Posts from — April 2009

Company Health and Wellness Program communication is important to all aspects of Wellness and preventive medicine and is relevant to:
• Healthcare provider-patient relationships
• An individual’s exposure to, search for, and use of Company Health and Wellness Program information
• Effective counseling and patient education for behavior change
• Content of public health messages and community campaigns

Effective health communication should have these attributes:
• Accuracy: content is valid and error-free
• Availability: delivered or placed where the intended audience can access the information
• Balance: content presents benefits and risks of potential actions
• Consistency: content is locally consistent over time and is also consistent with information from other reliable sources
• Evidence-based: content and methods of delivery are based on relevant scientific proof
• Reach: content gets to or is available to as many staff members as possible in the target population
• Reliability: content source is credible; content is kept up-to-date
• Repetition: delivery of/access to the content is continued over time, to reinforce the impact with the audience and to reach new members of the target population
• Timeliness: content is provided when the audience is most receptive to, or in need of, the specific information
• Understandability: reading, language levels, and format are appropriate for the specific audience (i.e., Employees, Family Members, Garrison leadership, etc.)

What the research says about health communication
• Health communication best supports Wellness when multiple communication methods are used to reach specific audiences.
• Effective Wellness and communication initiatives should reflect an audiencecentered perspective, and reflect the preferred formats, contexts, and way of communication for the intended audience.

Material adapted from: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010. 2nd ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. 2 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000.
http://www.healthypeople.gov/document/HTML/Volume1/11HealthCom.htm

As they say: “timing is everything.” Use the guidelines below to guide the timing of Company Health and Wellness Program activities and data collection.

Timing: Company Health and Wellness Program Start-up
• Consider the optimal time to start a new Employee Wellness Program. Take into account preferences of the target population and other factors that could affect enrollment and participation.
• By way of example, coordinating the start of an adult weight management initiative with the start of school in August or September may be a good tie-in with a “fresh start.”
• On the other hand, starting an adult weight management initiative In January may not be a great idea because of the constraints that weather may put on exercising outdoors.
• Make use of other timing cycles at your company. Planning a marketing blitz just after the PCS turnover has been completed is a good way to let new personnel know what Company Health and Wellness Program options are available.

Timing: Company Health and Wellness Program Participant Support
• Consider how frequently Company Health and Wellness Program sessions should be offered to provide the best support and education for members and the best opportunity for success.
• Get feedback from members regarding what session frequencies work best for them.
• Consider the timing for other support mechanisms like email encouragement. What timing of those messages will benefit members most: Weekly? Bi-monthly? Monthly?

Timing: Company Health and Wellness Program Data Collection
• Collecting data is an excellent way to track member progress and also to establish potential problems within a Employee Wellness Program. So, give some thought to the frequency and timing of data collection.
• Select metrics that can realistically change during the Company Health and Wellness Program implementation time period. By way of example, BMI and weight may not change very much during a 10-week Employee Wellness Program; however, step counts are more likely to noticeably change.
• Some data, such as member responsiveness to out-of-class assignments (like food journals) and other interim data (like step counts) will provide important information needed to “adjust fire” as needed and make Company Health and Wellness Program changes if something is not working.
• Be flexible regarding data collection frequency. Instead of requiring that members complete an physical fitness log every day, for example, consider asking for a “snapshot” summary from two or three days during the week. You will still get information to review, but members will have an easier time complying with the assignment.

Timing: Company Health and Wellness Program Follow-up
• Because the we are such a mobile population, it’s best to plan some sort of post-Employee Health and Wellness Program follow-up data collection within two to four months after the Company Health and Wellness Program ends.
• You can always try to collect additional follow-up data at 6 or 12 months after Company Health and Wellness Program completion. However, if you collect the data sooner, you’ll at least have collected some short term Company Health and Wellness Program impact information before members are lost to follow-up.

A business plan is a roadmap for success. Use the guidelines below to develop a realistic business plan and budget for your Employee Wellness Programs.

What is a business plan?
• A plan for success
• A document that convincingly demonstrates that your Company Health and Wellness Program will help the company to achieve its goals.

Questions to ask when developing a Company Health and Wellness Program business plan
• Why do you need to do the Employee Wellness Program?
• What are you going to do?
• Where are you going to do it?
• Who is the target audience?
• How are you going to do it?
• Who is going to implement the Employee Wellness Program?
• How much will the Company Health and Wellness Program cost Upper Management?
• What is Upper Management going to get out of the Employee Wellness Program? Why should Upper Management invest in the Employee Wellness Program?

