Grays Harbor Selected for Worksite Wellness Pilot

The HCP Steering Committee at its November meeting approved the Small Business Workplace Wellness plan developed by the University of Washington's Health Promotion Research Center. The Steering Committee membership voted unanimously to approve the plan and recommend it for full funding to the State Health Department.

The project will promote use of the American Cancer Society's HealthLinks to:

• Make it easy for employees to make healthy choices regarding: foods, smoking cessation, and physical activity,
• Work on changing the businesses' culture to popularize wellness activities, and
• Provide tools to increase the confidence of worksite staff developing such activities

The Steering Committee has been working with the UW and state health department staff over the past several months to refine the proposal to be part of the Washington State Dept. of Health's Community Transformation Grant activities. That grant is funded at $3.2 million per year and renewable annually for five years. The Worksite Wellness Proposal cost is $150,000 per year.

The approved plan calls for the American Cancer Society to:

1. deliver HealthLinks to worksites in one CTG HUB
2. develop and implement a train-the-trainer program and materials, which will expand HealthLinks' reach and sustainability, and
3. test the TOT model to see how effective it is in delivering HealthLinks.

The effort will begin in rural Grays Harbor by recruiting ten worksites. This concentrated approach will allow for some "quick wins," make it possible to use the already large ACS volunteer base in the area, and link up with the local health jurisdiction that has already worked with HealthLInks. The pilot will test the program's effectiveness at instituting and sustaining worksite wellness programs in small, rural businesses. After the initial period, HPRC will work with DOH to select additional CTG HUB sites for expansion of HealthLinks.

In other November action, the Steering Committee continued discussion of the healthy breakfast initiative. Support continues to surface, including increasing willingness by the state health department to provide technical assistance and program assessment if a proper 'lead partner' can be identified. A final iteration of the breakfast initiative will be the primary topic of the Steering Committee's final meeting in early January.

The Healthy Communities Partnership Steering Committee's role and activities will be largely assumed by several structures forming to implement the state's Community Transformation Grant. Those interested in learning more about that effort should contact Sue Grinnell.
Sue.Grinnell@DOH.WA.GOV

 

Small Business Wellness Help Anticipated

The HCP Steering Committee is on track to forward a detailed implementation plan to the State Department of Health for a Small Business Workplace Wellness Initiative by the middle of next month. A draft of the proposal, developed with researchers at the University of Washington's nationally recognized Health Promotion Research Center, was the main topic at the Committee's September 28 meeting at the Association of WA Business in Olympia.

The state plans action on the proposal as one part of it's recently received $3.2 million annual Community Transformation Grant (CTG) from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That grant is the first installment in a multi-year federal effort to promote policy and environmental changes that increase use of preventive services, reduce tobacco use, promote improved nutrition and increase physical activity, especially in communities suffering the greatest health disparities.

The Small Business Workplace Wellness Initiative reflects the latest evidence and best practices tested by the UW Center in recent years. It is being refined this month based on input from HCP the Steering Committee to maximize its chances of establishing lasting change in the employee benefits and workplace wellness policies of the small businesses that choose to participate.

The program, titled HealthyLinks, is designed to:

• Make it easy for employees to make healthy choices regarding: foods, smoking cessation, and physical activity
• Work on changing the businesses' culture in order to make it popular to be involved in wellness activities, and
• Provide tools to increase the confidence of worksite staff developing such activities

Data from an earlier six-month trial in 23 small businesses indicated employees of small, low-wage worksites (fewer than 35 employees) were at greater risk for health problems, in part because health screenings and prevention activities were limited or non-existent at such worksites. Among the techniques found to be most helpful in facilitating the adoption of wellness programs were providing "turn-key" programs and communication methods, and making regular supportive contact to foster worker-led initiatives.

The HealthyLinks proposal will increase the number of small businesses involved to 50 companies in counties selected for the program. The proposal addresses one of the major concerns of business owners regarding the lack of data about the effectiveness of wellness programs. The Health Promotion Research Center will share its extensive evidence of the results of similar programs with prospective participants and will evaluate this new effort.

