AAOHN’s survey reported that more than half of workers (61 percent) want to receive health and wellness information from a medical professional, such as a consultant or an onsite occupational health nurse (OHN), compared to pamphlets or brochures (18 percent) or human resources staff (15 percent).

OHNs can develop, start and evaluate components of work site Workplace Wellness Programs such as screening programs, exercise/fitness courses, Stress Management Programs, smoking cessation, nutrition and weight control programs, and chronic illness management programs. Plus, OHNs can help workers navigate through complicated health plans and may even serve as a triage point between workers and their individual medical providers.

Employees might refrain from seeing their medical provider when it means time away from work, inconvenient parking, waiting time in the office and co-pays. In situations where workers are under treatment for chronic diseases like heart disease, onsite nurses can routinely monitor risk factors such as blood pressure or cholesterol on a regular basis.

It’s often easier for an staff member to ask an onsite nurse for information about symptoms or prescription medication than it is to schedule a follow-up visit to a individual medical provider. Benefits realized by employers include improved staff member morale and retention, a recruitment advantage, increased productivity and decreased time away from work.

In corporations with a safety department, the OHN can evaluate and address work-related health issues, including participation in workstation evaluations to correct potential ergonomic problems, and proactively addressing muscle strains by developing stretching programs and involving workers in leading stretches.

In today’s hectic world, most of us are spending more time at work, and have increasingly less time to look after our health. For a long time, employers have understood the benefits associated with keeping workers well – increased productivity from decreased absenteeism and lowered disability claims. For these reasons, coupled with the fact that many corporations realized double-digit medical costs last year, corporations should consider Workplace Wellness Programs as a way to keep workers healthy.

But just how important are these programs to workers? How often are they willing to participate in programs designed to positively impact their health and wellness? Who do workers trust to provide them with important information about their health?

Answers to these questions and more were recently garnered from a study commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses Inc. (AAOHN).

The AAOHN survey questioned 500 workers nationwide about their perceptions of Workplace Wellness Programs. More than three-quarters of all members indicated these programs are a good way to enhance their overall health, and nearly 60 percent consider these offerings an incentive to remain with their current employer. staff member retention and turnover impact the bottom line, so building Workplace Wellness Programs into the work site culture is a valuable way to help retain talented workers in addition to enhancing personal health and workplace productivity.

The Health wish list

Employees appear to have their own agenda when it comes to their health. With new pressures resulting from an unstable economy, national security threats and work/balance issues, it’s not surprising that 85 percent of survey respondents cited Stress Management Programs as a priority topic for work site wellness.

In addition to stress, other preferred topic areas include screening programs (84 percent), exercise/physical fitness programs (84 percent), health insurance education (81 percent) and disease management seminars (80 percent).

In addition to lifestyle and personal health issues, those asked expressed concern about work-related health issues, including strains and injuries resulting from lifting or task-oriented muscle repetition, exposure to harmful substances, personal injury, vision changes due to computer work and workplace violence.

What you should do

With such a broad range of health concerns, a key goal for employers is finding a way to proactively address the health needs of the largest number of workers, and effectively change unhealthy behaviors, promote wellness and ward off disease and illness.

Printed materials such as brochures, posters, fliers or pamphlets present an easy solution. But it’s important to remember that different workers require different formats for learning. A good rule of thumb: provide information in a variety of learning formats such as videos, pamphlets, health-related quizzes, display boards, Lunch-and-learn presentations and reimbursement or incentive programs.

This assumes you’ve overcome the first hurdle – getting workers to sign on to a Workplace Wellness Program. While survey respondents indicated health and Workplace Wellness Programs are important, just six out of 10 (60 percent) reported that they participated in the Workplace Wellness Programs at their corporations. The other 40 percent cited lack of interest and lack of time as deterrents.

This points to the need for a comprehensive, structured Corporate Wellness Plan using a innovative approach, with an incentive for participation and effective program marketing.

By investing in an organized Corporate Wellness Plan headed by a qualified medical professional such as an onsite nurse, corporations can give workers the access to the health information they want, and increase participation and generate interest at the same time.

The result: workers become savvier medical consumers who feel more in charge of their individual health. And healthier workers make for a healthier bottom line.

In a recent study commissioned by the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. (AAOHN), 500 full-time workers nationwide were interviewed by telephone.

“Today’s workers are clearly dealing with a lot of pressures such as the effects of 9/11, an unstable economy, national security threats and work/balance issues. There is a real opportunity for employers to serve as an ally to their workers by offering them with resources to better manage their physical and emotional health – anything from stress management seminars to nutrition and physical fitness counseling,” says Deborah V. DiBenedetto, president of AAOHN.

Nearly 80 percent of respondents believe their health would improve if they were offered the right information and tools through a viable Workplace Wellness Program.

