Professional Development:

Danielle recently graduated from UCLA with a Master’s degree in Public Health. She was recognized for her Master’s evaluation study, and was selected to present in an APHA conference poster session by the national Delta Omega Honorary Society. She also holds a BA in Psychology from CSULB, graduated Magna Cum Laude, was chosen as a WELCOA Top 100 Health Promotion Professional, and achieved WELCOA Faculty Status. She decided to go into the field to shift the culture in worksite environments towards optimal health, and lives and breathes health personally. Each degree and certification has shaped the passion behind her career.

Demonstrated Success:

In her current role as a Health Management Specialist, Danielle works with clients to plan and implement health management programs that will shift their culture towards optimal health. In working one on one with them, she is able to present programs and ideas that could reduce the long term chronic conditions of their populations, provide better access to health care, and educate them around healthy habits which can trickle into their families and children’s lives. She was also able to take the lead in planning and implementing the first year of the internal employee wellness program at Keenan in 2012.

Over the past three years, Danielle has worked with a California hospital to transform their employee wellness and condition management program, increase engagement, and reduce risk factors among their population. The hospital implements biometric screenings and provides risk-focused interventions to employees identified at moderate and high risk for chronic disease. Moderate-risk participants work with on-site health coaches to reduce lifestyle health risk factors through education and behavior change. High-risk participants work with a nurse coach to manage their chronic conditions. An evaluation of the first-year implementation of the program was conducted to analyze differences in biometrics (BMI, body fat, glucose, HDL and total cholesterol, systolic/diastolic blood pressure, weight), within each intervention group. Improvements were found among those in the moderate- and high-risk intervention groups, with statistically significant improvements (p<.05) in body fat, systolic/diastolic blood pressure, and total and HDL cholesterol for the moderate-risk group; and weight, BMI, body fat, and systolic/diastolic blood pressure for the high-risk group. In comparison, the biometric screening only group achievedstatistically significant improvements only in HDL cholesterol.

With the combination of senior level support, a cohesive wellness team, a strategic plan, data-driven interventions, a supportive environment and partnership with various areas of the hospital, and evaluation of outcomes, the program has seen tremendous improvements in reduction of risk factors. Besides the reduction in risk factors, the culture has shifted and is embracing the health coaching program, becoming more involved in online challenges, as well as on-site education and fitness opportunities.

Within the Keenan internal employee wellness program, Danielle worked with Human Capital to implement a Fitbit program where employees can earn quarterly gift cards by achieving various step levels, as well as a coaching challenge in which employees earn health/fitness raffle prizes when they complete four health coaching goals. Keenan employees can also earn savings on medical premiums by participating in a biometric screening, health assessment, and by maintaining a tobacco-free status. Since 2012, participation in biometrics screenings and online health assessments have seen an average of 90-94% participation. From 2012 to 2015, hypertension and low HDL cholesterol have decreased, and there have been improvements in all areas of the health assessment metrics: physical activity, nutrition, stress, and tobacco use. The success of Keenan’s program and the shift in culture has largely been due to senior level support, using data collected through biometric screenings to target specific interventions, and consistent communication strategies.

Leadership:

Danielle lives and breathes health in her personal and professional life and her true passion is inspiring others to find their optimal level of health. She is an advocate for plant-based nutrition and educates friends and family on healthy eating. She is a certified yoga teacher, and enjoys leading her students through an inward journey towards meditation, stress relief, and physical activity.

Danielle has developed her leadership skills as part of an internal Keenan leadership program, and continues to grow through her interactions with Keenan clients and the UCLA MPH program, surrounded by fellow leaders in the public health field. She is also an active WELCOA member. For those interested in becoming leaders in the field, she recommends obtaining a degree in a health-related field, immersing in a health promotion position, gaining experience by practicing the methods set out by WELCOA for a best-practice worksite program, and not being afraid to fail in order to grow. 

Innovation:

Danielle has worked with her clients to provide one-on-one guidance to implementation, management, and evaluation of their worksite wellness programs. In implementing a successful program, one of the most important factors in reaching the population has been communication. Organizations that are able to communicate consistently and in an effective way that touches their specific culture see greater success in participation rates and reduction in risk factors, as mentioned previously. Another factor that greatly influences the success of the program is incentives and rewards. Incentives that are tied to medical premiums have a much greater likelihood to motivate employees to get involved. Once they are involved, the culture begins to naturally shift, and thus behavior change occurs. This has been evident in the internal Keenan program, in which about 90% of employees are participating due to incentive achievement and strong communication strategies.

Compelling Vision:

Danielle believes that the biggest threats or opportunities that the health promotion industry faces in the next 5 years is many organizations’ need to see return on investment tied solely to cost savings. If organizations can focus on sustainability of their wellness program as a long-term investment, they will find that the real return is reflected in the productivity of their workforce, top candidates for recruitment, increased commitment to the organization, higher job satisfaction, and the trickle of better health into the surrounding communities. With this focus on sustainability, a worksite wellness program will be able to enhance much more than the organization itself.