Health Risk Calculator: An Online, Interactive Tool to Estimate how Health Impacts Workers' Compensation Claim Incidence and Cost.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate a web-based, educational Health Risk Calculator that communicates the value of investing in employee health and well-being for the prevention of work-related injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. We developed and evaluated the calculator following the RE-AIM framework. We assessed effectiveness via focus groups (n = 15) and a post-use survey (n = 33) and reach via website analytics. We observed evidence for the calculator's usability, educational benefit, and encouragement of action to improve worker health and safety. Website analytics data demonstrated that we reached over 300 users equally in urban and rural areas within 3 months after launch. We urge researchers to consider the ways in which they can communicate their empirical research findings to their key stakeholders and to evaluate their communication efforts.