Company Wellness Programs

To effectively manage your Company Health and Wellness Program resources, first determine the resources you need and the resources you have. Then develop a plan to fill the resource gaps.

What Company Health and Wellness Program resources do you need?
 • Create a list of employees, materials, equipment, space, and logistical support.
 • Be as specific as possible.
 • Include partnerships that will be needed to make the Company Health and Wellness Program happen.

Establish available Company Health and Wellness Program resources.
 • Use materials that exist or are already on hand. Resist the temptation to start from scratch!
 • Find out what other departments already have.
 • Know where to borrow or get free materials.
 • Use local or internal resources whenever possible.
 • Look for opportunities to cut and/or share costs.

Develop a strategy to fill Company Health and Wellness Program resource gaps.
 • Partner with as many employees and companies as you can. Stress what’s in it for them.
  o Example: use a Physical Therapist to teach a back health class.
 • Take advantage of community organizations and coalitions.
 • Use volunteers as often as possible.
  o Red Cross volunteers, medical interns or nursing students can supplement your manpower.

Former Company Health and Wellness Program participants make good guest presenters.
 • Keep a list of subject matter experts who will provide input for free so you can avoid the expense of an outside contractor or consultant.

Look for creative Company Health and Wellness Program opportunities.
 • Other funding opportunities may exist at your facility.
  o Example: if there is a book fair, see if you can apply to receive some of the proceeds.
 • Ask the unit to contribute resources to Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives directly implemented at the unit level.
 • Get to know the contracting person at your company. They often know the least expensive places to obtain many different kinds of materials.
 • Look for “recycling” possibilities.
  o Example: You may be able to give you old computer workstations for use with electronic health assessments.

Good communication will help you find more partners and volunteers.
 • Get the word out to the community about your Corporate Health Promotion Programs.
 • Describe what you are doing and how you are doing it.
 • Presentation is everything. Keep information current and use lots of visual aids.

All Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives require resources. Some resources you will already have. Some resources you will have to find. Sometimes you will have to make something out of very little. Smart strategies can maximize your Wellness resources.

Corporation processes are structured activities that achieve a specific result. For example, scheduling appointments is a business process that results in an orderly work flow and timely patient care.

Company Health and Wellness Program implementation often requires changes to established business processes. These changes may be simple, such as adding prescreening appointments to the scheduling process, or more complicated, like determining how time devoted to a particular Company Health and Wellness Program will be coded.

Not all change can be affected painlessly. However, developing a plan for achieving change will overcome obstacles like:

 “But we’ve always done it that way” or “But we’ve never done it that way.”

Each change situation will be different. The path to achieving change may not always be straightforward.

Lesson learned: Making small, incremental changes will be easier than trying to make one big change. It is also easier to modify a current process than to introduce a brand new one.

Develop a road map for change.

Describe the current business process.
 • For example: what is the current registration process for the weight management program? Include steps for both participants and staff.

Establish where the new or modified business process could fit into the current process.
 • For example, prescreening appointments for the weight management program could be scheduled when participants sign up OR the prescreening could be done at the first class.

Collaborate.
 • Consider the change process to be a team effort. Determine everyone who will be affected by the change and get their input.
  o For example, be sure to ask the personnel that set up the prescreening appointments AND the personnel that would do the prescreening for their ideas.
 • Recruit one or more champions for the change. It helps if the champion has some clout.
 • Get buy-in from as many employees as you can – including those that might be most resistant to the change.

Communicate.
 • Don’t keep the change a secret. The more employees know, the more likely they will support a change.
 • Anticipate obstacles ahead of time. Be ready to articulate concrete benefits that will result from the change – especially advantages such as costs avoided or training time conserved.

Company Health and Wellness Program evaluation is critical for effective Wellness and will help you get Senior Management support.

Why evaluate your Corporate Health Promotion Program?

Company Health and Wellness Program evaluation answers these questions:
 • What change(s) occurred in the target population?
 • ‘What’s in it’ for Senior Management?
 • Are the resources that are being used worth the outcomes that are reached?
 • Were Company Health and Wellness Program outcomes expected? (Unexpected outcomes may have occurred.)
 • What Company Health and Wellness Program areas need improvement?

Company Health and Wellness Program Fact of Life:

Company Health and Wellness Program evaluation left to “chance” or until “there is time” will never happen.

 • Company Health and Wellness Program evaluation should be considered as an fundamental part of the whole plan for Wellness and not as something extra.

Where do you start?

