Evaluations determine the outcome of a Wellness Program. They help you find out when your objectives were met. It’s a good idea to add an evaluation component to your Wellness Program.
Evaluations may conclude that some interventions did not work well. You could find that a popular Wellness Program costs too much and did not really affect employees’ health.
While these may not be the outcomes you hoped for, without this information you may continue ineffective interventions. Having this information will help you create better solutions.
When your results are excellent, it’s magnificent! You can spread the word to personnel and senior level management that your wellness program is achieving its objectives.
Three major areas of an investigation
o Health Promotion Program structure – the basic framework of the program
o Wellness Program process – How well the program is run
o Wellness Program outcomes – Whether the health promotion program met the set objectives
Common questions used to evaluate a Wellness Program
Structure Questions
o What’s included in the Health Promotion Program? What’s the intervention?
o Where does the Wellness Program take place?
o How is the Health Promotion Program delivered? What content is included?
o Who manages the Health Promotion Program?
Process Questions
o How many people participate?
o Do participants complete the Health Promotion Program?
o Are participants satisfied?
o Which aspects of the Health Promotion Program are best attended?
Outcome Questions
o Does the Health Promotion Program improve knowledge about health issues?
o Does the Wellness Program change behavior?
o Does the Health Promotion Program save the business money?
o What’s the ROI?
Download a sample wellness program (http – //www.ibx.com/pdfs/custom/wellness_partners/services/turnkey_programs/walking/participant_eval.pdf) investigation from IBC’s Walking Towards Health Promotion program.
o Identify through an employee survey what incentives they value.
o Identify what incentives the corporation can provide in addition to what the budget will allow.
o Ensure that every participant who achieves a goal receives some recognition.
o Prevent offering incentives for the “best” or the “most.”
o Avoid using food as a reward.
o Use incentives to promote your wellness program, through logos and branding.