• Education: BA/MA from Purdue University; Study Abroad, University of Madrid.
• Certifications: WelCOA certifications—four currently, six by YE 2014; PHR; NASM.
• Awards: Peak Performance awards from Kaiser Permanente; annual pay-for-performance awards; department recognition for work with specific employers, including public and private entities, small and large.
• Why Wellness: Brainwashed by my mother to believe that poor nutrition is responsible for most disease.
• Most Valuable: My master’s degree. I only have on-the-job training in terms of my wellness background, but needed a master’s degree to even apply for my current position as a wellness consultant.

Demonstrated Success

Most successful intervention: My biggest success to date is with an employer who had a smoking rate of 29%* as recently as 2010.  When we (Kaiser) first suggested that their premium rates might improve if they targeted their employee smoking rate, they seemed offended--perhaps due to the challenge given the industry (building supply) and corresponding employee demographic.  Eventually the HR Director began asking me for help targeting their smoking rate which is now at 19%*.  Some of our past, current, and future strategies to lower the smoking rate include:  1) annual onsite screenings with 1:1 exit counseling;  2) flyers with local and national tobacco cessation resources for each of their four locations in northern CA, with special emphasis during their annual onsite screenings; 3) a custom marketing plan with oversized graphs on tripods in the lobby of each site showing the progress already made and a call to action for those still using tobacco to ‘join their colleagues who are already quitters’; 4) consideration of an employee contribution differential for non-smokers or those who meet a reasonable alternative. Our goal is to be <12% by 2020, in line with the Healthy People 2020 target.

*Data comes from KP clinical reports of members who visited the doctor within a 12 month time-frame. Members are asked at every visit--no matter the reason for the visit--whether or not they use tobacco.  Even occasional users are counted as a ‘yes’.

Using the Seven Benchmarks: As a HealthWorks Consultant the most important thing I can do for employers is direct them to the best resources in the industry such as WelCOA, IBI, Health Enhancement Systems (my personal favorites), etc. I cannot possibly teach the 30-50 employers I work with each year everything they need to know to implement a successful program, so directing them to resources that can teach them everything they need to know is critical.  The employers I work with have little to no professional training in worksite wellness, nor do they even recognize the need for a professional to lead their wellness initiatives!  And honestly, even those with a so-called wellness professional on staff rarely recognize the importance of policy and environment over activity-based programming.  For these reasons and more, I always recommend that employers complete a third party assessment such as the WelCOA Well Workplace Checklist.  Very few groups take my advice, but 100% of those who do thank me for providing them with the ‘missing link’ in their wellness program.  One group that completed WelCOA’s assesment this year is the County of Solano based in Fairfield, California.  After completing the WWC they told me it was ‘the best recommendation I had ever given them’. In September 2014 the County of Solano received a $3.9 million federal grant for worksite and community wellness initiatives. Their partnership with Kaiser Permanente (on a Diabetes Prevention Pilot that the CDC is also following) was mentioned in their grant application.

Leadership

Walking the Talk: Like most people, I struggle daily to improve my eating and exercise habits. My focus is on portion control and moderation with regard to food, consistency and variety with regard to exercise.  My general belief is that it’s more important to get the good stuff in your body rather than trying to keep all the bad stuff out.

Achieving Leadership Status: My department is the first within Kaiser to ever create the position of internal consultant.  HealthWorks is a cutting edge, start-up division within a 65-year-old, conservative organization. Like most start-ups, we’ve had a high turnover rate. Out of ~30 HealthWorks Consultants nation-wide, I am second in seniority after 4.5 years.  I’m also one of very few who had prior experience at Kaiser Permanente.

My Advice to Others: Seek information from a variety of resources, because no single source can provide all the pieces of the puzzle.

Innovation

Improving results: Lunch n learns have notoriously low attendance. I tell my customers not to waste their time on them unless they’ve had good attendance in the past or they host the class during a mandatory staff meeting.  For the County of Solano this advice increased their attendance from the single digits/teens, to 75, 100, and even 400+ in one instance!

Innovative solutions: At KP we’re encouraged to introduce the HERO assessment to our customers.  Unfortunately, the HERO assessment has proven to be difficult and impractical for the majority of customers, so I went in search of an alternative. My search led me to WelCOA’s WWC.  In order to offer a choice between the two, I had to copy/paste each of the 100 questions from the online WWC because a paper version doesn’t exist. When given the choice, all of my customers have chosen the WWC.

The Future of Health Promotion

As more women have entered the workforce, the rate of heart disease among women has increased as well.  This is not to say that women should get out of the workplace!  Rather it is to show that WORKPLACE STRESS--not diet and exercise--is the leading cause of our poor health.  Although mental health is slowly gaining attention in our field, I see very few wellness professionals recognizing or addressing this issue in any practical way.  Coming to terms with this may be an even tougher culture shift than changing our diet and exercise habits, because so many Americans equate workplace stress, working overtime, sleeping only 5 hours a night, etc. with having a ‘strong work ethic’.  I see this issue as both the biggest threat and biggest opportunity in the health promotion industry over the next five years.