Keep it simple. Company Health and Wellness Program evaluation does not have to be complicated.
• Get baseline data.
 • Baseline data is the health status of the target population at the beginning of the Corporate Health Promotion Program.
 • Start by collecting just 3 or 4 key items as the baseline. You will have better success collecting follow-up information later if you only need to get a few pieces of data.
 • Don’t rely only on health indicators that require lab evaluation. Also use self-report information and health indicators that are measurable without lab tests.

• Collect data that relates to readiness.
 • You should always be ready to communicate to leadership the ways that your Company Health and Wellness Program impacts readiness. Plan ahead to collect data that will demonstrate this connection.
 • Think like Senior Management: what Company Health and Wellness Program outcomes will be important from Senior Management point of view?

• It’s never too late to incorporate Company Health and Wellness Program evaluation into Corporate Health Promotion Programs.
 • If your Company Health and Wellness Program is already up and running and you didn’t plan for data collection ahead of time, start collecting data NOW.
 • If you don’t have baseline data, then collect interim data and compare that to end-of-program data.
 • Or, you can compare final Company Health and Wellness Program outcomes to similar initiatives elsewhere.

If you can’t make any comparisons to other data, use resources like The Community Guide (http://www.thecommunityguide.org/ ) that have already evaluated the effectiveness of Company Health and Wellness Program components. Compare the components of your Company Health and Wellness Program to those that have been proven effective elsewhere.

Think ahead: what unexpected challenges might come up as you implement your Corporate Health Promotion Program? How could you adapt and change the Company Health and Wellness Program to meet those challenges?

• Consider the “what if’s?”
 • What if your classroom space is suddenly no longer available?
 • What if you can’t hold the Wellness Fair in the usual place?
 • Have a ‘Plan B’ (or even Plan C or Plan D) in mind for when the “what if’s” happen.

• Build a team that can help with the Company Health and Wellness Program
 • Who else could teach the health education class if the regular instructor cancels at the last minute?
 • Know what areas of expertise your staff has besides their ‘main’ job. For example, find out who has excercise instructor credentials besides just the physical therapist.
 • Don’t wait for a crisis before you build a network of employees that you can call on.

• Be ready to roll your sleeves up
 • Jump in to fill a gap if you need to.
 • YOU may have to help restock the milk case in the dining center when the Dairy Month ‘Milk Mustache’ contest results in increased sales during lunch.

• Be willing (and ready) to respond to feedback about the Company Health and Wellness Program
 • Get member feedback while the Company Health and Wellness Program is ongoing. Then be ready to adapt to those suggestions.
 • For example, if kids in a pediatric obesity Company Health and Wellness Program fight the idea of completing exercise logs, then get a verbal summary of their activity for the week instead.

• Simplify Company Health and Wellness Program
 • If part of your Company Health and Wellness Program is not working, try making that part less complicated.
 • For example, if getting follow-up information is not going the way you planned, then make the process to get information easier OR decrease the number of pieces of information that you collect.

• Use lemons to make lemonade
 • What do you do when the Company Health and Wellness Program doesn’t turn out exactly as you planned? Look for what did turn out. Often, the ‘unexpected outcomes’ produce positive results.
 • For example, one company’s database to collect sick call data was made obsolete by a regional system. However, the company database was able to be used in a different way to track vaccination information that improved delivery of care to Employees.

Take the time to plan Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives before they are implemented.

Effective planning enables better use of all your resources. Include all the steps below when you plan a Wellness activity.
• Do your homework – Identify the science and research that support your interventions. Look for similar Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives that already exist.
• Determine the specific health need(s) – Use these needs to target interventions to problems that are an issue for your population.
• Organize a team – A team is a resource multiplier. Network and build as many partnerships as you can.
• Make a plan, but don’t start completely from scratch. Create a written plan for your Corporate Health Promotion Program. Look for every opportunity to take advantage of resources that already exist. Don’t reinvent the wheel.
• Select a focus – Choose one or two main target areas for Corporate Health Promotion Programs. Address all five stages of change in the target areas rather than trying to hit every possible Wellness topic.
• Determine your resources – What assets do you have? What assets will you need? How can you fill the gaps?
• Get Senior Management support – Think like Senior Management. Communicate the value of Wellness from Senior Management’s perspective.
• Start the activity- Be flexible. Be prepared for unexpected challenges.
• Market the activity – Keep your Company Health and Wellness Program visible for Senior Management, line and medical personnel, Company Health and Wellness Program participants, and potential partners and volunteers.
• Collect and assess outcomes – Outcomes indicate Company Health and Wellness Program impact. Start with just a few outcomes – you don’t have to collect everything. Remember that it’s never too late to start measuring Company Health and Wellness Program impact.
• Assess, improve and re-evaluate – Use member feedback and Company Health and Wellness Program outcomes to determine Company Health and Wellness Program impact. Establish areas in need of improvement. Use outcomes to determine if expended resources were worth the results.

