The Vitality. Champ Guide

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The Vitality

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Index

You’re a Vitality Champ! ………..…...………….…

3

Manager Champs ………...…..………..………

4

Cheerleader Champs ….………...………..………....

4

Expectations of a Vitality Champ ………...………..………...

5

Support You Can Expect ………...………..…

5

Ways You Can Encourage Engagement in the Vitality Program …...…

6

Ways You Can Promote Wellness Outside of Vitality …….……...…………

7

Let the Fun Begin! ………...……...…..

7

Record Attendance and Format Event Attendance File …...………...………

9

Frequently Asked Questions ………...……….….

10

Proposal Template ………...…...…..

12

Directory ………...

13

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You’re a

Vitality Champ!

Congratulations on your new role! It is one that will spotlight you among your coworkers as a Vitality program expert, and provide you with numerous opportunities to encourage, inform, inspire, lead and motivate them to live their healthiest lives. Undoubtedly, you’ll probably meet some of them for the ﬁrst time. Who knows? Perhaps you’ll make some new friends!

We know that being a new Champ can be a bit daunting in the beginning, and you may not feel like a program expert who is ready and able to answer every question or address every concern your fellow employees may bring to you. You may not feel like you’re a perfect specimen of physical ﬁtness, health and wellness. Not to worry! A Champ can be someone who is ﬁt and healthy, or someone who

is the process of transitioning to a lifestyle of good health and wellness. All Champs share a common goal: to ignite and maintain a culture of wellness at his or her worksite and to encourage and inspire others to do the same.

As a Vitality Champ, you will have the opportunity to contribute to the overall well-being of your coworkers as well as the privilege to impact their lives in signiﬁcant ways when you encourage and help them reach their own personal health and wellness goals.

For you personally, being a Champ will help you develop, practice and strengthen a variety of personal skills including: • Leadership • Public speaking • Team building • Creativity • Organization • Project planning • Networking • and more …

Again, congratulations on your new

role as a Vitality Champ!

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Manager

Champs

Manager Champs exist in groups that have more than one Champ per location or department. He or she may communicate, organize and participate in the following kinds of activities, including but not limited to:

• Onsite Vitality Checks (biometric screenings) • Vitality Health Review completion contests • Athletic events, such as a corporate 5K • Health Fairs and monthly messages

• Manages the Champ program and attends monthly HR calls • Facilitates monthly calls

– Agendas

– Presentations

• Event calendars

As a Vitality Champ, your main point of contact for answers, encouragement, guidance and ideas will be your Manager Champ.

Cheerleader

Champs

Like Manager Champs, Cheerleader Champs exist in groups that have more than one Champ per location or department.

Cheerleader Champs assist Manager Champs with activities while encouraging participation in the program by cultivating a culture of wellness throughout their site. They assist the Manager Champ when necessary, and are encouraged to participate in as many activities as possible, all the while setting examples of healthy living for others.

Cheerleader Champs listen to and assist their fellow coworkers with program-related ideas, issues and questions. They step up to assist on special projects when needed.

Mostly, it is important to remember that we encourage Champ participation at every level. If you are not comfortable taking the lead, there are still plenty of opportunities for you.

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Expectations of a

Vitality Champ

As a Vitality Champ, you can expect that your coworkers will look to you for answers to their questions, guidance in their journeys, encouragement in their healthy pursuits, celebration in their achievements and understanding should they fall short of what they set out to do. While you are not expected to be an expert, the more you understand and participate in the Vitality program, the better Champ you’ll be.

