Start | Browse by Day | Author Index | Keyword Index

Using a Wellness Team as Beginning Strategy for Building Wellness Culture at an Academic Institution

Sunday, 24 July 2016: 1:55 PM

Jacqueline Hoying, PhD, RN, NEA-BC1
Megan E. Amaya, PhD, CHES, AFAA2
Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk, PhD, RN, CPNP/PMHNP, FAANP, FNAP, FAAN2
(1)The Ohio State University College of Nursing, Columbus, OH, USA
(2)College of Nursing, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

Purpose: A wellness team is an essential component of a worksite wellness program initiative. The role of the wellness team is to communicate, participate, motivate, and support the worksite wellness program. Wellness teams help employees to see worksite wellness is an organizational priority. They contribute their interest, their passion, their expertise, and their time to the organization.

Methods: Developed 3 years ago under the direction of the University Chief Wellness Officer, the wellness team (Wellness Innovators) at a large academic institution in the United States includes over 500 faculty/staff members who have been recruited from across the university. The program is facilitated by a health promotion professional with experience running a wellness team. Six and 12-month outcomes are tracked in every new cohort who joins the program, and the program is very structured, with touch points on a monthly basis.

Results: Currently, the wellness team (Wellness Innovators) represents over 100 academic and academic medical center units and departments. In one cohort, the results showed a significant correlation with Body Mass Index (BMI) and beliefs about living a healthy lifestyle (p<.05) and BMI and healthy lifestyle behaviors (p=.03). In a second cohort, those that completed the 6 month follow-up had an increased perception of having a higher overall wellbeing for working at the institution. Program communications, strategy sessions, group meetings, webinars, and many unit wellness initiatives conducted by the Innovators under the direction of the program facilitator are documented to demonstrate the intricacies and success of the program, as well as success and challenges with employee participation and engagement in wellness.

Conclusion: Measuring perceptions and successes of the workplace wellness team is vital to the longevity and fiscal support of the program, as well as engagement for those volunteering their time and energy to promote a culture and environment where making the healthy choice is the easier choice.

See more of: Building Cultures and Environments of Wellness in Universities Across the U.S.: Key Strategies for Success
See more of: Research Sessions: Symposia