The status and perceived need of wellness and employee assistance programs in the public school systems in Virginia

This study was conducted to describe the status and perceived need of wellness and employee assistance programs in the public school systems in Virginia. There were 132 superintendents asked to respond to a mailed survey; 124 responded, for a return rate of 93.93%. The school systems having these programs were grouped by wealth, according to the composite index of the school system, and size, according to the number of teaching positions in the school system.

The results of the analysis indicated that there are a variety of wellness programs throughout the state. Wellness and employee assistance programs occur in large and small school systems with teaching staffs ranging from 43 to 8,124. The composite index of school systems having one of these programs ranged from .2016 to 1.000. There was a significant perceived need of these programs as indicated by the positive responses to an open-ended question. Of the 124 school systems responding, 47, or 37.90%, had wellness programs, and 38, or 30.64%, had employee assistance programs.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Objective 20.15 states that by the year 2000, 75% of the workplaces with 50 employees or more should offer a health promotion program. This study established the baseline necessary to measure the growth of these programs in Virginia and will assist personnel directors by providing information about the types of programs that now exist throughout the state.