Background
We conducted a pilot test of American Cancer Society
Workplace Solutions, an intervention that takes a marketing approach to
increasing employers’ adoption of evidence-based practices to prevent and
control chronic diseases among their employees.
Context
We delivered the intervention and assessed the changes in
practices of 8 large employers in the Pacific Northwest.
Methods
Workplace Solutions recommends 15 employer practices in 5
categories: 1) health insurance benefits, 2) policies, 3) workplace programs, 4)
health-promoting communication, and 5) tracking of employee health behaviors to
measure progress. The intervention includes 4 meetings with employers over 2
months and begins with a questionnaire-based assessment of employer practices.
Tailored recommendations follow, along with practice-specific implementation
assistance on requested topics. We tested the intervention in a before–after
study without a comparison group.
Consequences
The employers ranged in size from 7500 to 115,522
employees and included private companies and public employers. Seven of the
eight employers implemented more of the recommended practices at follow-up (an
average of 13 months after the intervention) than at baseline. Overall,
implementation of the practices increased from 38% at baseline to 61% at
follow-up (P = .02).
Interpretation
Workplace Solutions is a promising new approach to
bringing evidence-based best practices for preventing chronic disease to large
numbers of adults.