The health promotion program design choices depend on the objectives and desired outcomes of your health promotion program. If your goal is to help staff members change behavior, reduce risk factors, or save health care dollars then your health promotion program would be designed to accomplish those outcomes and a budget would be necessary to support that design.  

There are different wellness program design levels depending on desired outcomes and budgets.  Each level has benefits and drawbacks.  The intentions or results are quite different, aren’t interchangeable for obtaining the same results, and thus shouldn’t be confused.  

For  instance, scheduling activities such as an worker health fair or lunchtime education sessions, or having brochures available don’t ordinarily result in behavior change, but might increase awareness on a topic.  

If the goal is behavior change then a different design is required, such as Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs and Organizational Support.  The outline below describes the wellness design levels with a brief explanation.

Awareness Programs –   at this level a company makes medical information available and accessible to staff members.  This kind of wellness program can include flyers on a variety of topics, wellness articles in newsletters, bulletin board displays, e-mail health messages, etc.  

Moreover, most wellness fairs are designed as awareness programs with providers providing information and providing biometric screenings to personnel.  

Awareness programs are low cost and don’t require robust worker or corporation time commitments. Nevertheless, these health promotion programs don’t generally lead to healthier behavior change.  

Increasing awareness isn’t generally enough to generate lifestyle changes for most person, unless used to motivate employees to register for a health promotion program being offered at the organization or community on the topic.  

An example of this would be providing information on the harmful effects of tobacco use and inviting personnel who smoke to register for a tobacco use cessation class.

Education Programs –   Educational wellness programs often provide more information on a topic and can also provide time for questions and answers, but are similar to awareness wellness programs.  An example is lunch-n-learn sessions on a health related topic.  

These cost the organization a little more than awareness programs; nonetheless, they’re still low cost and do not require a excellent deal of time for planning or attending a session.  

Again, increasing awareness and providing information may not lead to the desired behavior modification unless ongoing support or incentives are also planned.

Lifestyle/Behavior Change Programs –   These wellness programs are designed as 4 to 12 weekly sessions or seminars to provide wellness education, address barriers and provide opportunities to practice the desired skills.  

Behavior change programs thus require more business resources, cost more, and require more employee commitment, time and effort.  The results are often the desired positive lifestyle change, which when sustained can lead to potential cost savings.  

Examples are smoking cessation classes, weight loss and weight control meetings, or an ongoing fitness program.

Environmental and Organizational Support –   Environmental support is usually considered the highest and most crucial level to include when designing your wellness program in order to support and maintain healthful behaviors.  

These types of design choices include policy changes such as –

• Creating a smoke-free worksite

• Designating a walking path,

• Establishing on-site health clubs,

• Ensuring healthy vending machine selections,

• Offering healthful food choices in the cafeteria, and/or

• Establishing flex-time policies.  

Other examples include subsidizing healthful vending machines or cafeteria choices; reimbursing gym or weight loss and weight control program memberships; or providing insurance incentives for healthful behaviors.

Ideally, the health promotion program design would include some of all of these choices.  The more extensive and integrated the approach, the more successful the results will be.  For example, a organization can –

• have smoking cessation information available;
• can schedule a one hour awareness session on the harmful effects of smoking and how to quit;
• can implement an on-site use of tobacco cessation program,
• supply self quit use of tobacco kits, or
• support workforce to attend a community program; and/or
• on an environmental support level can establish a smoke-free worksite and grounds,
• offer lower insurance premiums for non-smokers, or
• provide pharmacological quit smoke aids for free.

Wellness Program –  Components for Success

There are a few key components or elements that should be considered to ensure the success of your Health Promotion Program or wellness program.  These include –  

• Upper Management Support and Worker Involvement

• Active Health Promotion Committee

• Program is Based on Staff Member Needs and Interests

• Goals and Objectives are Established

• Detailed Action Plan Based on Resources and Budget

• Program Implementation and Internal Marketing and Advertising

• Examination of Outcomes and Program