142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

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Employees' perceptions of evidence-based approaches to wellness in low-wage industries

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014 : 3:10 PM - 3:30 PM

Peggy A. Hannon, PhD, MPH , Health Promotion Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Kristen Hammerback, MA , Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Sara Teague, BA , American Cancer Society, Seattle, WA
Marlana Kohn, MPH , Health Promotion Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Sarah Ross-Viles, MPH , Prevention Division, Public Health - Seattle & King County, Seattle, WA
Ryan Kellogg, MA , Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County, Public Health-Seattle & King County, Seattle, WA
Caitlin Mason, PhD , Department of Health Services, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Jeffrey R. Harris, MD MPH MBA , Health Promotion Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Audio (mp3) recording Recorded Presentation (mp4)
Background: Employees’ perceptions of evidence-based approaches to workplace wellness, including changes to workplace policies, environment, and communications, are understudied, especially in low-wage industries. The purpose of this study was to determine whether employees’ perceptions of their worksites’ wellness programs and support for healthy behaviors changed after employers implemented evidence-based wellness programs.

Methods: Fifteen worksites participated in HealthLinks, a worksite wellness program that helps employers in low-wage industries adopt evidence-based policy, environmental, and communications strategies to promote healthy eating, physical activity, and tobacco cessation. Employees of these worksites completed surveys measuring presence of wellness programs and perception of support for their health at baseline (n=708 employees) and 6 months after the worksites started HealthLinks (n=614 employees).

Results:  Worksites improved their wellness programs; use of HealthLinks strategies increased from 25% at baseline to 48% at follow-up (p < .01).  Employees’ perceptions of whether individual HealthLinks strategies were in place increased from baseline to follow-up (p <. 05), along with their perception that their worksite supports them in a healthy lifestyle (p <. 01). The more HealthLinks strategies the employer implemented, the more employees perceived worksite support for a healthy lifestyle (p < .01).

Conclusions: Changes to worksite wellness programs were noticed by employees and were associated with increased perceptions of worksite support for their health. These types of wellness activities do not depend on employee participation for the potential benefit of employees perceiving worksite support for their health.

Learning Areas:

Chronic disease management and prevention
Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
Describe HealthLinks, a health promotion intervention designed to disseminate evidence-based interventions to workplaces in low-wage industries. Explain the impact of HealthLinks on employees' perceptions of wellness activities at their workplace, and their perceptions of their employers' support for their health.

Keyword(s): Workplace, Health Promotion and Education

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was the principal investigator of the study presented, and have conducted additional studies related to workplace health promotion and survey research.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

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