Here are some of the things

expected – and not – of a Vitality Champ:

Support You

Can Expect

Yours is an important role, and as you learn it and continue to grow in it, you will need and can expect to be supported in a variety of ways from a variety of sources. As a new Champ, you can turn to the following for whatever assistance you may need setting goals, planning activities, establishing timelines and data management:

• Manager Champ • Champ training • Champ meetings

• Champ resources and materials

• Have a good knowledge and understanding of the Vitality program to correctly answer coworkers’ questions

• Be an active and consistent program participant who leads by enthusiastic example

• Encourage employees to engage in the program • Facilitate, attend, encourage attendance at and

possibly track coworkers’ participation in workplace wellness events

• Publicize, promote and participate in local events through which coworkers can earn Vitality Points

• Make an eﬀort to attend and actively participate in Champ training and meetings

• Use creativity to help break down barriers and help facilitate a culture of wellness

You ARE expected to: You’re NOT expected to:

• Have the answer to every question coworkers ask about Vitality

• Track individuals’ progress in the program • Complete every Vitality activity

• Manage employees’ Vitality accounts or do their work for them

• Log or track employees’ personal health information

• Forego job or personal responsibilities to work on Champ activities

• Reinvent the wheel! Other Champs have promoted Vitality very successfully among their coworkers and you are free to use or build on their ideas.

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Ways You Can Encourage Engagement

in the Vitality Program

There are many ways you can promote the Vitality program and encourage your coworkers to engage and participate in it. Here are a few:

• Introduce yourself throughout your organization as a Vitality Champ.

• Oﬀer to help your coworkers achieve their personal goals and highlight Vitality activities. • Organize wellness events, i.e., a walking club, Lunch ‘n Learns, a Healthy Snack Day, etc. • Link company wellness events to Vitality.

• Publicize local community events that you are aware of that can help coworkers earn Vitality Points, i.e., first-aid certification classes, 5K walks and runs, flu shot availability.

• Let others know of your own planned participation in community wellness events and invite them to join you.

• Establish and promote a points-earning ‘Vitality Goal of the Week’ that all can strive to achieve.

• Publicly recognize “Vitality Superstars” -- coworkers who are making or who have made

signiﬁcant progress on the Vitality program. Post their photos and tell stories in your company newsletter or on a company bulletin board or present them with a certiﬁcate or star they can display in their workspaces.

• Encourage others who are consistently engaged in the program to consider becoming a Vitality Champ.

• Solicit personal testimonials about coworkers’ Vitality experiences. • Get approval on any activities not established.

Always refer employees to the

Earning Points page on

the Vitality website for

details about the program.

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Ways You Can Promote Wellness

Outside of Vitality

The more you participate in the Vitality program, the healthier your lifestyle becomes – from the things you eat to the activities in which you participate. You will ﬁnd – if you haven’t already – that what initially are conscious, healthy choices on your part eventually become second nature to you. Everything you do for the sake of health and wellness is not necessarily tied to the Vitality program. The following are ways you can promote good health outside of the Vitality program:

• Publicize wellness events in your local community, i.e., a lecture on nutrition. • Participate in activities that promote safety, i.e., a bicycle safety workshop. • Be an example, i.e., shop at your local farmers’ market.

• Patronize fund raisers that beneﬁt children’s athletic teams or organizations, i.e., bakes sales, car washes.

• Share pertinent, interesting or humorous health-related articles with your coworkers via email. • Implement healthy menus at meetings where food will be served.

• Replace unhealthy foods in the vending machines with healthy snacks.

Let the

Fun Begin!

Our suggestion to you right now, as a new Champ, is to start out small: organize and promote a single, simple activity within your employee group. It’s a good way to get your name out there among your coworkers as their Vitality Champ, to generate buzz about the Vitality program and to encourage your coworkers’ engagement in it.

The following are some simple

activities with which you can begin:

• A Lunchtime Walking Club: What could be simpler? Post signs around your workplace letting

your coworkers know that once or twice a week at lunchtime, you will lead them on a walk out of the oﬃce and around the neighborhood. If possible, choose a path on which you’ll pass something interesting like a beautiful garden, a historic house, a local landmark, or some wonderful architecture. Encourage your fellow walkers to take their pedometers with them and possibly earn Vitality Points. Encourage them to take their cameras too!

Example: Create a 12-week series and award 350 points for 10 walks.

