CHP Worksite Strategies

Environment Strategies:

5 ways to ensure that healthy choices are easy, accepted, & supported.

1. Adopt policies to increase access to physical activity.
1. Support for gym memberships for employees and their families, such as
• Agreements with health clubs or gyms for employee discounted memberships
• Employer subsidized gym memberships
• Health insurance benefit for gym memberships (e.g., Healthy Rewards programs)
2. Create on-site, sustainable physical activity facilities, such as
• Onsite exercise facilities and/or shower and changing facilities
• Open space designated for recreation or physical activity (e.g., basketball hoop, walking trails or designated routes)
3. Create on-site, sustainable physical activity programs, such as
• Supports for recreation or physical activity onsite or in immediate nearby community (e.g., walking maps for surrounding area, stretching and desk exercise guides)
• Organized onsite physical activity programs (e.g., regular stretching breaks throughout the day or during meetings, walking groups, yoga or exercise program)
   
2. Adopt comprehensive food purchasing policies to ensure cafeteria meals, refreshments, and vending machines include healthy and sustainable choices.
• Adopt NYSDOH healthy meeting guidelines
• Nutrition labeling at point of purchase
• Pricing policies that discount healthy food or increase price of unhealthy food
• Increasing healthful vending machine or cafeteria options
• Policy for healthful options at company-sponsored events
   
3. Establish on-site sale of produce, such as farmers markets or community supported agriculture (CSA). 
• Establish means for fresh fruits or vegetables to be sold or distributed on-site
• Promote buying groups for CSA shares
• Promote nearby farmers markets or stands
   
4. Promote stair use by increasing access to clean, safe stairwells.
• Post signs that encourage use of stairs
• Improve lighting, visibility and other safety measures
   
5. Adopt flex-time polices that allow employees to fit physical activity into workdays.
• Flexible time schedules may be arranged for meal times
• Flexible options for off site walks during shorter breaks

Activity-oriented Strategies:

6 ways to provide a wide range of information and activities that are generally valued by most employees and assist employees in changing behavior.

1. Increase use of voluntary biometric testing with appropriate referral to their primary health care provider. 
• Free or subsidized voluntary risk factor screening with feedback and/ or clinical referral for tobacco, blood pressure, pre-diabetes, BMI, cholesterol screening, or other
   
2. Facilitate weight management programs at the worksite.
• Free or subsidized lifestyle self-management programs that include advice or tools on weight management (e.g. programs by vendor, community-based, onsite, or other practitioners)
   
3. Facilitate smoking cessation programs at the worksite.
• Referral to tobacco cessation telephone quit lines or other community-based programs
   
4. Increase workplace lactation support using the Business Case for Breastfeeding toolkit.
• Provide an accessible, clean, private place where breastfeeding mothers can express or pump milk
• Have refrigerator space available for the storage of expressed/ pumped breast milk
• Adopt a policy allowing paid or unpaid time during the workday for breastfeeding mothers to express or pump milk, etc.
• Provide free or subsidized resources and services for breastfeeding employees, such as lactation consultants, breast pumps, and other breastfeeding supplies
   
5. Increase use of incentives and supports for alternative forms of transportation to and from work, such as walking, biking, or taking public transportation.
• Encouraging biking or walking to work
• Offer incentives for alternatives to driving to work such as walking, car pooling, mass transit (e.g., Tompkins County Way2Go)
• Providing safe, secure and convenient bicycle parking, storage for staff and visitors
• Promote existing bicycle lanes and sidewalks that are available on roadways leading to the place of business
   
6. Modify health plan benefit design so preventive health services are part of health insurance coverage.
• Tobacco cessation counseling and nicotine replacement therapy
• Obesity counseling

Results-oriented Strategies:

3 ways to reduce selected health risks and improve management of health conditions.  Results-oriented strategies are often personal and proactive.

1. Increase use of incentives for employee participation in Health Risk Assessments (HRA),
• with individual risk factor follow-up education and appropriate referral
   
2. Increase use of telephone, web-based or in-person health coaching,
• to improve individual skills development and guide employees to adopt healthier lifestyles
   
3. Increase use of incentives for completion of steps for reducing risk behaviors or for achieving certain objective standards,
• such as being tobacco smoke-free for six months, or having blood pressure below a certain level

 
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