A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF A WESTERN NEW YORK VOLUNTARY HEALTH AGENCY MINI-COURSE PROGRAM: WELLNESS AT THE WORKSITE (LIFESTYLE, PROMOTION, NURSING).
Contributors: State University of New York at Buffalo.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 201
Subjects: Education, Health.
Description: The two central questions of the study were: (1) What are the components of a curriculum schema used to develop health education curriculums? (2) What elements of curriculum planning are present in existing health education programs?.

Related questions dealt with the role of health professionals in the development and utilization of a short-course approach to health education.

The study used a needs assessment questionnaire, a survey of health professionals and a course evaluation form to collect data. The study was limited to businesses and health professionals within the Western New York geographic area. Health professionals with membership in District 1, New York State Nurses Association and the New York State Federation of Professional Health Educators as well as participants in the Wellness Discovery Course offered through the Greater Buffalo Chapter of the American Red Cross provided data for the study.

The following conclusions were drawn as they pertained to the central and related questions of the study: (1) Businesses and industries having larger numbers of employees (over five hundred) perceived wellness education programs as desirable with many of the larger companies having introduced such programs. (2) Health education programs in-place tended to concentrate on one area of wellness, generally those with the most obvious financial effects. (3) Businesses and industries viewed the mini-course as an appropriate vehicle for delivery of a wellness course. (4) Several components and expected benefits of wellness courses, as viewed by local business and industry, were congruent with those promulgated in the national guidelines for health education. (5) Participants in the Greater Buffalo Chapter Wellness Discovery Course expressed interest in assessing their present lifestyles and health habits as well as learning ways to improve their health behaviors through use of in-house support groups. (6) Health professionals viewed health education as an inherent function of their role. Cognitive skills in wellness and lifestyle were not included in the basic educational preparation of many of the health professionals, although they did feel competent in the teaching of these concepts. (7) Health professionals felt the worksite to be an appropriate setting for health education related to wellness concepts. (8) Interest was expressed by health professionals in teaching a previously developed wellness at the worksite curriculum if provided with a certified training program. (9) Integration of curriculum planning procedures in existing health education curricula is philosophical rather than practical. Components of a health education schema are not specifically delineated or readily identifiable. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-09, Section: A, page: 2573.

Thesis (ED.D.)--STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT BUFFALO, 1985.

School code: 0656.