Wellness Council of Northeast Ohio
December 2009
Following the November meeting, a new discusion group for the Council was
initiated on Linkedin. To join the discusion go to Linkedin and search for
the Wellness Council of N.E. Ohio.
Feburary 2007
Nearly 3000 participants entered this year Dump your Plump Program. Thanks
again to Anthem for sponsoring the 10 week exercise and eat right contest.
Participants are on the way to droping nearly eight pounds each while
exercising 30 minutes a day for at least 5 days a week .
Decemeber 2006
On Nov. 7, 2006, Ohio voters passed issue 5, creating Ohio's new smoking ban
under a new Chapter of Ohio Revised Code. This new law requires public
places and workplaces be smoke free as of Dec. 7, 2006Downloadable versions
of acceptable signs will be posted on the ODH main Web
site at
These signs will include the toll free number for reporting violations
[1-866-559-OHIO (6446)].
August 2006
Thoughout the new year we will be holding regional Fundamentals of Worksite
Wellness seminars to help those just starting a worksite wellness program or
looking to improve past practices. These seminars will begin in
October. Continued partnership with the Cuyahoga Board of Health and the
Ohio Tobacco Precvention Foundation allows policy development support and
subsidized NRT programs to be offered by the Council. Our first
meeting of the year, September 28 will cover availability of the programs
and available support. The October meeting will cover Pandemic Influenza and
the Business Community. With funding from GSK, the November meeting will
bring in Avi Dor to present ideas to increase medical compliance to lower
healthcare cost. The December meeting will cover companies actions in
the face of the Obesity epidemic.
August 2005
New program series
The coming year of monthly meetings will feature what managed care
organizations offer worksite wellness. Managed care has played a major
role in prevention for company sponsored health plans. As the drive for cost
reduction through prevention intensifies, how does managed care coordinate
with worksite wellness programs? What do they see as the trends in this
area? What are companies asking for? What is popular with employees?
Monthly meetings will be held at noon at 3 Summit Park Auditorium
(Lower Level) Independence (just west of Rockside at 77 exit). Our
Target dates are the second Thursday in October, December, February or
April.
July 2005
New Board members
The Board welcomes two new Board members Rosemarie Dejohn
from Cuyahoga County Commissioners Office who will serve as Chair of the
Smoking Cessation Committee and Matt Fyffe from Sherwin-Williams Company who
will head up the Best Practices Committee. For more information see Who’s
Who link
June 2005
A year of Leadership development Lead by Steven Aldana, Ph.D
In the past the Wellness Council has promoted our yearly seminars with an
out of town expert. The one day presentation is satisfying, but after the
initial questions have been answered, the guest speaker leaves and everyone
goes off to the next problem. Information is hard to integrate into action.
By establishing an ongoing relationship with one speaker’s point of view
over a period of a year, it is hoped that better understanding of the
information will lead to greater action. Sign up today to be part of a small
group to be invited to participate in four quarterly one hour phone seminars
beginning in the fall of 2005.
click here for more Aldana
information
"Our objective was to sponsor a wellness activity that would provide the greatest health benefits to the greatest number of Invacare associates", said Karen , Director of Safety and Health at Invacare. "We really did our home work. We reviewed our health insurance utilization to identify the illness categories with the highest dollar costs. Then we reviewed the current literature to determine which wellness activities would give us the most impact in the those categories.
Participation in the program has been exceptional. "We definitely underestimated the interest this program would generate,"said Karen. "We were hoping to have 200 associates. When all was said and done we had 819 participants from 18 different Invacare location in the US and Canada! Even the president of the company and his senior management team are participating."
March 2004
Spring Training
Please join our Spring Training
spring exercise and eat right contest which begins on March 30, 2004.
This free-to-company program sponsored by Anthem
Blue Cross/Blue Shield produces an average weight loss of eight pounds per
participant as it increases participant daily exercise to five days a week.
The Spring Training program has not only become a hit with
our membership, it also produces a great opportunity to tell others,
including the media, about what worksite wellness can do. Seventy companies
participated last year for which we received radio, print and TV coverage.
Its financial contribution is also important to the Council. If you are
interested, call to make sure we get you all the materials you need.
Click here for more company information
According to a recent JAMA article, the obesity epidemic is still
increasing. In the last several years among adults, the 55.9 percent who
were overweight has increased to 64.5 percent, and the percentage who were
obese has increased from 23 to 30.5. As the epidemic continues, the 300
thousand unnecessary deaths due to poor eating and inactivity increases.
