Archive for May, 2009
Planning
An annual plan for the major wellness programs and activities is a useful management tool. This is an excellent Employee Wellness Committee task. Often an exercise and wellness theme per month is provided to employees.
Some corporations choose to follow a National Health Observances calendar which offers advantages. The materials developed by these various national health [...]
Health Risk Appraisal
A Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) is at times used in conjunction with a health evaluation. 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 [...]
Heart Health
The most common evaluation performed in Employee Wellness is heart health assessment.
The evaluation can include a written heart health test, Blood Pressure (BP) measurement, cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol test, glucose (blood glucose), weight, educational materials specific to diet, nutrition, exercise, blood lipids, smoking, and weight.
The health professional delivering the evaluation then provides a consultation and helps set objectives [...]
Health Screening
The backbone of wellness programming at the worksite is health evaluation. It is the first major exercise a business should do when first starting a wellness program. Health evaluation is frequently 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 [...]
Goals and Objectives
Goals are broad-based statements about what the program is expected to do. The objective of the wellness program is to enhance the health of the individual and the business. Goals like mission statements support direction in a program.
Objectives are specific and provide a means of measurement of the program to determine performance. There are two [...]
Employee Wellness Committee
Wellness committees are significant in that they create a sense of ownership in the program, and facilitate various tasks involved in wellness programming at the workplace. The Employee Wellness Committee should be composed of a cross-section of employees representing various occupations, levels, and subgroups with the business.
A common mistake is filling the Employee Wellness [...]
Company Culture
Effective wellness programs recognize the effect of building a supportive cultural environment. The workplace 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-employees. This reinforcement can help one adopt healthy lifestyles. Tools are available to [...]
Work Environment
Effective wellness programs attempt to set up 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 positive outlook. Policies promote and support wellness efforts within the workplace.
• Effective programs identify ways that business policies and business [...]
Needs Assessment
An initial health screening can include a survey of employees’ interests as part of the assessment. Effective wellness programs are designed to meet the needs and interests of the employees. The information you need to get from a survey depends on the scope of your program. A sample survey can be obtained in the HOPE [...]
What Is A Comprehensive Employee Wellness ?
Comprehensive Employee Wellness involve all employees, deal with all major health risks, offers choices, and target both the employees and the worksite environment; support periodic evaluation of its results. Comprehensive Employee Wellness emphasize follow-up and offers reinforcement for the employee as long as he/she is employed. Research studies have determined this approach to be highly [...]