• Healthy Box Lunch Exchange: Set a date for a group lunch and invite those who would like to

partake to create a box lunch containing only healthy fare to exchange with another participant. This is a good way for people to meet and get to know each other in a healthy setting.

Example: Award 35 points for participating.

• Healthy Recipe Sample and Swap: Pick a day and invite a few people to each prepare a

healthy dish that others can sample during either the lunch hour or a designated “healthy break time.” Perhaps they’d like to prepare one of the recipes on the Power of Vitality website. In any case, ask them to provide copies of the recipes for the “tasters” who might request them. The next time, invite a few others to prepare the healthy dishes and share the recipes.

Example: Award person with most popular recipe 350 points. Encourage employee cafeteria to prepare and oﬀer the recipe.

• 5K Run or Walk: Odds are that a local organization or charity in your area will sponsor a

weekend 5K run or walk. Get the details out to your members and encourage them to participate “for the health of it.” Once they complete the run or walk and submit their documentation to Vitality, they’ll receive 250 Vitality Points!

Example: Athletic Event worth 250 points.

Once you have the task of organizing, promoting and overseeing your ﬁrst Vitality event under your belt, we’re pretty conﬁdent that you’ll be ready to take on other more challenging activities. There are many ways you can promote the Vitality program among your coworkers, encourage them on their personal pathways to better health, inspire them to earn Vitality Points and increase their Vitality status. The other Champs –

particularly your Manager Champ – within your company will be more than happy to assist you! If you are a Champ in a remote location, there are still ways you can reach out to your coworkers and encourage their engagement in the program. Here are some ideas:

• Webinar Lunch ‘N Learn: Host a webinar Lunch ‘N Learn on either a health-related topic or one of the many aspects of the Vitality program. Publicize it among your coworkers and invite them to attend. Ask them to submit ideas for future webinars on subjects in which they may be interested.

Example: Award 35 points for participation.

• A Challenge: Present a challenge and invite your coworkers to complete a certain activity, i.e.,

completing a Vitality nutrition course, completing the Mental Well-being Review or engaging in one of the athletic events in their local communities (5K, bike ride, etc). Everyone who completes the activity can be entered into a drawing for a simple prize.

• Vitality Quiz: Send weekly emails for a number of weeks to your coworkers that contain

questions relative to the Vitality program or subjects (and answers!) that are presented on the Power of Vitality website. Those who reply with the most correct answers throughout the timeframe will be declared winners and receive a simple prize or certiﬁcate.

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Ways You Can Promote Wellness

Outside of Vitality

The more you participate in the Vitality program, the healthier your lifestyle becomes – from the things you eat to the activities in which you participate. You will ﬁnd – if you haven’t already – that what initially are conscious, healthy choices on your part eventually become second nature to you. Everything you do for the sake of health and wellness is not necessarily tied to the Vitality program. The following are ways you can promote good health outside of the Vitality program:

• Publicize wellness events in your local community, i.e., a lecture on nutrition. • Participate in activities that promote safety, i.e., a bicycle safety workshop. • Be an example, i.e., shop at your local farmers’ market.

• Patronize fund raisers that beneﬁt children’s athletic teams or organizations, i.e., bakes sales, car washes.

• Share pertinent, interesting or humorous health-related articles with your coworkers via email. • Implement healthy menus at meetings where food will be served.

• Replace unhealthy foods in the vending machines with healthy snacks.

Let the

Fun Begin!

Our suggestion to you right now, as a new Champ, is to start out small: organize and promote a single, simple activity within your employee group. It’s a good way to get your name out there among your coworkers as their Vitality Champ, to generate buzz about the Vitality program and to encourage your coworkers’ engagement in it.

The following are some simple

activities with which you can begin:

• A Lunchtime Walking Club: What could be simpler? Post signs around your workplace letting

your coworkers know that once or twice a week at lunchtime, you will lead them on a walk out of the oﬃce and around the neighborhood. If possible, choose a path on which you’ll pass something interesting like a beautiful garden, a historic house, a local landmark, or some wonderful architecture. Encourage your fellow walkers to take their pedometers with them and possibly earn Vitality Points. Encourage them to take their cameras too!

