Employee Wellness Plans : Measuring Program Results

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

The Worker 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 Evaluation

Process assessment looks at the  Company Health Promotion Program’s effect as seen at various points in time.

Information that is gathered from the various forms that wellness employees fill out must supply you with the following:

• How many employees were screened?
• How many staff members who were referred to a doctor went?
• How many workers who expressed interest in health improvement programs went?
• How many workers who were referred to health improvement programs went?
• How many employees who went to health improvement programs completed them?
• How many workers are in follow-up caseload?

You can use this sort of process assessment to evaluate and learn about the health of your program.

Outcome Assessment

A central goal of the program is to improve the health of workers. Information on how to judge how well your program is meeting this goal is called “outcome assessment” because you are evaluating the end results or outcome of your program.

In wellness programs, objectives are measured by specific (outcomes) behavior changes and reductions in health risk levels. Have staff members lowered their Blood Pressure? Have they lost weight? Are they exercising more? Is alcohol consumption at a safe level? For example these are the types of questions you can ask to learn if you are reaching your objectives:

• For employees with elevated Blood Pressure (140 / 90 or higher or on medication) at assessment, what percentage have it under control (below 140 / 90) a year later?
• What is the modification in average Blood Pressure (BP) levels among all staff members with elevated Blood Pressure (BP) 1 year after evaluation? Two years later?
• For workers with high blood cholesterol levels (above 240) at screening, what percentage has reduced their cholesterol to borderline-high levels (200-239)?
• For staff members with borderline-elevated blood cholesterol levels, what percentages have reduced their cholesterol to the desirable range (below 200)?
• What is the modification in average cholesterol levels among all workers with high and borderline-high blood cholesterol levels 1 year after screening? Two years later?
• For workers who were overweight at evaluation, what percentage have lost 20 pounds or more a year later? Ten pounds or more? What is the average weight loss?
• For workers who were smokers at assessment, what percentages have quit smoking? For at least a year?
• For staff members whose level of alcohol consumption put them at-risk at assessment, what percentage have quit drinking alcohol? Are consuming alcohol at levels considered safe by CDC standard procedures? Have reduced their drinking, but are still at-risk?
• For workers, what percentages are working out at least three times a week for at least 20 minutes?
• If fitness levels were gauged, what percentages have improved fitness?

Set a regular time such as every 6 months to look at which workers your program is reaching and how effective it is at assisting them lower their health risks. Use this information to make new decisions about how to direct your program efforts. Then make the modification you need to better your program.

Some may feel that an assessment is an extravagance; it is not. Screening is a essential part of a wellness program. You will need to know what is working and what is not. Decision-makers who fund the program need to be updated on the success of the program. Evaluation will offer you with essential data to maintain and expand the program and convince management to continue to support the program.