Evaluating work place wellness in greater Louisville's technology organizations : a case study.

workplace wellness;Louisville organizations;health;wellness

Andrew L. McCart

University:University of Louisville

Department:Health Management and Systems Sciences

关键词: workplace wellness;    Louisville organizations;    health;    wellness;   

Others  :  https://ir.library.louisville.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3999&context=etd

美国|英语

来源: The Universite of Louisville's Institutional Repository

【 摘 要 】

Employers in the Southern Indiana and Greater Louisville region are looking for strategies to help them become a healthier workplace. Many employers see the expense of paying for an unhealthy workforce and they are looking to limit these expenses. The purpose of the study is to determine the state of workplace wellness activities in organizations in Southern Indiana and Greater Louisville. Due to the poor health statuses of Indiana and Kentucky, 39th and 45th, respectively, this study is significant for a number of stakeholders in our area. The purpose of this case study was to understand the state of health and wellness of organizations in Southern Indiana and Greater Louisville, according to the Centers for Disease Control Health Scorecard (CDC, 2014). Participants were first given the Centers for Disease Control Health Scorecard (CDC HSC) to develop a consistent quantitative baseline. The CDC HSC is a 125 question, 264-point survey that covers a diverse set of work place wellness initiatives. During the survey, participants were encouraged to elaborate on any aspect of the CDC HSC, such as organizational structure, tobacco control, physical activity, or any of the other categories included. Participants were then asked a series of open-ended interview questions to explore the ways they are, or are not, addressing the health and wellness in their workplace. The population from the study includes organizations from Southern Indiana and Greater Louisville. The results of the interviews were transcribed and compared to themes in the literature for patterns, themes, and outliers. Twenty-five organizations were included in the study, including a sole proprietorship that shares the thoughts of a mid-20s entrepreneur in the technology industry. The individuals in the study phase have a variety of roles in their organizations, so it is assumed they represent the majority of the workforce in their knowledge of the wellness programs. The pilot study focused on managers and human resources personnel and the researcher felt they were biased in their knowledge of the programs. The organizations vary in size, by industry, for-profit versus non-profit, and in the positions of the respondents. The worksite wellness information is organized in the same order as the categories of the Centers for Disease Control Health Scorecard (CDC HSC). The interview material is presented by sharing the data from high, middle, and low-scoring organizations, respectively. This study found that the importance of leveraging the knowledge of experts can increase the HSC score. Additionally,