Presentation from the March 4, 2011 meeting of the Worksite Wellness Council of Massachusetts.

1. A Healthier Mass Initiative
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2. Welcome &
Introductions
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3. Agenda
• Mass in Motion
• Working on Wellness Initiative
• Question & Answer
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4. Mass in Motion
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5. Mass in Motion
A statewide obesity prevention and Wellness
Initiative designed to
• decrease the number and percentage of
both adults and children who are overweight and
Obese in Massachusetts
and
• decrease the prevalence of chronic disease
associated with a specific focus on addressing
unhealthy eating and lack of physical activity
A HealthyMass Initiative

6. Mass in Motion Objectives
• Make the promotion of wellness and the
prevention of overweight and obesity a top public
health priority
• Create conditions that encourage, nurture, and
promote wellness
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7. Mass in Mo(on
• Call to Action
• Burden documents
• Statewide Regulations
– Calorie Posting
– BMI in Schools
– 60 minutes of PA in childcare sites
• Executive Order 509: Healthy Food
Procurement
• Supporting legislation
• Statewide Communications Campaign
• Social Media Outlets
• Expansion of Worksite Wellness Initiative
• Municipal Wellness & Leadership Grants
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8. Working on Wellness
Initiative
A wellness initiative for employers
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9. Why Focus on Employers?
• The impact of worksite wellness programs on adults and their
families can be significant considering 66% of adults, or
3,122,010 people, are in the Massachusetts workforce.
• Currently about 7.34 % of the Massachusetts workforce is 65
years or older. The rising cost of healthcare coupled with an
aging workforce places an additional burden on the employer
community.
• The number of overweight teens is increasing and ultimately this
population will enter the workforce with chronic conditions. The
combination of obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and
stroke places a burden of ill health and lost productivity on
employers.
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10. Mission & Vision
• Vision: All worksites in Massachusetts
will provide social, cultural and physical
environments that support optimum employee
health and well-being
• Mission: To promote worksite wellness
through information, training, regulation and
technical assistance
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11. Goals
• Short-term
– Build an infrastructure that is sustainable and expandable
– Initiate a program that begins to make our employees, their
families and their communities healthier
• Intermediate
– Promote healthier worksites – positive investments for
employees/employers
– Consistent, positive and measurable impact on HR issues
such as absenteeism, productivity, recruitment, retention
• Long-term
– Improve the overall health status of our employees
– Establish healthier communities, health systems,
improvement population health (employers, communities)
– Reduce costs
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12. DPH Assistance
DPH will work with selected sites to:
• Obtain a mandate from leadership for worksite wellness
• Designate a Wellness Champion and convene a wellness team
representing all levels of the organization;
• Conduct a baseline assessment
• Plan wellness program (review data, participate in training,
select interventions)
• Implement components of wellness program
• Re-assess status of employees, environment, impact (6 months,
12 months)
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13. DPH Role
• Provide leadership and oversight
• Provide technical assistance and training to sites
• Provide conference calls with faculty experts to participating
sites
• Promote participation in the Working on Wellness model
• Conduct assessment data (baseline, 6, 12 months)
• Identify program sustainability and expansion opportunities
• Promote the process and outcomes of the initiative
• Program to local, state and national forums and the media
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14. Program Development Cycle
Obtain Mandate for
Wellness Initiative
Implement Compose
Plan Wellness Team
Research &
Plan Discovery/
Approval Identify Needs
Plan Formulate
Development Goals
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15. Expected Outcomes
Ideally, employers participating in the initiative
will achieve successful results in one or more of
the following areas at the end of one year:
• Changes in policy, systems or physical
environment
• Changes in employee behaviors and/or
satisfaction with wellness program
• Other long-term measures for success
(costs, absenteeism, etc.)
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16. Training Program
• Program initiation (complete steps 1-3)
• Training Workshop (complete steps 4-6)
• 6 Month Outcomes meeting (review steps
1-7)
• Monthly teleconferences (content, shared
learning)
• Final Outcomes meeting (results, plan for
sustainability, ongoing communication and
technical assistance)
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17. Employer Groups
• Phase I: Began in June 2008
• Phase II: Began in January 2009
• Phase III: Began in March 2010
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18. Participating Employer Groups
• 28 Employers (~30,000 employees)
– 9 State agencies
– 2 Public businesses
– 14 Private businesses
– 3 Municipality partnerships
• * 2 employers did drop out of the initiative during the
year because of a corporate reorganization and
downsizing due to reductions in budget and staff
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19. Employee Population
Business Size Working on Massachusetts
(number of Wellness Sites Worksites with
employees) 10 or more
employees
11-24 0 (0%) 29%
25-49 4 (14%) 21%
50-99 3 (11%) 7%
100-249 7 (25%) 5%
250-499 5 (18%) 1%
500-999 5 (18%) <1%
1000+ 4 (14%) <1%
Unknown 37%
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20. Massachusetts Health Risks
Risk Factor * Massachusetts
Obese 18%
Living with Asthma 9%
High blood pressure 24%
High cholesterol 33%
Diabetes 6%
Smoking 19%
Physical inactivity 45%
Low consumption of fruits and 71%
vegetables
• Adults 18 and older
• Source: MA BRFSS 2000-2006
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21. Top Health Risks
Identified by Employees
• High Cholesterol
• Overweight/Obesity
• High Blood Pressure
• Smoking
• Mental Health
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22. Top Interests Identified
by Employees
• Weight loss/weight management
• Physical activity/exercise classes
• Stress management
• Back care
• Financial wellness
• Health screenings
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23. Examples of Implemented Policies
• Written healthy vending machine policy
• Healthy food for meetings and catered events policy
• Incentives/rewards for healthy habits
• Flexible work arrangements
• Policy allowing staff to participate in wellness
activities on work time
• Stay home when sick policy
• Incentives for participating in smoking cessation
programs
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24. Examples of Implemented
Environmental Changes
• Improvements to the stairs
• On-site exercise classes
• Healthy snacks in vending machines
• On-site exercise facility
• On-site smoking cessation classes
• On-site walking paths with mile markers
• Point of purchase nutrition information in the cafeteria, at
company meetings, and in vending machine
• Improved showers/locker room areas
• On-site healthy food options
• Free nicotine replacement therapy for staff
• Implemented emergency response plan with AED s on each
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25. Programmatic Highlights
• Monthly educational seminars and lunch and learn
events
• Running, walking and Walk and Wheel clubs
• Monthly wellness newsletters
• On-site massage therapy
• On-site exercise programs (yoga, strength training,
dance classes, Zumba, Qi Gong,)
• Weight Watchers at Work® programs
• Monthly blood pressure clinics
• On-site smoking cessation classes
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26. Programmatic Highlights Continued
• On-site CPR/AED training and certification
• Ask the Registered Dietitian Blog
• Take the stairs campaign
• On-site health screenings
• Pedometer challenges, exercise competitions, and
biggest loser competitions
• Healthy pot luck events
• Links to community resources that provide health
services
• Nutrition and exercise e-mails to all staff
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27. Planned Next Steps
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28. Planned Next Steps
• Phase IV - April 2011
• Target employers from priority Mass in Motion
municipal wellness and community grants
• Begin to form workplace collaborative in
priority communities
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29. Questions
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30. Contact Information
Lisa Erck
Consultant- Working on Wellness Initiative
Lisa.Erck@state.ma.us
Maria Bettencourt
Wellness Director- Prevention & Wellness Division
Maria.Bettencourt@state.ma.us
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31. Thank you!
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