Effects of a wellness program on employees of the Family and Children's Center as determined by the Centers for Disease Control's health risk appraisal

Abstract

This research examined the impact of a wellness program on employees at a small social service agency. The experimental group was composed of 64 employees 'at the Family and Children's Center of La Crosse, Wisconsin. The control group was composed of 26 employees at the County Human Services Department of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Behavior change waS measured by the difference in pre-test and post-test mean appraised age scores on the Centers for Disease Control's health risk appraisal. This instrument was administered to both groups before and after the wellness program, though only the experimental group participated in the program. Independent and dependent t-tests were used to analyze the data. Significance was established at the .05 level. There was a significant difference between the mean appraised age scores of the experimental group -before and after the wellness program. There was no significant difference between the mean appraised age scores of the experimental and control groups.