Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #112896

Sara J. Corwin, MPH, PhD, Office of Public Health Practice, University of South Carolina, Arnold School of Public Health, 800 Sumter Street, Columbia, SC 29208, 803-777-3636, corwins@gwm.sc.edu and Robin F. Foust, PAHM, Zoe Consulting, Inc, P.O. Box 258, Catawba, SC 29704.

The success of workplace health education and promotion programs is contingent upon many factors including assessing the needs of the intended participants. Others have distinguished between service needs (i.e., those identified by health professionals) and service demands (i.e., those identified by members of the target population). Understanding both need types is important for developing and implementing program activities. Moreover, characteristics of successful workplace health promotion include a comprehensive approach which addresses employee needs and interests, on-going communication and promotion, modification of program activities based on need, and a variety of programmatic options. The purpose of this presentation is to share the procedures involved in the development of a customized employee needs and interest assessment using a qualitative data collection technique. Twenty nominal groups were conducted with employees from multiple departments in a municipal agency to identify: 1) level of employee recognition of current health and wellness programming offered; 2) new ideas for workplace health promotion activities; 3) incentives to motivate and sustain employee participation; and 4) effective methods of program information dissemination. The results of the nominal groups were analyzed using NVivo®, a software application designed for managing and analyzing qualitative data. Recurring themes and specific items identified by participants were then used in the construction of the “Employee Wellness Needs & Interest Survey.” Final survey constructs included health screening, general wellness, fitness, disease management, participation motivators and program communication. The quantitative survey will be administered to a representative sample of employees via electronic or paper-and-pencil methods.

Learning Objectives: At the end of the session, participants will be able to

• describe two methods for collecting needs assessment data to inform program planning;
• explain the importance of assessing both service needs and service demands; and,
• articulate the procedures for using qualitative data in the development of an employee wellness need and interest survey.

Keywords: Worksite, Negotiation

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.