Why a Health Team?

A Health team is an important component to a successful wellness program. They not only serve as health promoters, but provide a means that employees can truly own the program.Think about how difficult it would be to launch new activities and changes around the worksite ALONE. The Health Team can act as a support system for each other, when there is resistance and negativity going on from other employees. 

Remember: when creating a health team it is important you have individuals from all departments and fitness levels. It's hard to get participation and buy-in from others when the health team consists of all management and health nuts! 

Other things to look for in health team members:

·         -Highly motivated about wellness

·         -Are good wellness role models
          -Are comfortable expressing opinions                

          -Are in positions of authority within the company

·         -Can represents a major group of employees in the company

No matter if your health team consists of 3 employees or 12 employees, always remembers that... 
 

 Together Everyone Accomplishes More!

Every Little Bit Counts!

Is it difficult getting physical activity in at work? With your day consuming of e-mails, phone calls and meetings who has time to take a chunk out of their day for exercise? 

Well I want you to think outside the box. You don't have to have an hour of free time to get on your workout clothes and go to the gym to get exercise. Think about all the different things you can do to get activity into your day that you won't even need to go to the gym for!

Instead of looking for the closest parking spot by the office, look for the farthest one. That way you can sneak some walking in. Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs (a 150 pound person can burn up to 10 calories a minute climbing stairs according to the Calorie Control Council (CCC). Get some dumbbells for your desk, and lift some weights when you're on the phone or watching webinars. Create a stand up desk so you can stand and move around instead of sitting in an office chair all day. 

Now those are only a couple of ideas, but my point is to have you open your eyes and realize that becoming more physically active doesn't mean getting a gym membership. There's plenty of free to low cost ways to get exercise throughout your day. Consider trying some of those suggestions, I bet your body will thank you!

Remember: Every little bit does really add up and make a difference! 

Proof that Worksite Wellness Really Does Work!

Check out this article about how the county government in Pontiac, Michigan implemented some health promotion at their worksite. It dramatically decreased their health care costs!

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/health/2010-12-31-wellness-plan_N.htm

No Money? No Problem!

According to the Minnesota Department of Health, for every $1.00 a company invests in worksite wellness, they can receive approximately $3-6.00 in return. Sounds great if you the extra money to invest in health promotion right? Well if you don’t have that extra budget, don’t worry! There are still a lot of great changes you can make at your worksite that are FREE!

When you are tight on a budget, it’s important to focus on environmental changes to your worksite vs. programming.  Do your vending machines consist of all fatty, processed foods? Are your employees sitting in their desks all day? Do you provide nothing but donuts and pizza at your company meetings? Are your employees eating at their desks and not taking time for breaks?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have an opportunity to make some great environmental changes to your worksite.  

You really don’t need to invest a lot of money into worksite wellness. Just focus on eliminating the barriers and temptations (like those candy dishes!) and focus on creating an environment that supports and encourages healthy behaviors.

 

My challenge for you is to look at your worksite, and I mean REALLY look at it. What are some barriers or obstacles that are not allowing your employees to become healthier? What temptations are you providing?  Make a list of these barriers, and focus on changing one at a time. Even those small and simple changes can make a BIG difference!

Price Incentives for Healthier Food

The worksite is an important environment in which the majority of the adult population spends a significant portion of their day over a period of years. Intervention strategies that change worksite environmental factors related to food, such as the type of foods available and their prices, have been examined in previous nutrition interventions studies. In both school and worksite settings, pricing, alone or in combination with availability, had a strong, dose-response effect on sales of healthy snacks from the vending machines.  


Does your worksite offer snacks for employees? If so, have they ever thought about offering the healthier foods for a cheaper price than the unhealthier foods? Many times people say that an obstacle to eating healthy is the price. Healthier foods tend to be more expensive. One way to reduce that barrier is to lower the price of healthier options and increase the costs of unhealthier options. Check out how this worksite offers price incentives for their snacks. Notice that they also put the healthier foods at eye level, and the unhealthier foods at the bottom.

Source: JOEM Vol. 52, Number 1 Supplment, January 2010.

Why is Workplace Wellness Important?

If you have 100 employees...

-38 are overweight and another 23 are obese (1,2)

-17 smoke cigarettes daily (3)

-85 are not eating healthy diets (2)

-31 are not physically active enough to protect their health (1)

-32 have high cholesterol (4)

-21 have high blood pressure (4)

-6 have diabetes (4)

Creating a culture of health at your worksite can significantly help improve your employees morale, productivity and job satisfaction - while decreasing health care costs and work absences. Fit City Duluth and SHIP are here to make the healthy choice the easy choice for employees. Our efforts will be impacting over 2,440 employees!

Sources:

1. MN Physical Activity Survey

2. MN Healthy Eating Survey

3. MN Adult Tobacco Survey

4. MN BRFSS, 2007

The Businesses Have Been Selected!

Fit City Duluth and SHIP Coordinators have selected 17 businesses in the NE Region to help promote health. We're excited to get their employees healthier!

Aitkin - Riverwood HealthCare Center & Aicota Health Care Center 

Carlton(Cloquet) - Community Memorial Hospital 

Carlton (Moose Lake) - Mercy Hospital

Cook - Bluefin Bay Resort & Cook Co. North Shore Hospital & Care Center

Itasca - Itasca Community College

Koochiching - Rainly Lake Medical Center

Lake - Stanley LaBounty & Lake View Memorial Hospital

St. Louis (Duluth) - Northwood  Children's Services, Natural rural Health Resource Center & ARCC

St. Louis (Hibbing) - P&H MinePro Services, Jasper Engineering & Minnesota Twist Drill