Health Handouts : Needs Assessment

An initial health evaluation can include a survey of employees’ interests as part of the assessment. Successful wellness programs are designed to meet the needs and interests of the employees. The information you need to get from a survey depends on the scope of your program. A sample survey can be obtained in the HOPE Publications Web site. If you aim to adjust this sample survey or foster your own survey, keep the following hints in mind:

• Ask mostly closed-choice questions, especially if you will be sending the survey to a large number of workers. Closed-choice questions support specific choices and are simple to tabulate. You may want to use a computer for data entry and analysis.
• Invite comments, ideas and recommendations, or ask open-ended questions at the end of the survey. Open-ended items are more difficult to summarize.
• Include a brief explanatory cover letter with the survey with the signature of the employer president. Make sure to include a statement about confidentiality and anonymity.
• Ask a group of representative staff members to review the survey before it is distributed. Find out if the questions will be understood by staff members and will not be objected to.
• Include demographic information at the beginning or end of the survey. Consider various ways that you might analyze the responses by demographic characteristics (gender, age, shift, site, department, etc.).

When thinking of who ought to get the survey, a simple rule is if you have under 500 workers, everyone ought to receive one. The public relations benefit of everyone receiving a survey can be important. Over 500 workers, a sample of the work population will suffice. A sample saves on costs and time. You may want to consider hiring a statistician to determine the right sample size for your workplace.

Needs surveys are confidential and anonymous; they do not request information that may identify a person.

Getting backing from management is crucial to the success of the program.

One way to do this is to survey managers (see forms) and conduct interviews with decision-makers in the business. You can use the surveys here or make up your own. If you decide to do your own, keep the survey short. It shouldn’t take more than ten minutes to complete.

The interview process can also serve as a means of educating management. Provide concise fact sheets on the advantages of wellness programs for management. When surveys and interviews are completed, tally the surveys and write brief summaries of the interviews. Provide these reports to management.

Once completed present a brief executive summary to management. Highlight a few interesting findings that can be used immediately to make decisions about the program.

Utilize charts and graphs to make your points. Prepare a detailed report for Employee Health Promotion Program Committee participants itemizing each response. Offer a short article about the survey in the employer newsletter.

The higher the response the more valid and reliable the results. A minimum response of 40% to 50% is acceptable.