title: The Healthy Workplace Project: results of a hygiene-based approach to employee wellness.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  An employee wellness program was evaluated to assess changes in germ transmission, absenteeism, and cost of infection-related illness among office-based employees.
  
  
  METHODS
  One-group pretest-posttest design, with intervention delivered for 90 days and measurement conducted over 1 year.
  
  
  METHODS
  Employees of a large office space in Georgia.
  
  
  METHODS
  One thousand six hundred forty-five employees.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Healthy Workplace Project is a 90-day wellness program aimed to increase health and productivity of employees through educational and engagement activities focusing on improving awareness, recognizing infection-related illnesses, and reducing the spread of germs in the workplace.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three types of data were collected: (1) bacterial audits through use of adenosine triphosphate monitoring of various work spaces; (2) self-report absenteeism data using the World Health Organization's Health and Work Performance Questionnaire; and (3) participant employees' medical claims/costs of infection-related minor illnesses.
  
  
  METHODS
  Frequencies and bacterial audit data; Wilcoxon signed ranks tests to determine changes in rates on absenteeism and health care costs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Bacterial audits demonstrated a reduction in contamination levels of 33% across all measured spaces. Absenteeism rates were reduced by 13%. Medical service utilization costs were not significantly reduced for individual employees over the project year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Educational strategies and individual monitoring of germ transmission appears effective in improving employees' health and decreasing absenteeism.
authors.forename: Sanna J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Thompson
authors.forename: Lynn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rew
mesh_terms: D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005845:Georgia; D015438:Health Behavior; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D006920:Hygiene; D017053:Infection Control / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009786:Occupational Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017132:Workplace
keywords: Employee Wellness; Health focus: medical self care; Infection Control; Manuscript format: applied research brief; Outcome measure: germ contamination, absenteeism, health cost; Prevention Research; Research purpose: program evaluation; Setting: workplace; Strategy: education, skill building/behavior change; Study design: nonexperimental; Target population circumstances: geographic location; Target population: adults; Wellness Program; Workplace Health