Working on wellness (WOW): a worksite health promotion intervention programme

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Cardiovascular Disease Prevention
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Insufficient physical activity (PA) is linked to cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors like poor diet, overweight, high cholesterol, and hypertension.
• The Working on Wellness (WOW) program was developed as a worksite intervention to address these risks.
• The program specifically targets employees at increased risk for CVD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate the effectiveness of the WOW worksite intervention program.
• To increase habitual levels of physical activity (PA) among employees at increased risk for CVD.
• To assess secondary outcomes including nutritional habits, metabolic markers, blood pressure, BMI, healthcare expenditure, and absenteeism.

Main Methods:

• The intervention mapping (IM) protocol guided the design of WOW.
• A cluster-randomised controlled trial involved 928 employees at increased risk for CVD, assigned to control or intervention groups.
• The intervention utilized motivational interviewing through face-to-face and telephonic sessions over 6 and 12 months.

Main Results:

• Formative work indicated a preference for targeting employees at increased risk for CVD.
• The study builds upon previous research (Health Under Construction) in a new setting.
• The intervention's effectiveness on PA and other CVD risk factors will be analyzed using ANOVA.

Conclusions:

• Targeting employees at increased risk for CVD is a preferred intervention strategy.
• This study extends previous findings to a new worksite setting.
• An economic evaluation will provide valuable data for healthcare funders regarding intervention implementation.