Workplace Wellness Report

Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) Evaluation Study

Report: SHIP Workplace Wellness: Building a Culture of Health (PDF)

Minnesota's Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP), a collaboration between the Minnesota Department of Health and local public health, works to create healthier communities by expanding opportunities for active living, healthy eating and commercial tobacco-free living.

Because the majority of adults spend half of their waking day at work, workplaces are a big part of achieving this goal.

In 2018, the Minnesota Department of Health’s Office of Statewide Health Improvement Initiatives conducted an evaluation study on SHIP’s workplace wellness initiative to determine the impact SHIP has on employers’ workplace wellness. The evaluation used two data sources for the analysis: 2018 Wellness Coordinator Survey and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota’s Healthy Workplaces Organizational Assessments.

Findings

• With a sample of 194 employers from the WCS and the 153 employers from the BCBS OA, this evaluation found that:
• 92% of WSC respondents indicated that SHIP advanced their wellness efforts.
  
• Employers are strengthening their wellness strategies while participating in SHIP. For example, WCS results indicate that SHIP:
  • tripled the number of employers who added healthy food options at company functions.
  • doubled the number of employers who have breastfeeding friendly rooms.
• Employers are strengthening their wellness foundational practices. For example:
  • 49% of SHIP employers reported strong leadership commitment after at least one year in SHIP compared to 19% when they started working with SHIP.
  • SHIP employers who reported a strong or very strong wellness committee increased by 39% after working with SHIP for 1 year.
  • The number of employers reporting a complete wellness plan increased from 16 to 55 after being in SHIP for 1 year.

Conclusion

The SHIP model has followed national best practices and has gathered positive results. The 2018 Wellness Coordinator Survey and BCBS Organizational Assessment affirm that implementing the best practices found in the SHIP workplace model lays the foundation for a sustainable and comprehensive workplace wellness initiative.

Additional Materials

• Fact Sheet: Workplace Wellness: Building a Culture of Health (PDF)