State of Wellness: Massachusetts

A HealthyMass Initiative

A Healthier Mass Initiative


Welcome &

Introductions

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Agenda

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• Mass in Motion

• Working on Wellness Initiative

• Question & Answer


Mass in Motion

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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


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


• 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

Mass in Motion


Working on Wellness

Initiative

A wellness initiative for employers

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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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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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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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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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Obtain Mandate for Wellness Initiative

Compose Wellness Team

Research & Discovery/Iden

tify Needs

Formulate Goals

Plan Development

Plan Approval

Implement Plan

Program Development Cycle


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.)14


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)15


Employer Groups

• Phase I: Began in June 2008

• Phase II: Began in January 2009

• Phase III: Began in March 2010

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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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Employee Population

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Business Size

(number of

employees)

Working on

Wellness Sites

Massachusetts

Worksites with

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%


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

vegetables

71%

•Adults 18 and older

•Source: MA BRFSS 2000-2006

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Top Health Risks

Identified by Employees

• High Cholesterol

• Overweight/Obesity

• High Blood Pressure

• Smoking

• Mental Health

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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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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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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

floor 23


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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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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Planned Next Steps

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Planned Next Steps

• Recruit 10-12 additional employers to begin

Phase IV in Spring 2011

• Target employers from priority Mass in

Motion municipal wellness and community

grants to participate in Phase IV

• Begin to form workplace collaborative in

priority communities

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Questions

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Contact Information

Lisa Erck

Consultant- Working on Wellness Initiative

[email protected]

Maria Bettencourt

Wellness Director- Prevention & Wellness Division

[email protected]

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Thank you!

Education

State of Wellness: Massachusetts