Kansas employers compliance with healthy people 2010 initiatives targeting health promotion in the workplace

Abstract

The CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services has set a goal to increase the number of health promotion programs in the workplace as part of the Healthy People 2010 Initiative. Health promotion programs are designed to promote health in the workplace by targeting health risk reduction and actively preventing the onset of disease. The purpose of this study is to determine the number of Kansas employers currently offering a health promotion program, what types of services are offered, what barriers exist for employers who are not currently offering a program, and to compare the size of the company to these findings. Methodology: Five hundred companies were selected from the database Reference USA and were divided into 5 groups according to size. Surveys were sent to each employer and frequencies of answers were tabulated and compared to company size. Results: 154 surveys were returned for a 30.8% response rate. 60% of respondents stated that they offered a health promotion program. 73% of respondents employing more than 250 people offer a program and only 45% of companies employing less than 250 people offer a program. Discussion: According to survey respondents, larger companies in the state seem to be on target with the CDC’s goal of at least 75% of employers offering a health promotion program, while smaller companies, those with less than 250 employees, lag behind.