Wellness Announcements
Wellness exams for 2012 will take place on May 1 and 2 on at Highland's Conference Center and May 3 at the Sterling PfE Administrative Office.
New for this year, we will be offering spouses who are in our health insurance plan the opportunity to participate in the wellness exams! (For this purpose, the reference to spouses includes domestic partners and civil union partners as well.) Screenings are an important way to identify problems or risk factors early, so health issues can be addressed before they become more serious. In order to give spouses the same opportunity to increase their awareness concerning their health, the annual wellness exam is being offered free of charge to them.
Our wellness testing provider, HealthCheck360, is introducing a new online portal for wellness program participants. This portal, found at www.myhealthcheck360.com, is available to any employee who has participated in the wellness testing any of the last four years when it has been offered.
The web site for HealthCheck360 participants includes:
- Online calorie and activity tracking tools with activity and food database
- Most recent HRA score and brief summary of stats
- Interactive portal for communication and support from Health Coaches
- Collection of health articles and links to wellness resources
- Social networking component for competition and support
The web site will also enable us to set up wellness campaign challenges where point tracking can be accomplished through the web site on an individual or team basis.
Click here for instructions on how to set up your account in order to access the web site and a brief summary of how the goal tracking works. Please take a few minutes to check it out!
Wellness Program
In 2008, a Wellness Program was added to the College's Health Insurance Plan with the goal of enabling employees to manage their existing health or improve on areas that indicate risk. The Wellness Program is administered by HealthCheck360 and combines self collected information (health risk assessment) with biometric measurements to give employees an objective view of their health risks and the ability to link those factors to lifestyle choices.
Each May, eligible employees (see the Wellness Program Plan document for eligibility) complete a blood panel, a short wellness exam conducted by a wellness certified phlebotomist, and an online survey that collects lifestyle information. Participants receive a report to give them a basic understanding of their health. The level of health is expressed by a score.
Eligible employees who take advantage of the Wellness Program by completing the health risk assessment (HRA)and blood screening receive an incentive of a reduction in their health premium of $25 per month as long as they meet certain criteria. In their first year of participation, they can qualify for the incentive simply by completing the HRA and blood panel. In the second year and subsequent years they must either earn a score of 71 or above, or if their score is below 71, they must increase their score by three points or greater from the score in the preceding year of participation.
Wellness Lunch and Learns
Health Coaches from HealthCheck360
will be presenting a new wellness topic at noon central time the first Wednesday of every month. All webinars will be 20-30 minutes long. Below are the topics for 2011.
Register for a session now by clicking a date below: |
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Once registered you will receive an email confirming your registration with information you need to join the Webinar. |
HealthCheck360 also posts lunch and learn webinars from prior months on their web site. Click here to access archived webinars.
Wellness Committee
According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, the definition of wellness is " the quality or state of being in good health especially as an actively sought goal <lifestyles that promote wellness> ." Wellness does not simply focus on physical health, it is multi dimensional and includes emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual health. Lifestyle and the choices individuals make, has been found to be the single most important factor determining your pattern of general health.
The HCC wellness committee was developed to to encourage and assist the employees and families of the College to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The charge of the committee is to work on wellness education and activities for all employees.
Members – FY’12: Beth Groshans (co-chair), Christie Lewis (co-chair), Jim Palmer, Jerelyn Forman, Alan Nowicki, Corey Engel, Donna Kauke, Sandy Johnson, Maggie White
The first wealth is health.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson
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