Obesity/Weight Management Employer Survey and Interview Project

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Barriers for Employers to Take Action. Severalimportant barriers were noted by respondents, yet.from the background research and current information,these barriers would appear surmountable (Figure 11).The main barriers included:E Lack of employee engagement,E Lack of time for employees to participate, andE Lack of staff to manage the programs.Additional commonly reported barriers included alack of financial resources, lack of employee data onoverweight/obesity, difficulty discussing the topic withemployees, lack of knowledge about where to start orwhat to do, and legal concerns (such as the Americanswith Disabilities Act or the Health Portability andAccountability Act). The least common barriers werelack of leadership support, lack of space, and lack ofclear evidence or data.Even though there is compelling evidence that obesityhas an impact on the workplace, the most significantbarrier is employee engagement.E Lack of employee engagement is the top rated barrier;it is always or very often a problem for employers(57.3%). Symptomatic of the difficulty in engagingemployees are other highly rated barriers such as: Lack of employee time to participate (54.3%of employers rated this as always/very often abarrier.), Difficulty in discussing the issue of overweight/obesity with employees (44.1% of employersresponded that this issue was always or veryoften a barrier.)E In terms of organizational support that could assistwith better employee engagement, the three barriershighly rated by participating employers were: Lack of staff time (54.2% rated as always/veryoften a barrier.), Lack of financial resources (42.9% rated asalways/very often a barrier.), Lack of knowledge in where to start/what to doin terms of addressing overweight/obesity in theworkplace (41.4% rated as a persistent barrier.).Lack of leadership support was only mentioned as asignificant barrier by 32.3% of responding employers.While still high, this shows that many businessleaders understand and are supportive of activities toaddress workplace obesity. Interviewees expandedon this topic, saying that their employer does notwant to be intrusive or overbearing to overweight/Figure 11: Barriers to Developing orEnhancing a Worksite Obesity ProgramAlwaysVery Often50%45%40%35%30%25%20%15%10%5%0%Lack of Lack ofEmployee Time forEngagement Employeesto ParticipateLack ofStaffDi culty inDiscussingObesity withEmployeesLack ofFinancialResourceLack ofKnowledgein where tostart/whatto do16National Business Coalition on Health
obese employees in any way. This was noted by allthe interviewees with a common solution to have anyweight management or obesity program as part of anoverall wellness program which would not single outthose employees with weight issues.Information Sourcesand CommunicationThe survey also addressed what the sources are foremployer information and uses of that information,Employers Obtaining Information: Sources and Uses.A majority of employers reported not seeking outinformation on overweight/obesity in the last 12 months(53.3% v. 46.7%).E Very small (60%) and small (52%) employers werethe least likely to have sought out information withinthe past year.E Mid-sized employers were the only size category ofemployers who reported seeking out overweight/obesity information within the past year more oftenthan not (52% v. 48%).The responses here closely mirror the responsesregarding the presence or absence of a program toaddress overweight/obesity. This would appear tosuggest that those already with programs are seekingupdated information. Interviews support this notion ofseeking to improve programs including better ways tomeasure the program’s effectiveness.When employers do seek out information onoverweight/obesity, they most frequently reach out tohealth plans/providers/pharmacists (70.4%), vendors/consultants (51.9%), and the CDC (49.4%). A largenumber of employers also accessed information fromnonprofit organizations such as the American DiabetesAssociation, and state or local health departments.The interviews reinforced employer use of NSC forinformation about overweight/obesity. There are somedifferences in which organizations are most frequentlyused, based on employer size as shown in Figure 12.E Small (80%) and very large (74%) employers werethe most likely to utilize information provided by ahealth plan, provider, or pharmacist.E Mid-size employers were the least likely to usehealth plans or vendors when accessing informationcompared to other sizes of employers.E The largest employers were the most likely to utilizevendors and consultants for information, presumablybecause organizations of that size have the resourcesto procure programs and services from them.E Larger employers were more likely to access theCDC for information compared to small and mid-sizeemployers.This suggests that the outreach to employers needs toincorporate and address their engagement with healthFigure 12: Top Organizations as Sources of Information by Employer Size90%80%70%60%50%40%30%20%63%80%56%58%74%35%53%42%63%59%40%46%44%50%59%Very SmallSmallMid-SizeLargeVery Large10%0%Health Plan/Provider/PharmacistVendor/ConsultantCDCObesity/Weight Management Employer Survey and Interview Project 17
Page 1: Obesity/WeightManagementEmployer Su
Page 5 and 6: Executive SummaryA person’s place
Page 7: BackgroundOver the past thirty year
Page 10 and 11: ApproachNBCH, CDC, and NSC develope
Page 12 and 13: esponsibilities associated with a j
Page 14 and 15: Length of Time Obesity Program in P
Page 16 and 17: A workplace culture of health provi
Page 18 and 19: Employer Ranking for Importance of
Page 22 and 23: plans and vendors or consultants. T
Page 24 and 25: Existing Community Partnerships. Re
Page 26 and 27: Figure 14. Continuum of Program Evo
Page 28 and 29: those individuals in the safety fun
Page 32 and 33: The small number of employers curre
Page 34 and 35: E Employers need information to dem
Page 36 and 37: Recommendation 2Help Employers addr
Page 38 and 39: Endnotes1. Sepulveda M, Tait F, Zim
Page 40 and 41: Your organization’s industry type
Page 42 and 43: When thinking about the potential i
Page 44 and 45: F. SafetyNot Important Neutral Impo
Page 46 and 47: N. Strategies and ActionsNot Import
Page 48 and 49: D. My employees are knowledgeable r
Page 50 and 51: As an employer, how much of a barri
Page 52 and 53: Barrier: Lack of employee data on o
Page 54 and 55: Centers for Disease Control and Pre
Page 56 and 57: Information Use: To educate employe
Page 58 and 59: Product: Web ToolsEmployer Size Not
Page 60 and 61: Communication Means: Training or De
Page 62 and 63: How important to you is each of the
Page 64 and 65: Partnership Benefit: Access to usef
Page 66 and 67: As an employer, how much of a barri
Page 68 and 69: Partnership Barrier: Partner’s re
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4. From your own experience, what i
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then move on to successful ways to
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Discussed in prior questions.23. Fr
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access on a voluntary basis to a he
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employees. Others have included wor
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E Sample policies and other tools e
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specifically (YES/NO)? Thinking abo
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75. Can you discuss why you feel th
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National Business Coalition on Heal
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