SUCCESSFUL PLAN FRAMEWORK
LE Wellness Program Proposed
bY Frank Woolridge
The purpose of this article is to present to California law enforcement agencies a proposal for wellness program design. I conducted research of California law enforcement agencies and reviewed national studies of the benefits of the implementation of a wellness program for law enforcement. The results were clear. Wellness programs are in demand and benefits are substantial.
It is not the intention of this article to provide detailed tasks regarding how the program should be carried out, nor are there preferences as to what components or manner of implementation would make a successful program for your agency.
The fact is, there are many variable components that can be inserted into any wellness program. It is the intention of this article to provide a general framework for what your agency’s management and personnel feel is a successful wellness program.
Program Definition and Need: Before the design of a proper wellness program for a law enforcement agency, it is important to understand just exactly what the word “wellness” is. It is defined as a lifestyle encompassing health related habits to include proper nutrition, smoking cessation, cholesterol awareness, regular exercise, or a number of other health related topics and activities, which are of interest to employees.
For example, heart disease is directly related to lifestyle wellness behaviors. It has become the number one killer of adult men and women, surpassing all types of cancer.
Furthermore, more than 2,000 officers have heart attacks and die each year in the line of duty. This statistic should appear shocking when compared to the approximately 100 officers who die each year at the hands of criminal suspects.
Most law enforcement training academies assign significant amounts of energy to fitness related activities, such as performing pushups, sit-ups, and running. These activities only constitute a portion of what a wellness program can be.
Well managed wellness programs, of which there are relatively few, are geared mainly toward providing information and activities on health and fitness to employees covering a wide array of subject matter. From a law enforcement perspective, wellness programs should be ongoing and include fitness and wellness concepts.
It is my recommendation that one of the first steps toward changing behavior and increasing adherence of employees to participate in law enforcement wellness programs is to increase their individual knowledge. Employees should initially be provided with relevant classroom presentations and demonstrations, and they should participate in practical exercises.
Each session should be designed to illustrate the importance, relationship, and relevance of fitness for law enforcement sworn and non-sworn personnel. Correlations between physical skills and heart rate, endurance, and strength versus defensive tactics, and flexibility versus back injury prevention are critical concerns for instruction.
Classroom presentations should also emphasize wellness topics including proper nutrition, the prevalence of heart disease and diabetes among police officers, high-risk factors associated with heart disease, obesity, injury prevention, and smoking cessation, just to name a few.
Program Justification: The justification for the wellness program can be validated based upon numerous best practices studies that have been researched by public and private organizations. The following lists major benefits from installing a wellness program:
Rising Health Care Costs:
Wellness programs have been shown to be the best practices, and less financially painful method of suppressing rising health care costs.
Reduced Absenteeism:
This is another area that has shown a marked impact from the implementation of wellness programs, due to healthier employees and less injuries.
Reduced Employee Turnover Rates:
This is also a major category which has shown substantial positive change. Employees are more likely to have an improved total outlook towards their careers and the contribution they are making to the agency/community.
In addition to the major benefits mentioned, additional benefits include: Providing healthy lifestyles; increasing worker productivity; reduction in worker’s compensation claims; injury reduction; employee recruitment; improved morale; improved employee physical appearance; improved department image; and reduction of litigation claims for excessive force.
Program Design: With the knowledge of the benefits that a wellness program should contain, including financial and personal benefits, it is now important to consider the design of your program. I recommend forming a committee made up of representatives from each division to represent personnel through the life of the wellness program. This committee is one of the keys to the programs success.
The committee is responsible for representing their division’s interests and needs. They also aid in marketing the committee’s events. Committee members will be made up from patrol shifts, investigations, traffic, administration, communications center, records, as well as other divisions.
The program design can be aided by questionnaire asking what activities and events would appeal to the department’s officers and civilian personnel.
Even though the need is clear as to why wellness programs are needed in law enforcement, conducting a needs assessment is beneficial at this point because it aids in justifying the demand for the program. It is also not too early to consider goals and evaluation methods of the program.
The reasoning for this is that too often programs are designed with goals, but unfortunately as the program continues, outcomes occur which are not anticipated and are difficult to evaluate since they were not anticipated. Evaluations help justify the program and tell you what modifications should be made.
Of course another major aspect which determines success of your agency’s wellness program is the support and commitment of the agency’s administration. This level of support is a must.
The administration’s support and encouragement of employee’s participation in the program will give the program added value and will have huge benefits in prolonging the program and to help it grow.
Measuring Success: As previously mentioned in this article, the benefits of the program will be reduced health care costs, decreased absenteeism, improved productivity, and a boost in morale. Even though these are substantial benefits to the agency and community, they are oftentimes difficult to measure objectively.
It is recommended the agency does not rely only upon obtaining these benefits as immediate goals to justify the wellness program.
It is more reasonable for the agency to justify the wellness program by promoting an interest within all personnel to participate in the wellness program to become more healthy and fit.
The ultimate result of the wellness program should be an improved agency, with employees who are healthier, personally more secure, and better able to provide effective policing services. If the wellness program saves the police department and local government money in the long run, that is an added plus.
It is my opinion the development of the wellness program will not remain static. As time moves on, the program will require modification due to employee’s requests for special services, programs, and needs. This is not an unsatisfactory result.
Actually, it is an excellent sign of the interest in the program and the employee’s involvement in structuring the program. As employee needs are satisfied, more employees will take an active interest and become participants.
About the author: Frank H. Wooldridge is a detective with the Bakersfield Police Department.
