Tailor Your Strategy to Your Employees
Continued engagement in the National DPP lifestyle change program is highly dependent on how relevant the program feels to participants. Think about the backgrounds and identities of your employees and how these factors may affect your engagement strategies. Describe your employee population to the program provider and the Lifestyle Coach so they can help you choose effective strategies.
Population characteristics to consider include cultural community, gender, age, literacy levels, disabilities, and income level. For example, if any of your participating employees have a lower literacy level, you will want to work with the Lifestyle Coach and program provider to use graphics and plain language and avoid the use of complex medical terminology. If any employees have a physical disability, make sure to provide appropriate alternatives for physical activities. Make sure there are transportation options for those who have difficulty getting to the program site.
Make sure to consider how broader social, economic, and environmental factors may influence engagement among your employees. These factors, called social determinants of health (SDOH), are conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality of life outcomes.
You can modify your program as needed to help your employees overcome barriers to participation. For example, you may want to provide transportation or childcare if your participants have limited transportation or childcare options. If there are limited healthy food options near your worksite, you can provide options, including fresh fruits and vegetables, on-site. Depending on the broader environments in which your employees live, work, and play, you can look for creative ways to address SDOH to bolster engagement and retention in the National DPP lifestyle change program.
Talk to participating employees and your organization’s leaders to collect information about how your organization can support program completion and success. You’ve probably gathered employee feedback on similar programs, or about your overall benefits offerings, before. Use information about what has worked in the past to keep participants engaged. Listen to what employees have told you about the delivery methods they prefer and what motivates them to make changes. Be sure to incorporate this information into your planning.
Look for other ways to support program engagement that match your employee’s needs. For example, your employees may have problems accessing the program because classes are not convenient or they can’t get away from work. You can address this challenge by offering classes during the workday or at lunch and allowing employees time to attend. You can also consider offering classes virtually to reach those who work irregular schedules or off-site, including those who telework. This approach will require support and buy-in from leaders at all levels of your organization.
If you decide to offer the program outside of working hours, you’ll need to think carefully about the delivery option you chose. An approved virtual program may be more convenient, but your employee population may be more likely to stay engaged if they have a face-to-face support network.
Planning for the many ways that you can actively promote engagement and retention in the National DPP lifestyle change program for your workforce will help ensure the program’s success. For more ideas on how to structure your program and additional strategies to support participants, see CDC’s Keys to Success: Using Program Supports for Retention.