Work@Health FAQ

GENERAL INFORMATION FAQ

The CDC Work@Health^® Program

Questions and Answers

1. What is the Work@Health^® Program?

Work@Health^® is a comprehensive worksite health training program that will support 600 employers of various sizes, industry sectors, and geographic areas as well as other participants who support employer worksite health efforts such as health departments, business coalitions, and trade associations. The program will help develop a basic skill set and capacity to build or enhance a science-based worksite health program through participation in the training aimed at employers with a basic and intermediate level of knowledge and skill. The program will enroll 480 employers to participate in training through 1 of 3 training models (online, hands-on, and a blend of online and hands-on), and 120 participants (employers and other organizations) that will participate through a train-the-trainer model over three years. The training curricula will be supplemented with additional technical assistance and funding support to assist these participants in establishing effective worksite health programs or training others.

2. What will be the main focus of the Work@Health^® Program?

The Work@Health^® Program will build employer knowledge and skill as well as capacity to implement, grow, and sustain effective worksite health promotion and protection strategies. The ultimate aim of the program is to improve the organizational health of participating employers and certified trainers, with strategies to reduce chronic disease and injury risk to employees and improve overall worker productivity.

3. What are the goals of the Work@Health^® Program?

The program is designed to train employers how to improve the health of their workers and their families through science-based prevention and wellness strategies using interventions that principally address chronic health conditions; specifically, heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and obesity. Work@Health^® is aimed at achieving the following four goals:

• Increase understanding of the training needs of employers and the best way to deliver skill-based training to them.

• Increase employers’ level of knowledge and awareness of worksite health program concepts and principles as well as tools and resources to support the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective worksite health strategies and interventions. The training is meant to improve employer skills and capacity for developing or expanding worksite health programs.

• Increase the number of science-based worksite health programs, policies, and practices in place at participating employers’ work sites and increase the access and opportunities for employees to participate in them.

• Promote peer-to-peer community-based employer cooperation and mentoring.

4. Who is eligible to participate in the Work@Health^® Program?

The Work@Health^® Program is designed to provide resources, technical assistance, and support to employers of various sizes (particularly small businesses), geographic distribution, and industries. The program is open to employers with 20 or more full-time employees. Employers must have been in operation for at least 1 full year prior to February 1, 2016. In addition, employers must complete the CDC Worksite Health ScoreCard organizational assessment and have Internet connectivity available to its employees for training participation. Employers must sign a participation agreement and identify a senior leadership level individual to serve as signatory authority acting on its behalf.

5. What are the qualifications for the train-the-trainer model?

The Work@Health^® train-the trainer model is designed to prepare qualified individuals to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to train other employers and organizations through online, hands-on, or blended models to implement the Work@Health^® Curriculum. Each candidate must have a referral from one of the following types of organizations: state or local health department, business coalition, community-based health organization, or nonprofit organization. In addition, participants should have completed the Work@Health^® online, hands-on, or blended training model. As an alternative, participants should be able to demonstrate experience, knowledge, and skills that are substantially equivalent to those expected in the Work@Health^® Curriculum. To qualify, the person should have at least 1 year of successful experience in a leadership role implementing a worksite health or wellness program in a business, agency, or organization.

6. Is there a cost to the employers to apply?

No. Employers will not be assessed any fee to participate.

7. How will the Work@Health^® training be delivered?

Work@Health^® offers two training curricula to develop and improve comprehensive worksite health programs in small, medium, and large businesses.

• A Comprehensive Worksite Health curriculum for employers with a basic and intermediate level of knowledge and skill.

• A Train-the-Trainer curriculum to train qualified individuals who can, in turn, train employers to develop and implement the Comprehensive Worksite Health curriculum.

The following three training models will deliver the same Comprehensive Worksite Health curriculum to participating employers:

• Hands-on Model—Four regional Work@Health^® workshops will be held. A professional instructor will lead employers through lectures, skill lessons, practical demonstrations, case studies, participant discussions, and a peer learning network aimed at increasing employers’ knowledge and skills.

• Online Model—Employers will learn independently by completing self-paced training activities on a computer connected to the Internet and a Web-based learning platform. Training activities will include e-learning modules, Webinars, teleconferences, streaming videos, an online coach, and a peer learning network aimed at increasing employers’ knowledge and skills.

• Blended Model—Four regional Work@Health^® workshops will be held. Training activities will include a combination of hands-on and online learning strategies aimed at increasing employers’ knowledge and skills about comprehensive worksite health. Employers will participate in regional workshops with the blended training model and cohorts of employers will be organized. Following the regional workshops, employers will complete training via the online training activities. Each cohort will meet again for a roundtable session to receive continued training and support. Employers also will participate in their cohort’s online peer learning network.