Steering Committee Finds Consensus on Action Agenda
July 2011 Update

Partnership Co-Chairs Donna Steward and Allene Mares led the Healthy Communities Partnership Steering Committee to consensus on its first Action Agenda in July at the Association of Washington Business Headquarters in Olympia. Recognizing the many efforts already underway to promote healthier communities, the Steering Committee will focus on two areas where a broad cross section of groups wants to work together. Their goal is to strengthen individual efforts by helping to build stronger connections among leaders in all sectors who want to make healthy choices easier, particularly regarding healthy breakfasts and worksite wellness. The Steering Committee's broad based membership agreed the efforts should spread two messages: Healthy Kids Learn Better and Healthy People Live Better.

For students, parents, teachers, school boards and others, the Partnership's message is Healthy Kids Learn Better. The message is designed to keep 'top of mind' that student health is an indispensible ingredient for educational success. Additionally, it may be the best strategy to ensure education investments yield their greatest return, especially for less fortunate students.

For the rest of us wondering how to fit healthy living into our busy lives, the Steering Committee's message is: Healthy People Live Better. They do better at home, with their families, at work, in the community and for themselves.And that is good news for their employers, for their spouses, and for their children.

To move these messages into even broader collective action, The Steering Committee agreed to reach out in the coming months to business, health care, community and government partners to expand the movement already underway to start each day with a healthy breakfast. Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn, The WA State Dairy Council and the Children's Alliance will soon begin their Campaign to get more students eating a healthy breakfast, whether at home, at school or on their way. Steering Committee Partners will join them in spreading that message throughout the community. They invite you and your organization to join the effort.

The Steering Committee also agreed to promote its core messages through a renewed effort toward worksite wellness, particularly targeting smaller businesses. The goal is to increase the share of small businesses that engage in worksite wellness activities as a result of a new 'Washington Small Business Wellness Campaign". The effort will involve building a comprehensive, user friendly listing of free and low cost community wellness resources as well as a 'hands on coach' to help busy small businesses set up effective programs at no or low cost.

The Steering Committee was encouraged to learn that support for these efforts may already be on the way. The State Health Department's recent Community Transformation Grant Application to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes some funding to help support both efforts. But broader and deeper partnerships will be needed. So now is the time for your organization to pitch in. We will be reaching out to you through this forum and in other ways in the coming weeks and months. But please don't wait. Contact us now if you know how you or your organization can help. It is as easy as sending us an email.

 

June 2011 Update

The Healthy Communities Partnership (HCP) Steering Committee adopted a unifying message at its June meeting to promote change that makes healthy choices easier: Healthy Kids Learn Better; Healthy People Live Better. To carry that message forward the Partnership will
 

1. build upon current efforts to promote healthy breakfasts at home, in the community, at work, at schools and in early learning centers,
2. help promote worksite wellness activities in small businesses, and
3. support efforts to improve systems that make healthy foods more accessible.

Many of us are already changing the way we start our day by having a healthy breakfast. But it isn't always easy. The HCP goal is to make it easier for every kid and for every adult to 'Fuel Up' with a healthy breakfast. In July our Steering Committee will meet to consider the best options for building on the existing OSPI, Dairy Council, Children's Alliance Partnership to promote breakfast for kids and at school. We want to engage community businesses, other groups and you to help spread the word and the tools so healthy breakfasts can be part of all adults' and all children's morning routines.

The Partnership will also focus on the workplace, developing a 'Washington Small Business Wellness Campaign" to bring the evidence of cost savings to small employers, connect them with free and low cost wellness activities and help them track results for productivity, health care cost savings and improved employee morale. As part of the effort, the Campaign hopes to build a comprehensive, user friendly listing of free and low cost community wellness resources. We want to make it easy for small business to invest in their most valuable resources, employees.

In addition the Partnership will support efforts by its members to convene representatives of grocery stores, food banks, farmer's markets, small food outlets, schools, food distribution companies and community transportation providers to examine current food distribution, storage, marketing, and sales systems and to implement practices for better access to fresh foods and vegetables through food banks, super markets, corner markets, other small retail outlets, farmer's markets, and school meal programs.

There is plenty each of us can do as parents, businesses, government entities and community groups to improve the health of our communities. The Healthy Communities Partnership has focused on areas we can work together, connecting leaders who want to help make healthy choices easy. Our next step is to engage you in helping to make healthy breakfasts, worksite wellness and access to healthier foods easier for everyone. We will be reaching out to groups who we know are interested in these activities in the coming months. But please don't wait to hear from us. Call, email or write us today.

