DHPE School Employee Wellness Program
2010-2011 GOLD WINNER
Lee’s Summit R-7 School District, Lee’s Summit, MO
Number of School District Employees:2,600
Year School Employee Wellness Program began:
1993
STEP 1: Obtain Administrative Support
The SEW program is fully supported by Superintendent, Dr. David McGehee.
STEP 2: Identify Resources
The SEW wellness program is supported by the following resources:
1. School/district employees, including: a wellness coordinator who is a registered dietitian, registered nurses, certified fitness trainers, psychologist, exercise physiologists, food and nutrition personnel, a business specialists, and a cardiologist.
2. Community partners, including: a local hospital that provides a cardiologists who provides direction and assistance to the wellness program, other registered nurses & local dietitians; the District’s contracted insurance company, Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Kansas City provides health fairs and health screenings, as well as online classes; and local fitness facilities and fitness trainers who provide education and exercise.
3. Funding is provided by District’s medical insurance provider, Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Kansas City, as a part of the negotiated fees and contracts on an annual basis. All wellness programs are free to all employees including those not covered by the District’s insurance.
STEP 3: Identify a Leader
The leader of the SEW program is Michelle Thielmann, a registered dietitian.
STEP 4: Organize a Committee
The wellness committee is comprised of 12 members, including: the Assistant Superintendant, Benefits Specialist, the Wellness Coordinator who is a registered dietitian, two CBIZ Account Executives, a Senior Account Executive from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, the Director of St. Luke’s Health System Employee Assistance Program, Director of Physical Fitness, RN Coordinator, Food and Nutrition staff, the Health Enhancement Director of St. Luke’s Health System, and the Director of Preventative Medicine at St. Luke’s Health System.
DHPE School Employee Wellness Program
2010-2011 GOLD WINNER
STEP 5: Gather and Analyze Data
• Health Care Costs: $9.5M (08/09); $10M (10/11). • Dental Insurance Costs: $539K (08/09); $524K (10/11).
• Wellness Coordinator Salary and Employee Assistance Program costs (2010): $93K. • Teacher Substitute Costs (09/10): $266K.
• Support Staff Substitute Costs (09/10): $215K • 6 year average of time off for personal illness: 33%.
• Top three health risks determined by a Health Risk Assessment: (1) Body mass index; (2) Blood pressure; and (3) Physical activity.
• Top three behaviors that individuals want to change in the next 6 months: (1) increase physical activity (80.5%); (2) lose weight (73.7%); and (3) reduce fat intake (56%).
STEP 6: Develop a Plan
Mission: To create a culture of health by empowering and engaging district employees and their families in the management of their personal health and understanding of the true costs of healthcare decisions.
GOAL 1: Maintain employee engagement in the Health Risk Assessment (HRA), health screenings and physician consult at 85% of population.
Objective: Develop a communication strategy that will encourage employees to participate in the biometric screening prior to completing the health risk assessment.
Activities:
• Know Your Numbers Campaign
• $100 RX deductible waived by taking the Health Risk Assessment
• Onsite Free Health Screenings and/or doctor visits – confirmed with a Wellness Verification form
GOAL 2: Maintain or decrease prevalence of obesity.
Objective: Maintain or decrease prevalence of obesity during the 2011 plan year by offering weight management classes on a quarterly basis as well as offering programs and interventions that focus on healthy diet and physical activity each quarter.
Activities:
DHPE School Employee Wellness Program
2010-2011 GOLD WINNER
• Stop the Pop • Dump the Junk • Superfoods
• Districts on the Move!
GOAL 3: Maintain or decrease prevalence of hypertension.
Objective: Decrease prevalence of hypertension during the 2011 plan year by offering hypertension prevention, treatment, and educational programs to all employees biannually.
Activities:
• Blood pressure screenings and presentations • Blue Cross Blue Shield hypertension webinars • Smoking Cessation program or counseling
GOAL 4: To increase employee awareness, support healthy behaviors, and contribute to employee priority health issues.
Objective: Update the Winning the Wellness website monthly to include updated health information, resources and program information for employees to utilize.
Activities:
• BCBS webinars and newsletters on web portal • Monthly healthy recipes on web portal • Nutrition news monthly
• Health links to various diseases, diets, health concerns on web portal
STEP 7: Implement the Plan
The health promotion areas that Lee’s Summit R-7 School District identified to implement activities in were:
1. Physical Activity 2. Nutrition Management 3. Stress Management 4. Weight Management
Activities to address physical activity included: • America on the Move
DHPE School Employee Wellness Program
2010-2011 GOLD WINNER
• M.O.V.E. • Walking Works • Boot Camp
• Districts on the Move! • Step it Up!
• BCBS Walk to Work Day
Activities to address nutrition management included: • Stop the Pop
• Dump the Junk • Eat Right for Life
• One on One counseling by registered dietitian • Eat This, Not That
• Superfoods • Sparkpeople
Activities to address stress management included: • Soul Soothers
• Employee assistance one on one counseling • Resiliency
• 12 Days to Wellness • BCBS webinars
Activities to address weight management included: • Slimmer You
• Biggest Loser
• One on one counseling with registered dietitian • Weight Watchers at Work
DHPE School Employee Wellness Program
2010-2011 GOLD WINNER
• Sparkpeople • BCBS webinars
STEP 8: Evaluate and Adapt the Program
Findings from process evaluation have included:
• 100% employees participated in the health risk assessment in 2010.
• Employees reported finding the programs offered rewarding and informative.
• 65% of employees reported participating in at least 1 or more Winning with Wellness programs. • 95% of employees want to participate in wellness programs.
Findings from outcome evaluations have included:
• Substitute teacher costs decreased by 4% in the past 2 years.
• The % of employees knowing their blood pressure, cholesterol numbers has improved by 15%. • The number of employees who have annual physicals or annual blood testing has increased by
80% in the past 2 years.
STEP 9: Sustain the Program
Sustainability activities have included:
• The Assistant Superintendent served on the Winning with Wellness committee and presents information about wellness activities to the Board of Education.
• The Wellness Coordinator had developed a communication PowerPoint to keep the school board and administrators informed.
