Wellness Program Blog

A gap analysis is an assessment tool that enables a company 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 and Wellness Program to determine where the program stands now and how the Employee Health and Wellness Program can better follow evidence-based recommendations.

 

To start a gap analysis, ask these simple questions about your Employee Health and Wellness Program:

• What is the current state of the Employee Health and Wellness Program?

• How does the Employee Health and Wellness 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 and Wellness Program move forward towards the desired state?”

 

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

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

 

Why evaluate your Employee Health and Wellness Program?

 

Employee 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 Employee Health and Wellness Program outcomes expected? (Unexpected outcomes may have occurred.)

            • What Employee Health and Wellness Program areas need improvement?

 

Employee Health and Wellness Program Fact of Life:

 

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

 

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

 

Where do you start?

 

Keep it simple. Employee Health and Wellness Program evaluation does not have to be complicated.

• Get baseline information.

            • Baseline information is the health status of the target population at the beginning of the Employee Health and Wellness Program.

            • Begin by collecting just 3 or 4 primary items as the baseline. You will have better success collecting follow-up information later if you only need to get a few pieces of information.

            • 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 information that relates to readiness.

            • You should always be ready to communicate to leadership the ways that your Employee Health and Wellness Program impacts readiness. Plan ahead to collect information that will demonstrate this connection.

            • Think like Senior Management: what Employee Health and Wellness Program outcomes will be important from Senior Management point of view?

 

• It’s never too late to incorporate Employee Health and Wellness Program evaluation into Employee Health and Wellness Programs.

            • If your Employee Health and Wellness Program is already up and running and you didn’t plan for information collection ahead of time, start collecting information NOW.

            • If you don’t have baseline information, then collect interim information and compare that to end-of-program information.

            • Or, you can compare final Employee Health and Wellness Program outcomes to similar initiatives elsewhere.

 

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

Take the time to plan Employee Health and Wellness Programs before they are implemented.

 

Strategic 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 initiatives. Look for similar Employee Health and Wellness Programs that already exist.

• Determine the specific health need(s) – Use these needs to target initiatives 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. Make a written plan for your Employee Health and Wellness 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 Employee Health and Wellness 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.

• Begin the activity- Be flexible. Be prepared for unexpected challenges.

• Market the activity – Keep your Employee Health and Wellness Program visible for Senior Management, line and medical personnel, Employee Health and Wellness Program members, and potential partners and volunteers.

• Collect and analyze outcomes – Outcomes indicate Employee Health and Wellness Program impact. Begin with just a few outcomes – you don’t have to collect everything. Remember that it’s never too late to start measuring Employee Health and Wellness Program impact.

• Assess, improve and re-evaluate – Use participant feedback and Employee Health and Wellness Program outcomes to determine Employee Health and Wellness Program impact. Identify 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 members immediate feedback on the changes they make towards better health. Measuring these small steps is also an excellent way to collect interim Employee Health and Wellness Program effectiveness information.

 

Employee Health and Wellness Program small steps make a big difference

 

Small steps for Employee Health and Wellness Program members

• 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 Employee 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 members how their health behaviors are changing for the better.

 

• Ask members 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 Employee 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)

What is Employee Health and Wellness Program data?

 

Employee Health and Wellness Program data is information that is collected about your Employee Health and Wellness Program. All Employee Health and Wellness Programs should include data as an integral part of the Employee Health and Wellness Program plan.

 

 

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

 

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

 

Building data into Employee Health and Wellness Programs

 

Why bother with Employee Health and Wellness Program Data?

 

You need Employee Health and Wellness Program data to:

            • Assess whether or not your Employee Health and Wellness Program is working.

            • Answer the ‘so what?’ about the need for a Employee Health and Wellness Program.

            • Offer information to Senior Management about the impact of the Employee Health and Wellness Program.

            • Write a budget justification so you can secure Employee Health and Wellness Program resources.

            • Use Employee Health and Wellness Program resources efficiently and market your Employee Health and Wellness Program more effectively.

 

Where to start collecting Employee Health and Wellness Program data:

            • MAKE A PLAN to collect the data: decide what, when, and how information will be collected.

            • Find out what information is ALREADY BEING COLLECTED.

                        o For example: use dairy sales information in the dining facility to measure the impact of a milk marketing/dairy month campaign.

            • Begin 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 Employee Health and Wellness Program data.

 

Innovative Employee Health and Wellness Program data strategies

            • Use local college/graduate students to help collect, input, and analyze Employee Health and Wellness Program information.

            • If your company 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 Employee Health and Wellness Program.

            • Use information to let upper management know about the Employee Health and Wellness Programs affect on the staff members.

 

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 Employee Health and Wellness Program members.