Example: Create a 12-week series and award 350 points for 10 walks.

• Healthy Box Lunch Exchange: Set a date for a group lunch and invite those who would like to

partake to create a box lunch containing only healthy fare to exchange with another participant. This is a good way for people to meet and get to know each other in a healthy setting.

Example: Award 35 points for participating.

• Healthy Recipe Sample and Swap: Pick a day and invite a few people to each prepare a

healthy dish that others can sample during either the lunch hour or a designated “healthy break time.” Perhaps they’d like to prepare one of the recipes on the Power of Vitality website. In any case, ask them to provide copies of the recipes for the “tasters” who might request them. The next time, invite a few others to prepare the healthy dishes and share the recipes.

Example: Award person with most popular recipe 350 points. Encourage employee cafeteria to prepare and oﬀer the recipe.

• 5K Run or Walk: Odds are that a local organization or charity in your area will sponsor a

weekend 5K run or walk. Get the details out to your members and encourage them to participate “for the health of it.” Once they complete the run or walk and submit their documentation to Vitality, they’ll receive 250 Vitality Points!

Example: Athletic Event worth 250 points.

Once you have the task of organizing, promoting and overseeing your ﬁrst Vitality event under your belt, we’re pretty conﬁdent that you’ll be ready to take on other more challenging activities. There are many ways you can promote the Vitality program among your coworkers, encourage them on their personal pathways to better health, inspire them to earn Vitality Points and increase their Vitality status. The other Champs –

particularly your Manager Champ – within your company will be more than happy to assist you! If you are a Champ in a remote location, there are still ways you can reach out to your coworkers and encourage their engagement in the program. Here are some ideas:

• Webinar Lunch ‘N Learn: Host a webinar Lunch ‘N Learn on either a health-related topic or one of the many aspects of the Vitality program. Publicize it among your coworkers and invite them to attend. Ask them to submit ideas for future webinars on subjects in which they may be interested.

• A Challenge: Present a challenge and invite your coworkers to complete a certain activity, i.e.,

completing a Vitality nutrition course, completing the Mental Well-being Review or engaging in one of the athletic events in their local communities (5K, bike ride, etc). Everyone who completes the activity can be entered into a drawing for a simple prize.

• Vitality Quiz: Send weekly emails for a number of weeks to your coworkers that contain

questions relative to the Vitality program or subjects (and answers!) that are presented on the Power of Vitality website. Those who reply with the most correct answers throughout the timeframe will be declared winners and receive a simple prize or certiﬁcate.

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Record Attendance and Format Event

Attendance File

When you host or help organize an event, keep a spreadsheet of participants and include their ID numbers. You may use their Employee or Vitality ID. Be sure to use the Vitality spreadsheet and save it as a .CSV ﬁle. (First, click SAVE AS and then select .CSV under the Save as type.)

It may be helpful to start from a master template, and check members in at the event using the template.

Here’s an example of what it

should look like:

Employee ID Role – EE/SP/CH* Event Code Date First Name (optional)** Last Name (optional)**

0123456 EE ECF1 08/25/14

Vitality ID Role – EE/SP/CH* Event Code Date First Name (optional)** Last Name (optional)**

00654321 EE ECF1 08/25/14

*EE = Employee, SP = Spouse/Domestic Partner, CH = Child Dependents (SP, CH - if applicable to your program)

**First and last name are optional ﬁelds for employee and spouse submissions, but REQUIRED when submitting children.

Vitality Core Activities (EE & SP Only)

Description

Event Code Points Earned

AEV1 Athletic Event Level 1 250

CPRC CPR Certiﬁcation 125

FACR First Aid Certiﬁcation 125

FSHT Flu Shot 200

SPRL Sports League 350

Employer-Sponsored Activities (EE & SP Only)

