Wellness Program A to Z

To effectively manage your Workplace Wellness Program resources, first determine the resources you need and the resources you have. Then develop a plan to fill the resource gaps.

What Workplace Wellness Program resources do you need?
• Make a list of workers, materials, equipment, space, and logistical support.
• Be as specific as possible.
• Include partnerships that will be needed to make the Workplace Wellness Program happen.

Identify available Workplace Wellness Program resources.
• Use materials that exist or are already on hand. Resist the temptation to start from scratch!
• Determine what other departments already have.
• Contact DHPW/HPPI to find out what other installations have done.
• Know where to borrow or get free materials.
• Use local or internal resources whenever possible.
• Look for opportunities to cut and/or share costs.

Develop a strategy to fill Workplace Wellness Program resource gaps.
• Partner with as many workers and employers as you can. Emphasize what’s in it for them.
o Example: use a Physical Therapist to teach a back health class.
• Take advantage of community organizations and coalitions.
• Use volunteers as frequently as possible.
o Red Cross volunteers, medical interns or nursing students can supplement your manpower.

Former Workplace Wellness Program participants make good guest presenters.
• Keep a list of subject matter experts who will provide input for free so you can avoid the expense of an outside contractor or consultant.

Look for innovative Workplace Wellness Program opportunities.
• Other funding opportunities may exist at your facility.
o Example: if there is a book fair, see if you can apply to receive some of the proceeds.
• Ask the unit to contribute resources to Workplace Wellness Programs directly implemented at the unit level.
• Get to know the contracting person at your installation. They frequently know the least expensive places to obtain many different kinds of materials.
• Look for “recycling” possibilities.
o Example: IMD may be able to give you old computer workstations for use with electronic health assessments.

Good communication will help you find more partners and volunteers.
• Get the word out to the community about your Workplace Wellness Programs.
• Describe what you are doing and how you are doing it.
• Presentation is everything. Keep information current and use lots of visual aids.

All Workplace Wellness Programs require resources. Some resources you will already have. Some resources you will have to find. Sometimes you will have to make something out of very little. Smart strategies can maximize your Wellness resources.

Employer processes are structured activities that achieve a specific result. For example, scheduling appointments is a business process that results in an orderly work flow and timely patient care.

Workplace Wellness Program implementation frequently requires changes to established business processes. These changes may be simple, such as adding prescreening appointments to the scheduling process, or more complicated, like determining how time devoted to a particular Workplace Wellness Program will be coded.

Not all change can be affected painlessly. However, developing a plan for achieving change will overcome barriers like:

“But we’ve always done it that way” or “But we’ve never done it that way.”

Each change situation will be different. The path to achieving change may not always be straightforward.

Lesson learned: Making small, incremental changes will be easier than trying to make one big change. It is also easier to modify a current process than to introduce a brand new one.

Develop a road map for change.

Describe the current business process.
• For example: what is the current registration process for the weight management program? Include steps for both participants and staff.

Identify where the new or modified business process could fit into the current process.
• For example, prescreening appointments for the weight management program could be scheduled when participants sign up OR the prescreening could be done at the first class.

Collaborate.
• Consider the change process to be a team effort. Determine everyone who will be affected by the change and get their input.
o For example, be sure to ask the personnel that set up the prescreening appointments AND the personnel that would do the prescreening for their ideas.
• Recruit one or more champions for the change. It helps if the champion has some clout.
• Get buy-in from as many workers as you can – including those that might be most resistant to the change.

Communicate.
• Don’t keep the change a secret. The more workers know, the more likely they will support a change.
• Anticipate barriers ahead of time. Be ready to articulate concrete benefits that will result from the change – especially advantages such as costs avoided or training time conserved.

Workplace Wellness Program evaluation is critical for effective Wellness and will help you get Upper Management support.

Why evaluate your Workplace Wellness Program?

