Employee health fair data: evidence for planning health promotion programs.

Purpose/objectives: This study describes actual and perceived health status as well as health habits and needs of hospital employees. The Transtheoretical Model "stages of change" provided the study framework. SETTING, SAMPLE, AND METHODS: Employees (N = 1,295) from a large Midwestern hospital participated in 3 annual health fairs and completed questionnaires and received physical measurements of height, weight, blood pressure, and blood lipid levels.

Findings: During the 3-year period, 56% of individuals met body mass indices indicating overweight and obese status, 74% of the employees reported feeling overweight and desired to lose an average of 32 lb per individual, 51% of employees wanted to increase their daily physical activity levels, and 75% of participants stated they were already preparing for or taking action to change unhealthy behaviors.

Conclusions and implications for practice: As a result of the health fair data, hospital-based clinical nurse specialists are currently piloting interventions geared specifically toward enhancing weight control and increasing exercise in hospital employees.