Program evaluation could be the last step, but it ought to be planned at the beginning of your efforts! Evaluation assists you identify what parts of the wellness program are working well and what parts need improvement.
Then, based on the evaluation data, adjustments may be made to fine-tune your wellness program. Adjusting the wellness program based on evaluation data is vital to its continued success.
Reviewing your wellness program does not have to be complicated. HOWEVER, it is crucial that you plan how you’ll monitor your wellness efforts and determine success during the planning phase.
Additionally remember to evaluate the wellness program based on the goals and goals you already identified during your planning process.
In order to evaluate your wellness program you need to have a system to document specifics as you go along. This can be as simple as maintaining file folders on wellness programs that are offered, or a computer document with a table or spreadsheet summarizing information collecting. Consider -
o Program topic and numbers of staff members who participated
o The numbers of pamphlets taken by staff members or distributed and on what topics
o The number of participants in a behavior modification program and how many met their objectives in addition to how many attended all of the sessions
o Numbers of personnel who continued the healthy behavior change following the health promotion program?
o Overall employee satisfaction with the wellness program or each topic. Here’s a sample analysis form.
Depending on your objectives and objectives, gather desired data and compare it to previous data gathered during the initial assessment to determine when the objectives were met. Such data might include
o Absentee rates
o Injury rates
o Health risk factors Insurance costs
Summarize and Report Health Promotion Program Results
Once you’ve accumulated all the evaluation information it needs to be reviewed with the Wellness Committee and summarized. You will probably have positive results and some areas where a change is needed or additional focus required for continuous improvement.
This not-so positive information can be used to make any needed changes as well as to plan for next year and is crucial that you include in your report.
It’s important to communicate the wellness program results to both senior level management and workforce. Consider how senior level management typically receives reports on operations and productivity issues and include the annual wellness program report in the same format.
At some organizations the reports are made during senior level management meetings using presentation styles like power point slides. At other organizations, graphs and bar charts are the norm or a list of the objectives and the summary outcomes reported.
No matter the format, it’s imperative that you convey the outcomes and successes achieved, including any anecdotal stories, as well as areas for improvement. Be certain to link the outcomes to the organization mission and bottom line whenever possible.
Staff Members want to receive the same information! Consider using the same communication channels used when informing staff members of the wellness program -
o Corporation newsletters,
o Bulletin boards,
o E-mails
Likewise consider celebrating successes and recognizing achievements by -
o Posting pictures from events
o Highlighting success stories
o Posting pictures of successes
o Scheduling a celebration
o Recognizing champions