A Health Promotion Program without goals and goals is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you will not know where you are going, how to get there, what you want to do once you’ve arrived, or even whether or not you’ve arrived!
The trip might end up ok, or it could end up disastrously. Yet, with a little thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a successful experience. Clear goals and goals are needed to plan your health promotion program in order to ensure success!
Health Promotion program goals and goals are different from one corporation to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources. Notwithstanding, well thought out goals based on your company’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a successful health promotion program!
Health Promotion Program Mission Statement
The first consideration is a mission statement for your Health Promotion Program. the mission statement is the overall expression of what the Health Promotion Committee wants to accomplish by beginning a health promotion program.
It’s important to consider how your Health Promotion Program fits in with the corporation mission statement, contributes to the overall mission and supports the corporation bottom line. This will integrate your efforts throughout the corporation operations.
Here are some examples of Health Promotion Program mission statements –
At XYZ Corporation, maintaining an environment that supports staff member health and safety is our underlying value. It is the mission of the Health Promotion Program to assist in developing wellness services that fosters and upholds that value.
It’s the mission of the XYZ Health Promotion Committee to foster healthier lifestyle choices to reduce health risk factors, improve overall wellness, and maintain a productive, active work force.
Health Promotion Program Goals
The objectives and objectives further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment. Depending on the needs assessment, management expectations and worker interests, examples of objectives can include –
The goal(s) of XYZ Health Promotion Program in year XXXX is to – (one or more of the following examples)
• Reduce absenteeism by one day per staff member
• Lower musculoskeletal injuries by 10%
• Decrease unnecessary emergency room visits
• Decrease or contain health care costs
• Improve dietary habits of employees
• Reduce health risk factors
Health Promotion Program Objectives
Specific Health Promotion Program goals help meet your long-term goals and vision. Both short term and long term goals must be developed as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and mission.
In addition to objectives for the expected participant outcomes, process objectives should also be developed for the program process itself. For example, process objectives may include how many workers you want to participate in the programs, how many sessions on a topic will be offered, the type of wellness sessions that will be implemented, etc.
Goals need to be easily measurable within a set time frame. Attempt using the SMART formula to create both your long and short-term objectives and objectives –
• Specific (one behavior or outcome)
• Measurable (one result that may be observed or analyzed),
• Attainable (but also challenging),
• Realistic (do you’ve the resources to achieve?), and
• Time specific (within 3 months – up to 5 years)
This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method. For example, an objective for a weight loss program that has an overall goal of improving healthy eating and promoting a healthy weight is that –
Participants (who) will lose an typical of .5 – 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) after the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight loss per participant (attainable and realistic).
Or –
Participants (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier eating change at the end of the program (specific what, when, where)
An example of an objective for coaching employees with elevated cholesterol might be –
To reduce the sum cholesterol (specific what) of high risk workers with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions offered at the worksite (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic and time specific when) to lower the risk factor for heart illness (why).
And one last example of a process objective for a tobacco use cessation program with an overall goal to assist participants in committing to quit for life –
By the end of the 4-week use of tobacco cessation program, 10 percent of the participants will have quit use of tobacco. Each participant will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process objective) and 10 percent of those who quit will still be smoke free after one year.
You’ve now completed Steps 1 through 4, including establishing your Health Promotion Committee. It’s now time to plan your wellness activities!
Corporate Wellness Companies