Washington Wellness

Governor Christine Gregoire wants all Washington residents to be fit and healthy, and state employees have an opportunity to set a good example by using the services of Washington Wellness.

The Health Care Authority program is designed to provide health and fitness information to state employees, retirees, and their families and track the resulting changes in their diet, exercise, and use of preventive care.

Washington Wellness promotes health and wellness programs offered by health plans that serve 320,000 state employees, retirees, and their dependents. It also develops other resources to help individuals become healthier and more active and manage chronic health conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

Washington Wellness strongly supports the Washington Health Foundation (WHF) in their Healthiest State in the Nation Campaign and many state employees participate in Washington Health Foundation-sponsored events, including the Governor's Community Health Bowl. Many also use WHF's online tools to track their activity.

Most of us could use all the support we can get to achieve our health and fitness goals, says Scott Pritchard, Washington Wellness director.

"Our culture is not really conducive to health," Pritchard said. "It doesn't promote physical activity or healthy eating, and most of us experience fairly high stress levels in our daily lives."

"The health care industry is good at acute care, but not as good at prevention or chronic care," Prichard added.

During the next year, Washington Wellness will develop communication tools to reach and engage state employees and measure the program's success.

The first priority is to encourage all employees to complete an annual health risk assessment (HRA). The HRA identifies health risks within the state employee population. It also measures the success of interventions implemented to reduce those risks.

Washington Wellness' goal is for at least 70 percent of employees to fall into the "low-risk" category.

"We are promoting more exercise, better food selection, completion of preventive care tests, flu shots, and tobacco cessation as initial behavior change goals," Prichard said.

Each Washington State agency and higher education institution has a wellness coordinator on site. Kathleen Clark, a Washington Wellness team member, is responsible for training and supporting wellness coordinators.

Agency wellness coordinators on board

Clark works with the wellness coordinators to develop creative ways to promote the HRA within their agency's culture. Wellness coordinators also will look for opportunities to support good health choices at work, such as developing an agency policy requiring healthful choices when food is provided at meetings.

Most wellness coordinators have completed training. Their first challenge is to increase the number of employees who complete their health plan's annual HRA. Links to HRAs for each of the health plans offered to state employees are on the Washington Wellness Web site.

"Sign-up rates are low," Pritchard said.

The goal is to get 30 percent of PEBB members to complete an HRA by the end of 2007.

Kelly Frost, HCA's wellness coordinator, offered prizes to the first five HCA employees who completed their HRA within three days after the Heart Health event in Lacey on Valentine's Day. Twenty-three people responded.

"I thought that was a decent start," said Frost, who is also HCA's human resources director.

Some people are reluctant to complete the survey because they have privacy concerns, which Pritchard says he understands.

"People have to be confident that no one else sees their data," he said.

HCA will get only aggregate data, which will be used to help set the direction of the Washington Wellness program. But participation is voluntary and anyone who is not convinced the data is confidential should not take the survey, Pritchard added.

Health Risk Assessments should be done each year

People who completed an HRA last year should complete another health risk assessment for this year. UMP enrollees who take their HRA—the e-Health Survey—can earn points toward their annual $30 rebate, and everyone benefits by learning a little more about their individual health risks.

The HRA uses answers about lifestyle and medical and family history to assess individual health risks.

"They're receiving valuable feedback about their health and risk factors, along with helpful information and tools," Frost said. "For some employees it may be that final push to motivate them. Some may find out they have risk factors they didn't know they have."

Knowing provides the opportunity to make some important lifestyle changes.

"Your history cannot be changed, but you can reduce risks," Pritchard explained. "And there is good evidence that reducing health risks reduces costs and increases productivity."

Increased productivity would come from people taking fewer sick days. It would also come from people being more productive when they come to work because they feel good—an experience Pritchard calls "presenteeism."

Health benefits and access to doctors are only part of the good health formula, and that is the larger message the Wellness team is working to promote. Lifestyle choices affect how individuals feel, and good choices can make life better.

Visit the Washington Wellness Web site

"We are using the Washington Wellness Web site as the main way to connect both employees and wellness coordinators to the latest health-related tools and information," said Tiffany Scheer, Communications Consultant for Washington Wellness. "We want employees to go to the Web site not only to take an HRA, but to check it regularly to find out more about the wide range of health resources targeted specifically for them."

Go to the Washington Wellness web site to complete a health risk assessment and find other health-related resources.

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