The Montana Worksite Health Promotion Coalition is a resource for Montana employers regarding the art and science of health promotion and wellness at work.
http://montanaworksitewellness.org/
Worksite health promotion has been proven to have a substantial impact on health care costs, absenteeism, workers compensation costs, and productivity. The website is designed to provide resources, encouragement, and a standard of excellence for those interested in working with us to promote healthy worksites in Montana.
This program conducts continuing statewide assessments of the state of employers engaging in worksite wellness. The coalition works as a resource for employers who offer worksite wellness programs. The coalition is designed to identify the employers taking progressive action to increase their employee’s satisfaction and productivity. To recognize these employers, the coalition offers an awards model, Excellence in Worksite Health Promotion Awards.
The Excellence in Worksite Health Promotion Awards mission is to “encourage, recognize, educate and create a standard of excellence for worksite health promotion programs.” The award qualifications are set high to serve as health goals for any organization to strive for. The Excellence in Worksite Health Promotion Awards has quality standards that are important components of worksite wellness programs. The standards include; management commitment, leadership, mission, assessment tool, target audience, tracking systems, interventions, measurement of outcomes, communication of results, and marketing. The criteria for the awards are evidence-based practices. The award qualifications may be modified as worksite wellness research develops. The awards are not intended to represent any level of certification. The qualifications for the awards are not necessarily the best or only ways for employers to deliver worksite wellness programs.
The coalition offers three different recognition awards: bronze, silver, and gold. These three awards differentiate between different levels of worksite wellness achievement. Worksite wellness programs awarded the bronze award focus on minimal or introductory services, voluntary participation, no targeted interventions or documented return on investment, and information dissemination with some activities. Programs that receive the silver award; have 30% voluntary participation, education focused on skill building, medical self-care, one-on-one consultations, and some targeted high-risk interventions. The gold award is received when; many corporate policies support wellness, there is incentivized participation (70%), the programs focus on targeted interventions, telephonic health coaching for high risk, there is a documented return of investment, and there is Population Health Management.