Worksite Wellness

Well Workplace 
Silver Award Evaluation
Rhode Island Department of Health

Congratulations on achieving the Well Workplace Silver Award. The Wellness Councils of America offers the following suggestions for continuing to improve the current program. This designation is valid for three years. In addition, this reviewer has provided comments and thoughts for consideration as Rhode Island Department of Health continues to improve and advance this important initiative.

Reviewer Comments:

Rhode Island Department of Health (HEALTH) has put a lot of effort into building a quality health promotion program and integrating it into the way the organization does business. Those involved in the preparation of this application are to be commended for their work.

• Organizational Overview. HEALTH has put a lot of time, energy, and planning into developing a useful wellness strategy. All of the elements that are in place can offer limitless avenues for success. Both management support and wellness team direction are key in any wellness initiative. HEALTH has done a magnificent job in identifying the needs of employees and moving toward an effective solution for employee health.

Management support is critical. It is important to note that all levels of management should promote the effort not only through time and resources, but also participation. The examples provided in this section were exemplary, and illustrated the fact that HEALTH is doing it’s part for the health promotion effort.

The Wellness Team is another key element of the health promotion initiative. All of the objectives, strategies, roles and responsibilities, and communication that are included are what really set HEALTH apart from the rest. Such detail demonstrates the level of excellence that HEALTH brings to the table. Great job!

• Data Collection. The information collected from all of the assessments provided is what will really drive the wellness initiative. A very important piece covered in this section was the preference of employees for program participation. This information carries it’s weight in gold when it comes to planning. Participation rates are an important factor in analyzing the information for all of the assessments. HEALTH has done a great job in keeping these rates high. Another strong point for HEALTH is that the information collected is kept and compared year to year. This is important because it allows an evaluation to be made from one year to the next. One suggestion that would be helpful for future applications would be to make sure that each table/graph title is fully stated. For example, "Interest in Prevention M & F" was not clearly stated. What does M & F stand for? Overall, the information provided in this section was outstanding!

• Operating Plan. The annual operating plan is the element that should define every step of the program. Many thanks go to the person in charge of assembling the application, the summary page inserted in front of the detailed goals pages was very useful. All of the goals are reasonable and have the right plans in place to meet them. The most favorable and cutting-edge goal is the goal that deals with adopting policies that promote and protect employee safety and health. Great job in the promotion of policies through e-mails to employees and updating them about new policies and/or reminding them of policies throughout the year. Keep it up!

• Supportive Environments. The policies and procedures of any organization are what will really attract and maintain your employees. This section, once again, met a level of excellence that left nothing uncovered. Attention to detail and record keeping is amazing; take for example, the Fire Drill memorandum. It fully explained the plan and results of the procedure. All of these things truly secure the safety and health efforts of HEALTH employees.

• Programs. All of the programs provided in the application play a helpful role in the health promotion effort. Both the self-care and "other programs" section provide a multitude of information for the review. The self-care programs provided are an excellent way for employees to take ownership of their own health issues. From the awareness level programs to the behavior change programs, each program was chosen with a specific goal in mind and targets a specific health need. A suggestion for change might be to offer programs at a reduced or shared cost if employees currently pay for them. It is often difficult for employees to change when they know that they have to pay for the behavior that they are used to and most likely are not excited about changing. In moving toward the Gold level, it is critical to move the programs toward more of the behavior change level. Overall, the programs were well thought out and met all of the requirements for the Silver level. Great job!

Summary of Reviewer Comments

Based upon this reviewer’s comments, Rhode Island Department of Health is to be commended for the completion of the Silver Well Workplace Application. Clearly, the criterion and the spirit of the Well Workplace designation have been met. Therefore, the Wellness Councils of America is pleased to announce Rhode Island Department of Health as the newest recipient of the Silver Well Workplace award.

While this achievement is a significant one, the Wellness Councils of America strongly encourages Rhode Island Department of Health to consider working toward the Gold Well Workplace award. The future of worksite health promotion appears to be a promising one at Rhode Island Department of Health. Well done and congratulations on achieving this designation.