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I'm trying to find various ideas relating to employee health-tracking and/or some kind of corporate health initiative that our company could begin. We have a workforce that is 70% in the field/workshop/sales traveling and 30% office personnel. Last year we held our own version of a "Biggest Loser" Competition that was well-received and had high participation. Thanks in advance for any suggestions on a health program.
Encourage staff to post vital health information on HealthVault.com. It is a great tool and resource, secure and a joing effort between Microsoft and the world-famous Mayo Clinic.
we launched our wellness program about 5 years ago and have continued to build on it. we have monthly wellness sessions about different topics and offer 2 challenges a year with bi-monthly weigh-ins and weekly tips. if you want more info, you can email me at bettyn@herbalife.com
Amy, your company's health care vendor should be able to help you. EAP too if you have one. Some good resources are http://www.welcoa.org/ and http://www.nationalwellness.org/. I'm a wellness program consultant. If you have further questions you can email me at jeff.vanpelt@cigna.com.
We've done a few things including a 10k-a-day program, meaning 10,000 steps a day. There is research saying that level of activity correlates to better health, so we gave inexpensive pedometers to everyone and encouraged them to log steps on a third-party web site. The site depicted step-counts logged along several goal paths on a map, like Appalachian Trail for those w/moderate goal and Lewis & Clark for high goal, etc. Drawing for small prizes & recognition among those who participated, hit targets, etc. Also have done a stair challenge to encourage taking stairs vs. elevator. Just a few thoughts; wish I could recall more details.
We've used the American Cancer Society's Active for Life program several times over the years with great success. The program runs 10 weeks (long enough for the changes to become habits). Employees have a lot of control over how they earn points, and are competing against their own goals. As a company, we organized extra events to help them earn points - healthy cooking demo on-site, group walks, tying it in to local fundraising walks (that we were sponsors of), etc. We wrapped it up with a closing ceremony and awarded prizes. It could be customized to fit any group.
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_1_5X_Active_For_Life.asp
We are just about to start a Heart Rate Measurement Test at www.chillibreeze.com
This will test present heart rate against a target goal set after 2 months, 4 months, and so on. Check back with us and ask our HR department to find out how it is going.
Right now we are promoted as the Greenest Company in North East India... so now we need to become healthy staff.
We are in the third year of our wellness program. We use a vendor - Viverae - to plan and execute annual health screenings in 16 states. They also provide monthly Webinars on timely health topics. Employees have a secure account on the Viverae site and health coaches. We provide cash incentives for completing the screening and assessment in addition to quarterly "challenges" (Blue & You Fitness Challenge under way now, sponsored by Blue Cross/Blue Shield). Teams compete for cash prizes for each challenge and we have a year-end random drawing for a big cash prize, trip of a lifetime, etc. We've also given away a new car and other cool prizes.
Disclaimer: I work for the American Heart Assocition.
That said, the AHA has some terrific resources for companies to begin a workplace wellness program using our Start! Heart Walk curriculum. You can take a look and download materials at: http://startwalkingnow.org/
And, you're just in time to take advantage of National Start Walking Day on Wed. April 7. If you'd like more info, email me at stephanie.elsea@heart.org and I can put you in touch with someone in your community.
Congratulations on such a high participation rate! With so many employees on the go and interested in health I would look to implement a transient program that includes information on: healthy eating on the go, healthy snacks, fitness from anywhere, and relaxation techniques through different channels such as: mp3 downloads, videos, iPod Apps, to name a few.
We hold wellness fairs and highlight women's and men's health months. We hold local yoga and pilates classes. We encourage local walking clubs. We dedicated a significant portion of our home page real estate of our HR/benefits employee intranet to wellness topics that we feature on a monthly basis.
We did this initiative called "Walk to the Rock." ("The Rock" is the affectionate term for Newfoundland on the East Coast of Canada. Since we're based out of Vancouver, the goal was for us to walk across the country.
This was promoted in advance, and positioned as a wellness initiative. Everyone who wanted to participate was given a pedometer and placed on a "team." The team leader reported the number of steps each month. We had a webpage for the initiative, that offered interesting facts about each of the Canadian cities we stopped at each week.
The participation response was so great, we had to change the walk route to across Canada and back since we wanted this to last a few months.
I just left a Wellness Committee meeting...we're kicking off our newest initiative with an Army theme: registration is "boot camp;", we are "recruiting" now; looking for "wellness warriors;" "enlisted" men and women will be placed in "squads" with "drill sargeants" who will lead and support them (not scream and scare!); on the lookout for "draft dodgers," etc. (I work for a small community hospital.)
Our program includes monthly weigh-ins (private) and measurements (blood pressure, BMI, weight, heart rate). Our lab is also doing pre- and post-program blood screenings. Participants earn points for various things: exercise, drinking water, not smoking, eating fruits and veggies -- all recorded on an honor system, but with some peer pressure. We have Lunch-N-Learns with various topics (relaxation, skin cancer prevention, nutrition, yoga, portion control, healthy cooking, kick-boxing, etc.). Employees also get to use the gym equipment in our Cardiac Rehab unit. Our cafeteria offers a daily "wellness" plate; we have an indoor walking route for bad-weather days (it is marked with signage); personal diet consultations; wellness walks.
Over the years, employees have received pedometers, portion plates, water bottles, lunch bags, tape measures, cook books and other "trinkets." We've sponosred "Turn Off the TV Nights" at the local YMCA during which employees and their families were invited to spend the night swimming, running, exercising, climbing, etc. We offered healthy snacks (water, veggies, fruits, etc.).Huge participation for this! You name it, we've probably tried it.
The one element that is missing, yet people continue to request, is some sort of incentive such as a reduction for healthcare costs for those who participate and make measured improvements. Many employees also ask that our organization contribute toward the cost of a gym/YMCA membership, but it hasn't been offered yet. I think participation would increase with these types of incentives. We have more than 600 employees and, so far, there are 30 people signed up for this round of Wellness. On the flip side, we have dozens of employees who practice our wellness ways, but don't formally join the program. The important thing is that employees develop healthy lifestyles and embrace the wellness concept -- with or without a formal program.