                        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 Employee Health and Wellness Program to readiness.

 

Flu Shot Facts & Myths

 

Myth: The flu isn’t a serious disease.

Fact: Influenza (flu) is a serious disease of the nose, throat, and lungs, and it can lead to pneumonia. Each year about 200,000 individuals in the U.S. are hospitalized and about 36,000 individuals die because of the flu. Most who die are 65 years and older. But small children less than 2 years old are as likely as those over 65 to have to go to the hospital because of the flu.

 

Myth: The flu shot can cause the flu.

Fact: The flu shot cannot cause the flu. Some individuals get a little soreness or redness where they get the shot. It goes away in a day or two. Serious problems from the flu shot are very rare.

 

Myth: The flu shot does not work.

Fact: Most of the time the flu shot will prevent the flu. In scientific studies, the effectiveness of the flu shot has ranged from 70 percent to 90 percent when there is a good match between circulating viruses and those in the vaccine. Getting the vaccine is your best protection against this disease.

 

Myth: The side effects are worse than the flu.

Fact: The worst side effect you’re likely to get from a flu shot is a sore arm. The nasal mist flu vaccine might cause nasal congestion, runny nose, sore throat and cough. The risk of a severe allergic reaction is less than 1 in 4 million.

 

Myth: Only older individuals need a flu vaccine.

Fact: Adults and children with conditions like asthma, diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease need to get a flu shot. Doctors also recommend children 6 months and older get a flu shot every year until their 5th birthday.

 

Myth: You must get the flu vaccine before December.

Fact: Flu vaccine can be given before or during the flu season. The best time to get vaccinated is October or November. But you can get vaccinated in December or later.

 

For more information, ask your healthcare provider or call 800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636).  You can also get more information about flu vaccinations by visiting the following Website: www.cdc.gov/flu

 

Source: The Department of Health and Human ServicesCenters for Disease Control and Prevention

Benefits of Employee Health and Wellness Programs: Easy to Find

 

Employer’s are learning that Employee Health and Wellness Programs is an effective way to increase productivity, improve worker health, decrease healthcare costs and reduce rates of absence.

 

A report published in 2003 by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) highlighted how important it is for employers to incorporate Employee Health and Wellness Programs as part of their corporate strategy. The report asserts that chronic diseases which are largely preventable place a heavy toll on company, including lower productivity and higher medical insurance costs.

 

The Department of Health and Human Services estimates that $1.66 trillion was spent on medical care in 2003 and it attributes a majority of those costs to chronic diseases and conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and asthma. Sadly, the money allocated for preventing or controlling these conditions is negligible.

 

In a recent article, American Cancer Society CEO John Seffrin reported two thirds of cancer deaths in the United States could be prevented through lifestyle changes in diet, exercise, cancer testing and “especially” tobacco use. A well-designed Employee Health and Wellness Programs initiative serves the best interests of staff members and employers alike.

 

Benefits of Wellness Progams: Return On Investment (ROI)

 

Ron Goetzel, a nationally recognized expert in the field of health management, information analysis and applied research, said in a recent interview that with an investment of $100 to $150 per worker per year in Employee Health and Wellness Programs, an employer can expect an average return on investment of approximately $3 for every $1

invested ($300 to $450 savings per worker per year).  Goetzel says, however, that these returns are not typically realized until two to three years into the Employee Health and Wellness Program.

 

Benefits of Wellness Progams: Tax Breaks

 

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has been an outspoken proponent in seeking legislative solutions for a strained healthcare system.

 

“As a nation, we have a ‘sick care’ system that is focused on helping individuals after they get sick, rather than a ‘health care’ system which focuses on keeping healthy individuals healthy,” he says.

 

Harkin introduced the Healthy Lifestyle and Prevention (HeLP) America Act of 2004. One of the initiatives under Title II – Healthier Communities and Workplaces, provides tax credits to businesses that offer comprehensive programs to promote worker health and grants for small company.

 

Benefits of Wellness Progams: Getting Started

 

Implementing a Employee Health and Wellness Programs can be accomplished with simple, low-cost strategies.

 

• Offer incentives for participation.
• Create a wellness informational campaign.
• Schedule wellness seminars on diabetes, nutrition, exercise and cholesterol.
• Create initiatives such as fitness, sleep diary, smoking cessation and injury prevention.
• Offer onsite chair massages or simple stretching exercises to do at the desk.
• Change vending machine options to offer healthier, low-fat snacks and drinks.
• Actively promote worker participation in all Employee Health and Wellness Programs.

 

A successful Employee Health and Wellness Program can boost company morale, enhance productivity, reduce organizational conflict, attract superior workers and decrease the rate of worker turnover. The case for establishing a Employee Health and Wellness Program is well worth the effort.

