Kentucky worksite health promotion 2014 survey results

The CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard: A Tool to Advance Workplace Health Promotion Programs and Practices

INTRODUCTION

The CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard (ScoreCard) is a free, publicly available survey tool designed to help employers assess the extent to which they have implemented evidence-based interventions or strategies at their worksites to improve the health and well-being of employees. We examined how, how broadly, and to what effect the ScoreCard has been applied.

METHODS

We analyzed peer-reviewed and grey literature along with the ScoreCard database of online submissions from January 2012 through January 2021. Our inclusion criteria were workplace settings, adult working populations, and explicit use of the ScoreCard.

RESULTS

We found that the ScoreCard had been used in 1) surveillance efforts by states, 2) health promotion training and technical assistance, 3) research on workplace health promotion program effectiveness, and 4) employer efforts to improve program design, implementation, and evaluation.

CONCLUSION

The ScoreCard has been used as intended to support the development, planning, monitoring, and continuous improvement of workplace health promotion programs. Our review revealed gaps in the tool and opportunities to improve it by 1) enhancing surveillance efforts, 2) engaging employers in low-wage industries, 3) adding new questions or topic areas, and 4) conducting quantitative studies on the relationship between improvements in the ScoreCard and employee health and well-being outcomes.

Using the CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard to Promote Organizational Change

PURPOSE

To measure the impact of tying adoption of evidence-based worksite health promotion (WHP) interventions to annual organizational strategic objectives, as measured by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Worksite Health ScoreCard (ScoreCard).

DESIGN

A prospective cohort study following Johns Hopkins Medicine (JHM) affiliates against industry-specific and large employer benchmarks from 2016-2020.

SETTINGS

JHM, the largest private employer in Maryland with facilities in Florida and the District of Columbia.

SUBJECTS

Twelve JHM affiliates representing over 40,000 employees.

INTERVENTION

A strategic objective was established annually based on the ScoreCard and organizational priorities.

MEASURES

JHM affiliates measured their WHP efforts annually using the ScoreCard. CDC industry-specific and large employer benchmarks were collected for comparison.

ANALYSIS

ScoreCard data was assessed annually to measure deviations from CDC benchmarks, determine whether strategic objectives were met, and inform additional annual objectives.

RESULTS

JHM demonstrated improvement from 8.9 percentage points above industry-specific and 3.4 percentage points below large employer benchmarks in 2016, to 26.4 percentage points above industry-specific and 21.8 percentage points above large employer benchmarks in 2020.

CONCLUSION

Large employers face unique challenges in implementing WHP programs. Our study suggests embedding health promotion in annual strategic objectives may alleviate these challenges by prioritizing the goal and ensuring adequate resources to be successful. There are however, some limitations on using benchmarking data for comparison.

Workplace Health in Kentucky: A Statewide Comparison

The objectives of this study were to assess the state of Kentucky’s workplace health promotion and occupational safety and health programs, to ensure the ability to comprehend any possible trends over the past six years in the state’s progress in offering workplace health promotion and health protection programs, to compare the results of this survey with the 2013 Kentucky state-wide assessment, and to identify gaps in Kentucky’s workplace health promotion and occupational safety and health based on Total Worker Health^® (TWH) concepts. Using Qualtrics research software, the Workplace Health in America assessment was sent to companies located in Kentucky and having 10 or more employees. Participants were identified using Dun and Bradstreet’s Hoover’s database. The results showed that, as with the 2013 survey, larger workplaces significantly were more likely to offer workplace health promotion programs than smaller companies (X² = 24.30; p < 0.001). However, more companies (78%) reported offering programs compared to the 2013 assessment (49%). Given the results of the current study as compared to the statewide assessment conducted in 2013, Kentucky’s WHP is moving in a positive direction; yet, there is still much to be done. There remains a strong need to provide cost-effective and accessible resources for all elements of TWH to small workplaces.

The "Total Worker Health" Concept: A Case Study in a Rural Workplace

OBJECTIVE

This case study was conducted to identify barriers of integration of health protection and health promotion in rural workplaces with tailored interventions that address the identified barriers.

METHODS

Data on a workplace's ability to integrate wellness programs and health protection programs were collected through a questionnaire along with a seven-question interview. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data. Qualitative measures were assessed using thematic analysis. Based off the results of the assessments, the company received tailored training sessions.

RESULTS

The largest hindrance to organizational support was time. However, improved knowledge about the need and importance of integration helped the participants to conceptualize and plan for more collaboration between departments.

CONCLUSIONS

New ways to increase integration at workplaces, especially rural workplaces are needed. More comprehensive interventions that include management are also needed.