How to Start an
Employee Wellness Program
A User-Friendly Guide
Contents
Additional Resources 20
ALL PHOTOS / NPS
Introduction
As employees of the National Park Service (NPS), we are committed
to protecting the resources of our national parks. In order to
successfully carry out our mission, it is important that we maintain
our own health and wellness.
Since most of the primary causes of illness and death in the United
States are preventable and can be controlled with routine exercise,
proper nutrition, and stress reduction, the NPS has established a
Servicewide Employee Wellness Program to encourage and
provide guidance for parks (and worksites) to create local wellness
programs that benefits all employees.
The following pages serve as a how to guide for starting an
employee wellness program or enhancing an existing initiative at
your park. This guide includes the following sections:
Take Action
Evaluate
Please note, these steps are meant to be guidelines. You are encouraged
to adjust them to fit your needs!
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Spiritual
Physical
En
Emotional
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Environmental
Social
Step 1
Support
an on-the-job injury.
l Long-Term BenefitsWellness programs can reduce healthcare
share
Seek
Use NPS policies to support your case. There are many federal
policies addressing employee wellness, including the following:
National Park Service Human Resources Bulletin: 05-06, Reimbursement for Voluntary Fitness Activity authorizes the use of
appropriated funds for access to fitness centers under certain
conditions.
Step 2
designate
Empower
Contact
Step 3
Space
facilities
resources
Know what resources you already have. Before you start planning
your program, it is helpful to take stock of the resources you have,
whether monetary or other. Having a budget for an employee
wellness program can be a great asset, but it is not crucial for a
successful program. There are many ways to implement a program
that will cost the park little or nothing in actual dollars.
Consider these non-monetary or free resources that may already be
available to you:
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3
3
3
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3
timeline
Focus
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Environment
Step 4
3
3
3
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Health fairs
Fitness classes
Intervention programs
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No money? No problem!
There are plenty of free and low-cost activities and
wellness projects:
n
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Our commitment to
improving public health
will be mirrored in
internal programs for our
workforce.
Step
Staff
JanFeb
Beth, Keith
Determine a budget.
JanFeb
Anna, Jose
Ongoing
Anna, Jose
JanFeb
Sonja, Anna
FebMar
Sonja, Anna
Mar 15
Apr 15
Keith
Apr 15
Apr 30
Wellness
Team
Mar 15
Apr 15
Keith
May 1
Dec
Wellness
Team
Beth, Jose
* A program launch could be the first activity in your lunchtime workout program
or a big kickoff event. See Step 5 for information about the kickoff event.
** See Step 6 for information about evaluating your wellness program.
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Points to remember:
3
3
3
3
3
3
There is no set model. You are free to create, change, and adapt
whatever plan you would like, providing it stays within your budget
and adheres to Department of the Interior and NPS regulations.
A successful program does not need to offer an extensive array of
activities. Instead, focus on targeting your coworkers needs and
interests.
Be inclusive! Use your coworkers as a resource for generating
innovative ideas.
Make sure that the program and activities you plan align with your
parks culture, employee needs and interests, and communication
styles. The research you completed in Step 3finding out what
already existsshould give you a good idea of where to start.
In addition to taking care of others, make sure you take care of
yourself so that you have the capacity to carry out the program.
What do you need to help you run this program? More human
power? More time? Dont be afraid to ask.
Avoid burnout by taking into consideration how many active
members there are and planning accordingly. Remember, you do
not need to roll everything out at once. It is better to plan a few
high-quality, well-planned activities than try to accomplish too many
activities in the beginning of your program. Sometimes, less is more!
Keep it fun, and keep it simple.
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Step 5
Encouragement
Once you have a plan, it is time to take action! Set a positive and
encouraging tone from the very beginning. Addressing wellness
is easier for some and more difficult for others, so it is essential to
make the program fun and doable. Your challenge is to transform the
program from a should-do to a want-to-do and can-do. The
steps below will help you accomplish that.
participation
Recognition
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Take Action
3
3
3
3
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Step 6
Evaluate
Evaluate your program. To strengthen your program, identify gaps,
and ensure you are reaching your targets, incorporate an evaluation
component to your program.
revitalize
Brainstorm
Two approaches can help you evaluate your program. Try to include
elements of both approaches in your evaluation methods.
Explore
1. Quantitative
l Develop specific metrics. These can include how many
employees attended each wellness workshop or event and the
number of people who stopped smoking.
l
Track activity costs, including fees for services, staff time, and
any equipment or materials purchased for each event.
2. Qualitative
l Collect feedback from participants after each activity.
Distribute evaluation forms to help you to obtain the
information you need to make the activity even better next
time. Some questions you might include are: What went well?
What could have been better? What would you change?
Draft a short summary of each event and include performance
metrics, costs, and key responses from the evaluations. Summaries
drafted throughout the year will come in handy when conducting a
periodic review of your overall program.
Conduct a periodic review of your wellness program. At the end
of every year (or whatever timeframe works best), take some time
to reflect on what went well, what could have been better, and what
you would like to change in the future. This assessment can be in the
form of a short survey, short interview with participants, or review
of the participant evaluation forms from each event. This assessment
can help you learn what worked, what did not, and how you can
make the program even better.
Share your findings with all employees at the park so they know the
impact of the program. Also, sharing this information with other
parks will help you and the agency as a whole implement a stronger
overall employee wellness program.
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Brainstorm new strategies or program focus. Address components of the wellness wheel you have not focused on before.
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Additional Resources
CDC National Healthy Worksite Program
http://www.cdc.gov/nationalhealthyworksite/index.html
CDC Healthier Worksite Initiative:
Introduction: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/hwi/index.htm
Toolkits: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/hwi/toolkits/index.htm
CDC: How much physical activity do adults need?
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/guidelines/adults.html
ChooseMyPlate.gov: http://choosemyplate.gov/
EAP Consultants: http://www.eapconsultants.com/
Wellness Council of America (WELCOA): https://www.welcoa.org
NPS Employee Wellness Program: www.inside.nps.gov/wellness
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www.inside.nps.gov/wellness