Overview
• Provide background on HRA
• Discuss challenges faced by HRA
• Discuss a strengths-based approach
to personal assessment
• Share future research goals
Health Risk Appraisal
A health risk assessment (HRA) is a health
questionnaire, used to provide individuals with an
evaluation of their health risks and quality of life. Commonly
a HRA incorporates three key elements – an extended
questionnaire, a risk calculation or score, and some form of
feedback i.e. face-to-face with a health advisor or an
automatic online report.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define a
HRA as: “a systematic approach to collecting information
from individuals that identifies risk factors, provides
individualized feedback, and links the person with at least
one intervention to promote health, sustain function and/or
prevent disease.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_risk_assessment
HRA Measures
There are a range of different HRAs available, however
most capture information relating to:
• Demographic characteristics – age, sex
• Lifestyle – exercise, smoking, alcohol intake, diet
• Personal and family medical history (in the US, due to the
current interpretation of the Genetic Information Non-
discrimination Act, questions regarding family medical
history are not permitted if there is any incentive attached
to taking a HRA)
• Physiological data – weight, height, blood pressure,
cholesterol
• Attitudes and willingness to change behavior in order to
improve health
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_risk_assessment
HRA Goals
The main objectives of a HRA are to:
• Assess health status
• Estimate the level of health risk
• Inform and provide feedback to participants to
motivate behavior change to reduce health risks
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_risk_assessment
HRA History
The original concept of the HRA can be traced back
to a project, led by Dr. Lewis C. Robbins of the
Public Health Service in Framingham
Massachusetts. The study was based on in-depth
longitudinal studies of 5,000 families. Original
guidance for personal assessment was available in
1970. It wasn't until 1980, when the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention released a publicly
available version, that the HRA became widely used,
particularly in workplace settings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_risk_assessment
Lifestyle Change Happens in Clusters
For better and for worse health behaviors spread
from person to person. The behaviors investigated
so far are: Healthy Smoking
Eating
Physical Alcohol
Activity Abuse
Happiness
Source: Framingham Heart Health Study 1971 – 2007 of 4,439 friends, family
and neighbors sited in Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social
Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas A. Christakis and
James H. Fowler, New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2009.
HRA Efficacy
Extensive research has shown that HRAs can be used
effectively to:
• Identify health risk factors
• Predict health-related costs
• Measure absenteeism and presenteeism
• Evaluate the efficacy and return on investment of health
promotion strategies
It is generally accepted that HRAs are most effective at
promoting behavior change when they form part of an
integrated, multi-component health promotion program. The
HRA is used primarily as a tool to identify health risks within a
population and then target health interventions and behavior
change programs to address these areas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_risk_assessment
White Paper on HRAs
A Framework for Patient-Centered
Health Risk Assessments
Providing Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Ser
vices to Medicare Beneficiaries
Ron Z. Goetzel, PhD; Paula Staley, MPA, RN1; Lydia Ogden,
PhD, MPP; Paul Stange, MPH1; Jared Fox, PhD, MPP; Jason
Spangler, MD, MPH; Maryam Tabrizi, MS; Meghan
Beckowski, MPH; Niranjana Kowlessar,
http://www.cdc.gov/policy/opth/hra/FrameworkForHRA.pdf
HRA Challenges
• Medical implications seem most appropriate
in primary care conversation
• Privacy, trust and economic concerns make
the employer and health plan less
appropriate for HRA administration (HIPA,
ADA, Incentives in Health Care Reform)
• Low completion rates make HRA less
suitable for program planning/evaluation
A Cultural Perspective on HRAs
• Medical, illness and death framework
versus wellness quality-of-life
framework
• Risk language (negative framework)
versus lifestyle strengths (positive
framework)
• Individual focus may undercut
attention to supportive environments
StrengthsBuilder Measures
• Lifestyle improvement goals
• Past lifestyle change successes
• Personal lifestyle strengths (e.g., not
smoking, physical activity, etc.)
• Support system strengths
Employees Are Attempting to
to Achieve Healthier Lifestyles
Last Year’s Goals Attempted at Least One Goal
Lifestyle Change Yes
Lose weight 69.9% No 14%
Eat healthier 80.6%
Increase physical activity 81.4%
Manage stress 77.6%
Improve social relationships 67.0%
Stop smoking 21.9%
Address alcohol or other drug abuse problems 15.2% Yes
Increase Health Screenings 70.1% 86%
Other lifestyle goal 4.7%
Some Employees are
Successful
Moderately
Successful
53%
Very
Successful
30%
Not
Successful
17%
Employees Are Planning for
Lifestyle Improvement
Next Year’s Goals Planning to Pursue at Least
One Lifestyle Change Goal
Future Lifestyle change Yes
Lose weight 63.2%
Eat healthier 60.9%
Increase physical activity 70.7%
No 21%
Manage stress 57.1%
Improve social relationships 33.8%
Stop smoking 6.0%
Address alcohol or other drug abuse problems 1.5%
Increase health screenings 33.8% Yes
Other lifestyle goal 0.8% 79%
Research Agenda
• Can we use measures of lifestyle strengths to predict
health and economic outcomes (adapting HRA
research findings)?
