Why Weight program motivates employees

by Pat Nolan

SBJ Contributing Writer

When it comes to motivating employees toward wellness, Cox Health Systems' response is "Why Weight?"

Cox employee Kevin Day set a goal for himself this year. It is the same goal many people set as their New Year's resolution: lose weight.

Just like last year, Day is off to a great start, losing more than 24 pounds. However, unlike last year, Day plans to keep the weight off and lose more. Twenty-five pounds more.

"My intent is to lose 50 pounds over the course of the year," Day said. "I want to develop some long-term lifestyle changes that are more healthy, which include continuous exercise, modified eating habits and trying to just live a little healthier."

The Why Weight game, sponsored by HealthSense, has helped Day start off on the right foot with education and motivation, he said.

The Why Weight Game, in which department teams compete to lose the most weight, evolves every year. This year weight loss was measured in pounds and in inches. Measuring loss in inches is effective because height/weight charts aren't good for individuals who are very lean or have a lot of muscle, said HealthSense staff member Nicole Cameron, the coordinator for this year's weight-loss game.

"Typically individuals who have a lot of muscle weigh more on scale," Cameron said. "So when they exercise they don't see a lot of weight loss on the scale, but we see it in inches."

This year the game offered an activity program and an education program each month of the game. Seventy-five percent of game participants went to two or more of the programs.

The educational programs began with a seminar on body image. Cameron said it was the most attended program with over 150 people present. Fad diet information followed. Attendees were informed of what makes a good diet and what makes a bad diet.

"In January, we opened up all of our aerobics classes, so they could come to them free even if they weren't members of the fitness center," Cameron said.

Another educational program was the Non-diet Connection, which shows how eating habits are influenced by behavioral things. "I look at weight loss as a three- prong issue; behavioral, nutrition, and exercise," Cameron said. "Each of the educational programs focused on one of those three prongs." All of the 187 participants who weighed out and lost more than five pounds or five inches received a T-shirt or hat for their efforts.

The only complaint: "I'd like to see it twice a year, because my eating habits have changed a little back to the negative," said Mike Short, captain of the winning team from the biomed department. "If they were to do another one in July or so, it would help establish good eating habits all year."

HealthSense is a cooperative effort by Cox Health Systems for Cox employees, said Miriam Clark, director of HealthSense. "HealthSense caters to about 4,500 employees of Cox, providing them with a variety of wellness opportunities including exercise, dietary education and general education opportunities."

The incentive program awards Cox employees "Cox Bucks" for participating in various activities. Exercising, and attending educational seminars, are avenues for staff to earn credits that transfer into Cox Bucks.

Under the incentive program, employees can earn up to $20 per quarter in the form of gift certificates for stores around town and movie tickets. HealthSense originated at Cox as an employee benefit in the fall of 1994. It has since grown to offer health assessments at outside companies.

"We have assessment packages that are tailored to the demographic needs of each population at each company," Clark said. The tests range from lipid profiles to sex-specific testing. "Naturally we report back to them the information that we found. Hopefully from there we intervene with education opportunities, programs, smoking cessation, whatever the need is."

Some companies that subscribe to HealthSense programs offer weight-loss games similar to Why Weight. One example is Associated Electric Cooperative. Angie Vire, staff assistant in human resources at Associated Electric, said, "Right now we're in a combination weight loss and fitness contest, where you get points for exercise. There are a few people in the weight loss portion of this, too, where you get points for however much you lose."

Vire said the wellness program at Associated Electric includes health screenings, flu shots, and a health fair for employees and spouses. A number of Associated Electric's employees take advantage of the programs offered by the company, programs which include facilities like a fitness room and walking track.

"We had quite a few employees that had perfect attendance last year here at headquarters, so we feel (wellness programs) are a benefit," Vire said. Cox has seen benefits in attendance and productivity from its HealthSense wellness programs, as well.

"By providing these opportunities, hopefully they're participating, and we can gain higher productivity, less absenteeism and less health care claims at the end of each year," Clark said.

Terry Bauer, a member of the winning team from Cox's biomed, said, "I think it's good that the hospital stands behind us with incentives that we do behave in a healthy manner."

"Many corporations around the United States have found that if they allow their employees to work out, even pay them to work out, research has shown they tend to have less absences due to illness," Day said.

"I think that's probably where we are headed, where we start stressing the overall fitness and wellness of employees in the workplace. That is an area where (the Why Weight game) could expand and incorporate some other recreational activities and benefit the overall wellness of people in the hospital and the surrounding community."

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Some companies that subscribe to HealthSense programs offer weight-loss games similar to

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