Employee advisory boards as a vehicle for organizing worksite health promotion programs

The purpose of this article is to describe the "employee advisory board model" applied in the Treatwell program, a worksite nutrition intervention program.

The employee advisory boards of five of the seven intervention worksites participating in the Treatwell program were surveyed. Results were compared with results of employee surveys conducted in these five worksites.

The five worksites included in this study are among 16 participating worksites from Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Of the 95 board members represented in the five worksites, 88% responded to the survey. This article also presents results from the 698 respondents of the five intervention worksites where the board surveys were conducted.

The boards in each worksite participated in planning, promoting, and implementing this program in each worksite.

Respondents to the board survey were asked about their participation on and satisfaction with the board and factors they thought contributed to its effectiveness. A survey of all employees included information on demographics and program participation.

Board members reported that they were highly satisfied with the board's functioning. Board member hours spent on Treatwell activities were directly related to the proportion of employees aware of the program. (r = .82). The boards' effectiveness was limited by conflicting priorities between the job and board responsibilities.

The employee advisory board model provides promise for increasing worker awareness of worksite health promotion programs through enhanced worker ownership.