Mayo Clinic Health Management Resources recently launched three new online programs to help employees make informed health choices.
The new Prostate Cancer Health Decision Guide and Colorectal Cancer Health Decision Guide help employees navigate through the decision-making process to determine what treatment option is best for their individual situation. Health decision guides on other topics also are available online through the Mayo Clinic Custom e-Health Package.
In addition, the new online Healthy Weight Program offers employees an effective, sensible weight control program in an engaging, interactive medium.
Health Decision Guides Profile Options for Employees
Patients are often encouraged by their physicians to educate themselves about various treatment options. The Health Decision Guides profile common treatment options. Accompanying charts and testimonials identify the pros and cons of each treatment choice. The guides were developed with input from Mayo Clinic physicians; however, this tool is intended to be used in conjunction with the advice of a personal physician.
The new Prostate Cancer Decision Guide details several available options -- including external beam radiation, radioactive seed implants and hormone therapy. The guide also includes personal stories of five men who each chose a different treatment option. Each explains how he made his choice and the consequences of his decision. Their candid discussions can be viewed as videos or read as personal stories. Other components of the guide include an interview with a Mayo Clinic urologist, a summary of things to consider when deciding on a treatment and a dictionary of terms commonly used in discussion of prostate cancer.
Also available is the new Colorectal Cancer Decision Guide. Proper screening and early detection can significantly help prevent and treat this potentially fatal disease. The guide profiles each of the most commonly used screening tests, including the pros, cons, risks and benefits of each. The guide also frames key questions to help in the decision-making process.
Healthy Weight Program Offers Online Motivation
With more than one-half the adults in the United States overweight and nearly a quarter obese, it's clear that helping employees achieve and maintain a healthy weight is critical to containing health care costs.
With the new Healthy Weight Program, participants can navigate through a wealth of information on the program itself and much more. Among the options is information on how weight affects health. Visitors can click through an interactive session to determine if they're really ready to start a weight-management program. Or they can join the 12-week program and start down the road to better health.
Participants are given the tools to set healthy weight-loss goals and to customize meal and activity plans to meet those goals. E-mail reminders support their progress and encourage them to come back to the site at least once a week for the next 12 weeks. At each visit, participants get new information and report how they're doing with their meal and exercise plans. The program even tracks their progress with a personalized graph.
To see the new Mayo Clinic online programs, go to www.MayoClinicHMR.org and click "Mayo Clinic Custom e-Health Package Demo." Once registered, click on "Health Decision Guides" in the left column.
Online Resources Benefit Employer, Employee
"Online technology offers numerous ways for companies to enhance employee health initiatives by reaching more employees with engaging, relevant health information and programs," says Neil Sullivan, implementation manager for Mayo Clinic Health Management Resources. Sullivan spoke recently about online health management at the 2002 American Occupational Health Conference (AOHC).
In a special educational session, Sullivan and key employee health leaders from Intel Corporation presented a case study about how Intel uses online technology as a platform to fully integrate company-specific health, safety and benefit programs. Together, the team discussed how Web technology addresses key health management objectives.
"More than 62 billion dollars are spent per year on chronic disease," Sullivan says. "That's why management tools are a critical cost solution." A summary of the AOHC presentation on Intel is available by contacting Mayo Clinic Health Management Resources at 800-430-9699.
Mayo Clinic Health Management Resources works with employers and member organizations throughout the U.S. in providing population health management tools including customized health newsletters, self-care books, custom health Web sites, health risk assessments and telephonic health programs. Companies interested in more information about Mayo Clinic Health Management Resources may call 800-430-9699 or visit the MayoClinicHMR.org Web site.
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