Chapter 2 – determining employees’ needs and interests

1. HLED – Worksite Health Promotion Chapter 2 – determining employees’ needs and interests

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o3_5N9TG4s What is wellness in the workplace?

3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL9_BWzz060 Rethinking health in the workplace

4. The process of collecting and analyzing information, to develop an understanding of the issues, resources, and constraints of worksite populations, as related to development of health promotion programs. Needs assessment

5. Data collection provides a snapshot of the overall health and well-being of your workforce at any given point in time. Data collection ensures a longitudinal account of the overall health status of your workforce. Data collection ensures that senior level executives are kept in the loop as to what’s happening in the arena of employee health and well-being. Data collection ensures that the health management process is kept transparent. Data collection provides accountability. The Top 10 Reasons To Collect Data

6. Data collection informs your workforce of the overall health and well-being of the company as a whole. Data collection is an excellent recruitment vehicle for new employees. Data collection allows you to benchmark against others. Data collection allows you to definitively measure change. Data collection allows you to demonstrate value to shareholders. The Top 10 Reasons To Collect Data

7. What are the organizational issues facing the employer? What is the level of management support for a health promotion program? What are the most prevalent employee disease and injury risks? What health issues are employees interested in addressing? needs assessments

8. Task force to identify a company’s demographics (age & ethnicity, gender ratio, education, etc.) Identify existing and potential health-related problems of its workforce Employee interest in wellness programs Identifying employees’ needs

9. Health Management Task Force (HMTF) should consist of management and employee representatives (all departments or classifications) Identify: • Eligibility criteria used to select, appoint, or elect members • Length of term to be served by members • Number or percentage of management & non-management members Forming a task force

10. Frequency of scheduled meetings (weekly, bi-monthly, monthly • To whom the HMTF reports • Defining the primary role of HMTF (planning, implementing, etc.) • Determining the level of influence of HMTF (advisory, policy making, etc.) • Recognition of or compensation for service (release time, overtime pay or bonus, etc.) Forming a task force

11. Organizational data which includes things like modifiable health care claims and demographics Employee health data which includes things like health risk appraisal information and health screening data Physical environment data which includes things like workstation ergonomics, cafeteria set up, and heating/ventilation Employee protection and productivity data which includes things like absenteeism, disability, and workers’ compensation data 4 Steps To Collecting Data

12. Solicit input from workers at all job levels Analyze: • Workforce demographic data - key in planning types of programs that will be most useful. • Ratio of male to female • Salaried to hourly • Day-to-night workers • Age groups • Ethnicity • Percentage of workers with dependents. • Employee health records – to protect privacy, records should be accessed and reviewed by authorized personnel only. TABLE 2.1 • Health care claims and costs – may be handled by HR or may need to request data from insurer or third party administrator. TABLES 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 Identifying health-related problems

13. Workers’ compensation claims and cost data- • typically handled by medical, safety, risk management, benefits, or HR departments • Show the incidence and types of injuries resulting in work-related absence or disability • Indicate any employer-paid compensation paid to injured employees. • Worksite environment • Climate observation – employees are randomly identified and monitored to determine the prevalence and effect of certain risk factors and work styles on their health status. TABLE 2.5, APPENDIX B Identifying health-related problems

14. Based on the concept of risk identification, risk assessment, and risk reduction. Conceived by Dr. Lewis Robbins in 1959. Prospective Medicine – “A discipline concerned with the identification of the individual’s changing risks of disease and the recognition of his earliest deviations from health” (Society of Prospective Medicine, 1976). Reduce long-term health risks through health promotion and disease prevention. Health risk appraisal

15. 1960’s – expanded risk factors 1960’s & 1970’s – appraisal instruments were developed, refined, and introduced in public health, university, and worksite settings. Currently, approximately 50 commercialized HRA instruments exist Come in a variety of types and price ranges. Health risk appraisal

16. Potential Benefits of an HRA: It can be relatively inexpensive and easy to use It is popular with clients and employees and may increase participation in health promotion/wellness programs It provides a systematic approach to organizing preventive health information and tends to emphasize modifiable risk factors It can provide group data which summarizes major health problems and risk factors It may, particularly when integrated into a broader health promotion program, increase motivation to make positive behavior change Health risk appraisals

17. The three essential building blocks for any HRA are: 1.The questionnaire 2.The risk estimation 3.The educational messages or reports The Single Most Important Question For Any Potential HRA User Is To  Ascertain The Appropriateness Intended For Your Target Audience. Health risk appraisals

18. Generally, a good health risk appraisal will cost approximately $5 to $15 per employee for an electronic version and $10 to $25 per employee for a hard copy version. The hard copy version is generally more expensive because it involves the physical cost of producing a paper based HRA as well as mailing fees. It’s also customary to anticipate a set-up fee to make sure that the account and database are configured properly. To maximize your budget, it’s essential to communicate with your HRA vendor to uncover any additional fees that may apply to data transfers and report generation. Cost of HRAs

19. The key to making the HRA process work for both the employee and the employer is confidentiality. Employees should be assured and comfortable that the employer will have no access to any individual employee health data. Employees should also be informed that the company will receive an aggregate report of the overall findings, but that this report does not and will not contain any individual health identifiers. If response rates are below 50 people, an aggregate report is generally not provided to further protect confidentiality. confidentiality

20. Interest Survey Form - Implementing an employee survey initiates a dialogue with employees on issues of importance to them and to the organization. • they introduce employees to worksite wellness • They solicit their involvement and approval • They play a huge part in helping to launch a successful wellness program. Assessing employees’ interests

21. Discover how employees want to receive program information (e.g. electronically, strategically-placed bulletin boards, memos, etc.). What health components (nutrition, physical activity, tobacco) are they most interested in addressing and how? What types of groups might employees be most inclined to join (e.g. walking, yoga, cooking, biking, weight-loss, dance, martial arts, nutrition, etc.)? Which employees have expertise that may be useful to the program? Assessing employees’ interests

22. Inform employees at least twice before distributing surveys • Use various delivery channels to publicize and distribute: • Company newsletter • Electronic message boards • E-mail or Web Site • Flyers • Paycheck stuffers • Bulletin board displays in key locations Administration

23. Incentive survey – asks employees what would motivate them to participate in a health promotion program. Implement suggestions to show employees that their opinions are valued. Getting Paid To Stay Healthy (CBS News) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UFxoK3aty4 Assessing what will motivate employees

24. Google – Best Place to Work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6h-gm01Fb0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vd6BPhJjYL4 Case study