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Sevafrica.com
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As much as we always want to have a positive attitude towards work, and life in general, our approaches in the workplace may vary. According to medical experts many people’s attitudes change over time, especially towards their jobs, which could be caused by a variety of reasons like stress, negatively affecting management or production. So what can be done to prevent this?
Lots of funds can be allocated and used to promote wellness interventions in the workplace, but there is no guarantee that these methods will work. Some of these interventions may remain in the awareness phase, and not really improve workplace wellness in an involving way. After considering the employees’ needs, an idea was introduced that is sure to create a sustainable peer education program that will maintain lasting behavior and successful workplace wellness solutions.
While bearing in mind long term healthy behavior changes, it is imperative to use the Behavioral Change Model to adapt workplace wellness interventions accordingly. Interventions have to be planned to accommodate employees at all levels of readiness.
Here are the five stages in the Behavioral Change Model:
- The pre-contemplation (not yet ready) stage – this is when an individual is not interested in their health and wellness at all.
- The contemplation (thinking about it) stage - when they’re starting to consider implementing some wellness principles into their lifestyle.
- The preparation (getting ready) stage – is when they’re getting ready to change their behavior.
- The action (doing it) stage – at this stage they’re living with a changed behavior.
- The maintenance (staying with it) stage – here they have been in action for a while and are feeling so much better that they make the new behavior their new lifestyle. This is the stage where employers would like all employees to be.
Peer education changes norms and stimulates collective action because people tend to learn from someone they see as an ‘equal’. Learning from an individual in the same societal group changes knowledge and beliefs at an individual or group level.
Is peer education cost effective? Yes it is compared to other techniques used to implement workplace wellness. Peer education is a cheaper intervention strategy because the use of volunteers makes it easier to increase the number of employees reached.
Peer educators are a special group among the workforce. They volunteer out of a heartfelt belief of wanting to help their fellow human beings. Their interest is in health and gaining more knowledge and information which they use to improve other people’s situations.
Health risks of employees are business risks. Employee wellness programs increase productivity and profit. Existing statistics show that peer education works: use existing healthcare claims, employee assessments and feedback, employee turnover, absenteeism, disability claims and productivity measures (quality/quantity). A ‘before and after’ data analysis should be done and an employee survey should be taken for contribution. Providing suitable program content through effective training to encourage behavior change and motivation makes good business sense.
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Exercise skills and a system to help people modify their behavior which will lead to behavior changes, motivation and enjoyment. Workplace wellness is an expedition with substantial returns through peer education training.
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