Professional Development:

I earned my Master’s in Health Communication through a collaborative program between Emerson College and Tufts University School of Medicine. In college I got interested in fitness and nutrition and a professor urged me to go to graduate school. I came across a Health Communication program and knew I had found my fit. This degree has been invaluable to me. Since being at my company, we won the Gold Fit-Friendly Award from the American Heart Association (2010-2013), we were an Apex Award finalist through United Healthcare (2011), and we’ve been recognized as a Healthiest Employer of the Bay Area (2012-2014). 

Demonstrated success:

In my role as a Wellness Program Strategist I’ve implemented a variety of programs from fitness challenges where we provided a free pedometer to every employee, to nutrition and stress management programs. The program we’ve expanded the most and have seen the highest level of impact with is our biometric screenings.

When I started with my company three years ago biometric screenings had been offered to employees on an annual basis but there was no incentive for completion and we could only offer them to employees at our largest locations. As a result, our participation rate was around 17%. Worse yet, once employees had their results we didn’t have a robust enough program in place to support behavior change and improve results.

In 2013 I implemented a new wellness vendor that allows us to award points for verified activities, including biometric screenings. Employees have the option to participate onsite at many of our locations in the spring and the fall, go to a lab for testing, or submit results from their physician. This year we’re offering an HSA contribution to employees who complete their biometric screenings. The deadline for completion is still about six weeks away but we’re already up to 46% participation.

In addition, our new vendor supports behavior change by offering points for completing biometric screenings and additional points for results that are in-range. Participants who don’t receive the in-range points have alternative ways to earn them, such as completing verified workouts, health coaching, online nutrition programs and more.

We are finally starting to see measurable improvement as a result of programming.

Claims for chronic conditions are down and more employees are taking advantage of preventive care benefits.
The percentage of those at high risk for cholesterol reduced from 12% to 7%.
In 2010, 30% of biometric screening participants’ glucose levels were at-risk or high risk. In 2014 that went down to 21%.

Additionally, the overall wellness culture of our company has improved. Wellness is incorporated into our six strategic initiatives and with senior leadership (including our CEO) support, it is at the forefront of much of what we do.

Many of WELCOA’s 7 Benchmarks have helped us design and improve our interventions. For example, creating cohesive wellness teams has been instrumental to our success. We are spread out over several locations and have created a network of over 40 wellness champs representing every location and division within the company. They help spread the word about our programs and gather feedback for future success. We’ve created supportive environments for health by offering onsite biometric screenings at most locations and allowing alternative ways to complete biometric screenings. We’ve also become much more adept at collecting data on our programs and outcomes so that we can design the best interventions possible. After each program that is implemented we take the time to evaluate the outcomes and apply our learnings to future programs to maximize success.

Leadership:

I believe that if you want others to follow your lead, you must lead by example. I not only lead the wellness efforts at my company, but I also participate in almost every activity. I attend our group fitness classes at least two days during the week, in addition to wearing my Fitbit and joining employees for morning walks on three other days. I participate in every program that is offered and am always inviting coworkers to join.

Receiving my Master’s in Health Communication has set me apart in this field and allowed me to grow in the industry. I had an amazing mentor at my first job who encouraged me to continue to push myself and never stop learning. For this reason, my advice is to find a mentor that you trust who will help you succeed. The knowledge you gain from those relationships is invaluable.

Innovation:

One of the things I’ve done differently to generate better results has been more targeted messaging. I’ve learned that when employees get generic emails they are unsure of whether they apply to them and then don’t reading them at all. We strive to be deliberate with our messaging so that when employees get an email from us, they know it’s applicable to them.

For example, we sent a targeted email to all employees who are enrolled in a health plan through the company, but are not receiving the wellness incentive. This resulted in a 7% increase in participation in just four weeks.

Additionally, we sent targeted emails to employees who hadn’t yet completed a biometric screening. This has resulted in a nearly 75% increase in participation. Employees seem to be much more aware of the incentive requirements and participation is way up in our programs.

Compelling vision:

The biggest opportunity I see for worksite wellness is the growth that the industry is going to experience. Most companies are either currently offering or thinking about offering a worksite wellness program on some level. With the Affordable Care Act, employers are able to provide even greater incentives for participation. And, with the cost of healthcare continuing to go up, worksite wellness will be at the top of everyone’s minds.

I will continue to push for more verified wellness programs, especially as our wellness incentives increase. Our goal is to reduce health risks and ultimately save money on healthcare claims and we can only do that when we hold participants accountable for their own health.