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

 

“Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing” 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 and Biometric Testing, 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 and Biometric Testing” back to its roots, it refers to the measurement of unique human physical and behavioral characteristics.

 

Employee Health and Wellness Programs are of imperative importance to the modern business. As a result, Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing should be one of the tools in the arsenal of a forward-thinking organization.

 

Workplace Health Screening and Biometric Testings aren’t just a “feel-good” measure for your workers. Assessments of staff member health help your workers to prioritize their well-being, which results in happier, more productive workers. Health risk assessments also build your database of staff member biometric data. Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing, when handled workplace 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 analyze staff members physical fitness and the efficacy of your company’s Health and Productivity Programs. Collected biometric data can even allow an staff member’s doctor to assess that person’s health over many years, helping him or her spot trends and diagnose disease.

 

Onsite Employee Health Screening and Biometric Testing 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.

Maintaining Employee Health and Wellness Program during Flu Season can be a challenge for any business. The average adult can get up to four colds in one year, and hundreds of thousands are hospitalized every year for flu complications. From December to March, there are more workers out of the office due to illness, and others who barely made it to the office and can hardly think over their constant coughing and sneezing.

 

Employee Health and Wellness Program: Prevention is the Key

 

Prevention is the key to maintaining good health in the workplace and increasing overall Employee Health and Wellness Program. Fighting infection after the cold and flu epidemics hit is a losing battle and can best be combated with early action, such as implementing a Employee Health and Wellness Program Program at the worksite for good health all year long.

 

Keeping the Office Germ-free During Flu Season

 

The typical office is the perfect breeding grounds for influenza or the cold virus. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says that there are higher chances for the spread of infection during winter because people spend more time indoors. In an office, this risk is increased by cubicles, bringing many people into a close space. Workplace Health Screening and Biometric Testings conducted regularly as part of an overall health management program will increase the chances of Employee Health and Wellness Program year round, and especially during Flu Season.

 

Education Can Increase Employee Health and Wellness Program During Flu Season

 

Educating workers about various ways to stay healthy during Flu Season may help prevent the spread of any sickness to the entire office. Hand washing is a crucial component in maximizing Employee Health and Wellness Program, as bacteria collects on keyboards, mouses, around the water cooler and next to the community coffee pot. As workers shake hands, infection may be passed, multiplying the chance of getting a cold or coming down with the flu. Hand washing and anti-bacterial cleaners for surfaces can help reduce the spread of sickness.

 

Employee Health and Wellness Program is possible during Flu Season. With Employee Health and Wellness Program, your office can reach one step closer to immunity from sickness during Flu Season.

Wellness might be the fatal flaw in your Employee Health and Wellness Program. Is Wellness part of your strategy? Does workplace wellness stop when your workers leave the office?

 

Wellness Continuity

 

If workers don’t have the tools to pursue health and wellness on a Personal level, then it becomes easy for them to “fall off the wagon” and slide back into a unealthy lifestyles. If you have a walking program, for example, it should encourage workers to build walking routes near their homes, perhaps with the cooperation of the neighborhood association or coworkers who live in the neighborhood.

 

Employee Health and Wellness Programs: Always on Your Mind

 

Your Employee Health and Wellness Program coordinator should have “vacation wellbeing” as part of their job scope. In other words, you don’t want a Employee Health and Wellness Program to stop at the boundaries of the workplace campus. Instead, integrate Personal health and wellness with your Employee Health and Wellness Programs.

 

This can benefit your Employee Health and Wellness Programs in two ways:

 

it reduces the chance that the staff member will come back to the office feeling unfit, overwhelmed and unable to resume their Employee Health and Wellness Programs; and

it shows that their company is just as invested in their Personal health and wellness as they are

 

Like a marathon, Personal health and wellness is a long-term endeavor and it’s difficult for anyone to do in isolation. Simply put, it’s easier to maintain your health when you know others are depending on you and watching your Personal performance. It’s easier to maintain to an exercise program when you have a jogging partner who wakes you up when you oversleep, or spots you when you’re lifting weights.

 

Similarly, it’s easier to maintain to your Employee Health and Wellness Program when you know your company is supporting you and wishing you the best.

 

Don’t Dictate Personal Health

 

Just as Wellness surveys serve a vital function in building a Employee Health and Wellness Program, it’s vitally important that you involve workers in designing an off-site wellness strategy. No one enjoys being told what to do, but everyone enjoys having assistance in tacking tough problems. Make it clear that workers are in charge of their own health and wellness. Your role as their health management partner is to support, advise, counsel, provide resources and information.

 

Of course, don’t forget that part of Personal health and wellness responsibility is to provide good health risk assessment baselines so workers can proceed safely on the road to better physical fitness.