Encouraging employee wellness in the Madison Region
WHAT: Worksite Wellness Week, hosted by the Madison Region Healthcare Leadership Collaborative in partnership with Thrive, is a local awareness week designed to celebrate our region’s dedication to employee wellness programs. During this week, businesses from an array of industries are offering health-related activities to employees and attending worksite wellness training sessions.
WHEN: May 15-21, 2011
Worksite Wellness Week coincides with National Employee Health and Fitness Month in May 2011.
WHY: The worksite has become an ideal setting for health promotion, due to rising healthcare costs, the increasing incidence of preventable health conditions, and the fact that the average adult spends 8-12 hours a day at work. Employers across the region are engaging in worksite wellness with positive results in employee health, reduced absenteeism, and increased productivity, engagement, and retention.
Madison Region healthcare leaders envision healthier workplaces as a regional competitive advantage. Members of the Healthcare Leadership Collaborative share their employee wellness program success stories at thrivehere.org/wellness-resources.
EVENT DETAILS:
Madison Region businesses are planning a variety of health-related activities for employees during Worksite Wellness Week. Examples include:
* UW Health is providing activities such as relaxation classes, a walk-with-a-colleague promotion, and a wellness blog open to employee submissions.
* Webcrafters is hosting a free salad bar for employees and encouraging employees to wear tennis shoes at work and walk during the day.
* Dean Health Plan is using Worksite Wellness Week to kick off its Summer of Wellness program. Kick-off week events include a free healthy breakfast, daily wellness walks, and a healthy grilling demonstration.
* Capital Newspapers will host a different wellness focus each day of the work week in their Madison, Portage, and Beaver Dam locations. Activities include More Veggies Monday; Take a Walk Tuesday; Water, water, water Wednesday; Time for Breakfast Thursday; and Free from Soda Friday.
* Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin and Scott® are sponsoring the Get Up & Ride WI Bike Challenge, a free event encouraging workplaces to track employee biking miles. The challenge kicks off during Worksite Wellness Week on May 16.
* Thrive is holding Wellness Walk Wednesday (a 3k employee walk ending at a farmer’s market) and First-Thing Fruits (a selection of fresh fruit available each morning).
The Healthcare Leadership Collaborative and Thrive offer the following worksite wellness training sessions in association with Worksite Wellness Week:
Well Workplace University
Hosted by the Wellness Council of Wisconsin
Thursday, May 19, 2011, 8:30am-3:30pm, Overture Center for the Arts, 201 State St, Madison
Register by May 12 at thrivehere.org/wellness
This event covers the seven critical benchmarks of results-oriented worksite wellness programs, providing training according to the Wellness Council of Wisconsin’s program titled Well Workplace University (Level I): Building A Results-Oriented Workplace Wellness Program Using the Wellness Council of America’s Seven Benchmarks.
Wisconsin Worksite Wellness Resource Kit Training
Presented by Jon Morgan, WI Department of Health Services; Hosted by Fort HealthCare Business Health
Wednesday, June 8, 2011, 3-5pm, Fort HealthCare, 611 Sherman Ave East, Fort Atkinson
Register by June 7 at thrivehere.org/wellness
The Wisconsin Worksite Wellness Resource Kit is a free resource for businesses seeking to start or improve a wellness program. Learn from Kit author and national speaker Jon Morgan about using this tool to achieve organizational wellness goals. Open to all interested businesses and organizations at no charge.
Media interested in covering or attending Worksite Wellness Week events should contact Betsy Lundgren (blundgren@thrivehere.org or 608.443.1961).
Additional Worksite Wellness Week activities planned by businesses are posted at thrivehere.org/wellness.
Businesses may also share their Worksite Wellness Week activities at that site.
ABOUT THE MADISON REGION HEALTHCARE LEADERSHIP COLLABORATIVE:
Since 2007, Thrive has convened healthcare industry executives as part of the Healthcare Leadership Collaborative (HLC), a CEO roundtable exploring opportunities to advance the region’s healthcare sector. Over the past few years, HLC members have adopted the challenge of leading by example in the area of worksite wellness programs.
HLC members include: Beaver Dam Community Hospital, Black River Memorial Hospital, Columbus Community Hospital, Dean Health Plan, Dean Clinic, Divine Savior Healthcare, Edgerton Hospital, Fort HealthCare, Grant Regional Health Center, Group Health Cooperative of South Central WI, Home Health United, Hospice Care, Mercy Health System/MercyCare Health Plans, Meriter Health Services, Physicians Plus Insurance Corporation, Reedsburg Area Medical Center, Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative, St. Clare Hospital and Health Services, St. Mary’s Dean Ventures, St. Mary’s Hospital, St. Mary’s Janesville Hospital, The Alliance, The Monroe Clinic, Unity Health Plan, Upland Hills Health, UW Health Partners Watertown Regional Medical Center, UW Hospitals & Clinics/UW Health, and UW Medical Foundation.
ABOUT THRIVE:
Thrive is the economic development partnership for the eight-county Madison Region, established to grow the region’s economy in ways that preserve and enhance quality of life. We create value with initiatives that focus on long-term, sustained results, aimed at building the region’s competitive advantage. The Madison Region includes the counties of Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, Jefferson, Rock, and Sauk.
