Biometric testings are important health promotion programs to identify chronic disease in their early stages. Once identified, wellness intervention programs can help prevent a illness from progressing.
Working with local hospitals and other companies, you can obtain information on providing screening and intervention programs that could improve your employees’ health and save your company money in absenteeism, treatment for illness complications, and reduced productivity.
Following are some ideas to help get you started.
Based on your Employee Needs and Interest Survey and the demographics of your workplace, consider offering periodic screenings to find specific health risks such as -
o Blood Pressure Checks to identify personnel with pre-hypertension or hypertension (high blood pressure),
o Cholesterol Screenings for total, HDL (good cholesterol), LDL (bad cholesterol) and/or Triglycerides
o Blood Sugar Screenings fasting or non-fasting to screen for possible diabetes,
o Body composition, like BMI or body fat measures
o Bone density for potential risk of osteoporosis,
o Cancer screenings like, skin examinations, mammograms, or PSA screenings,
o Vision checks for glaucoma, or visual acuity
o Other screenings depending on your employee population and needs
Your local hospital, business physician practice, or health department my provide assistance. However, if you have a young workforce you may want to concentrate on health promotion programs that will keep them healthful rather than screening for early identification of chronic condition.
The focus of your health promotion program may be healthful lifestyle practices to reduce risk and prevent disease.
In addition to the health testings, consider offering a HRA to all workforce. The HRA will help to identify factors that might lead to additional risks, like use of tobacco history, stress levels, perception of health, family history, job satisfaction, support systems, and mental health.
Very often the screening results are included on the Health Risk Appraisal, which provides a more robust snap shot of health risks. The summary results provide the important information to plan appropriate interventions.
Wellness Program Interventions
The key to the success of screenings and Health Risk Assessments (HRAs) is the interventions or follow-up programs. The information from the screenings increases awareness and often motivates personnel to consider making healthier changes.
It is the follow up interventions that provide the essential support and assistance needed for staff to actually make and maintain those changes.
The interventions can include individual follow-up and ongoing counseling, individual or group health coaching on the risk factors, behavior change programs, and/or organizational support. Examples include -
o Strategies to lower blood pressure
o Managing diabetes
o Taking care of your heart
o Healthy eating
o Weight loss strategies
o Increasing physical activity
o Tobacco use Cessation
Of course, this is for individual information only. Any follow-up interventions planned by the business would be based on interest expressed by the worker.
Based on the results and your Wellness Committee goals you can plan the best strategies for your organization and staff. Consider the community resources available to provide services, like health associations, hospitals, healthcare providers, and/or public health agencies.