You can see a draft of the Steering Committee's Action Agenda on our web pages by viewing our June meeting materials here

To contact us or if you would like to hear from us at an upcoming meeting of your organization please contact dons@chef.org.

 

May 2011 Update

The Healthy Communities Partnership Steering Committee moved closer last week to adopting a unifying message to promote change that makes healthy choices easier: Healthy Kids Learn Better; Healthy People Live Better. At its June meeting the Partnership will consider a few strategies to carry that message forward including helping to advance the effort for healthy breakfasts at home, in the community, at work, at schools and in early learning centers.

In the workplace, the Steering Committee is eyeing a plan to promote the proven financial value and the wide range of options for smaller businesses to engage in worksite wellness activities.

As the Steering Committee learns of more and more initiatives across our state to promote healthy communities, it is contemplating a process by which to support those with the most promise for moving us forward together.

You can see an initial draft of the Steering Committee's Policy Agenda on our web pages by viewing our May meeting materials here

We invite you to check it out as well as the other materials on our webpages and to send along your comments and your suggestions. As the Steering Committee settles on its policy agenda in the coming weeks, we will be reaching out to the broader community to be sure we hear your comments and concerns. If you would like to hear from us at an upcoming meeting of your organization please contact us at dons@chef.org.

 

March 2011 Update

Partnership Steering Committee members who attended the Seattle City Club's luncheon discussion on Employer and Employee Partnerships for Wellness learned that good health is also smart business.  Speakers Jennifer McMasters, Director of Human Resources at Sonosite; Marcia Ridley, SPHR, Director of Health and Productivity at Premera Blue Cross; and Victor J. Strecher, Ph.D., Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health shared the latest information on the strategies, tactics and impressive results of well run employee wellness programs at some top area businesses.  They reported that some studies show a 3 to 1 return on each dollar invested in wellness programs, coming largely as productivity increases.  The panel was moderated by Jim Anderson, Senior Vice President and Sales Executive at Kibble & Prentice.

The March 16 session addressed the role of wellnes programs in moderating employer health care costs, the benefits of wellness programs for individuals and society, and the proper role for employers in helping employees care for themselves.  The speakers offered advice on how employers can partner with their employees to encourage healthy lifestyles, and on how insurance companies and health care delivery systems can be most productivily involved.

Victor J Strecher, Ph.D., noted that today, people are living longer than ever before. "As we're getting older, we're also getting more expensive."  Health issues like diabetes, stress and insomnia all affect our personal lives, but they also affect on the job productivity. For older workers, especially, comprehensive wellness programs can control health care-related costs.

A comprehensive wellness program involves a population-based approach, targets health risks, offers choices, involves both employees and the worksite environment; and provides periodic evaluation of results.  A comprehensive program emphasizes both individual assessment and follow-up, providing support for the employee as long as he/she is employed.  

Near the session's end, Healthy Communities Partnership Co-chair and Assistant Secretary of the State Department of Health Allene Mares invited the experts to add their specific suggestions to those worksite wellness promotion ideas under consideration now by the Partnership Steering Committee for inclusion in their first consensus agenda to promote healthy communities in Washington state.

You can hear the audio version of the session at:  http://www.seattlecityclub.org/pastevents

In the 60 years since the first cancer studies, U.S. adult smoking rates dropped from a high of 50% (reached 13 years after the first studies) to about 20%. The Healthy Communities Partnership Steering Committee (SC) hosted a webinar on February 23rd to examine that change, and to glean lessons for their developing consensus agenda for healthy communities.

Based on slides from Dr. Kenneth Warner, Ph. D, and Dean of the University Of Michigan School Of Public Health, Don Sloma, Partnership Coordinator, gave the first presentation. He highlighted health education as a critical early step that first changed those with more years of formal education. Later, counter-advertising,clean indoor air laws, ever more explicit warning labels and taxation proved most effective. Broad based tobacco control campaigns of recent years may be most effective, creating synergies narrowly focused efforts do not. Dr. Warner's 'lessons' say change 'trickled down' through SES groups, still excluding some who are chronically ill or socially disenfrancised. Mr. Sloma noted this change occurred largely in 'pre-internet' times. He suggested recent world experience may show social change is now more sensitive to media and perhaps more rapid and/or less socially linear. SC member Anthony Anton, WA Restaurant Assoc. agreed, noting the rapidity with which transfats were removed; in his view, because mass media health education resulted in reformed consumer demand.

