Health Risk Assessments It's Time for Your Check-Up
Health risk assessments are appealing for several reasons:
- They are easy to complete and are generally popular with employees.
- They may increase individual motivation and participation in your workplace wellness program because they uncover health risks.
- They provide group data that can be used by the employer to identify major health problems and risk factors that can be addressed in wellness initiatives.
Some of the most common factors included in a health risk assessment include:
- Blood Glucose Level: Blood tests can determine the presence of diabetes or pre-diabetes.
- Blood Pressure: Pressure readings are taken and information is gathered about employees medical background and blood pressure history.
- Stroke Conditions: Blood test is done to detect the presence of blood vessel abnormalities.
- Body Mass Index (BMI): A measure of weight relative to height to measure body fat.
- Cholesterol: Good and bad levels of cholesterol are detected using a blood test, and information is gathered about diet and medication use.
- Coronary Disease: Employees are questioned on their lifestyle choices and any previous heart problems.
- Demographic Information: Information is gathered about gender, age, weight, height, race, marital status and geographic location to improve wellness efforts.
- Family History: Employees are given a high-level questionnaire about the presence of certain diseases within their families.
- Stress: Employees are questioned on their stress levels and sources of stress.
- Physical Fitness: Employees are questioned on their activity level.
- Tobacco Use: Employees are questioned on their tobacco use.
Employees can often complete assessments through printed or Web-based surveys. Web-based HRAs tend to be less expensive and have faster feedback. On average, an HRA costs $15 to $50 per employee. In addition, employers may provide on-site professionals to measure indicators such as blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol.
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