A fourth training model will be delivered to qualified employers and individuals referred by worksite health organizations (e.g., state or local health departments, employer membership organizations, business coalitions, trade associations, community-based health organizations, nonprofit organizations). This training model will focus on developing knowledge and skills to enable participants to train employers in the Basic Comprehensive Worksite Health curriculum. 

• Train-the-Trainer Model—Four regional Work@Health^® workshops will be held for qualified individuals who are interested in becoming trainers for Work@Health^®. These individuals will have completed the hands-on model, online model, or blended model or have demonstrated the requisite knowledge and skills present in the Comprehensive Worksite Health Curriculum. A professional instructor will lead online, hands-on, blended, and peer learning training activities to assist participants to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to train other employers in the Comprehensive Worksite Health Curriculum. Participants who demonstrate expected levels of proficiency and successfully trained other employers in the curriculum will be awarded the title of certified trainer and receive a certificate of achievement that recognizes their role and levels of expertise and performance.

8. What is a comprehensive worksite health program that will be the focus of the training?

A comprehensive worksite health program 

• Is a planned, organized, and coordinated set of programs, policies, benefits, and environmental supports designed to meet the health and safety needs of all employees. 

• Puts in place interventions that address multiple risk factors (e.g., overweight, poor nutrition, lack of physical activity, tobacco) and health conditions (e.g., diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, stroke) concurrently.

• Recognizes that the interventions and strategies chosen to influence health will require work at multiple levels of the organization including the individual employee and the organization as a whole.

9. What topics will be covered in the Work@Health^® training curricula?

The Comprehensive Work@Health^® Curriculum will be targeted to basic and intermediate levels of knowledge and skills for participating employers. It will be based on a Work@Health^® needs assessment, literature review of programs and best practices, and the results of key informant interviews with employers and experts. The curriculum will reinforce best practices critical to program success, such as leadership support, building a program infrastructure, and communications. In addition, it includes key topics such as primary and secondary prevention activities, incentives, return on investment, and applicable laws and regulations that affect the design and delivery of comprehensive worksite health programs. Participants will be guided through assessing existing resources and programs, planning a suite of interventions to address their specific needs, managing the day-to-day operations of putting into action their wellness program, and ensuring that tools are in place to accurately measure which interventions are effective in changing behavior.

10. What are the benefits of participation?

The Work@Health^® Program aims to increase your knowledge and awareness of worksite health program concepts and principles as well as provide you with tools and resources to support the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective worksite health strategies and interventions. This is an opportunity for you to make a valuable contribution to your worksite!

11. What data will be collected and for what purpose?

Interested employers will be asked to complete a short application form to be considered for participation in the Work@Health^® Program. Once selected, employers will be asked to complete assessments of their organizational worksite health programs, policies, and practices prior to the training and again at the end of the program. Following the training, you will be asked to complete a survey to assess your satisfaction with the training, whether the training was engaging, and whether the facilitator, materials, and activities supported the goals of the training. Feedback given in these surveys may lead to revisions of the training methods, curricula, supporting materials, and evaluation instruments. Your participation in this program and any surveys is voluntary. In the course of the survey, you may refuse to answer specific questions. You may also choose to end the survey at any time.

12. How are privacy and security maintained?

The CDC Work@Health^® Program is strongly committed to respecting your privacy and to maintaining the security of the information you provide us. Your name and the name of your business will not be linked to the information you give on any surveys. Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC), the evaluation subcontractor to ASHLIN, will be the only organization to collect, store, and maintain individual level information. Information will be combined with data from other participants in the program and only group results will be reported.

13. What are the potential risks involved in participating?

There are no personal risks to you for participating in Work@Health^®.

14. Will financial support be available to employer participants?

No.

15. How will CDC determine whether the Work@Health^® Program has succeeded?

If the following outcomes have been achieved by the end of the contract period of 1 year, the program will be considered successful:

• CDC has a better understanding of the training needs of employers and the most effective ways to reach employers and deliver skills-based training.

• The knowledge and skills of employers interested in building or expanding worksite health programs have been advanced through a variety of skill-based training opportunities and models.

• Employers participating in the trainings have raised their level of knowledge and awareness of worksite health program concepts and principles, as well as tools and resources, including existing CDC programs.

• Employers participating in the trainings have implemented strategies that support worksite health.

• Employers participating in the trainings have increased the number of science-based worksite health programs, policies and practices in place at their respective worksites and increased the access and opportunity of their employees to participate in them.

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