Topping the list of most interesting Workplace Wellness Programs cited by workers is stress management (85 percent), closely followed by screening programs (84 percent), exercise/physical fitness programs (84 percent), health insurance education (81 percent) and disease management seminars (80 percent).

More than half of workers (61 percent) would rather receive health and wellness information from a medical consultant or onsite nurse, compared to pamphlets or brochures (18 percent) or human resources staff (15 percent).

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Information and statistics
• http://www.cdc.gov/DataStatistics/
• Information and statistics are available by topic (i.e., asthma, injuries, MRSA).
• Information access tools are available to customize data tables and query datasets (i.e., Healthy People DATA2010, smoking-Attributable Mortality, Morbidity, and Economic Costs).
• Nationwide survey data is available (i.e., National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)).

CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)
• http://www.cdc.gov/brfss/index.htm
• BRFSS is the world’s largest, ongoing telephone health survey system. BRFSS has been tracking health conditions and risk behaviors in the US yearly since 1984.
• Chronic Disease Indicators are divided into seven categories: physical activity and nutrition, tobacco and alcohol use, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, overarching conditions, and other disease and risk factors.
• Prevalence data is also available (i.e., weight classification by Body Mass Index and age).

Medical Interns and Residents
• If your Onsite Healthcare Center has an internship Workplace Wellness Program, get to know the Internship Director.
• Take advantage of these resources – including having the Director and/or interns/residents start the outcome data collection plan for your Workplace Wellness Program.

Local college and graduate students
• Where appropriate volunteer agreements are in place, use local college/graduate students to help collect, input, and assess Corporate Wellness Plan data.
• Take advantage of the fact that these students are often looking for projects.
• If there are no “health-related” students/interns in your area, consider using company students. Let them calculate a cost avoidance or ROI for your Workplace Wellness Program.

Other Medical Personnel
• Partner with other Medical Personnel. Determine who is collecting data, what data they are collecting, and how they are collecting it.
• If they are using a survey and the survey administration process is already in place, ask if you can add a question or two.
• Be aware of other research going on at your facility. They may already be collecting data you need OR may have assessment resources that can be shared.
• Make sure other departments in the Medical center know you can always use some extra help if they have personnel with any down time. Use these resources for data entry or other administrative tasks.
• Make use of the volunteers to help collect and input data.

Past Corporate Wellness Plan members
• Past Corporate Wellness Plan members are also a good resource.
• They may be willing to lead a class session, provide encouragement to current Corporate Wellness Plan members, or help collect data.
You can enhance data collection and assessment by taking advantage of local resources. Using these resources expands the reach and impact of your Workplace Wellness Program.

Manage Corporate Wellness Plan data electronically.
• Storing Corporate Wellness Plan outcomes data electronically is the best way to manage that information.
• An electronic system will enable you to review and assess the data more efficiently.
• Scan old surveys and other Corporate Wellness Plan information that exist only on paper into .pdf format for permanent storage.

Find the Corporate Wellness Plan system that works best for you.
• Some workers are more comfortable with spreadsheet applications; others rather work with database applications.
• You will be more likely to use a Corporate Wellness Plan that you are familiar and/or comfortable with.
• Standardize data collection and organization. Keep data columns/fields in the same order for all Workplace Wellness Programs.

Keep the Corporate Wellness Plan as simple as possible.
• You do not have to be a Wellness Programming wizard or use complicated data entry interfaces in order to manage Corporate Wellness Plan outcomes data.
• A simple spreadsheet is an excellent way to keep your data organized.

Store all Corporate Wellness Plan data numerically.
• Using numbers (instead of words) will make the data much easier to enter and assess. For example: use “1” for yes; “0” for no OR “1” for male; “2” for female.
• Number survey responses that contain strings of words. For example: instead of entering the responses: “patient education videos”, “news,” or “no TV,” number the responses so you only have to enter “1,” “2,” or “3.”

Label all Corporate Wellness Plan data clearly.
• Make sure all the data columns, rows, or fields are labeled. The data is worthless if you don’t know what data is in which column.
• The spreadsheet/database should include an explanation for column, row, field, and data abbreviations and a key for numbered responses.

Use consistent Corporate Wellness Plan data units.
• Make sure all data entered into a given column is expressed with the same unit of measure. For example, enter all heights as total inches, not as a combination of feet and inches.
Putting your data in order by using a simple system that works for you will enable you to track participant accomplishments. Keeping your data organized also makes it easier to communicate Corporate Wellness Plan impact to leadership and make Corporate Wellness Plan improvements as needed.

Gap analysis can also be used for your Corporate Wellness Plan to determine where the program stands now and how the Corporate Wellness Plan can better follow evidence-based recommendations.

To start a gap analysis, ask these simple questions about your Workplace Wellness Program:
• What is the current state of the Workplace Wellness Program?
• How does the Corporate Wellness Plan 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 Corporate Wellness Plan move forward towards the desired state?”

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