subject: Wellness Programs: Tests to Determine Scale, Scope, and Strategic Goals [print this page] Wellness Programs: Tests to Determine Scale, Scope, and Strategic Goals
Starting a wellness program can seem a daunting task but, in reality, it can be a very simple process. While executive approval, support, and consultation is extremely important and the actual first step, once it is gained, laying the groundwork for a successful wellness program can be accomplished through the implementation of a few simple, but effective, tests and assessments. These assessments will help those providing the corporate wellness consulting to obtain the information they need in order to determine the unique scale, scope, and strategic goals of a health & wellness program.
First, blood testing will help determine important factors of employee health. Cholesterol, glucose levels, triglycerides, among other measures will be checked, as will the blood pressure of each employee. This will serve two important purposes in a company's health & wellness program: first, it will inform the employees of these important health indices, an important first step as even basic information, like one's blood pressure, is often unknown; second, the blood tests will point to important trends (unhealthy eating habits seen from high fat levels, high blood pressure indicating stress, etc.) that the wellness program can then target.
Second, body composition testing will clearly show again to the employee personally and to those providing the corporate wellness consulting the percentage of body mass and body fat of employees. This will help determine the overall health of employees, as well as help determine what kind of employee wellness program should be targeted at groups of employees or implemented company-wide, if necessary. The blood and body testing, taken together, help provide much of the information needed to get a comprehensive health appraisal done for individual employees and the company as a whole.
Finally, another initial (and ongoing) test that nearly every employee wellness program should start and continue with is stress assessments. These assessments will help determine stress sources and an individual's stress symptoms, which will then allow personalized, and company-wide, stress-countering strategies to be explored.
With well-documented benefits to companies that implement wellness programs, it's no surprise that the majority of large companies employ wellness programs for their employees. But even at mid-size or small companies, a wellness program can be an easy and cost-effective thing to implement. Blood and body testing as well as stress assessments can help start strong and effective wellness programs, which can decrease health costs, increase productivity, and, ultimately, determine the scale, scope and strategic goals of a wellness program unique to the employees who participate.