NOACC Chamber Activity
Three years ago, the forty-member Northern Ohio Area Chambers of Commerce (NOACC)
organization endorsed the Wellness Council as their wellness vendor. Since
then, NOACC has grown to over 100 member chambers that look to the Wellness
Council for direction in worksite wellness. The offering of the exercise and
eat right contest to their 20,000 plus member companies is the fist step
taken by NOACC on the road to worksite wellness.
May 21, 2002
The Wellness Council's annual seminar will be June 5 from 8 a.m. to noon to
be held at the Visiting Nurse Association (downtown Cleveland-see map under
"maps"). The topic will be "Prevention, Key to: Consumer Satisfaction,
Improved Quality, Lower Costs,
Member Retention and Employee Retention." Speakers are from J.D. Power &
Associates and The Geisinger Health System as well as local health plan
representatives. Further information can be found at the website http://www.healthyohio.org/annual.
$45 for admission. $95 for vendor display (includes admission).
April 13, 2002
The Wellness Council will run the "Movin & Winnin" exercise and eat right
contest for employees beginning October 1. This 8-week program will end
right before Thanksgiving. Prizes will be awarded to participants at the end
who meet both their weight loss and exercise goals. Worksite teams of four
to ten participants will encourage each other to exercise at least thirty
minutes a day, five times a week, while watching the amount of total fat and
calories they consume. For a signup flyer and more information go to http://www.healthyohio.org/win
This community-wide contest will follow the nationally acclaimed Dump Your
Plump rules. The contest has for the past ten years provided motivation to
begin a healthier lifestyle for thousands of Northeast Ohioans.
“The rules work because it is a team effort,” said Don Alsbro, creator of
Dump Your Plump. "It is so easy to let yourself down by not eating right and
exercising, but it is more difficult to let the team down.” Weekly team
meetings are held, with many teams exercising together at least once a week.
Points are awarded for meeting weight loss goals and exercising. Each
participant who meets their chosen weight loss and exercise goals will
receive a t-shirt. Teams with the highest point scores are eligible for
prizes including family entertainment, hotel stays and gift certificates.
November 21, 2001
Companies: Let your employees know about the upcoming annual Dump Your Plump
eat right/exercise contest!
All of us would like a no-cost-to-company wellness program that is easy to
implement but effective in changing lifestyles. The Dump Your Plump wellness
contest fits that tall order.
In our sixth year of running the contest, the Council produces the largest
community-wide contest in the nation with over 1200 participants. Each year
of the contest, over 95 percent of the participants complete the ten week
program with an average weight loss of over eight pounds per participant.
Dump your Plump has been used by over eighty thousand people in over 700
contests nationwide.
All that a company needs to do is communicate the program to employees by
puting up posters and emailing or handing out information. Those who are
interested in becoming team captains will be trained and supervised by the
Wellness Council. Of course, a company can become more involved if it
wishes.
In addition to a healthier lifestyle, participants are eligible for t-shirts
and other prizes for achievement of weight loss and exercise goals,
including overnight stays at local luxury hotels, admissions to family
amusement parks and other entertainment.
If you are interested in putting up a poster
and handing out program brochures, email us at hsense@en.com or call
440-953-9292 for more information.
Program materials may also be downloaded from our website at http://www.healthyohio.org/company.
August 13, 2001
Both Mitch Santiago, annual meeting committee chair, and John Gauntner from
Wyeth-Ayerst, program sponsor, appreciate receiving the many positive
comments about this year's annual meeting. Mitch not only deserves credit
for the broad participation by both managed care companies and attendees, he
also kept the presentation going technically by operating his laptop
flawlessly to serve up the speakers' power point presentations. For those of
you who missed the meeting, the presentations can be found at http://www.healthyohio.org/june14.
We were very proud to have Jawan Strader, TV-3's morning anchor and Problem
Solver, keep the panel presentation lively. Without interjecting his own
opinions on the subject, he was able to give energy in connecting the seven
presentations and moderate the discussion among the group.
Building on this past success, we look forward to a challenging new year.
The spike in healthcare costs has brought increased attention to worksite
wellness programs as one of the few remaining strategies to lower costs.
Since the rate increases first hit hard in the beginning of this year, the
Council has received renewed interest from many consulting companies,
managed care organizations and employers to reshape their medical plan
designs and make preventive programs mandatory.
This renewed interest will lead to much greater program demands from members
of the Council. The Council is trying to keep out in front of that demand by
providing new services to help employers find the services they need which
have been used by other Council members with success. We are also working on
benchmarking and publishing what is working well for Northeast Ohio
employers to be used by companies as templates for renewed activity.
Steve Musgrave
President
Stephen Musgrave
433 S. State St.
Painesville, OH 44077
Phone: 440-354-8057
hsense@en.com
