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Health Risk Assessment and the Workplace Wellness Program
Using Health Risk Assessments to Plan Intervention Strategies
To design a workplace wellness program, the health promotion intervention strategies need to be based on the unique wellness needs of each company’s employee profile. Health Risk Assessments are the best way to determine what kind of workplace wellness program intervention will hold the highest likelihood of success, measure its progress and track the changes in health of the aggregate employee population.
Each corporation’s wellness program goals will differ depending on the demographics of the current employee population. These unique characteristics evolve in tandem with employee turnover; thus, the health promotion initiatives will need to be adjusted as the needs of workplace wellness program change.
Other uses for the data collected include dividing the workforce according to target areas of similar health risks and the priority rating of each health promotion intervention. The Health Risk Assessment should be repeated yearly to provide ongoing and up-to-date workplace wellness program data. A self-administered or an online Health Risk Assessment is a convenient and inexpensive method of gathering workplace wellness program information.
Inspiring Employee Awareness Using a Health Risk Assessment
Employees who participate in the Health Risk Assessment frequently become engaged to take initiatives to improve their own health by voluntarily participating in the workplace wellness program. This inspiration occurs as a result of the information provided by the Health Risk Assessment feedback. Often, this is the first time employees have become aware of the hazards their current lifestyle choices pose for their health.
Previous to the Health Risk Assessment screening, employees may not have been aware that the predisposition toward heart disease, diabetes, cancer and depression even has its roots in their own genetic make-up.
Improving Corporate Morale with Health Risk Assessment Tools
The delivery of Health Risk Assessment feedback facilitates shared goal setting during personal or group interviews. The purpose of this meeting is to educate employees and set personal targets to achieve through the workplace wellness program. Indirectly, Health Risk Assessments may serve to reduce employee turnover because this kind of shared goal setting increases company morale.
Individual employees are presented with the opportunity to improve their current state of health and choose their own wellness goals. The Health Risk Assessment data offers the company an opportunity to renovate their health care plan to address the particular wellness needs of the current employee population.
Choosing a Report Style for Health Risk Assessment Feedback
A report-style paper form, an online delivery at home or via the worksite intranet, or interviews with an in-house health care representative are some of the various ways to present Health Risk Assessment feedback. The intensity of follow-up depends on the level of commitment to reducing health care costs. It can range from feedback alone, with counseling and/or incentives for participation in the workplace wellness program, or any combination of these variables.
Writer Bio: Charlene Rennick is an internationally published author with a diverse background in writing and research. Rennick is currently the Editor for six different health and wellness websites including: Wellness Proposals, Infinite Wellness Solution's and Infinite Wellness Online.
