A Guide to Developing and Implementing the Workplace Health System in Medium and Large Businesses

Chapter IV : Building A Workplace Health System (Continued)

The Corporate Health Plan should address the five guiding principles and the three avenues of influence. For example:

The program direction should reflect the needs of all employees, regardless of their current level of health.

In considering how to implement the programs, the Corporate Health Plan must address the challenges for reaching illiterate employees, cultural differences and the variety of social and skill backgrounds of employees.

The programs recommended in the Corporate Health Plan should not be considered in isolation of each other. There may be links between specific programs that maximize the programs' impact and success.

Programs should be designed with the principle of personal responsibility in mind. They should provide the necessary support through a healthy social, physical and emotional environment to assist employees in fulfilling that responsibility.

Program requirements should recognize that health is a product of agreement between individuals and their personal situation. For example, a fitness program should take into account that one employee may prefer to participate in a program at home, another may opt to participate at work or at an outside facility.

The Corporate Health Plan should be kept in mind at times of making other company decisions, and its information considered an important part of doing business.

Recommendations included in the Corporate Health Plan must clearly address the three avenues of influence, namely the environment, health practices and personal resources.

The Corporate Health Plan is a living document and should be treated as such. In fact it should be reviewed continually and revised to reflect new or changing employee needs.

Information on how to prepare a Corporate Health Plan is contained in "Appendix A."

Tips For Success

The Corporate Health Plan should refer to and use existing programs and resources where they have been effectively meeting employee needs as expressed in the Needs Assessment.

After senior management has responded to the Health Plan, in- form employees of this fact and tell them what the next step (Stage 6) will entail and if they wish, how they can take part as volunteers.

How do we prevent a "runaway health program" that demands progressively more resources?

Once a Corporate Health Plan is submitted to management, management makes the decision as to what resources will be allocated for what purpose in each year of the Plan. Management relates health-related priorities to the reality of existing and projected resources. Management's decisions provide the Workplace Health Committee with a resource framework to carry out actual programs.

Checklist

Stage 5

Evaluate your Corporate Health Plan by answering the following questions.

Does the Plan address all three avenues of influence?

Is the Plan based on the actual results of the Needs Assessment described in the Workplace Health Profile?

Does the Plan include activities that will be initiated immediately and ones that will be phased-in over the next few years?

Has the Plan been approved by all members of the Workplace Health Committee?

Did management approve the Corporate Health Plan and have they committed time and resources?

Is there still evidence of senior management's open and consistent commitment and support of the Health Program? (If not, take action to make it happen).

Did you communicate the approval of the Corporate Health Plan to employees