns, which is probably why most respondents (78%) in a recent survey claim they would participate in a Employee Health Promotion Program to help their overall health and wellness.

In a recent study commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. (AAOHN), 500 full-time employees nationwide were interviewed telephonically.

“Today’s employees are clearly dealing with a lot of pressures such as the effects of 9/11, an unstable economy, national security threats and work/balance issues. There is a real opportunity for employers to serve as an ally to their employees by providing them with resources to better manage their physical and emotional health – anything from stress management seminars to nutrition and physical fitness counseling,” says Deborah V. DiBenedetto, president of AAOHN.

Nearly 80% of respondents believe their health would improve if they were offered the right information and tools through a viable Employee Health Promotion Program.

Topping the list of most interesting Employee Health Promotion Programs cited by employees is stress management (85%), closely followed by screening initiatives (84%), exercise/physical fitness initiatives (84%), health insurance education (81%) and disease management seminars (80%).

More than half of employees (61%) would prefer to receive health and wellness information from a health care consultant or onsite nurse, compared to pamphlets or brochures (18%) or human resources staff (15%).

Effective Employee Health Promotion Programs include the use of data sources in support of Employee Health Promotion Program planning, implementation, and evaluation. Data sources can be used to complete a community needs assessment, develop realistic Employee Health Promotion Program goals and objectives, and gain Upper Management support.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Data and statistics
• http://www.cdc.gov/DataStatistics/
• Data and statistics are available by topic (i.e., asthma, injuries, MRSA).
• Data access tools are available to customize information tables and query datasets (i.e., Healthy People DATA2010, tobacco use-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity, and Economic Costs).
• Nationwide survey information is available (i.e., National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)).

CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
• http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/index.htm
• BRFSS is the world’s largest, ongoing telephone health survey system. BRFSS has been tracking health conditions and risk behaviors in the US yearly since 1984.
• Chronic Disease Indicators are divided into seven categories: physical activity and nutrition, tobacco and alcohol use, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, overarching conditions, and other disease and risk factors.
• Prevalence information is also available (i.e., weight classification by Body Mass Index and age).

Employee Health Promotion Program data collection and analysis is often avoided because of a perceived lack of resources for this very important Employee Health Promotion Program component. Use the suggestions below to take advantage of a variety of resources available at your installation or in the local community.

Medical Interns and Residents
• If your Medical Center has an internship Employee Health Promotion Program, get to know the Internship Director.
• Make use of these resources – including having the Director and/or interns/residents implement the outcome information collection plan for your Employee Health Promotion Program.

Local college and graduate students
• Where appropriate volunteer agreements are in place, use local college/graduate students to help collect, input, and analyze Employee Health Promotion Program data.
• Make use of the fact that these students are often looking for projects.
• If there are no “health-related” students/interns in your area, consider using organization students. Let them calculate a cost avoidance or return on investment (ROI) for your Employee Health Promotion Program.

Other Medical Personnel
• Partner with other Medical Personnel. Determine who is collecting information, what information they are collecting, and how they are collecting it.
• If they are using a survey and the survey administration process is already in place, ask if you can add a question or two.
• Be aware of other research going on at your facility. They may already be collecting information you need OR may have analysis resources that can be shared.
• Make sure other departments in the Medical center know you can always use some extra help if they have personnel with any down time. Use these resources for information entry or other administrative tasks.
• Make use of the volunteers at your Medical Treatment Facility to help collect and input data.

Past Employee Health Promotion Program members
• Past Employee Health Promotion Program members are also a good resource.
• They may be willing to lead a class session, provide encouragement to current Employee Health Promotion Program members, or help collect data.
You can improve data collection and analysis by taking advantage of local resources. Using these resources expands the reach and impact of your Employee Health Promotion Program.

Keeping Employee Health Promotion Program information organized is essential in order to be able to determine Employee Health Promotion Program impact and participant progress. Use the simple steps below to keep your information organized.