Terry Reid, Director of the Chronic Disease Prevention Unit at the WA State Department of Health, introduced the second presentation, "The Master Tobacco Settlement and WA State Comprehensive Tobacco Control Plan." Mr. Reid stated the primary lesson learned was that price, policy, and program all worked together to reduce tobacco use. He agreed with Dr. Warner's observations that taxation proved the most effective single strategy, but noted that WA's program had virtually every other effective strategy in place, sustaining a 'social norm' against tobacco use that has produced an adult smoking rate of 14.9%, among the lowest three in the nation. He concurred that further efforts are required to bring the mentally ill, the addicted and some minority groups inside that norm.

SC Co-Chair Allene Mares, State Department of Health, concluded that the challenges were well-aligned between tobacco control and promotion of healthy habits generally. She stated that based on these lessons, now is the time to see if there are ways in the current environment for this Partnership to tackle other chronic disease prevention social changes more rapidly than was the case with tobacco. SC member Becky Skaggs, Haggen Foods, suggested exploring other social change successes in Washington state such as sustainability and recycling, to learn from them as well.

Steering Committee members agreed to form themselves into three "disappearing task forces" to develop ideas for the entire SC to consider workplace wellness, school age health issues, and improving access to more nutritious food.

SC members agreed to use their March meeting to co-present and attend the Seattle City Club event "Employee & Employer Partnerships for Wellness" on Wednesday, March 16. The subject will be, "How can employers partner with their employees to encourage healthy lifestyles? How are insurance companies and health care delivery systems involved?" Click here to learn more or to register for the lunch & conversation at Town Hall on City Club's website. The luncheon is open to the public.

 

The Healthy Communities Partnership Steering Committee kicked off its January 21 meeting at the Association of Washington Business offices in Olympia by unanimously approving an operating charter that codifies its leadership role in building a broad, voluntary coalition to promote healthier community practices in our state, especially regarding tobacco use, nutrition and physical activity. The group then began immediately to lay the groundwork for a consensus path forward. Each member shared the assets, experience, passion and perspectives they bring to the Partnership. The group learned for example, that one of its members --- the WA Restaurant Association --- represents thousands of small businesses, including many 'micro businesses' that taken together, employ among the highest number of state residents, and that they want to be pro- active in improving nutrition. A representative from Haggen Foods pointed out their organization's importance as a major food distributor, priding itself on healthful products. The group's YMCA representative pointed out their member organizations' widely respected leadership in promoting physical activity in communities all across our state. The representative from the Superintendent of Public Instruction's Office reminded members their constituent organizations have access to our state's one million school children on a daily basis. The state Health Department member noted several state agency representatives' active participation as evidence of the public sector's commitment not only to promoting community health, but also to building partnerships with a broad cross section of private sector groups to do it. Others revealed that they provide communities with significant aids for teaching, studying, learning about and practicing healthy living.

Members shared their desire to increase their individual organizations' impacts by cooperating in efforts to promote healthier community environments. Recognizing the challenge in changing community wide behavior with limited resources, the group agreed on the need to come together on sustainable solutions, and to work together for their implementation. Toward that end, the group asked to learn more about the factors that combined to produce state and national successes in reducing tobacco use. They agreed also to identify activities they could all support to promote employee health through worksite wellness, with special emphasis on workable solutions for small businesses; and to act as a convener of public/private partnerships to promote coordinated approaches to health in schools.

As the meeting ended, members were warming to cross system/cross sector/ cross-cultural approaches, but focusing on a single unifying message and/or campaign.

For more information on the Partnership or to learn about opportunities for your participation, please contact Don Sloma at dons@chef.org. Background information on the Partnership, Steering Committee members, our blog and other information are available at www.chef.org Click 'Healthy Communities Partnership'.

Public health officials kicked off last week's meeting by sharing the most recent recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control for preventing chronic diseases in communities. The subsequent discussion about CDC's 'MAPPS' strategies that target tobacco use, nutrition, and physical activity where people live, work, study and play led to agreement that successful efforts should make healthy choices the easy choices. The Partnership Steering Committee also considered a draft charter and heard from employees of Peninsula Credit Union on their workplace wellness program.

