Measuring Wellness Program Results.

Information to evaluate your health promotion program comes from routinely collected screening and follow-up data of your health promotion program that look at process and outcomes of your program.

The Staff Member Health Program has available a computerized case-management system which includes queries that allow easy assessment of process and outcome results at any point in time.

Process Investigation

Process examination looks at the wellness program’s impact as seen at various points in time.

Information that is collected from the various forms that wellness workers fill out ought to supply you with the following -

o  Just how many staff were screened?

o  How many staff members who were referred to a doctor went?

o  Exactly how many staff who expressed interest in wellness programs went?

o  Just how many personnel who were referred to wellness programs went?

o  How many personnel who went to health promotion programs completed them?

o  Just how many staff members are in follow-up caseload?

You can use this type of process examination to evaluate and learn about the health of your health promotion program.

Wellness Program Outcome Investigation

A central objective of the wellness program is to enhance the health of staff. Information on how to judge how well your wellness program is meeting this objective is called “outcome examination” because you are reviewing  the end results or outcome of your wellness program.

In health promotion programs, objectives are measured by specific (outcomes) behavior changes and reductions in health risk levels. Have personnel reduced their blood pressure? Have they lost weight? Are they exercising more? is alcohol consumption at a safe level?

For example these are the kinds of questions you can ask to find out when you are reaching your goals -

o  For employees with high blood pressure (140 / 90 or higher or on medication) at screening, what percentage have it under control (below 140 / 90) a year later?

o  What’s the change in average blood pressure levels among all staff members with high blood pressure 1 year after screening? Two years later?

o  For workforce with high blood cholesterol levels (above 240) at screening, what percentage has lowered their cholesterol to borderline-high levels (200-239)?

o  For staff members with borderline-high blood cholesterol levels, what percentages have reduced their cholesterol to the desirable range (below 200)?

o  What’s the change in average cholesterol levels among all employees with high and borderline-high blood cholesterol levels 1 year after screening? Two years later?

o  For employees who were overweight at screening, what percentage have lost 20 pounds or more a year later? Ten pounds or more? What is the average weight reduction?

o  For staff who were smokers at screening, what percentages have quit smoking? for at least a year?

o  For personnel whose level of alcohol consumption put them at-risk at screening, what percentage have quit drinking alcohol? Are consuming alcohol at levels considered safe by CDC guidelines? Have lowered their drinking, but are still at-risk?

o  For staff members, what percentages are exercising at least three times a week for at least 20 minutes?

o  When levels of fitness were measured, what percentages have improved fitness?

Make certain to set a regular time such as every 6 months to look at which personnel your health promotion program is reaching and how effective it’s at helping them reduce their health risks. Use this information to make new decisions about how to direct your health promotion program efforts. Then make the change you need to improve your health promotion program.

Some may feel that evaluation is a frill; it is not. Examination is a necessary part of a wellness program. You’ll need to know what is working and what is not.

Decision-makers who fund the wellness program need to be updated on the performance of the wellness program. Investigation will provide you with necessary data to maintain and expand the wellness program and convince senior management to continue to support the wellness program.