Manage Employee Health Promotion Program information electronically.
• Storing Employee Health Promotion Program outcomes information electronically is the best way to manage that information.
• An electronic system will enable you to review and analyze the information more efficiently.
• Scan old surveys and other Employee Health Promotion Program information that exist only on paper into .pdf format for permanent storage.

Find the Employee Health Promotion Program system that works best for you.
• Some workers are more comfortable with spreadsheet applications; others prefer to work with database applications.
• You will be more likely to use a Employee Health Promotion Program that you are familiar and/or comfortable with.
• Standardize information collection and organization. Keep information columns/fields in the same order for all Employee Health Promotion Programs.

Keep the Employee Health Promotion Program as simple as possible.
• You do not have to be a Wellness Programming wizard or use complicated data entry interfaces in order to manage Employee Health Promotion Program outcomes information.
• A simple spreadsheet is an excellent way to keep your information organized.

Store all Employee Health Promotion Program data numerically.
• Using numbers (instead of words) will make the information much easier to enter and analyze. By way of example: use “1” for yes; “0” for no OR “1” for male; “2” for female.
• Number survey responses that contain strings of words. By way of example: instead of entering the responses: “patient education videos”, “news,” or “no TV,” number the responses so you only have to enter “1,” “2,” or “3.”

Label all Employee Health Promotion Program data clearly.
• Make sure all the data columns, rows, or fields are labeled. The information is worthless if you don’t know what information is in which column.
• The spreadsheet/database should include an explanation for column, row, field, and data abbreviations and a key for numbered responses.

Use consistent Employee Health Promotion Program data units.
• Make sure all information entered into a given column is expressed with the same unit of measure. By way of example, enter all heights as total inches, not as a combination of feet and inches.
Putting your data in order by using a simple system that works for you will enable you to track participant accomplishments. Keeping your information organized also makes it easier to communicate Employee Health Promotion Program impact to leadership and make Employee Health Promotion Program improvements as needed.

A gap analysis is an assessment tool that enables a organization to compare its current capabilities and performance with industry benchmarks and expectations for performance. A gap analysis is used to identify areas that have room for improvement.

Gap analysis can also be used for your Employee Health Promotion Program to determine where the program stands now and how the Employee Health Promotion Program can better follow evidence-based recommendations.

To start a gap analysis, ask these simple questions about your Employee Health Promotion Program:
• What is the current state of the Employee Health Promotion Program?
• How does the Employee Health Promotion Program measure up to evidence-based practices? (i.e., the desired state)

The gap is the difference between the current and desired states.

After the gap has been identified, the next step is to determine the action steps that are needed to close the gap. These actions answer the question: “How can the Employee Health Promotion Program move forward towards the desired state?”

Sometimes the gaps that need to be filled can be addressed through Employee Health Promotion Program changes; other gaps might require policy changes. However, using a gap analysis will help you identify areas for Employee Health Promotion Program improvement as well as the actions needed to make progress towards those goals.

Employee Health Promotion Program organization plan review (from Key #19)
• A Employee Health Promotion Program organization plan is a roadmap for success.
• Your Employee Health Promotion Program organization plan should convincingly demonstrate that your Employee Health Promotion Program will help the organization to achieve its goals.

More smart Employee Health Promotion Program organization planning strategies

Planning the Employee Health Promotion Program
• Determine how your organization plans so that your planning process will be in sync with what already happens in the organization.
• Involve other workers. A planning team brings their combined experience and perspective to the process. Including potential partners as you plan will make it easier to get their buy-in later.

Thinking of the big picture
• Look at the barriers and challenges that might be encountered during Employee Health Promotion Program implementation. Develop strategies ahead of time to overcome these potential problems.
• Do a SWOT analysis and examine Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

This analysis will help you identify potential problem areas or resource shortfalls as well as opportunities for growth or increased partnerships with other installation personnel.

The WORST organization planning strategy: sitting in your office; working by yourself.