Partnership Steering Committee members considered several issues for their initial focus. One was worksite wellness and finding ways to make wellness programs easier for employers to implement and for employees to use. Other recommendations included more routine exercise and improved nutrition for school-aged children before and after the school day, public purchasing for food served to state institutional populations, and developing a voice in federal policy debates about improving community health.

For more information on the Partnership contact Don Sloma at dons@chef.org. Background information and links to relevant articles and studies can be found at http://healthycommunitiespartnership.blogspot.com/

Partnership Steering Committee members are:

• Co-Chair Donna Steward , Government Affairs Director, Association of WA Business
• Co-Chair Allene Mares , RN, MPH, Assistant Secretary, WA State Dept. of Health
• Anthony Anton , President and CEO, WA Restaurant Association
• Don Conant , PhD, MBA, General Manager, Valley Nut and Bolt, Inc. and Association of WA Business Board Member and Health Care Council Chair
• Lucy Culp, Government Affairs Director, American Heart/ Stroke Associations
• Linna Dossett, Director, Healthy Lifestyles, YMCA
• Nancy Ellison , JD, PhD, Vice President, United Health Care
• Linda Kirk Fox , PhD, Associate Dean, WA State University
• Debra French, RD, CD, Executive Director, WA State Dairy Council
• Gary M. Goldbaum , MD, MPH Director, Snohomish Health District and President, WA Association of State and Local Health Officials
• Jeff Harris , MD, MPH, MBA, Director, UW Health Promotion Research Center
• Frankie T. Manning , MN, RN, Governor's Council on Health Disparities
• Martin Mueller , Asst. Superintendent for Student Support, WA. OSPI
• Becky Skaggs , Director, Consumer Affairs, Haggen, Inc.
• Scott Pritchard , Director, WA State Health and Productivity Programs

Donna Steward is Government Affairs Director for the Association of Washington Business, and Allene Mares is Assistant Secretary of Community and Family Health at the Washington State Department of Health.

The Healthiest State Campaign is initiating the Partnership with funds from the Washington State Department of Health from a Centers for Disease Control grant for “Communities Putting Prevention to Work”.  The statewide effort seeks environmental and policy changes that make healthy choices easy when it comes to nutrition, exercise and tobacco.

Ms. Steward is a native Washingtonian and graduate of the University of Washington. Before joining the Association of Washington Business, she was associate regional administrator-Division of Medicare Financial Management at the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She formerly was executive director of the Association of Washington Healthcare Plans. Earlier in her career, she covered health care and education issues as a legislative research analyst for the Washington State House of Representatives.

Ms. Mares, a Montana native, is a registered nurse with a bachelor’s degree from Montana State University and a master’s degree in public health from the University of Washington. She has held a series of increasingly demanding leadership roles throughout her career, including program manager, division director, regional health officer, department director, and health commissioner in health departments from Tacoma and Seattle to Salinas, Calif., and Dayton, Ohio.

Healthiest State Campaign creator Greg Vigdor said, “It is encouraging to see the breadth of interest in the dialogue about healthy communities.  These issues are central to health improvement just as children’s health insurance, immunization policy, medical system quality and others were when we helped advance those movements.  We look forward to nurturing this new partnership as another of our efforts to reframe the health debate toward balanced individual and collective action for universal health improvement.”

They told us that individual behavior change programs to help people quit smoking, improve their nutrition and exercise are important. More often, though, our researchers heard a call to change social and physical environments to support those behavior changes.  Our leaders are divided as to whether voluntary incentives, new laws, rules or mandates are the best way to make those changes.  They are very clear that healthy choices should be the easy ones for everyone.

There was broad interest in employee health and productivity programs, especially for small businesses and those with a larger share of minimum-wage workers. There was widespread support for improving health education, nutrition, and physical activity in schools. Moreover, there was broad interest in state and federal government policies and practices that model the government’s own health advice. The health leaders we interviewed told us they want to see government purchasing of health benefits for public workers, the purchase of food for public institutions and more do an even better job of promoting health.

We invite you to be part of the Partnership.  A 12-member steering committee will guide the Partnership and determine activities.  Steering committee members will include state and local public health leaders as well as members of the business community and other interested parties.

The new co-chairs will share their thoughts on community health and the early developmental considerations for the Partnership at the Washington Health Foundation’s Legislative Conference on November 4, 2010, at Bell Harbor Conference Center in Seattle.