Thursday, June 19, 2008

More Ideas from State Employee Wellness Initiatives

Soaring health care costs and alarming health statistics have many states implementing health and prevention programs for their employees and citizens. Last week I mentioned the initiatives for North Carolina and Arkansas. Here are some additional summer programs in the works:

American Hiking from Michigan will commemorate National Trails Day. The slogan for National Trails Day 2008, 'Join Us on the Trail', "is an open invitation to all Americans to join-up with a local hiking club, outdoor retailer, local park and recreation department, or federal land managing agency to get outside and experience everything the great outdoors has to offer". www.americanhiking.org/events/ntd/ http://www.michigandnr.com/parksandtrails.

Kentucky has an initiative that focuses on healthier lifestyles and is called "Get Healthy Kentucky" http://gethealthy.ky.gov/org/worksite/simplestarts.htmGeneral ideas for the program include:

  1. Bulletin Boards - Including topics such as: Summer Sun Safety, Men’s/Women’s Health, Food Safety, Food Guidance System, Sugar Content of Foods, Fiber, Whole Grains, etc
  2. Health Promotion Emails - distribute company-wide health emails to all staff. Examples may include promoting special events such as Bike + Walk to Work Day, National Trails Day, National Farmers’ Market Week, National 5 A Day
  3. Paycheck Message Insert - Post quick and simple ‘health tip’ messages inside employee paychecks. This is especially cost efficient if reaching a large number of employees at once
  4. Social Support - promote health related discussions, weight loss tips and communication being exchanged on a daily basis.

    More states and their initiatives to come next week

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