Mayo launches advisory panels on wellness issues
Will recommend most appropriate interventions
With the help of wellness representatives from corporate America, the Rochester, MN-based Mayo clinic has formed two advisory panels to identify the relationships between ongoing change in the workplace and employee health and to recommend the most appropriate interventions to influence health behavior change.
The panels have been formed as part of the clinic's new health information program for businesses, corporations, and health plans. Their findings will be communicated through the Mayo HealthQuest newsletter, books, and on-line services, when the program is officially rolled out in July.
"The intent of this initiative is really to get good quality health information - which comes from good data and from experts in whatever area we are addressing - and to have it delivered in an actionable format to working age people and their families. Our goal is to deliver it in the form most usable to them," explains Phil Hagen, MD, medical director of HealthQuest and a physician in Mayo's division of preventive and occupational medicine.
How the panels will work
The Workplace Issues Panel is composed of representatives from about 20 businesses, including Coca-Cola, Hormel Foods, and Kerr-McGee Oil, as well as Mayo Clinic physicians, educators, and health writers. It will address these key areas:
· the main sources of stress in the workplace and how to manage stress;
· the role of supervisors in assisting ill employees;
· identification of common workplace health problems and concerns;
· methods to promote health in the workplace.
The Behavioral Change Panel will be composed of about 15 Mayo experts and will focus on areas such as behavioral medicine, nicotine dependency, exercise, alcohol and substance abuse, sleep disorders, risky sexual behavior, and stress management.
"Our attempt is to be comprehensive in the media to which we deliver [the information] and to deliver a consistent message," Hagen explains.
How does it work?
So how will they know the message is being received?
The research process works like this: An issue is identified as one that concerns employees. The Mayo researchers pull together data from existing literature on the topic, develop a program that communicates key messages to employees about the particular topic and then run it by the appropriate Mayo experts.
"For example, a few months ago, they showed us some of their written and Web-based materials on physical activity in the worksite," recalls Thomas Kottke, MD, MSPH, professor of medicine in the division of cardiovascular diseases at Mayo and a member of the Behavioral Change Panel.
"They wanted to know if there is face validity in the stages of change or if we should run the program the old authoritarian way. We looked at the literature, reflected on our own experiences, and concluded that we should generally try to address people at multiple stages of change."
"The end product is a health message delivered in one of the multiple vehicles we have," Hagen explains. Currently, those vehicles include the HealthQuest newsletter, a self-care book, and an on-line piece. "Our challenge for `98 and `99 is to look at the areas of highest need and which media are the best to deliver the messages," he says.
[Editor's Note: Organizations interested in more information can contact Mayo at: (800) 430-9699. Mayo Clinic health information is also available on-line at http://www.mayo.ivi.com.]
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