If your library is associated with an organization, like a hospital, that performs health fair outreach to area employers or community groups, get in touch with your colleagues in the coordinating department. The outreach coordinator may be able to provide contact information for the wellness personnel at businesses that have an existing relationship with your organization. That individual may have a sense of which employers might be most interested in obtaining your assistance.
If you’re unable to harvest any pre-existing contacts, check the websites of potential corporate partners. Companies often include some information about employee health benefits on their websites; you may need to look in the “employees” section. See the box to the right for titles that might be applied to wellness personnel.
Once you've scheduled a meeting with a potential partner, take some time to prepare. You might create or modify existing materials that you have that explain the services provided by your medical library. This handout can serve as a roadmap for your discussion and a reminder for your partner afterwards.
If you're not already familiar with your state statistics, search for the most recent morbidity and mortality report from your state (it might also be called "death statistics"). This list will give you an idea of what the top disease-related causes of death are in your state and can help you determine what prevention information will be most applicable.
Develop questions that will help you determine what kinds of resources will be most helpful for the employees. As you develop your question list, think about:
At your meeting, be prepared to listen and to take lots of notes. You may go into this meeting thinking one thing, like web-based resources, and leave with the realization that video broadcast on an internal network is much more likely to reach employees. You may discover that in addition to information for employees, the wellness team you're working with has different information needs. Be alert to the possibility that you may be able to serve more than one audience.
Ask what kind of internal timelines or deadlines your partner has. If material takes several months to be approved before it's published or broadcast, you can plan accordingly.
Before you leave, ask what the best way to get in touch with your contact is and plan when you'll be in touch. Some individuals prefer pre-planned communication while others are comfortable responding on-the-fly.
After your meeting, take the time to write up your notes, pooling those taken by any colleagues who also attended. After you have a chance to discuss what you learned, draw up a plan for what resources the library will provide and a timeline. Your first post-meeting communication should be to share this plan with your industry partner to see what suggestions they have.
Wellness personnel may go by a variety of titles. They are often part of the human resources or benefits department.
Look for titles like:
Benefits Administrator – Wellness
Benefits & Wellness Coordinator
Corporate Wellness Coordinator
Corporate Wellness Director
Employee Wellness Manager
Health & Wellness Benefits Manager
Health & Wellness Coordinator
Onsite Wellness Coordinator
Wellness & Health Management
Wellness Program Administrator
Wellness Program Manager
Wellness Program Coordinator
Wellness Specialist
Some companies may outsource their benefits administration to third-party providers. These providers are another point of contact. You may be directed to a benefits services provider by the company you reach out to. This is an opportunity to ask if the provider works with any other businesses that might be interested in your content.
To locate benefits services companies, search online using phrases like:
employee benefits administration
employee benefits brokers
employee benefits consulting
employee benefits services
employee benefits specialists