Worksite Health and Wellness Program Data
What is Worksite Health and Wellness Program data?
Worksite Health and Wellness Program data is information that is collected about your Worksite Health and Wellness Program. All Worksite Health and Wellness Programs should include data as an integral part of the Worksite Health and Wellness Program plan.
Why should you care about Worksite Health and Wellness Program data?
Data tells the Wellness story. Data is the tangible evidence of a Wellness Program’s impact.
Building data into Worksite Health and Wellness Programs
Why bother with Worksite Health and Wellness Program Data?
You need Worksite Health and Wellness Program data to:
• Evaluate whether or not your Worksite Health and Wellness Program is working.
• Answer the ‘so what?’ about the need for a Worksite Health and Wellness Program.
• Provide information to Senior Management about the impact of the Worksite Health and Wellness Program.
• Write a budget justification so you can secure Worksite Health and Wellness Program resources.
• Use Worksite Health and Wellness Program resources efficiently and market your Worksite Health and Wellness Program more effectively.
Where to begin collecting Worksite Health and Wellness Program data:
• MAKE A PLAN to collect the data: decide what, when, and how information will be collected.
• Determine what information is ALREADY BEING COLLECTED.
o By way of example: use dairy sales information in the dining facility to measure the impact of a milk marketing/dairy month campaign.
• Start collecting JUST A FEW small pieces of information. Be creative!
o By way of example: BMI, APFT scores (before & after), tobacco quit rates
IT’S NEVER TO LATE TO START collecting Worksite Health and Wellness Program data.
Innovative Worksite Health and Wellness Program data strategies
• Use local college/graduate students to help collect, input, and analyze Worksite Health and Wellness Program information.
• If your organization has an internship program, get to know the Internship Director. Make use of intern resources – including having the Director and/or interns implement the data collection plan for your Worksite Health and Wellness Program.
• Use information to let senior management know about the Worksite Health and Wellness Programs affect on the workers.
Present this information at their monthly/quarterly meetings.
• Use creative follow-up strategies to get information. Phone 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 Worksite Health and Wellness Program participants.
o By way of 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 Worksite Health and Wellness Program to readiness.
