An Evaluation of Army Wellness Center Clients' Health-Related Outcomes

Abstract

Purpose: To examine whether Army community members participating in a best-practice based workplace health promotion program (WHPP) experience goal-moderated improvements in health-related outcomes. Design: Pretest/posttest outcome evaluation examining an autonomously participating client cohort over 1 year. Setting: Army Wellness Center facilities on 19 Army installations. Participants: Army community members sample (N = 5703), mostly Active Duty Soldiers (64 ). Intervention: Assessment of health risks with feedback, health assessments, health education classes, and health coaching sessions conducted by health educators at a recommended frequency of once a month for 3 to 12 months. Measures: Initial and follow-up outcome assessments of body mass index (BMI), body fat, cardiorespiratory fitness, blood pressure, and perceived stress. Analysis: Mixed model linear regression testing for goal-moderated improvements in outcomes. Results: Clients experienced significant improvements in body fat (2 change), perceived stress (6 to 12 change), cardiorespiratory fitness ( 6 change), and blood pressure (1 change) regardless of health-related goal. Only clients with a weight loss goal experienced BMI improvement (1 change). Follow-up outcome assessment rates ranged from 44 (N = 2509) for BMI to 6 (N = 342) for perceived stress. Conclusion: Army Wellness Center clients with at least 1 follow-up outcome assessment experienced improvements in military readiness correlates and chronic disease risk factors. Evaluation design and follow-up-related limitations notwithstanding results suggest that best practices in WHPPs can effectively serve a globally distributed military force.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 05, 2018
Accession Number
AD1099906

Entities

People

  • Jessica D. Ford
  • L. O. Rivera
  • Meredith M. Hartzell
  • Todd A. Hoover

Organizations

  • United States Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Active Duty
  • Army Personnel
  • Best Practices
  • Body Weight
  • Cardiovascular Physiological Phenomena
  • Chronic Diseases
  • Disease Attributes
  • Education
  • Health
  • Health Care
  • Human Behavior
  • Measurement
  • Physical Fitness
  • Public Health
  • Regression Analysis
  • Risk Factors
  • Standards

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

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