Workplace Wellness Program evaluation answers these questions:
• What change(s) occurred in the target population?
• ‘What’s in it’ for Upper Management?
• Are the resources that are being used worth the outcomes that are achieved?
• Were Workplace Wellness Program outcomes expected? (Unexpected outcomes may have occurred.)
• What Workplace Wellness Program areas need improvement?

Workplace Wellness Program Fact of Life:

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

• Workplace 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. Workplace Wellness Program evaluation does not have to be complicated.
• Get baseline data.
• Baseline data is the health status of the target population at the beginning of the Workplace Wellness Program.
• Start 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 data.
• 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 data that relates to readiness.
• You should always be ready to communicate to leadership the ways that your Workplace Wellness Program impacts readiness. Plan ahead to collect data that will demonstrate this connection.
• Think like Upper Management: what Workplace Wellness Program outcomes will be important from Upper Management point of view?

• It’s never too late to incorporate Workplace Wellness Program evaluation into Workplace Wellness Programs.
• If your Workplace Wellness Program is already up and running and you didn’t plan for data collection ahead of time, start collecting data NOW.
• If you don’t have baseline data, then collect interim data and compare that to end-of-program data.
• Or, you can compare final Workplace Wellness Program outcomes to similar initiatives elsewhere.

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

Think ahead: what unexpected challenges might come up as you implement your Workplace Wellness Program? How could you adapt and change the Workplace Wellness Program to meet those challenges?

• Consider the “what if’s?”
• What if your classroom space is suddenly no longer available?
• What if you can’t hold the Health Fair in the usual place?
• Have a ‘Plan B’ (or even Plan C or Plan D) in mind for when the “what if’s” happen.

• Build a team that can help with the Workplace Wellness Program
• Who else could teach the health education class if the regular instructor cancels at the last minute?
• Know what areas of expertise your staff has besides their ‘main’ job. For example, find out who has excercise instructor credentials besides just the physical therapist.
• Don’t wait for a crisis before you build a network of workers that you can call on.

• Be ready to roll your sleeves up
• Jump in to fill a gap if you need to.
• YOU may have to help restock the milk case in the dining facility when the Dairy Month ‘Milk Mustache’ contest results in increased sales during lunch.

• Be willing (and ready) to respond to feedback about the Workplace Wellness Program
• Get participant feedback while the Workplace Wellness Program is ongoing. Then be ready to adapt to those suggestions.
• For example, if kids in a pediatric obesity Workplace Wellness Program fight the idea of completing physical excercise logs, then get a verbal summary of their activity for the week instead.

• Simplify Workplace Wellness Program
• If part of your Workplace Wellness Program is not working, try making that part less complicated.
• For example, if getting follow-up information is not going the way you planned, then make the process to get information easier OR decrease the number of pieces of information that you collect.

• Use lemons to make lemonade
• What do you do when the Workplace Wellness Program doesn’t turn out exactly as you planned? Look for what did turn out. Often, the ‘unexpected outcomes’ produce positive results.
• For example, one installation’s database to collect sick call data was made obsolete by a regional system. However, the installation database was able to be used in a different way to track vaccination information that improved delivery of care to Employees.
• At another installation, world events halted a new physical training program. Instead, Workplace Wellness Program materials were made into a excercise guide.

Take the time to plan Workplace 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 - Locate the science and research that support your interventions. Look for similar Workplace Wellness Programs that already exist.
• Determine the specific health need(s) - Use these needs to target interventions 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 Workplace 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 Workplace 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 Upper Management support - Think like Upper Management. Communicate the value of Wellness from Upper Management’s perspective.
• Start the activity- Be flexible. Be prepared for unexpected challenges.
• Market the activity - Keep your Workplace Wellness Program visible for Upper Management, line and medical personnel, Workplace Wellness Program participants, and potential partners and volunteers.
• Collect and analyze outcomes - Outcomes indicate Workplace Wellness Program impact. Start with just a few outcomes – you don’t have to collect everything. Remember that it’s never too late to start measuring Workplace Wellness Program impact.
• Evaluate, improve and re-evaluate - Use participant feedback and Workplace Wellness Program outcomes to determine Workplace 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 health behavior change?

