Medical Solutions: SOAP-ing Your Wellness Program? - The "S" of SOAP

Welcome back. Let’s get down to the “nitty-gritty” of how to SOAP your wellness
program. I’m sure that those of you charged with implementing an employee wellness program are tempted to just search the web for“employee wellness vendors”. SLOW DOWN! Yes, this would definitely provide a path of least resistance, but will more than likely end up with underwhelming results. Why you ask? Well, this approach is like ordering a double cheeseburger, large order of fries, and a fried apple pie for lunch, then topping your meal off with a diet soda as a means of cutting calories. Come on now, we’ve all done it. Right?

It is vital to get a clear picture of the current state of employee health in order to determine the needs and where best to direct your efforts. You should have as much say and design impact as your vendor, along with a clear understanding of your program steps, expectations, and anticipated outcomes.

In case you didn’t get a chance to read the first installment of this series, SOAP is a system for evaluating and putting together a plan for any program or project. One of the first things I learned in nursing school was how to use the SOAP system when evaluating the health of a patient and then putting together a plan of care. The acronym SOAP stands for Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan. This week we are going to look at the “S” of SOAP.

What is subjective information? Simply put, subjective information is one person’s opinion. It can be based on fact, but it is one person’s interpretation of that fact.1 In the clinical setting of nursing, subjective information is the information supplied to you by the subject or patient. It is information that you cannot perceive with your own senses. For example: a patient tells you that they have pain in their leg. That is subjective information.

Ok, now let’s apply this to your employees. What would qualify as subjective information when it comes to your employee population? The goal when gathering subjective information is to get a sense of the opinion of the employees regarding their own health and wellbeing. The next goal is to gain some insight about the employees’ opinions of their physical and social work environment. It is important to remember that each company and its employees is unique and the strategies used to address employee health will vary from company to company based on the resources available, needs and interests of management and employees, and health issues that are priorities.

Great start right? Now how do we get this information? You have to ask questions. Of course, you will be looking for unique information reflective of your workplace, but here are a few ideas to get you started.

• How would you describe your health?
• How do you physically feel when you start your day?
• How do you physically feel at the end of your day?
• When I am at work I am concerned about__________.
• True or False? I feel valued by my employer.
• True or False? I get along with my co-workers.
• How would you rate the quality of your work life?
• How would you rate the quality of your work environment?
• Do you feel that your health and safety needs are being met when you are at work?
• Do you have any concerns when at work? (i.e. environmental, cleanliness, sanitation, nutritional, safety)

As a result of gathering this subjective information you have begun the process of evaluating the state of your employee health and wellness. Can you stop here? The short answer is, no. While it is important to include subjective data in your employee wellness evaluation, its importance is strengthened by the inclusion of supporting objective data. As I said in the beginning, Subjective information is only a part of the employee wellness picture. We need more SOAP to clean up this picture.

Next week: The "O" of SOAP-ing your Wellness Program.

1(Old Dominion University Libraries. www.lib.ODU.edu)