Lessons learned from employee fitness programs at the Marshfield clinic

Purpose: To describe and evaluate employee fitness programs at the Marshfield Clinic. Methods: A 16-week program was offered to employees from April-July 2004, and a 12-week program was offered from August-November, 2004. Weekly e-mails included suggestions to increase physical activity and eat a healthy diet. Incentives were offered for meeting program goals. Results: A total of 1129 employees signed up for the first program (approximately 18% of all employees) and 610 for the second program. More than 95% of the participants in both programs were female. The activity program goal was met by 231 (20.5%) participants in the first program and 31 % (n=190) of participants in the second program. There was a significant increase in the percent of people with good or excellent fitness levels from baseline (46.4%, 95%CL=40.5, 52.3) to follow-up (70.7%, 95%CL=65.3, 76.0) in the first program. In the second program, there was a significant association between the number of program goals met and self-report of having increased energy, better weight control, and feeling better overall and about body image. Conclusion: Emphasis in future programs should be placed on increasing employee participation. Program evaluation could be expanded to include health care costs and employee absenteeism.