Description

ECE2

35 Employer Custom Education Event – Tier 1

ECE1

350 Employer Custom Education Event – Tier 2

ECF1 Employer Custom Fitness Event – Tier 1 35

ECF2 Employer Custom Fitness Event – Tier 2 350

ECH1 Employer Custom Healthy Living Event – Tier 1 35

ECH2 Employer Custom Healthy Living Event – Tier 2 350

FTNG Custom Group Fitness Series – Tier 2 350

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Healthy Kids Activities (CH Only)

Description

FSHT

Athletic Event or Sports League KFT

200 Flu Shot

CHIM Child Immunization 400

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Frequently Asked

Questions

Q. What if I’m not in perfect physical shape myself?

A. That’s OK! What’s most important is that you actively participate in the Vitality program and lead by enthusiastic example. Your engagement in the program may inspire others.

Q. How long can I be a Vitality Champ?

A. In order to be eﬀective in your role and to build momentum among your coworkers, we encourage you to be a Vitality Champ for at least one full program year.

Q. What if I decide I no longer want to or can be a Vitality Champ?

A. We understand that situations may arise that can prevent you from continuing your role as a Vitality Champ. Should you ﬁnd yourself dealing with such a situation, please inform your Manager Champ as soon as possible.

Q. Am I expected to administer the Vitality program at my work location?

A. No. You are expected to publicize, promote and attend wellness events at your work location. This may be a simple email message to your colleagues, organizing a weekly walking club or starting a group to plan wellness events throughout the year. You are also welcome to publicize and promote other programs and events featuring activities which oﬀer employees other opportunities to earn Vitality Points.

Q. What advice can I give employees about exercise, medical conditions or beneﬁts?

A. Your role is to promote and encourage your coworkers’ participation in the Vitality program. If your coworkers have concerns or questions about a speciﬁc exercise, medical condition or beneﬁt, you should advise them to ask an appropriate professional.

Q. What if a coworker has a medical condition that keeps him or her from participating?

A. If it is unreasonably diﬃcult for an employee to earn points for any activity or standard under the Vitality program due to a medical condition or any other disability (or if it is medically inadvisable to do so), have the employee download and complete a medical waiver (located in the Forms section of the Vitality website) or call a Vitality Specialist at 877.224.7117 who will assist them.

Q. How do I respond to a coworker who expresses a privacy concern about participating in Vitality?

A. You can assure the individual that privacy is a top priority at Vitality, and they are committed to maintaining the highest level of conﬁdentiality with all of the information they receive from members.

Q. Does Vitality follow HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) regulations?

A. Yes, Vitality is HIPAA-compliant and any and all information Vitality receives from its members is maintained with the highest degree of conﬁdentiality.

Q. What do I advise a coworker who has an issue with his or her ﬁtness device?

A. For Fitbug issues (including replacement of devices under warranty), contact Vitality. For all other device issues, contact the device manufacturer.

• Fitbit: help.ﬁtbit.com

• Garmin: http://www.garmin.com/us/support/

• Polar: 800.227.1314 or [email protected]

• MapMyFitness App: http://www.mapmyﬁtness.com/app/support/

If a coworker is having trouble operating his or her ﬁtness device, you may show him or her how to use the device. It could be particularly helpful to teach your coworker how to upload data to the device.

For assistance linking devices to Vitality or concerns about receiving Vitality Points for workouts recorded with a ﬁtness device, please contact Vitality.

Q. What are the Champ conference calls for?

A. Champ conference calls provide you with an opportunity to converse with other Champs – including Manager Champs – as well as a representative from Vitality about planning and promoting various activities at your site, program updates, diﬀerent issues you may encounter, etc. They are also a chance for you to share with others some of the things you have done as well as some of the things you are planning to do.

Q. What do I do when I myself have questions?

A. Depending on the question, you may ask your Vitality Manager Champ or you may contact Vitality Customer Care at 877.224.7117, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central time, Monday through Friday or via email at [email protected].

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