Wellness Plans : Wellness Program Goals and Objectives.

A Wellness Program without goals and goals is somewhat akin to taking a family trip without any planning; you won’t know where you’re going, how to get there, what you want to do once you’ve arrived, or even whether or not you’ve arrived!  

The trip may end up ok, or it might end up disastrously.  Yet, with a little thoughtful planning, you increase your chances for a successful experience.  Clear goals and goals are needed to plan your health promotion program to ensure success!

Wellness program goals and goals are different from one organization to another depending on the population, needs, interests and resources. Notwithstanding, well thought out goals based on your corporation’s needs assessment will form the foundation of a successful wellness program!

Health Promotion Program Mission Statement

The first consideration is a mission statement for your Wellness Program.  The mission statement is the overall expression of what the Wellness Committee wants to accomplish by beginning a health promotion program.  

It is imperative that you consider how your Health Promotion Program fits in with the company mission statement, contributes to the overall mission and supports the company bottom line.  This will integrate your efforts throughout the company operations.  

Here are some examples of Health Promotion Program mission statements –  

At XYZ Business, maintaining an environment that supports employee health and safety is our underlying value. It’s the mission of the Health Promotion Program to assist in developing wellness services that fosters and upholds that value.

It’s the mission of the XYZ Wellness Committee to foster healthier lifestyle options to reduce health risk factors, improve overall well-being, and maintain a productive, active work force.

Wellness Program Goals

The objectives and objectives further define your mission and are based on your needs assessment.  Depending on the needs assessment, upper management expectations and employee interests, examples of objectives can include –  

The goal(s) of XYZ Wellness Program in year XXXX is to –   (one or more of the following examples)

• Reduce absenteeism by one day per staff member

• Lower musculoskeletal injuries by 10%

• Decrease unnecessary emergency room visits

• Decrease or contain healthcare costs

• Improve dietary habits of employees

• Reduce health risk factors  

Health Promotion Program Objectives

Specific Wellness Program goals help meet your long-term goals and vision.  Both short term and long term goals should be created as the stepping stones to accomplish the goals and mission.  

In addition to goals for the expected participant outcomes, process goals should also be developed for the wellness program process itself.  For example, process goals might include how many workers you want to participate in the wellness programs, how many sessions on a topic will be offered, the kind of wellness sessions that’ll be implemented, etc.

Goals need to be easily measurable within a set time frame. Attempt using the SMART formula to create both your long and short-term goals and goals –

• Specific (one behavior or outcome)

• Measurable (one result that may be observed or examined),

• Attainable (but also challenging),

• Realistic (do you’ve the resources to achieve?), and

• Time specific (within 3 months – up to 5 years)  

This is the who, what, when, where, why, and by how much method.  For  instance, an objective for a weight reduction program that has an overall goal of improving healthful eating and promoting a healthful weight is that –  

Participants (who) will lose an average of .5 – 1 lbs per week (specific what that is measurable) after the 12 week lunchtime program (time specific what, when and where) for a minimum of 6 lbs weight reduction per participant (attainable and realistic).

Or –  

Participants (who) will attend 11 of the 12 sessions (specific what that is measurable) and name at least one healthier consuming change after the program (specific what, when, where)

An example of an objective for coaching workers with elevated cholesterol could  be –  

To reduce the sum cholesterol (specific what) of high risk personnel with cholesterol over 240 mg/dl (specific who) to 200 mg/dl (measurable how much) through one-on-one counseling sessions offered at the worksite (where) by X date (ex, after 6 months) (attainable, realistic and time specific when) to lower the risk factor for heart disease (why).  

And one last example of a process objective for a smoking cessation program with an overall goal to assist participants in committing to quit for life –  

By the end of the 4-week use of tobacco cessation program, 10% of the participants will have quit use of tobacco.  Each participant will be contacted at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months from the program’s end to determine quit status (process objective) and 10% of those who quit will still be smoke free after one year.

You’ve now completed Steps 1 through 4, including establishing your Wellness Committee. It is now time to plan your wellness activities!