20 Years of Worksite Wellness - Public Healthnyspha.roundtablelive.org/Resources/Breakout F.pdf · 2015. 4. 30. · 20 Years of Worksite Wellness - One local health department’s

20 Years of Worksite Wellness - One local health department’s journey and

lessons learned along the way

Putnam County

Department of Health

2015 NYSPHA

Annual Meeting and Conference

April 24, 2015

Genesis of the Putnam County

Employee Wellness Program

1995 County government buy-in

Fiscal approval

Time commitment

Release time

Health Department as Lead Agency

• History of chronic disease prevention efforts

• Opportunity for other departments to join planning efforts

Establishment of Employee Wellness Committee

• Health department leads

▫ Nutritionist, nurse, health educator

Worksite Wellness

Certifications

• County funded two health education staff members to obtain Worksite Wellness Certifications

• Cost $500 each • Led to implementation of best practices:

▫ Health Risk Assessments ▫ Limit offering of biometric screenings ▫ Limit trinkets as incentives/prizes ▫ Survey employees ▫ Evaluation of programs

ROI County Discussions

• Discussion with County officials on Return (ROI) strategies:

▫ Tie Worksite Wellness Classes into reduction of Health Insurance premium payments

Not successful

▫ Time off for participation in programs

15 Minutes of Travel Time!

The County Executive’s Office has graciously approved 15 minutes of travel time before and 15 minutes of travel time after each class for employees who sign up for Yoga or

Pilates!

(Must obtain Supervisor’s approval)

Current Putnam County

Employee Wellness Program

• Wellness Committee

• Walking Captains

• Wellness Board Helpers

Representation from: Office for Senior Resources Social Services Emergency Services Probation Sheriffs County Office Building Highway Personnel Motor Vehicles Planning Board of Elections Risk Management Youth Bureau Child Advocacy Center Health Department Cornell Cooperative Ext. Health Department

Communication • Email access to all county

employees

• Initial emails about 2 weeks prior to activity/event

• Disseminate a flyer • Add to newsletter

• Have helpers post flyer and “talk up” activities

• Reminder emails, communication throughout long-term

activities

Fitness Activities Zumba

Walking Program Pilates

Yoga

Hikes

Tai Chi Line Dancing Self Defense

Gym Discounts

Lunch & Learn

Presentations

Convenience

Screenings

Wellness Boards

Employee Wellness

Newsletter

Facebook/Twitter

Incentives

Surveys/ HRA

Transition to Outside Worksite

Wellness program

Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP):

• “Reduce Obesity in Children and Adults”

▫ Worksite Wellness Strategy

• Commissioner meets with Economic Development Corporation and Chambers of Commerce

• WW Brochure developed

“Worksite health promotion is an investment in human capital. Employees are

more likely to be on the job and performing well when they are in optimal

physical and psychological health. Scientific research shows the linkage between

a company's productivity and the health of its employees.”

—Partnership for Prevention, a nonpartisan organization of business, nonprofit and government leaders working to make evidence based disease prevention and health promotion a national priority.

Grant Funds/Corporate Sponsorships

• New York State Health Foundation Grant

▫ Matching dollars

▫ “Run for Your Life Corporate Sponsorships”

▫ Grant awarded

Putnam County Team

met with Interested Businesses

Work Site Wellness Program

Worksite Wellness Program with interested businesses begins

• Mirrored Putnam County employee WW Program

• Initial Meeting

• Worksite Wellness Boards

• Small fee charged for WW program

Work Site Wellness Program

Fitness Activities

Smoking Cessation

BP Screenings

Stress Management

Health Information& Displays

Flu

vaccines

“Lunch & Learn”

Lectures

Coming Soon:

Offered so far:

Worksite Wellness Website

Next Steps:

• Develop a worksite wellness web page as part of the Putnam County website

• Expand worksite wellness to include area micro-businesses

• Continue development of program evaluation

Work Site Wellness

Program Evaluation

• Historically process evaluation

▫ Program Surveys

▫ Pre-post testing

• Formal Evaluation Plan

Program Evaluation is necessary to assess the effectiveness of the program: • In order to guide future program

expansion • Determine allocation of resources

Why Program

Evaluation?

• To what extent is the program concept (eg. scope of offerings, health promotion strategies) sufficient to achieve desire outcomes? (program theory)

• To what extent are employees utilizing

the program? (process) • What are the barriers to participation? (process) • What are facilitators and motivating factors to

participation? (process)

Aim of Evaluation

• To what extent did the program improve physical activity and eating habits? (outcome)

• To what extent did the program improve absenteeism rates among program participants? (outcome)

• To what extent did the program improve overall

mental health (mood, stress levels, etc.)? (outcome)

Aim of Evaluation continued:

Evaluation Process Evaluation:

• Data Collection: o Attendance Sheets and Surveys o Focus Groups o In-Depth Interviews

Outcome Evaluation:

• Employee Surveys • HRAs

Questions?

Presented by: [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]