Document Type

Master's Culminating Experience

Publication Date

2011

Abstract

Objective: To develop a better understanding of businesses’ goals and purpose for offering worksite wellness opportunities and the level of administrative support for worksite wellness programs.

Method: Human resource directors, benefit managers, or other administrators of 76 businesses that have contracted with Premier Community Health in the past 2 years were contacted by e-mail to complete a standardized online survey on SurveyMonkey®. The survey included questions about the businesses worksite wellness current programs and future interests. In addition, data on how often businesses have utilized each of the PCH worksite offerings over the past 2 years was collected from the PCH health screenings database.

Results: 36 of the 76 (47 percent) businesses contacted responded to the survey. Of those, about 60 percent reported having a worksite wellness program with half of those reported as being comprehensive. Reducing health care cost and improving employee health status were equally ranked as the highest priorities for implementing worksite wellness. 70 percent of respondents indicated that their organization has a wellness committee with the majority of these committees (58 percent) consisting of diverse representation from throughout the organization. According to the PCH database, almost half (45 percent) of worksite events conducted by PCH consisted of flu shots only, about 35 percent were screenings only and only about 6 percent of the events included both screenings and education.

Conclusion: The workplace is an ideal place to reach a large population of people easily and therefore employers could play a key role in the implementation of public health interventions. It is important that organizations like PCH that implement worksite wellness consider the goals and interests of the businesses in the area when developing their business approach to worksite wellness. As such, the results of this study may be useful in determining how to better meet the needs of businesses with worksite wellness programs and how to approach businesses without worksite wellness programs.

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