http://www.wellsource.com/home.html | With over 100 combined years of experience in wellness, the health professionals at Wellsource have created some of the most comprehensive and evidence-based health risk assessments available.

1. CommonMistakesinImplementingHRAs
ThesecommonfailurescausesometoclaimHRAsareunnecessaryandineffective:
✖✖UsinganHRAthatissoshortandsimplisticthatit
doesnotprovidemeaningfulinformation.
✖✖UsinganHRAthatissolongandcomplexthat
participantsdon’twanttocompleteit.
✖✖AdministeringanHRAbyitselfandnotasanintegral
partofacomprehensivewellnessprogram.
✖✖Failingtoprovidefollow-upeducationalopportunities,
includingbehavioralchangeprograms,aftertheassessment.
✖✖AssumingthatgoodHRAsareexpensiveandout
ofreachforsmalltomid-sizecompanies.
✖✖Failingtoadequatelyaddresstheprivacy
concernsofparticipants.
Fortipsonhowtoeasilyavoidthesecommonpitfalls,
visitfiles.wellsource.com/files/Mistakes-When-Implementing-HRAs.pdf
SoareHRAsobsolete?
Onlyifyouthinkpreventivemedicalexamsareobsolete.Acomprehensive
HRAidentifiespersonalrisks,presentsguidelinesformakingthemost
importanthealthchanges,offersinsightsforindividualsonhowtobegin,builds
awarenessandmotivationformakinglifestylechanges,andprovidesbaselinedata
fortrackingprogressandgivingrecognitionandawards.Onlywiththisdatacan
youtrulymanagethewellnessoutcomesofyourorganization.
Withover100combinedyearsofexperiencein
wellness,thehealthprofessionalsatWellsource
havecreatedsomeofthemostcomprehensiveand
evidence-basedhealthriskassessmentsavailable.
AreHealth RiskAssessments
Obsolete?
Do YOU think
HRAs are

