| The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine previously collected wellness assessment data from a 2007 to 2008 State Police wellness program in an attempt to determine variables such as mode of contact and frequency of contact that may have affected employee success in the program. Law enforcement officers, subjected to working conditions that often lead to the development of health issues and a decreased average life span, can benefit greatly from a comprehensive wellness program. The end objective of this research project was to better understand what motivated law enforcement wellness program participants, while also attempting to determine the most efficient and effective methods of contact to utilize within a law enforcement setting. In addition, this study included the distribution of a retrospective survey to the program participants to gain further insight into their perceptions of motivation. The survey contained questions about the participants' perceptions of internal and external wellness program factors that may have affected their success in the program. The participants included 104 sworn and civilian employees from a State Police agency. The statistical analysis of the research data was conducted utilizing the chi square statistic to examine mode of contact and frequency of contact, while multiple regression analysis and logistic regression analysis was used to examine participant motivation. The study results indicated that mode of contact (chi 2=4.577, p=0.101) and frequency of contact (chi 2=3.626, p=0.057) were not significant variables of success, which were contrary to the predicted outcome. In addition, the participants' responses of perceived factors of motivation did not include several items that were predicted to have been more frequently selected on the survey. It was discovered that one internal program variable, information received from a wellness education presentation (r 2=.30 (adjusted r2=.01), p=.012), and one external program variable, visit to family physician (r2=.463 (adjusted r 2=.17), p=.004), were statistically significant perceived factors of participant motivation.;Recommendations for future study include the examination of longer existing, more comprehensive programs, such as those with greater staff training and participation incentive resources, with additional focus on variables related to mode and frequency of contact. |
