Health Promotion : Corporate Health Promotion Program Follow-Up.

The keys to a successful Corporate Health Promotion Program are persistent one-on-one outreach and follow-up counseling to encourage health improvement, adherence to treatment regimens , changes in lifestyle behaviors, and to prevent relapse. Periodic outreach and follow-up procedures provide workers with a safety net which keeps them involved in the 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 employee at the worksite . The goals of follow-up are to -  

• Involve employees who have health risks in treatment and risk reduction programs.

• Involve all staff members in health betterment programs and worksite -wide wellness activities.

• Support employees in carrying out the risk reduction or health betterment activities they have chosen.

• Make certain to help employees comply with their treatment programs .

• Prevent relapse.

• Prevent workers from dropping out.

• Make sure to help workers 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 can do case load management are available to help counselors track information and perform follow-up.

Employee Wellness Program Priorities for Follow-Up

Individuals  with multiple health risks should 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 program is about and can share the information with others.

People  who need a medical investigation for high blood pressure or cholesterol should also be targeted early. A lot of staff members will have seen their doctors as a result of the screening, but some will need more encouragement to do so. Those with no health risks can be followed up annually .

A follow-up counseling session can take 20 to 45 minutes. At minimum, follow-up must include those who were told to seek medical examination for high blood pressure (BP) readings, high cholesterol readings, or borderline high blood cholesterol readings with 2 or more other risk factors.

It may 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.

Corporate Health Promotion Program Follow-Up With Physician s

A letter (see forms) should be sent to the doctor or clinic of each staff member who’s high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or is under a doctor ’s care.

The letter ought to explain the program and ought to include the staff member ’s relevant, current health measurements.

Along with the letter, send a self-addressed return envelope. Follow-up with the doctor should be repeated every 6 months until it’s determined that the employee is under satisfactory control.

Contacting the physician is important for three reasons -

• the doctors receive Worker ’s health measurements taken at the worksite .

• You receive the blood pressure (BP) and cholesterol readings the doctor takes and information on the treatment the doctor prescribes. A lot of times the staff member doesn’t have this information or doesn’t remember it. The information can be used when counseling the staff member .

• Follow-up encourages physician s to pay closer attention to heart disease risk factors among their patients.