The best Employee Health Promotion Program organization planning strategies
• Get out of your office; get out of the organization. The more workers you involve in the Employee Health Promotion Program planning process, the better. Always look for ways to expand your network.
• Keep your budget workers informed. Get to know their philosophy of financial management.
• Be able to articulate the impact if your budget is not fully funded.
 o Stay away from basing your impact-if-not-funded argument only on: “We have to.”
 o Instead, describe the impact-if-not-funded with phrases like: injuries to workers, increased compensation costs, increased medical care costs for patients, lost work time, loss of licenses/accreditations, loss of workload to the Tricare network.
• Have purchase requests ready to be submitted. There is often a short window of time to process these requests. Having the information gathered ahead of time will make it easy to submit the information right away.

A well thought-out Employee Health Promotion Program organization plan is essential in these times of shrinking budgets and resources. A good organization plan will help you gain leadership support and help you get and keep resources needed to implement the Employee Health Promotion Program.

A organization plan is a roadmap for success. Use the guidelines below to develop a realistic organization plan and budget for your Employee Health Promotion Programs.

What is a organization plan?
• A plan for success
• A document that convincingly demonstrates that your Employee Health Promotion Program will help the organization to achieve its goals.

Questions to ask when developing a Employee Health Promotion Program organization plan
• Why do you need to do the Employee Health Promotion Program?
• What are you going to do?
• Where are you going to do it?
• Who is the target audience?
• How are you going to do it?
• Who is going to implement the Employee Health Promotion Program?
• How much will the Employee Health Promotion Program cost Upper Management?
• What is Upper Management going to get out of the Employee Health Promotion Program? Why should Upper Management invest in the Employee Health Promotion Program?

Employee Health Promotion Program organization Plan Components
• Title and duration of the Employee Health Promotion Program
• Points of contact
• Background information (description of need; bibliography/literature review; how the Employee Health Promotion Program will help achieve the organization’s goals)
• Employee Health Promotion Program description
• Goals and objectives
• Implementation site
• Target population
• Work plan
• Partnerships and collaborations
• Timelines and milestones
• Budget and resource requirements (dollars and workers)

Gaining the support of leadership
• Clearly link the Employee Health Promotion Program goals and objectives to the organization’s strategic plan.
• Focus on the desired outcomes.
• Use the right language for the right audience. By way of example, Upper Management is interested in decreased clinic visits, increased provider productivity, management of the health of the population. However, Upper Management is interested in increased readiness, decreased lost duty/training time, and decreased disability and FECA claims.
A well thought-out Employee Health Promotion Program organization plan will help you gain leadership support, help you get and keep resources needed to implement the Employee Health Promotion Program, and keep the Employee Health Promotion Program on track towards meaningful outcomes.

As they say: “timing is everything.” Use the guidelines below to guide the timing of Employee Health Promotion Program activities and data collection.

Timing: Employee Health Promotion Program Start-up
• Look at the optimal time to start a new Employee Health Promotion Program. Take into account preferences of the target population and other factors that could affect enrollment and participation.
• By way of example, coordinating the start of an adult weight management initiative with the start of school in August or September may be a good tie-in with a “fresh start.”
• On the other hand, starting an adult weight management initiative In January may not be a great idea because of the constraints that weather may put on exercising outdoors.
• Make use of other timing cycles at your installation. Planning a marketing blitz just after the PCS turnover has been completed is a good way to let new personnel know what Employee Health Promotion Program options are available.

Timing: Employee Health Promotion Program Participant Support
• Look at how frequently Employee Health Promotion Program sessions should be offered to provide the best support and education for members and the best opportunity for success.
• Get feedback from members regarding what session frequencies work best for them.
• Look at the timing for other support mechanisms like email encouragement. What timing of those messages will benefit members most: Weekly? Bi-monthly? Monthly?

Timing: Employee Health Promotion Program Data Collection
• Collecting information is an excellent way to track participant progress and also to identify potential problems within a Employee Health Promotion Program. So, give some thought to the frequency and timing of data collection.
• Select metrics that can realistically change during the Employee Health Promotion Program implementation time period. By way of example, BMI and weight may not change very much during a 10-week Employee Health Promotion Program; however, step counts are more likely to noticeably change.
• Some information, such as participant responsiveness to out-of-class assignments (like food journals) and other interim data (like step counts) will provide important information needed to “adjust fire” as needed and make Employee Health Promotion Program changes if something is not working.
• Be flexible regarding data collection frequency. Instead of requiring that members complete an physical fitness log every day, for example, consider asking for a “snapshot” summary from two or three days during the week. You will still get information to review, but members will have an easier time complying with the assignment.

