Wellness Program A to Z

Worksite health screenings can take a variety of forms. Common screening components might include -

o  Blood pressure and heart rate.

o  Cholesterol (typically a finger-stick sum cholesterol test, either fasting or non-fasting).

o  Blood glucose (diabetes screening).

o  Height and weight.

o  Percent body fat and/or BMI (BMI).

o  Fitness level.

o  Bone density.

o  Posture assessment.

Considerations when offering workplace screenings -

o  Medical testings ought to be conducted by licensed, and at times, licensed individuals.

o  Health screenings should be conducted in a location that authorizes for privacy and confidentiality.

o  Time for discussion and explanation screening results ought to be allowed as part of the screening process.

o  A process should be in place for referral for participants whose results are indicative of a need for further medical evaluation.

o  Screenings could be very expensive to the overall wellness budget OR there may  be no cost to the health promotion program when participants are willing to cover the cost of the assessment themselves.

For example, cholesterol and glucose testing ordinarily costs twenty to twenty-five dollars per individuals, per exam. Staff Members may  be willing to pay for screening in exchange for the convenience of having the screening at work.

o  It normally works best to have scheduled appointments at intervals sufficient to allow time for the assessment and a brief discussion of results. Therefore, a registration and scheduling process must be devised.

o  Some kinds of screening, such as fitness testing, require participants to bring casual clothes in which to do the testing. Workers ought to be notified of the need to dress in a specific manner for the screening.

o  To ensure high attendance at screening events, it’s advisable to coordinate promotion of the event with reminders to workforce.

o  Supply staff with “screening preparation” guidelines to remind them how to prepare for the most valid screening results.

Resources for worksite screenings -

1. Speak with a wellness consultant or medical screening organization.

2. When employee participation is low for on-site Healthy Benefits screenings, or if offering additional workplace screening is an choice, check with the community health or outreach department of your local hospital, health education department, occupational health department or workplace health department as to screenings they may offer.

3. Local health and fitness centers might also have licensed staff for some types of screenings, such as fitness testing or body fat assessment.

Make safety a key concern when planning exercise in your worksite.  An accident or injury will not “sell” the wellness program and might end up costing the business. This section will help you take the necessary steps to avoid an accident or injury.

Points to Consider

Using Qualified Professionals

Hire professionally certified instructors to lead fitness courses (whether on or offsite) or to run workplace brown bagger sessions. It’s also a good idea to ask the instructor for references.

When you hire instructors, make sure that your insurance protects both the instructor and your business.

Risk Management

Regardless of whether we like it or not, liability is an issue these days.

Risk management plans don’t have to be complicated or expensive. for example, part of the plan might require that workers complete fitness appraisals and sign statements accepting the possible risks involved in exercise.

It compensates to be prepared. Safety and emergency policies and procedures reduce the risk of loss both to individuals and to your company.

Ask workers to sign a waiver when participating in both onsite and offsite activities. for liability reasons, workers must understand the risks involved in participating in the activity and understand that they are waiving their right to sue.

The worker should not be asked to sign the waiver just before the activity.  The waiver might  be invalid if staff members claim that they did not fully understand the risks.

Other Safety Tips

Here’s a list of some other safety tips to rememberwhen planning exercise.

Look at the environment where workforce are active -

o  Sidewalks should be clear of ice and snow, away from falling debris or snow, and have obviously marked curbs and safe crosswalks.

o  Stairwells ought to be well-lit and in good condition and have handrails and safety features, so that employees are not locked out of floors.

o  Fitness facilities should have proper flooring, good ventilation, and access to water and an emergency telephone.

Give medical testing for staff members participating in activities -

o  PAR-Q

o  PAR-MEDX for Pregnancy

Following are some other important safety factors -

o  First-aid kit and automated external defibrillator on site.

o  Emergency Action Plan (EAP) in place and practised.

o  Commercial grade fitness equipment (not donated, “hand me down” equipment).

o  Documented equipment inspection and maintenance schedule.

o  Orientation of equipment and health promotion programs done by qualified professional with a exercise background.

To make a difference in the lives of your fellow workers, you first need to understand that getting active is not simply a matter of option. Some things are within our individual control, but others are shaped by the people  and circumstances in which we live and work.