Company Health and Wellness Program business Plan Components
• Title and duration of the Company Health and Wellness Program
• Points of contact
• Background information (description of need; bibliography/literature review; how the Company Health and Wellness Program will help achieve the company’s goals)
• Company Health and Wellness Program description
• Goals and objectives
• Implementation site
• Target population
• Work plan
• Partnerships and collaborations
• Timelines and milestones
• Budget and resource requirements (dollars and staff members)

Gaining the support of leadership
• Clearly link the Company Health and Wellness Program goals and objectives to the organization’s strategic plan.
• Focus on the desired outcomes.
• Use the right language for the right audience. By way of example, Upper Management is interested in decreased clinic visits, increased provider productivity, management of the health of the population. However, Upper Management is interested in increased readiness, decreased lost duty/training time, and decreased disability and FECA claims.
A well thought-out Company Health and Wellness Program business plan will help you gain leadership support, help you get and keep resources needed to implement the Employee Wellness Program, and keep the Company Health and Wellness Program on track towards meaningful outcomes.

Company Health and Wellness Program business plan review (from Key #19)
• A Company Health and Wellness Program business plan is a roadmap for success.
• Your Company Health and Wellness Program business plan should convincingly demonstrate that your Company Health and Wellness Program will help the organization to achieve its goals.

More smart Company Health and Wellness Program business planning strategies

Planning the Company Health and Wellness Program
• Determine how your organization plans so that your planning process will be in sync with what already happens in the organization.
• Involve other staff members. A planning team brings their combined experience and perspective to the process. Including potential partners as you plan will make it easier to get their buy-in later.

Thinking of the big picture
• Consider the barriers and challenges that might be encountered during Company Health and Wellness Program implementation. Develop strategies ahead of time to overcome these potential problems.
• Do a SWOT assessment and examine Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.

This assessment will help you establish potential problem areas or resource shortfalls as well as opportunities for growth or increased partnerships with other company personnel.

The WORST business planning strategy: sitting in your office; working by yourself.

The best Company Health and Wellness Program business planning strategies
• Get out of your office; get out of the business. The more staff members you involve in the Company Health and Wellness Program planning process, the better. Always look for ways to expand your network.
• Keep your budget staff members informed. Get to know their philosophy of financial management.
• Be able to articulate the impact if your budget is not fully funded.
o Stay away from basing your impact-if-not-funded argument only on: “We have to.”
o Instead, describe the impact-if-not-funded with phrases like: injuries to workers, increased compensation costs, increased medical care costs for patients, lost work time, loss of licenses/accreditations, loss of workload to the Tricare network.
• Always have purchase requests ready to be submitted. There is often a short window of time to process these requests. Having the information gathered ahead of time will make it easy to submit the information right away.

A well thought-out Company Health and Wellness Program business plan is critical in these times of shrinking budgets and resources. A good business plan will help you gain leadership support and help you get and keep resources needed to implement the Employee Wellness Program.

A gap analysis is an assessment tool that enables a business to compare its current capabilities and performance with industry benchmarks and expectations for performance. A gap analysis is used to establish areas that have room for improvement.

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

To begin a gap analysis, ask these simple questions about your Employee Wellness Program:
• What is the current state of the Employee Wellness Program?
• How does the Company Health and Wellness Program 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 Company Health and Wellness Program move forward towards the desired state?”

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

Keeping Company Health and Wellness Program data organized is critical in order to be able to determine Company Health and Wellness Program impact and member progress. Use the simple steps below to keep your data organized.

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

Find the Company Health and Wellness Program system that works best for you.
• Some staff members are more comfortable with spreadsheet applications; others prefer to work with database applications.
• You will be more likely to use a Company Health and Wellness Program that you are familiar and/or comfortable with.
• Standardize data collection and organization. Keep data columns/fields in the same order for all Employee Wellness Programs.

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

Store all Company Health and Wellness Program data numerically.
• Using numbers (instead of words) will make the data much easier to enter and analyze. By way of example: use “1” for yes; “0” for no OR “1” for male; “2” for female.
• Number survey responses that contain strings of words. By way of 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 Company Health and Wellness Program data clearly.
• Ensure that 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 Company Health and Wellness Program data units.
• Ensure that all data entered into a given column is expressed with the same unit of measure. By way of 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 member accomplishments. Keeping your data organized also makes it easier to communicate Company Health and Wellness Program impact to leadership and make Company Health and Wellness Program improvements as needed.

Company Health and Wellness Program data collection and assessment is often avoided because of a perceived lack of resources for this very important Company Health and Wellness Program component. Use the suggestions below to take advantage of a variety of resources available at your company or in the local community.

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

Local college and graduate students
• Where appropriate volunteer agreements are in place, use local college/graduate students to help collect, input, and analyze Company Health and Wellness Program data.
• Make use of the fact that these students are often looking for projects.
• If there are no “health-related” students/interns in your area, consider using business students. Let them calculate a cost avoidance or return on investment for your Employee 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.
• Ensure that 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.

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