Worksite Wellness Programs

Worksite Wellness 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 Worksite Wellness 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 way 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 Worksite Wellness Programs has revealed several primary Worksite Wellness Program strategies to increase Worksite Wellness Program effectiveness and impact overall Soldier health.

Strategy #5: Using a small number of targeted priorities maintains Worksite Wellness 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 Worksite Wellness Program focus small will avoid duplication of other ongoing installation Worksite Wellness Programs.

Strategy #6: Use standardized processes whenever possible.

Reduce the amount of variation within your Worksite Wellness Programs by standardizing all the processes needed for Worksite Wellness Program planning and implementation. For 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 Worksite Wellness Program resources in a variety of topic areas.

Strategy #7: Worksite Wellness 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 employer in order to meet leadership and employee needs. Answer the question: “How can we best help leadership and Employees to fulfill their mission?”

Evaluation of successful Worksite Wellness Programs has revealed several primary Worksite Wellness Program strategies to increase Worksite Wellness Program effectiveness and impact overall Soldier health.

Strategy #1: Communication with leadership is essential

• Assess leadership priorities.
• Report Worksite Wellness Program outcomes back to leadership in a timely manner.
• Equal investments of support from both the medical and line community will result in enhanced Worksite Wellness Program success.

Strategy #2: Worksite Wellness Program planning must be driven by information.

• Determine specific needs of the target population.
• Focus on the health status of the population as a whole to identify the top health concerns.
• Data should drive decisions regarding which health needs should be addressed first.

Strategy #3: Use electronic information collection and reporting as often as possible.

• Centrally collected information in an electronic format is essential for determining population health needs.
• Electronic reporting is also very valuable when communicating Worksite Wellness Program outcomes to leadership and other stakeholders.
• Flexible reporting capabilities allow information to be presented as information that can support decision-making, in formats that decision-makers prefer.

Strategy #4: Multidisciplinary collaboration enhances employee health and maximizes available resources.

• Collaboration between health disciplines increases effectiveness of Wellness and preventive medicine initiatives.
• Don’t forget to look outside the employer for collaboration partners.
• Optimized Worksite Wellness Program outcomes can be met by coordinating the activities of medical professionals, cadre, community agents, and funding sources.
• Bundling services together also provides the additional benefit to units by conserving training and mission time.
Implementing these strategies can improve Worksite Wellness Program effectiveness and optimize available resources.