It’s Easier to be Active Whenâ..

o  We know what to do and have the confidence, skills and opportunity to do it.

o  It’s fun. “Working out” at the gym does not appeal to everyone. Activities need to reflect what individuals  enjoy.

o  Our friends, family or peers are active with us (or at least support us).

o  We feel safe, thanks to well-lit streets or stairwells.

o  Sidewalks, walking/biking trails, parks and fitness clubs are nearby.

o  We’ve money to pay for equipment, instruction or memberships.

o  We can walk, bike or take public transit to work.

o  Active options like taking the stairs, having stretch breaks at meetings and going outside during lunchtime are “normal” in the workplace.

o  Managers support and recognize staff member efforts. Better yet, they participate.

o  We can juggle our work hours to fit in exercise.

Think about how you may develop some of these conditions in your workplace. By taking these steps, you will make it more likely that employees both want and are able to be active during the workday.

Workplace physical activity programs that focus only on person have limited success. Studies show that reaching individuals  in various ways gives the best chance of long-term success.

A strategy directed at multiple levels is also called an “ecological approach.”

The kind of evaluation you select depends on when you do it and the kind of information you collect.

This section describes when to use three types -  formative, process and summative examinations.

During the Developing Stage

Use formative evaluations in the planning stages to ensure that your wellness program is based on solid information. These evaluations also help you to create effective and appropriate materials and procedures.

Examples of formative evaluations include -

o  records of senior level management commitments to the health promotion program

o  worker interest surveys

o  worksite environmental assessments

o  pre-testing of health promotion program materials

During Your Program

A process examination is used when the program is underway. These investigations help you -

o  Track what is going well and what isn’t (and how to revise your health promotion program)

o  determine when you are reaching the employees you want to reach

o  describe the program to others

o  monitor who is participating in the program

During or After Your Program

Summative investigations happen when the program is already in place or completed. Use this type of analysis to measure what personnel like about the program and what may be improved.

All three kinds of examinations are useful.  The investigation you choose depends on the time and financial resources you’ve available.

What Do You Want to Achieve?

Think about why you’re evaluating  and what your investigation is going to measure.

If you are attempting to figure out whether an initiative has been successful, see when you followed your mission statement and met your goals and goals.

If you don’t have a mission statement or goals or goals, decide with senior management and your staff member committee how your corporation will measure success.

For  instance, you can measure success by changes in -

o  Physical measures (e.g., strength, flexibility, waist circumference of employees).

o  Psychological measures (e.g., worker morale, satisfaction levels, stress levels).

o  Productivity measures (e.g., decrease in absenteeism rates, increased worker productivity).

Thinking About Employees

If you are considering making improvements to the initiative, think about whether the initiative is still relevant and appropriate for workers. Find out if there are any barriers to participation in the wellness program or to participation in physical activity during the workday.

As employees are the ones participating in the health promotion program, it is imperative that you give them a chance to provide feedback on the exercise initiative.

Picking an Analysis Method

Decide on your evaluation method. Both measurable results (e.g., absenteeism rates or questionnaire responses) and descriptive results (e.g., one-on-one interviews or focus groups) may be used to evaluate.

The method you pick will depend on the time and funding available and what you want to measure.

Determining Precisely how to Do the Analysis

Plan when and where you will do your investigation (and who will be analyzed). for additional information, read the “Kinds of Evaluations” section on this website.

You may want to pilot test your examination (e.g., with members of the worker committee) before sending it out to employees.  The worker committee may also want to evaluate the initiative’s planning process.

Doing the Evaluation

o  Compare your results to baseline information (i.e., investigation results from before the launch of your program). When you don’t have this information, save your investigation results to compare with later results.

You can also look at other information you may have, such as employee satisfaction survey results.

o  Analyse and share meaningful and easy-to-understand results with executive management and staff.

o  Investigation results can be used to enhance the current physical activity program and/or to develop new health promotion programs in future.

Before launching your Workplace Physical Activity Program, summarize the information you have accumulated and plan your next steps.

At this point, you have

o  gained support from upper management for the Worksite Physical Activity Program

o  formed an staff member committee

o  analyzed what’s possible in your workplace

o  found out what employees want and need in a Worksite Exercise Program.

Based on this information, you are now ready to develop your action plan to increase physical activity at your worksite.

With the employee committee, take the following steps.

o  Combine the results of the worker survey with the worksite environmental assessment, and report to senior level management and staff.

o  Prioritize the possibilities at each of the “levels” (individual, social, organizational, community, policy) in the workplace listed in “Keys to Success”. for  instance, suppose a large group of employees show an interest in biking to work.

