State of Wellenss: Healthy Iowa Worksites

Overview• Iowans Fit for Life• Healthy Iowa Worksites toolkit & other worksite-specific efforts in place• Worksite wellness in schools• Healthy Iowa Awards

Iowans Fit for Life• Iowans Fit for Life is a joint statewide initiative between the Iowa Department of Public Health and its partners that promotes increased opportunities for physical activity and healthy eating for Iowans of all ages.• Iowans Fit for Life’s primary focus is to create policy and environmental changes that will improve the health of places where Americans live, work, learn, and play.• Iowans Fit For Life is funded through the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Obesity (DNPAO) .• Iowa is one of 25 funded states.

www.eatplay521.com Online pediatric obesity prevention toolkit for health professionals & their patients.• Provider tools: free online continuing education module on motivational interviewing, decision support tree, readiness ruler, open-ended questions guide, brochures on NPA for patients and a health contract.• Community Resources: information on connecting patients to community resources available related to NPA, including “find a dietitian.”• Link for patients and families to get tips on healthy cooking, picky eaters, family meals and no cost physical activity ideas.

Nutrition Environment Measures Survey-Vending (NEMS-V) www.nems-v.com  Developed to assess workplace vending machines  Based on the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) nutrition standards for schools  Intended to have an easy to use coding system: red, yellow and green  NEMS-V Tools Tutorial: 15 minute online demonstration on how to complete a NEMS-V assessment  NEMS-V Healthy Choices Calculator Tutorial: 5 minute online demonstration on how to use the Healthy Choices Calculator to determine red, yellow and green food/beverage choices  Individual Machine Graphic: Tracks the number and products to record for each machine.  Food & Beverage Recording Sheet

NEMS-V Features: Report Card and Awards www.nems-v.com Provides an award certificate for each machine and the location Bronze award - if at least 30% of the food or beverage choice are yellow or green; Silver award if at least 40% are yellow or green; Gold award if at least 50% are yellow or green and without unhealthy advertisingProvides a checklist of action steps for making healthierchoices available in vending machines

Walking with a PurposeA tool created to assist communities asthey assess walkability. The tool wasdeveloped specifically to help schoolsand children identify ways that theirroute to school could be morewalkable. The tool gives ideas onwhere to complete the assessment,community members to invite to theassessment, a walkability checklist,discussion questions, what to do afterthe walk, potential class projects toconsider, and resources.In the spring of 2010, 15 communitywellness grantees and BASICScontractors utilized the Iowans Fit forLife Walking with a Purpose walkabilityassessment tool. Read their successstories on the Iowans Fit for Life Website!

Low-Cost Ways to Make Your Community HealthierDeveloped by the CommunityWorkgroup of the Iowans Fit for Lifepartnership, this document is acommunity’s quick and easy referencefor easy and cost-effective things thatcan be done to improve the health ofits residents. Ideas are categorized as:• Extremely Easy• Will get by with a little help fromyour friends• May require an organizationalapproach

Community Asset MappingNutrition and Physical Activity AssetMapping can be used to helpcommunity coalitions identifystrengths and areas for improvementfor nutrition and physical activity.An Asset Mapping Guide , a PhysicalActivity Mapping Guide, and aNutrition Mapping Guide are availablefor download on our Web site.

What’s Going on with Worksite Wellness in Iowa?• Small Business Qualified Wellness Program Tax Credit Plan• Iowa Healthy Communities Initiatives Grants – several projects have a worksite focus• Key Partners with a similar focus – Wellness Council of Iowa, Healthier Workforce Center for Excellence (funded by NIOSH), Live Healthy Iowa, Iowans for Wellness & Prevention, insurance providers, and many more…

Why Focus on Worksites?• Adult overweight/obesity rate in Iowa is 67.2%• Childhood obesity rate is 11.2%• Working Iowans spend more than 40 hours/week on work & work-related tasks• Health care costs are increasing at an average rate of 13.0% across all employers• More than 91,000 small businesses in Iowa – many do not have employee wellness programs

Healthy Iowa Worksites Toolkit• Provides practical, user-friendly, and in many cases, FREE ideas and resources for you to use when starting or enhancing an employee wellness program.

What’s in the Toolkit?• Foreword submitted by former IDPH Director, Tom Newton• Why Worksite Wellness?• Gaining Support• Forming a Wellness Team• Assessing Needs and Interests• Develop an Annual Work Plan• Program Planning• Marketing Your Program• Implementing Your Program• Evaluating Your Program• Appendices – disease-specific information and samples

The Future of the Toolkit• Toolkit pilots currently being conducted• Making minor revisions• Gathering interested partners/stakeholders for a workshop or something similar next spring• Train-the trainer workshops?

Why Focus on Schools?

Why Focus on Schools?• According to a survey done in 2010, nearly 2/3 of Iowa schools have no staff wellness program.• Students benefit! Teachers & staff are more energetic and absent less often.• Teachers are better equipped to handle stress, which is a top health concern.• A healthy staff does a better job of teaching & creates a better working & learning environment.

Making Worksite Wellness Work at Your School

What is working?• Flu shots and cholesterol screenings• Access to weight room• Stress management education• Individual building activities• Healthier food in the staff lounge• Wellness fairs• Lunchtime or in-service workshops on wellness related topics• Educational e-mails about nutrition/fitness December 9th, 2010 Webinar: Taking School Wellness to the Next Level

Healthy Iowa Awards• Started in 2009 and honor the healthiest schools, organizations and individuals in Iowa. – Healthy Iowa Community – Healthy Iowa College – Healthy Iowa K-12 School – Healthy Iowa Visionary Leader or Emerging Leader

Questions?Amy Liechti, CHESWorksite Wellness CoordinatorIowans Fit for LifeIowa Department of Public Healthamy.liechti@idph.iowa.gov515-281-3623 http://www.idph.state.ia.us/iowansfitforlife/default.asp

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State of Wellenss: Healthy Iowa Worksites

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