Case study: A walking program that delivers results

Teva Pharmaceutical improves biometric data with a six-week walking program.

Situation

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. is among the top 15 pharmaceutical companies in the world and is the leading generic

pharmaceutical company. The company develops, manufactures and markets generic and innovative pharmaceuticals and

active pharmaceutical ingredients. One of its divisions, Teva Parenteral Medicines division in Irvine, California had tried

Weight Watchers with very low participation (less than 5%) and wished to expand a wellness program to a majority of the

employees within its division. They wanted to offer a wellness program that everyone could participate in. The overall goal

was to reduce healthcare costs by improving employee wellness. Teva’s secondary goal was to increase employee

engagement and team spirit to promote Teva as an employer of choice.

Solution

Teva decided that a walking program would meet their primary and secondary objectives of delivering health

improvements and increasing employee morale. After evaluating various suppliers, Teva chose WalkingSpree to provide a

flexible and engaging corporate walking solution. Since Teva had lost time in vendor selection process, they had to

implement quickly, within a one month time frame. The program was offered to 162 employees at no cost as a pilot

program.

The pilot was a multifaceted wellness initiative with biometric screenings, fun events like healthy cook outs, Frisbee shuffle

board, bean bag toss and basketball arcade quick shot games, along with a customized walking program delivered by

WalkingSpree. Teva incorporated the onsite activities to its customized walking program and created a virtual “walk to

Vegas”. To entice employees to participate, Teva awarded poker chips to those who attended the onsite activities. The

poker chips acted as a lottery ticket for a drawing of weekly prizes such as work out video tapes and other health related

items and a chance to win a Wii Fit system awarded as a grand prize.

Results

To the surprise of those involved, this six-week pilot program delivered significant biometric improvements. “We were

pleasantly surprised how quickly our wellness initiative had delivered results. We had over 60% of the participants lose

weight and more importantly, similar percentages improved their biometric data such as blood pressure, glucose and

cholesterol” said David Hoffman, RN, MSN, COHN-S, the on-site Teva occupational nurse.

Percentage Lowered after 6 weeks of the WalkingSpree Program

Female Male (insert this column first)

Blood Pressure 63% 88%

Weight 59% 64%

BMI 57% 64%

Body Fat 48% 54.5%

Hb A1C 59% 85%

Glucose 44% 42%

Cholesterol 39% 54.5%

Future

Teva Parenteral Medicines decided to offer this walking program to all 900 of their employees. Teva’s next walking challenge

will be a 6 month walk within the California Missions and will commence June 1st 2010.