Small steps give participants immediate feedback on the changes they make towards better health. Measuring these small steps is also an excellent way to collect interim Workplace Wellness Program effectiveness data.

Workplace Wellness Program small steps make a big difference

Small steps for Workplace Wellness Program participants
• 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 Workplace Wellness Program steps
• Use short pre- and mid-point surveys to ask:
• How many glasses of water do you drink a day?
• How frequently you do eat fast food?
• How frequently do you skip a meal?
• How frequently do you engage in physical activity?
• How many servings of fruits and vegetables do you eat each day?

Use the results to show participants how their health behaviors are changing for the better.

• Ask participants 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 innovative! Do not rely only on weight loss, BMI, or cholesterol tests as health status progress indicators or health behavior change feedback.

Wise words for taking small Workplace 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)

Why Workplace Wellness Program follow up?

Getting feedback from Workplace Wellness Program participants serves two purposes: to obtain data that quantifies a Wellness Program’s impact, and to find ways to improve a Workplace Wellness Program.

Building follow up into your Workplace Wellness Program

Keep it simple
• Keep follow up to information you absolutely require. A three-question survey is more likely to get a response than one with 20 questions.
• Use email or phone for follow-up. Use personal, AKO, and installation email addresses; use cell phone and unit phone numbers.
• Go to the Employees: go to the unit or somewhere else they will all be gathered (like the APFT test location), and get follow up information there.
• Give participants a stamped envelope addressed to you, with a printed form listing the information you will need.

Make it structured
• Tell participants right from the beginning that you will be doing follow up after the Workplace Wellness Program is finished. Be specific about the information you will collect.
• If you need to do hands-on measurements, find out if participants will be coming back to your location for another reason (like another clinic appointment). Ask them to stop by while they are in the building – or, better yet, go to where they will be.
• Ask participants where they will be the next time you will be collecting data. They may already know their next duty station if they will be PCSing soon.
• Plan ahead for follow up and put it on the schedule. Planning to do follow up “when you have time” usually means follow up will never get done.

Make it catchy
• Give participants something to go along with the request for information. For example, if you send an email to ask for information, send along a yummy recipe or a timely excercise tip.
• Schedule a ‘reunion’ day to collect follow up information. Invite participants to come back and share successes and challenges. Have some (healthy) munchies available.
• Have a silly contest – the team with the most follow up data wins something, like having their photos posted on a prominently-placed bulletin board or an eggplant trophy, or some other fun thing.

Why bother to market your Workplace Wellness Programs?

Because of the transient nature of the many worker populations, you must market your Workplace Wellness Programs all the time. Your goal should be to keep your Workplace Wellness Programs as visible as possible.

Creative marketing can increase awareness of your Workplace Wellness Program for:
• Potential Workplace Wellness Program participants
• Upper Management
• Line and medical personnel
• Potential partners and volunteers

Creative Workplace Wellness Program marketing ideas

Involve Upper Management in your marketing Workplace Wellness Program as frequently as possible.
• For example: invite Upper Management to judge a Workplace Wellness Program logo contest.

Link your Workplace Wellness Programs to national advertising campaigns
• …like the Great American Smokeout and the Dairy Council’s Milk Mustache campaign.

Work closely with personnel in the corporate office.
• Submit articles about your Workplace Wellness Programs that coincide with National Health Observances. For example: highlight your Asthma Program in May, which is National Asthma Awareness Month.
• Let the corporate office know you can always provide an article to them when they run short on material. (Then make sure you always follow through.)
Word of mouth is the most effective advertisement for your Workplace Wellness Program
• Use real workers in your advertising: enlist the help of successful Workplace Wellness Program participants or use Employees and other post personnel for your marketing materials, when possible.
• Create “buzz” by incorporating an element of competition: which ‘team’ had the most steps over the past week? Which department engaged most frequently in physical activity?
Take advantage of technology
• Use post television and radio resources.
• Use email whenever you can.
Don’t just market your Workplace Wellness Program to potential participants, but market the opportunities for others to be involved, as well.
• For example: does the Red Cross know you can always use a volunteer? Do other departments/clinics know that you can always use personnel with some temporary down time?
Don’t be “old news”
• If you put advertising materials up, be sure to take them down in a timely manner.
• Update marketing logos and themes as appropriate.

