Workwell Steps

The workplace is a great place to promote healthy lifestyles. These steps were developed with assistance from Wellness Council of America (WELCOA), a national leader in workplace health promotion, and the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help employers build sustainable wellness programs.

• Lead by example
• Communicate practices regarding wellness
• Show gratitude
• Provide health education
• Model by participation

• Identify a coordinator
• Include employees from many different areas and levels
• Meet on a regular basis (e.g., bimonthly or quarterly)
• Provide an agenda prior to each meeting
• Designate a committee member to record and distribute minutes
• Communicate often
• Participate in continuing education to advance workplace health

An assessment can help you explore your current workplace and build a sustainable wellness program. The CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard (ScoreCard) is a tool designed to help employers assess the extent to which they have implemented evidence-based health promotion interventions in their worksites.

The CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard assists employers in identifying gaps in their health promotion programs, and helps them to prioritize high-impact strategies for health promotion at their worksites including: organizational supports, tobacco use, nutrition, physical activity, weight management, stress management, depression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, prediabetes and diabetes, heart attack and stroke, maternal health and lactation support, vaccine-preventable diseases, and occupational health and safety.

Employers, human resource managers, health benefit managers, health education staff, occupational nurses, medical directors, wellness directors, and others responsible for worksite health promotion in an organization can use the ScoreCard to establish benchmarks and track improvements over time.

Careful planning is critical to success. Building a program that addresses the interests, needs, and barriers of both the employer and employees will promote participation and help ensure long-term sustainability.

Assessment results will help you identify health strategies as a team. There are many policy and environmental strategies that can support the goals and objectives your organization is trying to reach. Policy and small environmental changes in the workplace can have a great impact on employee behaviors with little or no cost.

Here are some steps to follow when creating a wellness plan. You can also find the Workwell Plan and Policy & Environmental Barriers under the Workwell Tool section of the toolkit.

Set goals and objectives to prove that the changes you make had an impact! Goals describe what is to be accomplished and should state the change you hope will occur by altering a policy or environmental barrier. Objectives reflect changes in knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors.

Objective: By (date), a walking path will be available for employees to use and increase their physical activity as a result of the environmental change.

Goal 2: Our workplace will be smoke free.

Objective: By (date), a written policy outlining the smoke free organization will be available.

For wellness plans to be successful it’s critical that an organization create an environment employees feel can truly improve their lives. Health promotion strategies should be aligned with the data that has been collected from your assessment and prioritized from the plan outlined by your wellness team.

Choose workplace health strategies that best fit your organization, such as:

• Support physical activity in/at facility and grounds
• Encourage tobacco-free facility and employees
• Provide healthy food options
• Provide screenings for blood pressure, obesity (BMI), breast, cervical and colorectal cancer, cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, asthma, arthritis/ osteoporosis, and oral health
• Create an environment that supports employees and helps balance general well-being, physical health, and stress between work and home
• Provide injury prevention and safety education
• Have and promote a written policy banning tobacco use at your worksite
• Provide educational material on physical activity, heart disease and stroke, nutrition, tobacco, cancer, oral health, diabetes
• Offer mental health trainings
• Support breastfeeding moms by providing the proper lactation space

A timeline is always needed to get things done! Be specific—your timeline should state what needs to be accomplished and when it needs to be done. Be careful not to overwhelm staff. Keeping it simple will keep interest high.

Base your budget on activities that directly support a strategy. If the activities you have in mind require substantial funding, you may need to think of smaller steps that can be funded over time. Or, consider applying for a grant. Funding opportunities are also available to help South Dakota organizations reduce the burden of chronic disease.

You may also consider seeking partners who might be interested in contributing time, resources, or money to help you move ahead with the rest of the plan.

Make the most of your committee! Think about who can do what and how they can help make the health of the organization interesting. Assign committee member tasks that match up with individual strengths and talents.

How will you accomplish your wellness goals? Here are some strategies for your committee to consider:

• Display key messages on a community sign or display board at the workplace facility
• Insert notices of upcoming events in newsletters or emails
• Offer health education
• Provide health information through newsletters and websites promoting wellness priorities in the workplace
• Conduct wellness screenings
• Provide confidential health risk assessments
• Host a health fair
• Provide incentives

• program effectiveness
• goal achievement
• improved employee health outcomes
• cost savings
• return on investment
• how your wellness program efforts can be improved

Program evaluation is a specific science. The extent and type of evaluation you want to conduct depends on the type information you need. You may only need limited offsite assistance, or you might want more significant onsite technical assistance from experienced and trained evaluators.

Following is a brief introduction to evaluating your wellness program, guidance about selecting the type of evaluation that can meet your needs, and a resource list to help you get started with evaluation. You can also find the Workwell Evaluation under the Workwell Tools section of the toolkit.

• Improvements in physical, mental, and emotional health
• Reduced absenteeism among employees due to illness or injury
• Increased work production and/or quality

Health Care Costs: Investment in employee health may lower health care costs, insurance claims, or worker’s compensation costs. Examples include:

• Health insurance claims over time such as hospitalizations, outpatient visits, and pharmacy claims
• Changes in health care utilization through preventive health services such as cancer, diabetes, blood pressure, body composition, and blood glucose screenings
• Percent of employees with chronic disease that is being controlled through medication
• Reduced medical costs due to injury or illness

Health Outcomes: Participation in health promotion activities through a workplace wellness program allows individuals to improve knowledge, attitude, and self-managed behaviors, and build a social support network among coworkers and supervisors. These skills can facilitate adoption of healthy behaviors in the short-term and lead to changes in physical, mental, and/or emotional health. Examples include:

• Percent of employees reporting good or excellent health before and after a wellness program or intervention
• Percent of employees diagnosed with a chronic disease before and after a screening program
• Percent of employees who experience a fall at work before and after education on injury prevention
• Improvement in risk factors such as overweight/obesity before and after a weight management program

Organizational Change: A culture of health is achieved when an organization’s policies and environmental changes are aligned to support or maintain health in the workplace. Examples include:

Environmental Changes:

• Healthy vending options
• Healthy snacks at company meetings
• Activities offered during breaks
• Wellness education resources
• Wellness communication

Policy Changes:

• Prohibit tobacco use on organization’s grounds
• Employee turnover

Improving Your Workplace Program: When it comes to improving health, it takes time to develop effective programs and learn what works. You may want to consider collecting evaluation data and reaching out for technical assistance if you need help developing a survey or interview protocol to collect information from employees. Keep in mind that there are many options. You can modify any of the suggestions outlined here to best suit the needs of your organization. Start with small steps and remember, improving your workplace wellness program can:

• Increase employee participation
• Increase employee satisfaction
• Decrease barriers to participation
• Improve communication about the program
• Increase understanding of employee health needs
• Ensure more successful program offerings
• Remove ineffective strategies