Working on Wellness: Impact of a Pilot Workplace Wellness Program in a Hemodialysis Center.

WORK environment; BLOOD pressure; PILOT projects; BODY weight; ANTHROPOMETRY; ONE-way analysis of variance; SELF-evaluation; CONTINUING education units; SODIUM content of food; PHYSICAL activity; TREATMENT effectiveness; HEALTH; HEMODIALYSIS facilities; QUESTIONNAIRES; HEALTH behavior; INDUSTRIAL hygiene; DATA analysis software; HEALTH promotion

This article describes the impact of a 12-week workplace wellness program on staff (n = 14) of an outpatient hemodialysis center. The program focused on decreasing dietary sodium and increasing habitual physical activity. The average systolic and diastolic blood pressure of participants decreased by 16.9±21.6 mmHg (p < 0.05) and 4.1±14.0 mmHg (p < 0.05), and body weight decreased by 2.7±1.9kg (p < 0.05). The mean step count at baseline was 7,052±3,278 but increased to 10,388±2,882 (p < 0.05) during a walking challenge. There was a reduction in self-reported barriers to making healthy nutritional changes (p < 0.05) and engaging in habitual physical activity (p < 0.05). Our pilot findings suggest that workplace wellness programs in hemodialysis centers are feasible and effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]