Health Wellness ProgramHealth and Wellness Programs and Wellness Program Consulting

A Company Health Promotion Program without goals/objectives is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you won’t know where you’re going, how to get there, what you want to do once you have arrived, or even whether or not you have arrived!  The trip may end up ok, or it may end up disastrously.  Yet, with a little thoughtful planning, you expand your chances for a efficacious experience.  Clear goals/objectives are necessitated to plan your wellness program in order to ensure success!

Wellness program objectives are different from one company to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources.  However, well thought out objectives based on your company’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a efficacious wellness program!

Workplace Health Promotion Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Company Health Promotion Program. The mission statement is the central expression of what the Company Health Promotion Program Committee wants to accomplish by implementing a wellness program.  It is important to consider how your Company Health Promotion Program fits in with the corporation mission statement, contributes to the central mission and supports the corporation bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the corporation operations.  

Here are some examples of Corporate Health Promotion Program mission statements:

“At XYZ Corporation, maintaining an environment that supports employee health and safety is our underlying value.  It is the mission of the Worksite Wellness Program to help  in creating Worksite Wellness Program services that fosters and upholds that value.”

“It is the mission of the XYZ Company Health Promotion Program Committee to develop healthier lifestyle choices to decrease health risk factors, improve central wellness, and maintain a productive, active work force.”

Worksite Wellness Program Goals

The goals further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, upper management expectations and employee interests, examples of goals can include:

The intention(s) of XYZ Worksite Wellness Program in year XXXX is to:  (one or more of the following examples)

• Reduce absenteeism by one day per employee
• Lower musculoskeletal injuries by ten percent
• Lower unnecessary emergency room visits
• Cut down on or contain medical care expenditures
• Improve dietary habits of staff members
• Decrease health risk factors  

Worksite Health Promotion Program Objectives

Specific Company Health Promotion Program objectives help meet your long-term goals.  Both short term and long term objectives ought to be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals.  In addition to objectives for the expected colleague outcomes, process objectives ought to also be developed for the program process itself.  For example, process objectives may include the number of employees you want to take part in the programs, the number of sessions on a topic will be available, the type of wellness sessions that will be implemented, etc.

Objectives must be easily measurable within a set time frame.  Try using the SMART formula to establish both your long and short-term goals:

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)
• Measurable (one result that can be inspected or evaluated),
• Attainable (but also challenging),
• Realistic (do you have the resources to achieve?), and
• Time specific (within 3 months – up to 5 years)  

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  By way of example, an objective for a weight loss program that has an overriding goal of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that:

Participants (who) will lose an average of .5 – 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) at the end of the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per participant (attainable and realistic).

Or:

Members (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier eating change at the end of the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of a goal for coaching staff members with elevated blood lipids might be:

To decrease the total cholesterol (specific what) of elevated risk employees with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions provided at the workplace (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic & time specific when) to decrease the risk factor for heart disease (why).  

And one last example of a process intention for a tobacco cessation program with an central goal to help  participants in committing to quit for life:

By the end of the 4-week tobacco cessation program, 10 percent of the participants will have quit smoking.  Each colleague will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process mission) and 10 percent of those who quit will still be tobacco-free after one year.

You have now completed Steps 1 through 4, including adopting your Worksite Wellness Program Committee.  It is now time to plan your wellness activities!