Worksite Wellness ProgramsWorksite Wellness Programs

The program design options hinge upon the goals and objectives and desired outcomes of your program. If your objective is to help workers modify behavior, lower risk

factors, or save medical care money then your wellness program would be designed to accomplish those outcomes and a budget would be significant to support that design.

Wellness program design options vary, depending on desired outcomes and budgets. Each level has pros and cons. The intentions or results are quite different, are not

interchangeable in terms of obtaining similar results, and therefore ought not be confused. For example, scheduling activities such as an employee wellness fair or

lunchtime education sessions, or having pamphlets available do not usually result in behavior change, but may expand awareness on a topic. If the objective is behavior

change then a different design is required, such as Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs and Corporation Support. The outline below describes the wellness design levels

with a short explanation.

Awareness Programs: At this level a company makes health information available and accessible to workers. This type of program often includes handouts on a variety of

subject matters, wellness articles in newsletters, bulletin board displays, e-mail health messages, etc. Also, most health & wellness fairs are designed as awareness

programs with vendors offering information and offering health screenings to workers.

Awareness programs are inexpensive and do not require extensive employee or company time commitments. Nevertheless, these programs do not usually yield behavior

change. Growing awareness isn’t usually sufficient to generate lifestyle changes for most individuals, unless used to innervate workers to register for a program being

provided at the company or community on the topic. An example of this would be offering information on the harmful effects of smoking and inviting workers who smoke to

register for a tobacco cessation class.

Education Programs: Educational programs often support more information on a topic and usually also provide time for Q & A, but are similar to awareness programs. An

example is lunch-n-learn sessions on a health related topic. These cost the company a modest amount more than awareness programs; however, they are still inexpensive

and do not require a great deal of time for planning or attending a session. Again, increasing awareness and offering information may not lead to the desired behavior change

unless ongoing support or incentives are also planned.

Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs: These programs are designed as 4 to 12 weekly sessions or seminars to support wellness and health education, address barriers and

support opportunities to practice the desired skills. Behavior change programs therefore require additional company resources, cost more, and also require additional

employee commitment, time and effort. The results are often the desired positive lifestyle change, which if sustained can lead to potential cost savings.

Examples include tobacco cessation classes, weight loss and weight management meetings, or an ongoing physical activity program.

Environmental and Corporation Support: Environmental support is often considered the highest and most important level to include when beginning your wellness program in

order to support and maintain healthy behaviors. These types of design options include policy changes such as:

• Creating a tobacco-free workplace
• Designating a walking path
• Securing onsite fitness centers
• Ensuring healthy vending machines selections
• Offering healthy food choices in the cafeteria, and/or
• Securing flex-time policies

Other examples include subsidizing healthy vending machines or cafeteria choices; reimbursing fitness center or weight loss and weight management program

memberships; or offering insurance incentives for healthy behaviors.

Ideally, the wellness program design would include some of each of these options. The more integrated the approach, the more successful the results will be. For example,

a company can have tobacco cessation information available; can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of smoking and how to quit; can enable an

onsite tobacco cessation program, supply self quit smoking kits, or support workers to go to a community program; and/or on an environmental support level can establish a

tobacco-free workplace and grounds, offer reduced health insurance for non-smokers, or support pharmacological quit smoking aids for free.

Worksite Wellness Program: Components for Success

There are many key parts that must be considered to see to the performance of your Worksite Wellness Program or Worksite Wellness Program. These include:

• Senior Management Reinforcement & Employee Participation
• Active Worksite Wellness Program Committee
• Program is Based on Employee Needs & Interests
• Goals and Objectives are Established
• Detailed Action Plan Based upon Resources & Budget
• Program Implementation & Internal Marketing
• Assessment of Outcomes and Program