Fall River Pilot

Pilot Project Engages Employees

While many large employers in the U.S. offer employee health and wellness programs, smaller employers often don’t have the resources and staffing to follow suit. And since 85 percent of working people are employed by small businesses, millions of people are missing out on programs that promote healthy living. 

What’s the best way to structure employee wellness programs that are affordable and in line with the needs of small businesses? This was the research question behind a recent pilot project led by Partners for a Healthier Community of Fall River, funded by the Center for Health Promotion for the New England Workplace. 

The project team surveyed 17 small businesses with five to 25 employees each and found that providing existing community wellness resources on weight loss, nutrition, smoking cessation, stress reduction and more was the most effective way to promote healthy behaviors. 

“Despite the fact that health resources are available either free or at very low cost to the people in the Fall River community, less than five percent of the adult population take advantage of these programs over the course of a year,” said Angela Bras, worksite coordinator of the Partners for a Healthier Community, Inc. “With our study, we wanted to get small business owners and their employees engaged in health promotion by gathering feedback and raising awareness about these existing resources.” 

The Small Worksite Wellness Project team provided employers with an assessment tool to measure employees needs and interests in health promotion, on-site consultation and education, incentives to motivate employees to participate in health programs and printed and web-based wellness resources. 

Resources about nutrition, exercise and stress reduction drew the greatest interest among employees, and a small number of employees reported engaging in activities in these areas outside of work hours. Some employees reported a boost in morale due to employers merely asking for their input. 

“Employees of these small businesses were aware of their employers providing wellness resources and found this helpful,” said Bras. “Employers found assessment tools, resource notebooks, listing of local resources, fitness challenge participation and on-site consultation the most helpful health resources, especially in terms of improving employee morale.” 

The study found that partnering with a neighborhood association proved the best way to recruit small businesses into the program. 

“Advertising did not work well but working with a neighborhood association did,” said Bras. “Once the door was open, we could communicate the business benefits of healthy employees – less sick days and lower turnover – and we were able to recruit a good number into the study.”