Abstract
Steps to a Healthy Lifestyle: Health education at the workplace
Karen Aragon Polanco, MPH
Building Skills Partnership, Los Angeles, CA
APHA 2016 Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2016)
Approximately 80% of janitorial workers who are predominately Latino (Immigrant unionized members of SEIU-USWW) are overweight or obese compared to 65% of the total United States population. Janitors demonstrate a higher predisposition to obesity and obesity related diseases, specifically Type 2 diabetes and other chronic illnesses. Building Skills Partnership (BSP) developed a Spanish language health and wellness curriculum, Steps to a Healthy Lifestyle (STAHL), based on a needs assessment of SEIU-USWW members collected by Kaiser Permanente and BSP. The goal of STAHL is to facilitate access to preventive health education, understand the relationship between lifestyle choices and health, and promote the benefits of engaging in preventive health care and services. The program consists of six lessons delivered in a span of 10 weeks presented during the lunch break of a work shift. Participants also have the goal of walking at least 10,000 steps per day. A general lack of education and English language skills prevent many workers from engaging in preventive health measures and receiving health care. Furthermore, the janitorial industry's strenuous work schedule of working by night and sleeping by day also contributes to poor health. Since 2012, BSP has reached over 350 SEIU-USWW members at over 30 worksites, within the counties of Los Angeles and Orange. Emerging themes from evaluation state participants have increased their knowledge of chronic disease risk factors, have made beneficial changes to their diet, have increased their physical activity and have lost weight. BSP continuously conducts process and impact evaluations to improve the program.
Advocacy for health and health education Chronic disease management and prevention Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs Program planning Public health or related education
Abstract
Incentivizing Health at Your Worksite- SCC Healthy Worksite Award Program
Jaime Flores, MPH, RD1, Joanne Seavey-Hultquist, MSW1, Lisa Craypo, MPH RD2, Ann Middleton, MPH3, Bonnie Broderick, MPH, RD1 and Alberto Ortega Hinojosa, PHD, MPH3
(1)Santa Clara County Public Health Department, San Jose, CA, (2)Ad Lucem Consulting, Kensington, CA, (3)IMPAQ International, Oakland, CA
APHA 2016 Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2016)
Background: In Santa Clara County, 27% of the adult population has high blood pressure and 55% is overweight or obese. As the majority of adults spend their waking hours at work, the workplace provides a convenient opportunity to implement strategies that can improve the health status of residents.
Methods: The Healthy Worksite Award Program was developed to incentivize worksites to create a healthier culture for their employees, clients, and the communities they serve in five areas: healthy beverages, healthy food, physical activity promotion, breastfeeding accommodation and promotion, and tobacco-free worksite. A Healthy Worksite toolkit, website, promotional video, implementation guide, and award seal were developed to support the implementation of the program. Each worksite was offered free technical assistance on policy adoption and implementation, although several worksites completed the program by accessing only the program's website. The low-cost program is self-sustaining through each organization establishing a Wellness Committee, adopting healthy worksite policies, developing a tailored implementation plan, engaging employees and evaluating successes and lessons learned.
Results: Fifteen worksites received awards during the 2015 program pilot year impacting over 15,700 employees and clients. Upon program completion, worksites were publically recognized at a conference, received the Healthy Worksite Award designation, and were provided with a seal they can utilize in organizational recruitment and promotional materials.
Conclusion: The Healthy Worksite Award model is institutionalizing standards that will promote health at the individual and organizational level. Results from workplace environment, policy, culture, and employee behavior assessments will be presented.
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines
Abstract
Move It Monday: Health Messaging Through a Worksite Walking Program
Grace Lee, MPH, CHES1, Misa Nuccio, MPH2, Ana Abraido-Lanza, PhD1, Thana-Ashley Charles, B.A.3, Deborah Ndao, MPH4, Michael McNeil, EdD4, Marita Murrman, EdD, MS1 and Carol Hoffman4
(1)Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, (2)Blue Mesa Health, New York, NY, (3)Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Brooklyn, NY, (4)Columbia University, New York, NY
APHA 2016 Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2016)
Although weekly health messages may promote healthy behaviors, little is known about intervention techniques that effectively apply weekly prompts. To prompt an increase in physical activity (PA) levels, the “Move It Monday” national health campaign utilizes the concept of Monday as a fresh start to the week. This study piloted the effects of Monday-specific health message content and timing on the PA levels of participants in a worksite walking program. We examined “Move It Monday” message content versus control content from the CDC, and Monday message timing (i.e., emails delivered on Monday versus Thursday). We randomly assigned 72 adult participants to one of three groups during the 8-week walking program: (1) “Move It Monday” email messages delivered on Mondays, (2) control messages delivered on Mondays, and (3) control messages delivered on Thursdays. All participants accessed the same bi-weekly walking sessions. We measured self-reported vigorous and moderate PA pre- and post-intervention. A repeated measures Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed a greater increase in minutes of vigorous PA from pre- to post-intervention among the Monday/Monday group relative to the other groups; however, the difference did not reach statistical significance (p = .06). We also found that moderate PA increased for all groups after the intervention. Results indicate that worksite walking interventions are effective in increasing levels of moderate PA. Additional research with larger sample sizes is needed to support this effect, and further studies should explore the extent to which PA interventions may be strengthened by health messages that leverage the “Monday concept” to cue healthy behaviors.
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs Chronic disease management and prevention Communication and informatics Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Abstract
Good, Better, Best: Worksite Wellness Trends in Organizational Benchmark Scores from 2008 to 2015
GracieLee Weaver, PhD, MPH, CHES1, Brandon Mendenhall, MPH2, David Hunnicutt, PhD3, Michael Perko, PhD, MCHES, FAAHE1, Ryan Picarella, MS3, William Dudley, PhD1, Daniel Bibeau, PhD1 and Brittanie Leffelman, MS3
(1)University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, (2)The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC, (3)The Wellness Council of America, Omaha, NE
APHA 2016 Annual Meeting & Expo (Oct. 29 - Nov. 2, 2016)
Recently introduced benchmarks serve as standards and reference points for evaluating level of quality in worksite wellness. The Wellness Council of America (WELCOA), a membership organization, developed a widely known, free access tool to assess benchmarking data with its 100-item Well Workplace Checklist; over 3700 companies representing millions of employees have completed the checklist. This presentation describes data from a convenience sample of 4643 cases completing WELCOA's Well Workplace Checklist between 2008 and 2015, inclusive, related to company performance for program quality. Exploratory hierarchical cluster analysis categorized four distinct subgroups of companies based upon their response patterns across each benchmark which we broadly define as performing high, moderately high, moderately low, and low. Chi-square tests of association found company size (x2=402.5, p<0.001), unionization (x2=14.9, p=0.002), and WELCOA membership (x2=224.9, p<0.001) to be significantly associated with subgroup assignment. Companies with more than 5000 employees and WELCOA membership were both more likely to be within the highest performing group. Unionized companies and companies with between 1000-4999 employees were both more likely to be associated with the moderately high performing group. Companies with less than 50 employees, non-unionized companies, and those without WELCOA membership were each most likely to be within the lowest performing group. These data suggest that to impact the health of more employees, attention to the quality of health promotion in small and mid-sized companies is needed. Finer grained analyses will explore other factors associated with the benchmark performance to help guide practitioners and researchers.
Occupational health and safety Public health or related organizational policy, standards, or other guidelines Public health or related research