Beyond Biometrics: Optimizing Academic Professional Well-Being at Individual and Organizational Levels

Saturday, 23 February 2019

Sara K. Kaylor, EdD, RN, CNE
The Capstone College of Nursing, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
Leslie G. Cole, DNP, RN
Capstone College of Nursing, The University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA
Melondie R. Carter, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN
College of Nursing, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

It is widely accepted that proper nutrition, physical activity, and a healthy body weight serve as a powerful triad in decreasing the risk for health issues such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, among others. However, according to the latest data from Healthy People 2020 (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [USDHHS], 2014), the obesity rate among adults aged 20 years and over has increased by 13.9%, from 33.9% (2005-2008) to 38.6% (2013-2016, age adjusted), meaning that approximately 1 in 3 adults today are obese. This trend is concerning, not only because of the increased risk of health issues that are associated with obesity, but also because of the increased medical costs and burden on the medical care delivery system that such health issues incur (USDHHS, 2014).

Globally, the workplace has been identified as a priority setting for health promotion in the 21st century (World Health Organization, 2018), and workplace health promotion is an important component of several Healthy People 2020 objectives (USDHHS, 2014). Americans spend one-third (7.99 hours) of their day involved in work and work-related activities (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2016), thus making the workplace a convenient, ideal, and critical location for promoting and achieving the health, wellness, and safety goals of employees and their families (American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2017; Gudzune, Hutfless, Maruthur, Wilson & Segal, 2013; Hall, Kelley, Burmeister, & Merchant, 2017).

Despite offering a variety of programs and activities, the success of workplace wellness programs continues to remain challenged by a lack of employee interest, participation, and poor engagement (Hall et al., 2017; Linnan et al., 2008). The purpose of this presentation is to describe an innovative, three-component approach to an academic workplace wellness program and its longitudinal (5-year) impact on participating employees’ biometric health screening data. An overview of workplace wellness literature will be offered, potential obstacles and barriers to employee participation will be explored, and strategies to improve wellness at both the individual and organizational levels will be discussed.

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