The keys to a successful wellness program are persistent one-on-one outreach and follow-up counseling to encourage health improvement, adherence to treatment programs, changes in way of life behaviors, and to prevent relapse.
Periodic outreach and follow-up procedures provide employees with a safety net which keeps them involved in the wellness program and prevents treatment dropout and relapse.
Counselors ought to follow up on staff members at least every 6 months throughout the career of the worker at the worksite. The objectives of follow-up are to
o Involve workforce that have health risks in treatment and risk reduction programs.
o Involve all employees in health promotion programs and worksite-wide wellness activities.
o Support personnel in carrying out the risk reduction or health betterment activities they have chosen.
o Make certain to help staff obey their treatment programs.
o Prevent relapse.
o Prevent staff members from dropping out.
o Make sure to help staff members maintain behavior changes.
Follow-up can be conducted in individuals, by phone, mail, and via computer if the technology is available. Most preferable is an in-person contact.
Computer programs which may do case load management are available to help counselors track information and perform follow-up.
Priorities for Follow-Up
Individuals with multiple health risks must be at the top of the list. Individuals in key positions such as union leaders or department heads with health risks should also be contacted early so that they learn what the health promotion program is about and can share the information with others.
People who need a medical examination for high blood pressure or cholesterol should also be targeted early. A lot of workforce will have seen their doctors then of the screening, but some will need more encouragement to do so. Those with no health risks can be followed up each year.
A follow-up counseling session can take 20 to 45 minutes. At minimum, follow-up must include those who were told to seek medical investigation for high blood pressure readings, high cholesterol readings, or borderline high blood cholesterol readings with 2 or more other risk factors.
It might include those who were identified as at-risk for one or more of the other major risk factors – at-risk levels of alcohol consumption, being overweight, and having low HDL.
Follow-Up With Doctors
A letter (see forms) must be sent to the physician or clinic of each employee who’s high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or is under a physician’s care.
The letter ought to explain the health promotion program and ought to include the worker’s relevant, current health measurements.
Along with the letter, send a self-addressed return envelope. Follow-up with the physician ought to be repeated every 6 months until it’s determined that the staff member is under satisfactory control.
Contacting the doctor is important for three reasons
o The physicians receive employees’ health measurements taken at the workplace.
o You receive the blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol readings the doctor takes and information on the treatment the doctor prescribes.
Many times the staff member does not have this information or does not remember it. The information may be used when counseling the staff member.
o Follow-up encourages physicians to pay closer attention to heart illness risk factors among their patients.