2. Having been a leader in the wellness industry
longer than most (since 1979), Wellsource is
no stranger to the benefits of HRAs. In fact,
we know that identifying people’s health needs at the
beginning of a wellness program has many valuable
benefits. But for the sake of time let’s just consider two.
1. HRAs create a teachable moment.
Receiving an objective overview of one’s lifestyle risks
helps a person more accurately assess their present health
status – and realize if health improvements are needed.
Before taking a health assessment, most people think they
are doing “fine.” But after reviewing a personalized health
assessment report – tailored to their responses and health
habits – many will realize they may not be fine and need
to start taking better care of themselves. The assessment
creates a teachable moment to get people’s attention
and help them set goals unique to them. For a wellness
program to thrive, you need to present solutions when
people have a felt need. Offering generalized programs
you think they need, at a time when the participant is
oblivious to their health risks, are unlikely to have the
desired effect.
2.Healthassessmentsestablishabaseline
for the individual and the company.
If you want to see if your population’s health is improving,
you have to know where they started. For example, how
many minutes a week are employees exercising now,
compared to the beginning of the year? If you don’t
establish a starting baseline, you have no way of knowing
if the company’s wellness initiatives are contributing to
health improvements or not.
Doctors keep records to see if their patients are getting
better or worse over time. To effectively manage the health
of your organization, you also need to track progress over
time – both at the individual level and at the company
level. If you don’t conduct assessments, you don’t really
know if your program has made an impact. You can
tell anecdotes of individual cases, but you have no way
to report on what percentage of employees are more
active now, eating healthier, getting adequate sleep, or
maintaining normal blood sugar levels or blood pressure,
than when you started. These are key risk indicators that
are directly linked to an individual’s health and healthcare
costs, and need to be measured at least on an annual basis.
Power of an
Evidence-
Based HRA
Offering generalized
programs you think
they need, at a time
when the participant is
oblivious to their health
risks, are unlikely to
have the desired effect.
The Problem with a One-Size-
Fits-All Wellness
Solution
Is it sound advice to just presume
everyone has the same health habits? A
one-size-fits-all wellness “solution” might be
easier – and it might even save you a buck or
two per participant per year. But how effective
will it be? Consider the information you would
miss out on if you didn’t offer an HRA:
1. How many prediabetics do you
have in your company?
2. Are depression and high-stress levels
problems in your organization?
3. How many of your employees are
getting the recommended amount
of exercise for good health?
4. How many of your employees have
three or more major risk factors
(smoking, obesity, inactivity, high
blood pressure, high cholesterol)?
5. Can you easily invite employees
with major risk factors into a risk
reduction program or follow-up
session with a wellness coach?
6. How many life years are your employees
losing due to poor health practices?
7. What are your company’s three
greatest health problems?
8. What health needs are your employees
most interested in getting help with?
9. How many smokers in your
company report they would
like help to stop smoking?
10. What are the top three nutrition
concerns in your company?
11. What percentage of employees are
healthier now than they were last year?
12. If nothing changes, how much can
you expect your healthcare costs to
go up next year based on the risks
identified in your organization?
A good HRA can give you quick answers to
these very important questions.
The
If you attended
t he 2014 A r t
& S c i e n c e o f
Health Promotion
Conference, you might get the idea
that health risk assessments (HRAs)
are becoming obsolete. With many
wellness programs under attack for
failing to show stellar ROI, it’s tempting
to point the finger at health risk
assessments (or any wellness tool for
that matter) as the “culprit” of wellness
program shortcomings. But before we
throw the baby out with the bath
water, let’s remember why HRAs have
been a core component of corporate
wellness programs for the last 40 years,
and continue to have value today.
A Personalized
Approach to Wellness
Imagine your doctor saying,
“Wealreadyknowwhathealthproblems
the majority of people have. To save
time and money, I just prescribe the
same treatment for everyone.” Would
that give you much confidence you
were getting good health care?
The same principle applies to wellness
management in an organization. If the
goal is to improve the health of your
individual employees, it is helpful to
know something about their personal
health habits. Do they exercise? What
kind of foods do they typically eat? Are
they coping well with life? Is their blood
pressure normal?
Are HRAs Obsolete?
By Dr. Don Hall, DrPH, CHES
Some have suggested that because the
health risks of the nation’s population
are well known and documented by
health studies, individualized health
assessments are no longer needed. Yet
some of these same commentators are
also calling for more personalized self-
care. How can we have it both ways?
Throwing universal wellness solutions
at a population – assuming they share
all the same risk factors as every other
population – is a giant step toward less
personalized care. And while it’s true
that “we should be doing wellness with
our employees – not to them,” that’s
not a good reason to abandon HRAs.
Health assessments can be implemented
in a way that shows employees you care
about their health. When conducted
in a positive framework, they can even
contribute to greater employee loyalty
and morale. They can also help bring
about a greater sense of purpose and
self-awareness by creating a teachable
“Aha!” moment.
If you don’t measure it, you really
don’t know if you are making
progress or not.
1979 2014
35 YEARS OF WELLNESS!
wellsource.com
800.533.9355

3. Common Mistakes in Implementing HRAs
These common failures cause some to claim HRAs are unnecessary and ineffective:
✖✖ Using an HRA that is so short and simplistic that it
does not provide meaningful information.
✖✖ Using an HRA that is so long and complex that
participants don’t want to complete it.
✖✖ Administering an HRA by itself and not as an integral
part of a comprehensive wellness program.
✖✖ Failing to provide follow-up educational opportunities,
including behavioral change programs, after the assessment.
✖✖ Assuming that good HRAs are expensive and out
of reach for small to mid-size companies.
✖✖ Failing to adequately address the privacy
concerns of participants.
For tips on how to easily avoid these common pitfalls,
visit files.wellsource.com/files/Mistakes-When-Implementing-HRAs.pdf
So are HRAs obsolete?
Only if you think preventive medical exams are obsolete. A comprehensive
HRA identifies personal risks, presents guidelines for making the most
important health changes, offers insights for individuals on how to begin, builds
awareness and motivation for making lifestyle changes, and provides baseline data
for tracking progress and giving recognition and awards. Only with this data can
you truly manage the wellness outcomes of your organization.
With over 100 combined years of experience in
wellness, the health professionals at Wellsource
have created some of the most comprehensive and
evidence-based health risk assessments available.
AreHealthRiskAssessments
Obsolete?
DoYOUthink
HRAsare