Why use small steps toward behavior change?

Small steps give participants immediate feedback on the changes they make towards better health. Measuring these small steps is also an excellent way to collect interim Company Health and Wellness Program effectiveness data.

Company Health and Wellness Program small steps make a big difference

Small steps for Company Health and Wellness Program participants
• Walk to work.
• Use fat free milk instead of whole milk.
• Each day think of two things you are grateful for.
• Do sit-ups while you watch TV.
• Drink water before a meal.
• Take 10 deep breaths to relieve tension.
• Eat half your dessert.
• Skip second helpings and buffets.

Measuring small Company Health and Wellness Program steps
• Use short pre- and mid-point surveys to ask:
• How many glasses of water do you drink a day?
• How often you do eat fast food?
• How often do you skip a meal?
• How often do you engage in physical activity?
• How many servings of fruits and vegetables do you eat each day?

Use the results to show participants how their health behaviors are changing for the better.

• Ask participants to rate their health status and/or stress levels before and after an intervention.
• Add up individual (or team) steps and mark the progress on a map towards a far away destination.
• Be creative! Do not rely only on weight loss, BMI, or cholesterol tests as health status progress indicators or behavior change feedback.

Wise words for taking small Company Health and Wellness Program steps
 
• The first wealth is health. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
• We are what we repeatedly do. (Aristotle)
• The victory is not always to the swift, but to those who keep moving. (CDC)
• There are 1440 minutes in every day…schedule 30 of them for physical activity. (CDC)

Why Company Health and Wellness Program follow up?

Getting feedback from Company Health and Wellness Program participants serves two purposes: to obtain data that quantifies a Wellness Program’s impact, and to find ways to improve a Corporate Health Promotion Program.

Building follow up into your Company Health and Wellness Program

Keep it simple
• Keep follow up to information you absolutely require. A three-question survey is more likely to get a response than one with 20 questions.
• Use email or phone for follow-up. Use personal and business email addresses; use cell phone and unit phone numbers.
• Go to the Employees: go to the unit or somewhere else they will all be gathered, and get follow up information there.
• Give participants a stamped envelope addressed to you, with a printed form listing the information you will need.

Make it structured
• Tell participants right from the beginning that you will be doing follow up after the Company Health and Wellness Program is finished. Be specific about the information you will collect.
• If you need to do hands-on measurements, find out if participants will be coming back to your location for another reason (like another clinic appointment). Ask them to stop by while they are in the building – or, better yet, go to where they will be.
• Ask participants where they will be the next time you will be collecting data. They may already know their next duty station if they will be PCSing soon.
• Plan ahead for follow up and put it on the schedule. Planning to do follow up “when you have time” usually means follow up will never get done.

Make it catchy
• Give participants something to go along with the request for information. For example, if you send an email to ask for information, send along a yummy recipe or a timely excercise tip.
• Schedule a ‘reunion’ day to collect follow up information. Invite participants to come back and share successes and challenges. Have some (healthy) munchies available.
• Have a silly contest – the team with the most follow up data wins something, like having their photos posted on a prominently-placed bulletin board or an eggplant trophy, or some other fun thing.

Onsite Employee Health Screening means better heath risk assessment baselines and better security

“Onsite Employee Health Screening” is a hot phrase these days, but it can help your staff members with health management, too. When the pundits talk about Onsite Employee Health Screening, they’re usually referring to retinal scanners, fingerprint readers, and other high-tech security measures. However, if you trace the phrase “Onsite Employee Health Screening” back to its roots, it refers to the measurement of unique human physical and behavioral characteristics.

Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives are of imperative importance to the modern business. As a result, Onsite Employee Health Screening should be one of the tools in the arsenal of a forward-thinking organization.

Worksite Health Screenings aren’t just a “feel-good” measure for your staff members. Assessments of employee health help your workers to prioritize their well-being, which results in happier, more productive staff members. Health Risk Assessments / Health Risk Appraisals also build your database of employee biometric data. Onsite Employee Health Screening, when handled worksite by our experienced professionals, is hassle-free and smoothly organized. The biometric data we collect then can be stored digitally for years or even decades, helping you and your staff members build better health risk assessment baselines that you can use to assess staff members fitness and the efficacy of your corporation’s Health and Productivity Programs. Collected biometric data can even allow an employee’s doctor to assess that individual’s health over many years, helping him or her spot trends and diagnose disease.