Timing: Employee Health Promotion Program Follow-up
• Because the we are such a mobile population, it’s best to plan some sort of post-Employee Health Promotion Program follow-up data collection within two to four months after the Employee Health Promotion Program ends.
• You can always try to collect additional follow-up data at 6 or 12 months after Employee Health Promotion Program completion. However, if you collect the information sooner, you’ll at least have collected some short term Employee Health Promotion Program impact information before members are lost to follow-up.

Employee Health Promotion Program communication is important to all aspects of Wellness and preventive medicine and is relevant to:
• Healthcare provider-patient relationships
• An individual’s exposure to, search for, and use of Employee Health Promotion Program information
• Effective counseling and patient education for behavior change
• Content of public health messages and community campaigns

Effective health communication should have these attributes:
• Accuracy: content is valid and error-free
• Availability: delivered or placed where the intended audience can access the information
• Balance: content presents benefits and risks of potential actions
• Consistency: content is locally consistent over time and is also consistent with information from other reliable sources
• Evidence-based: content and methods of delivery are based on relevant scientific evidence
• Reach: content gets to or is available to as many workers as possible in the target population
• Reliability: content source is credible; content is kept up-to-date
• Repetition: delivery of/access to the content is continued over time, to reinforce the impact with the audience and to reach new members of the target population
• Timeliness: content is provided when the audience is most receptive to, or in need of, the specific information
• Understandability: reading, language levels, and format are appropriate for the specific audience (i.e., Employees, Family Members, Garrison leadership, etc.)

What the research says about health communication
• Health communication best supports Wellness when multiple communication methods are used to reach specific audiences.
• Effective Wellness and communication initiatives should reflect an audiencecentered perspective, and reflect the preferred formats, contexts, and means of communication for the intended audience.

Material adapted from: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010. 2nd ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. 2 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000.
http://www.healthypeople.gov/document/HTML/Volume1/11HealthCom.htm

Evaluation of successful Employee Health Promotion Programs has revealed several key Employee Health Promotion Program strategies to increase Employee Health Promotion Program effectiveness and impact overall Soldier health.

Strategy #5: Using a small number of targeted priorities maintains Employee Health Promotion Program focus.
• Needs assessment data can be used to identify leading health needs and also high risk populations.
• Choosing a handful of specific health needs on which to focus will maximize efficient use of resources.
• Keeping the Employee Health Promotion Program focus small will avoid duplication of other ongoing installation Employee Health Promotion Programs.

Strategy #6: Use standardized processes whenever possible.

Reduce the amount of variation within your Employee Health Promotion Programs by standardizing all the processes needed for Employee Health Promotion Program planning and implementation. By way of example:
• Use the same spreadsheet format for data collection so that the columns are in the same order. This way you can compare information more easily.
• Reuse the same forms for enrollment and attendance. Change the heading as needed.
• Look at other Wellness Programming processes (like registration, evaluation, marketing, etc.). What parts of those processes can be standardized?
• The Wellness and Prevention Initiatives website (http://chppmwww. apgea.army.mil/dhpw/Population/HPPiFunction.aspx) has many standardized Employee Health Promotion Program resources in a variety of topic areas.

Strategy #7: Employee Health Promotion Program delivery methods should be flexible and adapted to population needs.
• Delivery of products and services may depend on: unit needs, training requirements, other scheduling considerations (such as work/duty schedules, school scheduling, etc.), participant preference, and/or availability of staff or space.
• Be flexible: the same produce/service delivery methods may not work for every population.
• Some units may want services provided to them as close as possible to the unit location; other units may prefer as many services as possible bundled together at once (regardless of location).
• Take Wellness and preventive medicine beyond the walls of the organization in order to meet leadership and worker needs. Answer the question: “How can we best help leadership and Employees to fulfill their mission?”