What is Workplace Wellness Program data?

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

Why should you care about Workplace Wellness Program data?

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

Building data into Workplace Wellness Programs

Why bother with Workplace Wellness Program Data?

You need Workplace Wellness Program data to:
• Evaluate whether or not your Workplace Wellness Program is working.
• Answer the ‘so what?’ about the need for a Workplace Wellness Program.
• Provide information to Upper Management about the impact of the Workplace Wellness Program.
• Write a budget justification so you can secure Workplace Wellness Program resources.
• Use Workplace Wellness Program resources efficiently and market your Workplace Wellness Program more effectively.

Where to begin collecting Workplace Wellness Program data:
• MAKE A PLAN to collect the data: decide what, when, and how data will be collected.
• Determine what data is ALREADY BEING COLLECTED.
o For example: use dairy sales data 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 innovative!
o For example: BMI, APFT scores (before & after), tobacco quit rates

IT’S NEVER TO LATE TO START collecting Workplace Wellness Program data.

Innovative Workplace Wellness Program data strategies
• Use local college/graduate students to help collect, input, and analyze Workplace Wellness Program data.
• If your business 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 Workplace Wellness Program.
• Use data to let upper management know about the Workplace Wellness Programs affect on the employees.

Present this information at their monthly/quarterly meetings.
• Use innovative follow-up strategies to get data. 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 Workplace Wellness Program participants.
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 Workplace Wellness Program to readiness.

Collaboration and Effective Workplace Wellness Programs

Why should you collaborate?

Active, ongoing partnerships and cooperative efforts multiply Workplace Wellness Program resources in order to better serve Employees and their families.

How can you build collaboration into a Workplace Wellness Program?

Get Ready…
• Brainstorm a list of every potential Wellness partner you can think of. Be innovative!
• Be a politician: introduce yourself to everyone BEFORE you need their help.
• Develop a plan to get Upper Management support from as high up the chain as possible. Make sure to include specific ways that your Workplace Wellness Program will impact force readiness.
• Determine how YOU can help your partners (not just what they can do for you).

Be Steady…
• Solicit input from everyone that your Workplace Wellness Program will affect. Make a special effort to talk to the workers closest to Workplace Wellness Program implementation (those with “boots on the ground”).
• The most frequently asked questions should be: “What would you suggest?” and “How do you think this would work best?”
• Locate someone who has done the same type of Workplace Wellness Program before and ask their advice. (Hint: the Workplace Wellness Program has a list of many Wellness POCs.)
• Plan NOW to show Workplace Wellness Program effectiveness. Identify who may ALREADY BE COLLECTING information that will show the Workplace Wellness Program is working.

Get Set…
• Step back and look at your Workplace Wellness Program from a potential partner’s point of view.
• Brainstorm questions your collaborators might have, and have the answers ready.
• Be ready to frame your “selling points” in terms that are important to each specific partner.
• Put the Workplace Wellness Program benefits in language your collaborators will understand.
• Emphasize to potential partners how this Workplace Wellness Program will provide benefit to them.

And Go…
• Build as many partnerships as you can BEFORE you implement a Workplace Wellness Program.
• Make your partnerships a two-way street: always let your collaborators know what you can do for them – then follow-up and do what you say you would do.
• Maintain Upper Management support by providing a regular flow of information. Invite Upper Management participation in the Workplace Wellness Program and special events whenever possible. (Hint: they make great judges if you have a contest.)
• Provide regular feedback to your collaborators.
• Don’t hog the spotlight: let your collaborators share in the visibility of the Workplace Wellness Program.