• Will a strengths-based approach to individual
assessment be more appealing to employees?
• Is the new approach a better starting place for follow-up
(coaching, targeted health information, peer mentoring,
and program recruitment)?
• Is the new approach suitable for program planning and
evaluation?
• What impact does the new approach have on the
wellness culture (shared values, norms, climate etc.)?
This picture shows the entrance to a company that purchased bikes for commuting employees. Each month they bring in a bike mechanic who provides free repairs.
This picture shows the entrance to a company that purchased bikes for commuting employees. Each month they bring in a bike mechanic who provides free repairs.
This picture shows the entrance to a company that purchased bikes for commuting employees. Each month they bring in a bike mechanic who provides free repairs.
This picture shows the entrance to a company that purchased bikes for commuting employees. Each month they bring in a bike mechanic who provides free repairs.
This picture shows the entrance to a company that purchased bikes for commuting employees. Each month they bring in a bike mechanic who provides free repairs.
This picture shows the entrance to a company that purchased bikes for commuting employees. Each month they bring in a bike mechanic who provides free repairs.
This picture shows the entrance to a company that purchased bikes for commuting employees. Each month they bring in a bike mechanic who provides free repairs.
This picture shows the entrance to a company that purchased bikes for commuting employees. Each month they bring in a bike mechanic who provides free repairs.
This picture shows the entrance to a company that purchased bikes for commuting employees. Each month they bring in a bike mechanic who provides free repairs.
This picture shows the entrance to a company that purchased bikes for commuting employees. Each month they bring in a bike mechanic who provides free repairs.
Show your data from the Lifegain Wellness Culture Survey about recent lifestyle change attempts.This is great wellness news. The vast majority of employees are so convinced that wellness is important that they have recently tried to improve their health habits. We want managers to realize that employees are now engaged in a major struggle to achieve personal wellness. Time permitting, discuss which goals seem to be most popular.
Most employees are not fully successful in achieving their lifestyle goals. Follow-up interviews usually determine that moderate success is reported when people only achieve temporary or intermittent lifestyle change. Losing 10 pounds out of a goal of losing 20 pounds is one example of moderate success. The more likely scenario is that 10 pounds were lost, but came back.One of the reasons we are so interested in a wellness culture is to help employees avoid developing new unhealthy behaviors. It is very hard to change unhealthy practices. We want to stop the flow towards unhealthy practices such as overeating and becoming unfit. It is a good idea to create a culture where few employees will find themselves in need of addressing new unhealthy behaviors. Helping 50% of employees be "Very Successful" is an ambitious and necessary goal. Such a high success rate will greatly enhance peoples’ enthusiasm for wellness. It will also mean a dramatic improvement in other performance measures such as the program’s return on investment.We must work to create conditions for success. This means greatly reducing real and perceived barriers to maintaining healthy lifestyles.
Show your data from the Lifegain Wellness Culture Survey about lifestyle change intentions. Once again, the coach should acknowledge the high level of interest in healthy lifestyles. He or she may also want to call attention to those lifestyle goals that are most popular. Efforts should be made to assist these employees in achieving their goals. This could come in the form of wellness coaching, support groups, peer coaching and educational programs. Ideally, changes to the environment would be made that would make it easier to achieve and maintain desired lifestyle practices. Lead a discussion of the primary lifestyle change goals and what can be done to support employees’ lifestyle improvement efforts.
The methods we are using were first developed to assist Coca-Cola when they bought Minute Maid Orange Juice and became the largest employer of migrant workers in the United States. Coke realized that it needed a healthy culture to improve the conditions of migrant workers. A first issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion came out in 1986. It included an article about the project with Minute Maid. A book, called the Quiet Revolution also talked about this early wellness program. As can be seen in the slide, great strides were made in creating a healthier culture at Minute Maid. The project resulted in great business, health and human relations outcomes. It was a quiet revolution in that the workers and company collaborated peacefully to create a much healthier and more productive work environment. The culture-based approach was subsequently applied at Johnson & Johnson and Hoffmann La Roche. These companies were among the first to offer wellness at the worksite. Since that time more than 1,000 companies, government agencies and educational institutions have used the culture-based approach to advance their wellness programs. More information, including a client list, is available at www.healthyculture.com.