Since these people  may want to shower and change after their commute each day, you could give showers and changing facilities priority in your worksite. Bicycle racks could also be important for making employees’ bicycles secure during the workday.

o  Consult the list of practical suggestions found this website.

o  Create a mission statement (one which aligns with your company’s overall mission statement) to define your purpose and help guide your process. Setting objectives and objectives will help you achieveyour mission statement.

o  Put together a plan or blueprint addressing what you’ve learned. Make wellness program and activity recommendations with timelines, identify resources and assign responsibilities. Revisit the list of tasks outlined in “Step 2 -  Forming an Employee Committee.” Seek senior level management approval to move ahead.

o  Once your program is in place, it’s crucial to promote it to personnel. Organizing a launch is a good way to do this. A formal launch also demonstrates executive management commitment. If personnel do not know about the program, they cannot take benefit of it!

o  Decide what you need to track to show that you have reached your goals. Measure these factors before you begin. This way, when you evaluate later, you will know if there has been a change.

To succeed in stimulating exercise during the workday, you have to figure out what personnel need and want. They’re the people  whose behaviour you are attempting to influence, so it is crucial to understand their needs and gain their support.

The Employee Interest Survey

Ask workforce questions that allow you to assess such key characteristics as age, gender, social relationships, family responsibilities and current physical activity participation.

It’s crucial that you know this information so that your physical activity program meets employees’ needs. Employees aren’t going to participate in something they are not interested in.

Ask staff members what they want, and then implement changes that fit with their needs and working conditions. for  instance, staff members might not want to do activities that make them sweat, because they don’t want to shower at work.

Ask personnel what the organization could do to make it easier for them to be more physically active during the workday. If there’s a common trend throughout your organization, a single change could affect a lot of people .

For example, suppose a large group shows interest in bicycling to work. They could want to shower and change after their commute. You could give priority to installing workplace showers and changing facilities. Secure bicycle storage could  be important as well.

If you are launching a wellness program that requires going outside, begin in the spring. By the time winter comes around, participation is already a habit.

Involving workforce is key to increasing physical activity participation rates. Individuals  are more willing to take part in and support physical activity programs when they are involved in decision making.

The following tips will help you produce your own worker interest survey -

o  Keep it short (no longer than 10 minutes to complete).

o  Let workers know why you are doing the survey.

o  Rather than using all open-ended questions, which can be long and difficult to analyze, ask individuals  to select from a drop-down list of possible responses.

o  Ask for comments and suggestions in one open-ended question at the end.

o  Make it confidential and anonymous. Do not request information that may identify a person.

o  If you are including a list of potential health promotion programs or environmental changes, make sure your worksite has the facilities and resources to offer them.

Workplace Physical Activity Programs -  Forming an Worker Committee

Although support from the top is vital to a successful program, support from other workers is also important.

Once you have the go-ahead from management, identify others who are interested in the project and form a committee to help determine the next steps.

Depending on the size of your workplace and the amount of staff time management is willing to contribute, this committee could  be advisory or may plan and carry out the wellness program.

The committee could include workforce from human resources, occupational safety and health and finance. It is also a good idea to involve staff from other areas who’ve an interest in promoting physical activity.

Terms of reference will define the boundaries of the project. for  instance, it’s important for the committee to have clearly defined and understood tasks. Possible tasks include the following -

o  Investigating your worksite environment

o  Implementing an worker interest survey.

o  Creating a mission statement and goals and goals.

o  Writing a exercise or wellness policy declaring the company’s commitment to exercise.

o  Brainstorming wellness program ideas.

o  Promoting, communicating and marketing and advertising the initiative.

o  Coordinating specific activities.

o  Determining how the health promotion program will be investigated.

o  Continually evaluating what is or is not working and adjusting the plan.

Before making plans to encourage physical activity during the workday, it is crucial to determine what is “doable” in your worksite.

You do not want to increase worker expectations by offering something that’s impossible due to funding or space limits.

For  instance, it is not realistic to suggest putting in a fitness facility if there’s no room for it. be open, nonetheless, to creative ways around limitations.

Worksite Physical Activity Programs - Finding out What’s Possible in Your Worksite

Check with recreation departments or fitness facilities for maps of the local walking trails or underground pedways. Excellent walking trails might  be right around the block from your worksite.

Following are some questions to help you assess your workplace -

o  What facilities or opportunities does your work space offer that make it easier to be physically active during the workday? for  instance, do you’ve stairs, bike racks, showers, space for a exercise facility, factory walking lanes?

o  What nearby facilities or opportunities could employees use to be more physically active during the workday? Are you close to sidewalks, walking trails, community centers, bicycle lanes for active commuting and/or exercise facilities?

o  What resources are available?

o  can the initiative access funds, personnel, space, equipment, facilities?

o  What is the structure of your business? for  instance, consider staff size, working hours, number of sites, unusual shifts, length of lunch breaks and ability to use flex time.

