Professional Development

Krisann has a B.S. in Exercise Physiology from Illinois State University

Accomplishments include:

Back Health Specialist (through ARC)

CPR/First Aid Instructor

Motivational Interviewer

Health Coach

Six Sigma Green Belt

Outstanding Alumni Award

ISU Advisory Board Member

EHBC speaker 2014

Krisann considers advising ISU students as the most valuable contribution and opportunity to make a difference within the industry.

Krisann has always considered her own health and wellness to be very important.  She has been an athlete her entire life knew she was meant to assist companies and individuals live healthier, happier lives.

DEMONSTRATED SUCCESS

Krisann has worked with one organization during since they first implemented wellness. The goal was to achieve 65% participation by the third year.  This organization has over 400 locations throughout the country which posed a unique challenge.

Krisann worked with the client to increase the amount and type of communications offered to support their wellness initiatives.  Most important, was including supporting messages directly from the company’s CEO and leadership team.

Equally important was gaining local leadership at each location.  This is still a work in progress, but we have been able to document “leaders in action” at many sites.  Leaders showing their support by participating in local screenings and other health related programs.  These leaders have been supporting changes within their sites such as healthy vending, healthy gardens and health and safety days that allow employees to participate in health related activities throughout the day.

Knowing they couldn’t do this alone, Krisann worked to build a Wellness Champion network to ensure the wellness program was supported and promoted at the local level.  After the first year, Krisann successfully put in place close to 200 Wellness Champions throughout their locations.  Over the past 3 years, Krisann has worked closely with the champions to introduce them to the program, provide resources and support and have some fun along the way.  Champions are informed about the wellness goals, the incentive program and are provided a bit of motivation with rewards for their efforts.  Locations that have Wellness Champions are able to implement programs, help increase participation and support wellness related policies and initiatives.

The champions implemented close to 500 local programs such as lunch n’ learns, walk/runs and onsite exercise classes in one year.  These same locations also had 10% higher health screening and Health Assessment participation.

Krisann works with the client to bring the champions together each year for a Wellness Champion conference.  During this conference we celebrate success, gather feedback and provide champions with practical engagement ideas to bring back to their location.

After the first two years, Krisann identified locations with low participation and provide a very personalized approach to assist the locations in overcoming their current barriers.  This included additional outreach, personalized toolkits and face to face visits to help champions overcome participation barriers.  This personalized approach proved to be just what was needed and those sites were able to improve their year three participation by an average of 25%.

Krisann worked with the client to implement a cultural/environmental survey to each location in year 1 and then again in year 3.  The initial results allowed the client to understand current gaps and implement effective strategies to improve the environment by implementing policies, healthy vending initiatives and offered specific programs to educate the population.  The improvements included:

71% improvement in the number of tobacco-free campuses

9% improvement in the number of locations that offer healthy food at meetings

30% improvement in the number of locations with healthy vending options

66% screening participation

62% health assessment participation

LEADERSHIP

Krisann is an active participant in local community and client sponsored physical activity events, participating in local runs and raising money for local and national charities such as St. Jude.

Krisann has also coached girls basketball helping to teach young girls the importance of working together as a team and learning the importance of staying active.

Krisann has served for multiple years on the ISU advisory board helping to improve the curriculum as well as meeting to advice students that are interested in the health and wellness industry.

Krisann also received an outstanding alumni award for her work in the field.

Within StayWell, Krisann supervises a team of 13 wellness professionals and has also served as a communication workgroup leader.  She has also overseen development of StayWell’s best in class culture assessment and spoken at two national conferences over the last two years.

She has developed many programs and resources that are currently being used throughout the practice.

INNOVATION

Krisann worked to develop an engaged Wellness Champion network for one of her clients and worked to place 200 champions within the first year.  Krisann has assisted champions in making changes to their vending options, tobacco policies, and healthy food options.  There were many changes throughout the facilities including the addition of local gardens, walking paths, and implementation of local programs.

Krisann lead the development of an onsite health coaching program for Caterpillar.  She developed specific processes, training, and quality control procedures.  Within the first year, the program had a higher level of risk change then the telephonic program.

Krisann provided oversight on a best in practice culture of health assessment.  This tool will allow clients to understand the gaps and opportunities to improve their environment wellness culture.  The tool will also allow companies to compare themselves to our BOB and reassess on an annual basis to track progress.

COMPELLING VISION

Healthcare Reform may affect the way that employers implement their wellness programs.  Along with this challenge, lawsuits may continue to surface and discourage employers from offering incentives to encourage employees to participate.

Another challenge will be to continue to show solid results and prove our worth, but is a challenge that most of us in the industry welcome.  The industry has grown tremendously over the past 20 years and many companies/employers have implemented some type of program.  We will need to continue to prove our worth and demonstrate ROI.

My plan over the next 5 years is to continue to offer clients innovative services and creative strategies to help them “movethe needle” and meet their goals.  This is no easy task and will require continued education, training, and understanding the latest research.  I also would like to become even more involved within my community to offer my time and help my neighbors become a healthier and happier community.  I enjoy teaching children about the importance of staying active and eating healthy.