Onsite Employee Health Screening extends to a wide variety of health risk tests, including measurements of blood pressure, blood type, body fat, substance abuse, and susceptibility to cardiovascular disease. Collecting biometric data for security purposes – like fingerprints, facial recognition imprints, or hand geometry – can be dovetailed with our health tests to minimize workflow disruption.

Why bother to market your Corporate Health Promotion Programs?
Because of the transient nature of the many staff member populations, you must market your Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives all the time. Your goal should be to keep your Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives as visible as possible.

Innovative marketing can increase awareness of your Company Health and Wellness Program for:
• Potential Company Health and Wellness Program participants
• Senior Management
• Line and medical personnel
• Potential partners and volunteers

Innovative Company Health and Wellness Program marketing ideas

Involve Senior Management in your marketing Company Health and Wellness Program as often as possible.
 • For example: invite Senior Management to judge a Company Health and Wellness Program logo contest.

Link your Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives to national advertising campaigns
 • …like the Great American Smokeout and the Dairy Council’s Milk Mustache campaign.
 
Work closely with personnel in the business office.
 • Submit articles about your Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives that coincide with National Health Observances. For example: highlight your Asthma Program in May, which is National Asthma Awareness Month.
 • Let the business office know you can always provide an article to them when they run short on material. (Then make sure you always follow through.)
Word of mouth is the most effective advertisement for your Company Health and Wellness Program
 • Use real employees in your advertising: enlist the help of successful Company Health and Wellness Program participants or use Employees and other post personnel for your marketing materials, when possible.
 • Establish “buzz” by incorporating an element of competition: which ‘team’ had the most steps over the past week? Which department engaged most frequently in physical activity?
Take advantage of technology
 • Use post television and radio resources.
 • Use email whenever you can.
Don’t just market your Company Health and Wellness Program to potential participants, but market the opportunities for others to be involved, as well.
 • For example: does the Red Cross know you can always use a volunteer? Do other departments/clinics know that you can always use personnel with some temporary down time?
Don’t be “old news”
 • If you put advertising materials up, be sure to take them down in a timely manner.
 • Update marketing logos and themes as appropriate.

What is Company Health and Wellness Program data?

Company Health and Wellness Program data is information that is collected about your Corporate Health Promotion Program. All Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives should include data as an integral part of the Company Health and Wellness Program plan.

Why should you care about Company Health and Wellness Program data?

Data tells the Wellness story. Data is the tangible evidence of a Wellness Program’s impact.

Building data into Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives

Why bother with Company Health and Wellness Program Data?

You need Company Health and Wellness Program data to:
 • Assess whether or not your Company Health and Wellness Program is working.
 • Answer the ‘so what?’ about the need for a Corporate Health Promotion Program.
 • Offer information to Senior Management about the impact of the Corporate Health Promotion Program.
 • Write a budget justification so you can secure Company Health and Wellness Program resources.
 • Use Company Health and Wellness Program resources efficiently and market your Company Health and Wellness Program more effectively.

Where to start collecting Company Health and Wellness Program data:
 • MAKE A PLAN to collect the data: decide what, when, and how data will be collected.
 • Find out what data is ALREADY BEING COLLECTED.
  o For example: use dairy sales data in the dining center to measure the impact of a milk marketing/dairy month campaign.
 • Start collecting JUST A FEW small pieces of information. Be creative!
  o For example: BMI, APFT scores (before & after), tobacco quit rates

IT’S NEVER TO LATE TO START collecting Company Health and Wellness Program data.

Innovative Company Health and Wellness Program data strategies
 • Use local college/graduate students to help collect, input, and assess Company Health and Wellness Program data.
 • If your business has an internship program, get to know the Internship Director. Take advantage of intern resources – including having the Director and/or interns implement the data collection plan for your Corporate Health Promotion Program.
 • Use data to let senior management know about the Corporate Health Promotion Initiatives affect on the workers.

Present this information at their monthly/quarterly meetings.
 • Use creative follow-up strategies to get data. Telephone calls can be effective, but also consider email, mailed surveys with return postage provided, and going to the units in person to collect the information.
 • Make data collection ‘fun’ for Company Health and Wellness Program participants.
  o For example: use a team approach – the team with the ‘best’ overall results gets some sort of award or recognition.
 • ALWAYS relate the impact of your Company Health and Wellness Program to readiness.