Gaining senior management support is critical to the success of a exercise program.

Regardless of whether the changes you would like to make involve the work environment, overall policies or specific programs, successfully beginning your ideas depends on senior level management support.

Support from senior management is critical for three reasons -

o  You need their agreement to involve employees in a workplace program.

o  When senior management pays attention to and supports an initiative, workforce also see the initiative as worthwhile.

o  Management has the power to give work time and money to support the wellness program.

It is imperative that you keep senior level management involved throughout a exercise program, but at three points you’ll need support for -

o  An overall concept, including a go-ahead to assess what staff want to do within the limitations of your worksite environment.

o  An in depth plan (based on the assessment above) coupled with resources to carry out the plan.

o  Evaluating the program to improve it along the way or to advocate for continuing or expanding the program.

Approaching Management

Before approaching upper-level management to gain initial support for promoting exercise during the workday, research your options.

o  Pull together a corporation case clearly outlining how the corporation will benefit by promoting exercise during the workday.

o  List the individual, social and corporate advantages of exercise and the advantages of being active during the workday.

o  Present some general ideas about what the health promotion program might include.

Expect questions such as the following from upper management -

o  Exactly how this help our business?

o  Exactly how can we motivate staff to participate?

o  Precisely how much will it cost to run this wellness program or make this change?

o  Just how are we going to know a year from now when this was a good use of time and resources?

Ask managers about the range of activities they’d support. Often managers have ideas of their own they’d like to see acted on to increase the workplace.

Don’t forget to include middle managers when gaining support for your wellness program. They could be very helpful when you need volunteers to lead teams in corporate physical activity challenges.

In today’s organization environment, the health of staff members is often related to the health of the organization. Enhanced job satisfaction, improved morale, lowered disease and injuries, and increased productivity are just some advantages of having healthy staff members.

Promoting health in your workplace doesn’t have to be complicated, expensive or time-consuming. Any company, large or small, can promote healthy eating and active living in the workplace. Here are some suggestions -

Healthful Eating

o  For breakfast meetings, instead of serving donuts, large muffins, cookies, tea and coffee with cream and sugar, offer healthier alternatives like bagels, small muffins, fresh fruit, water, 100 percent fruit juice and milk with coffee and tea.

o  For lunch meetings, avoid serving chips, fried foods, rich pastas, and salads loaded with dressing. Instead, offer sandwiches, bagels, whole grain low fat crackers and cheese, 100 % fruit juice, water, salads with dressing on the side, vegetable and fruit trays.

o  Reimburse staff for items purchased to improve their health (e.g. healthy consuming cookbooks, consultation with a Registered Dietitian).

o  Arrange for the cafeteria or food vendors to offer healthful food choices.

o  Arrange to have healthy options like bottled water, 100 percent fruit juice, fruit bars, and raisins available in vending machines.

o  Provide a means for individuals  to share healthful recipes with each other (for example, posting recipes on the Intranet, on posters or by e-mail).

Active Living

o  Plan events and group activities to encourage staff members to become active, like walking programs, contests and challenge events, stretch breaks, team sports or participation in local or provincial events.

o  Offer on-site health experts (e.g. fitness trainers, fitness instructors) or incorporate this service in employee assistance programs to help employees work towards exercise objectives.

o  Provide a supportive environment in the worksite that makes healthful options easy - bicycle racks, shower facilities, clean, safe and accessible stairwells, walking or running routes close by the worksite, and fitness club facilities.

o  Allow for flex time so that workforce have more opportunities to take part in fitness programs as part of their working day.

o  Reimburse staff for full or partial club membership fees, fitness class registrations, and fitness equipment purchases.

o  Provide corporate fitness center memberships to reduce costs of individual memberships.

Keeping It Fresh!

Find a champion to -

o  Organize lunch “n learn sessions to provide information and motivation for healthy consuming and active living.

o  Invite demonstrators to provide cooking lessons or tips for making healthy foods.

o  Post a rotating list in a common room of local restaurants that offer healthful food choices on their menus.

o  Distribute information to educate workers on portion sizes.

o  Include exercise and nutrition information in newsletters, pay check inserts, bulletin boards or e-mails.

o  Plan activities that promote healthy consuming and physical activity. for  instance, begin a year-round lunch-time walking club, and special activities