The BeWell Champion Program: A Worksite Wellness Initiative

Background: Adults spend most of their waking hours at work, which offers a setting to improve employee well-being. This paper describes the impact of an evidence-based employee wellness initiative on employees at a large health system. Methods: The project team provided virtual technical assistance and training to a designated champion at 22 enrolled clinical sites. Measures included an abridged version of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Worksite ScoreCard, a process evaluation, and employee participation data. Champions used baseline data for their site to select wellness initiatives. Results: Results demonstrated positive improvements in multiple domains on the CDC Worksite ScoreCard, with significant improvements in organizational support and the overall score. Conclusion: Utilization of evidence-based models, flexibility to meet the needs of varied clinical practice sites, and capacity for sustainability indicate this approach may be adaptable and feasible for other large health systems.