Private sector worksite health promotion activities in North Carolina: results from the 1994 survey

-зр STUDIES A Special Report Series by THE STATE CENTER FOR HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL STATISTICS P.O. Box 29538, Raleigh, N.C. 27626-0538 No. 92 March 1995 PRIVATE SECTOR WORKSITE HEALTH PROMOTION ACTIVITIES IN NORTH CAROLINA: RESULTS FROM THE 1994 SURVEY by Jack K. Leiss Melinda S. Burt ABSTRACT The State Center for Health and Environmental Statistics, in conjunction with the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Health and the Division of Adult Health Promotion, conducted a mail survey of North Carolina private sector worksites to determine the extent of health promotion activities. The survey was mailed to a statewide stratified random sample of 1 ,050 private sector worksites with 1 0 or more employees. The overall response rate was 53.6 percent. The results showed that health promotion activities are most common at worksites with 100 or more employees. Worksites of 1 0-49 and 50-99 employees, which represent the bulk ofNorth Carolina’s workers, have fewerhealth promotion activities. For example, over 35 percent oflarge worksites offertheir employees periodic physical exams, while less than 1 7 percent of small and medium -sized worksites offered these exams . Comparable figures for nutrition education classes are 13 percent and 3 percent, respectively. Health promotion activities at North Carolina worksites consist primarily of written materials on selected topics. More active programs are less common. Smoking restrictions and support for quitting smoking are prevalent in North Carol in a worksites of all sizes. Much ofthe impetus for smoking restrictions comes from the workers themselves. Finally, there is interest among worksites in expanding health promotion programs and in receiving assistance from local health department?. Acknowledgments The following people made important contributions to this survey: Carol Kline and Mark Phelps ofthe Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Health, Miriam Sutton and Carolyn Crump of the UNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, and Jim Martin and Eugene Lengerich of the Division of Adult Health Promotion. Funds for this survey were provided in part by grant no. U82/CCU408574-01 from the Healthy People 2000 program within the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, US Public Health Service, and by the Division of Adult Health Promotion. LDEI— ir*JF4 NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT. HEALTH. AND NATURAL RESOURCES