Strategies

What Works for Health includes evidence-informed strategies to create communities where everyone can thrive.

20 Strategies matching employee
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Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)

Provide confidential worksite-based counseling and referrals to employees to address personal and workplace challenges
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth
  • Safety and social support

Financial rewards for employee healthy behavior

Offer payments, credits toward health insurance premiums, or other financial rewards to encourage employees to lose weight, eat more healthily, quit smoking, engage in physical activity, etc.
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise

Flexible scheduling

Offer employees control over an aspect of their schedule through arrangements such as flex time, flex hours, compressed work weeks, or self-scheduled shift work
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices

Individual incentives for public transportation

Offer incentives such as free or discounted bus, rail, or transit passes, reimbursements, partial payments, or pre-tax payroll deductions to encourage individuals’ use of existing public transit
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Housing and transportation
  • Climate

Labor unions

Organize workers to bargain collectively for improved wages, benefits, and working conditions
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth
  • Civic and community resources

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices
  • Governance
  • Worldviews, culture and norms

Living wage laws

Establish locally mandated wages that are higher than state or federal minimum wage levels
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

Mental health benefits legislation

Regulate mental health insurance to increase access to mental health services, including treatment for substance use disorders
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Clinical care

Societal Rules

  • Laws and policies

Multi-component obesity prevention interventions

Combine educational, environmental, and behavioral activities that increase physical activity and improve nutrition (e.g., nutrition education, aerobic/strength training, dietary prescriptions, etc.) in various settings
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Diet and exercise

Multi-component workplace supports for active commuting

Provide physical infrastructure (e.g., bike parking or showers), educational or social support (e.g., walking groups), and financial incentives that support active commuting
Evidence Rating:
Some Evidence

Community Conditions

  • Housing and transportation
  • Diet and exercise
  • Climate

Paid family leave

Provide employees with paid time off for circumstances such as a recent birth or adoption, a parent or spouse with a serious medical condition, or a sick child
Evidence Rating:
Scientifically Supported

Community Conditions

  • Income, employment and wealth

Societal Rules

  • Institutional practices
  • Laws and policies