The Development of an Employee Wellness Program Within a Mid-Sized Company

INTRODUCTION: With over 160 million Americans currently in the workforce, employee wellness programs have proven to be a viable method of reaching a large population with an objective of improving health outcomes. These programs can encourage the awareness of health-related issues including nutrition, physical activity, preventative health screening, and stress management, and they also can serve to improve employee morale and/or engagement. Moreover, they can often help to reduce healthcare costs to both the organization and the individual employees. AIM: The purpose of this capstone was to design a framework for an employee wellness program that could be utilized within a mid-sized private logistics company with multiple locations across the United States. METHODS: The program was developed using the Precede portion of the PRECEDE-PROCEED model as the guiding framework. An essential first step of the program development involved a synthesis of published evidence involving published reports, reviews, and evaluations of other previously implemented worksite wellness initiatives. RESULTS: A worksite wellness plan was proposed for a midsize company that addresses incentive policies, environmental changes, and recommended health education and behavioral structures for enhanced health and wellness among a workforce of approximately 800 employees. DISCUSSION: The Proceed model steps will ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the program’s immediate impacts and long-term outcomes over time. It is important that the short, medium, and long term goals of the program are identified so that an evaluation process can be implemented to see if these specific objectives are met through the initiatives implemented in the program