Worksite Wellness Overview Montana Nutrition and Physical Activity Program

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Worksite Wellness OverviewMontana Nutrition and
Physical Activity Program

• Community Projects Training Session
• February 4, 2009

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Why worksites?

• People spend a lot of time at work
• Social supports
• Flexible activities
• Sustainable changes
• Benefits to employers

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Creating an environment where the healthy choice
is the easy choice.

• Keeping healthy people healthy
• Access to healthier foods and opportunities for
  movement
• Policies/procedures that support healthier
  practices
• Information and incentives that encourage people

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Montana WorksiteProgram

• NAPA and local health dept. partnership
• Social marketing framework for program planning
• Piloted with 10 sites
• Revised program, based on evaluation information
• Implemented with an additional 12 sites and
  further refined

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Worksite Strategies

• Focus on creating policy and environmental
  changes
• Increasing access to healthy foods and
  opportunities for physical activity
• Created a flexible menu of evidence-based
  strategies for worksites
• Categories of strategies
• Policy/procedure
• Environment/access
• Education/motivation

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Sample strategies
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Benefits

• Healthier worksite climate
• Positive lifestyle changes and health benefits
  for employees
• Employer benefits (morale, productivity,
  collegiality)
• Increased awareness of health-related issues
• Important to employees
• Promotes job satisfaction

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Steps

• Recruit worksites
• Develop site-specific program
• Implement wellness activities
• Assess, refine, and prepare sites to continue

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Recruiting Sites

• Written questionnaire for community businesses to
  identify interest
• Needs assessment
• Selection for direct services
• Worksite initiated contact
• Invitations to affiliated or nearby sites

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Develop Site-Specific Program

• Interviews with employers areas of interest
• Collect information from employees about
  priorities and interests
• Set up site wellness team
• Establish roles/responsibilities and
  communication strategies (contract)

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Implement Wellness Strategies

• Site committee primary organizers
• HD coordinator facilitates and provides support
  to site committee
• May provide some direct services
  (information/education topics)
• May coordinate supporting community resources

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Assess, Refine and Sustain

• Areas to Assess
• Types and extent of strategies implemented
• Participation rates
• Facilitators and barriers
• Changes in worksite culture
• Employee and employer satisfaction
• Behavior change

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Assess, Refine, and Sustain

• Identify areas for improvement and best methods
  for making changes with site committee
• Site committee primary refiners
• HD coordinator can provide ongoing support
  through newsletters, establishing community
  networking groups, etc.
• Periodic checkups

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Selection Considerations

• Community initiative to link with
• Comfort with facilitative role
• Interest from business community
• Availability of community resources to support
  worksites
• Model already developed can get started right
  away
• Flexibility of worksite strategies

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Resources

• North Carolina Worksite Wellness Toolkit
• http//www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com/Worksites.html
• Wisconsin Toolkit
• http//dhs.wisconsin.gov/health/physicalactivity/S
  ites/
• Worksitekit.htm
• Minnesota Toolkit
• http//www.heatlth.state.mn.us/divs/hpcd/NGAtookit
  /toolkit.pdf