It’s Time to Redefine Wellness

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Indiana Chamber of Commerce

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The Wellness Council of Indiana’s Chuck Gillespie recently had a column featured in the new U.S. Chamber Foundation report, “Healthy Returns: The Value of Investing in Community Health.”

A simple Internet search can show why the wellness industry is at a crossroads. In today’s market, the definition of “wellness” is based more on which classification best fits a person’s specific need, want, or ability, or a vendor’s specific product or service. Wellness is sometimes tied to chronic disease management, fitness, nutrition, weight loss, clinical health services, tobacco use, and behavioral therapy just to name a few. However, workplaces and communities that use an economics-based approach to wellness have proven to be the most successful at creating a culture of health and well-being. Read more in the report on page 16.

Starting a Movement: Healthy Businesses Fuel Healthy Communities

Posted on June 7, 2016 by Indiana Chamber of Commerce

Building on the successful Health Means Business event earlier this year is an upcoming program supported by the Indiana Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the Wellness Council of Indiana.

Healthy Businesses Fuel Healthy Communities is the focus on July 13 (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) as the Indiana business and philanthropic sectors come together to explore how corporate engagement in community service can improve health for employees and all Hoosiers.

Take this opportunity to connect, learn from and collaborate with like-minded organizations and discuss ways you can work together to address health needs in your community.

Additional objectives include the following:

Learn about Indiana’s critical health needs and the social and economic factors contributing to them
Understand how corporate community service and wellness programs benefit both companies and communities
Understand how to leverage your internal resources to support wellness inside and outside your organization

Who should attend?

Business owners and leaders
Executives and program officers at corporate foundation
Individuals involved with corporate giving, cause marketing and corporate social responsibility programs (program managers, execs, marketing, sales or HR)
Individuals involved with corporate wellness initiatives (program managers, executives, marketing, sales or HR)

Learn more and register online. Contact Marie Beason at the Indiana Philanthropy Alliance at mbeason(at)inphilanthropy(dot)org or (317) 630-5200, ext. 115 with questions.

Health Means Business for Indiana’s Economy

Posted on January 27, 2016 by Tom Hirons

tom hirons The improvement in Indiana’s economic environment is an outstanding success story. The series of top 10 business climate rankings from respected national sources is a tribute to the work of many throughout our state.

The same broad-based, dedicated effort is required in one very important area in which the state is not faring well in national comparisons. And if we don’t finally make some significant advances, those sought-after employers and their talented employees might not find Indiana to be such a great place to work and live.

The inferior health of our workforce – and overall population – is no secret. In the 2015 Report Card measuring progress on the Indiana Chamber’s Indiana Vision 2025 plan, two rankings stood out in a negative manner: 39th in adult smoking rate (despite a four percentage point improvement from the prior measurement) and 42nd in adult obesity.

In the most recent America’s Health Rankings from the United Health Foundation, Indiana’s behaviors (physical activity in addition to smoking and obesity) and outcomes (diabetes, cardiovascular deaths and cancer deaths) fare no better.

Health Means Business. That is a statement and the title of an upcoming event intended to promote business-led community health initiatives. As the Wellness Council of Indiana has been advocating, a healthier Indiana is vital in recruiting and retaining employees, reducing health care costs, limiting absenteeism and increasing productivity.

Details are coming soon on a new Indiana Healthy Community Initiative – modeled after the Wellness Council’s AchieveWELL process for employers – that will allow towns/cities/counties to lead collaborative efforts to improve the health of their citizens.

Indiana is one of 10 stops on a national Health Means Business tour. The Indiana Chamber Foundation is partnering with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for the February 5 event. We see this as just one of many steps to putting Indiana on a healthier road and keeping our state among the nation’s business leaders.

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Tom Hirons, president and CEO of Hirons, is the 2016 Indiana Chamber of Commerce chairman of the board.

Workers Crave More than Currency

Posted on January 15, 2016 by Symone C. Skrzycki

domination concepts with apples

Losing weight isn’t always fun. Dropping the pounds is rewarding, but the journey can be tough. Very tough.

Wouldn’t it be nice to get paid for your efforts? It turns out that doesn’t always entice employees, according to a new study.

Here’s a taste:

The study, published in January’s issue of the journal Health Affairs, reported the results of a yearlong randomized controlled trial to test the effectiveness of financial incentives to encourage weight loss among 197 obese employees of the University of Pennsylvania health system.

Participants were asked to lose 5% of their weight. Each was assigned to one of four study groups. The control group wasn’t offered any financial rewards. The three other groups were offered an incentive valued at $550.

People in one group were told they would begin receiving health insurance premium discounts biweekly immediately after reaching their weight loss goal. In another group, the people were told they would receive biweekly premium adjustments the following year if they reached their goal. Volunteers in the final group were eligible for a daily lottery payment if they met their daily weight loss goal and weighed in the previous day.

At year’s end, no group had met the 5% weight loss target. Participants’ average weight was virtually unchanged, whether or not they had a financial incentive to lose pounds. Nineteen percent of participants did meet the 5% target, but they weren’t concentrated in any particular group.

Elements Financial: Maximizing Its Chamber Investment Through Wellness

Posted on December 14, 2015 by Symone C. Skrzycki

Shickel_Todd When people want to be healthy, they usually consider a balanced diet and regular exercise. Too often, though, they do not think of how their personal finances are part of their health.

Todd Shickel, assistant vice president of business development at Elements Financial (a Chamber member since 1999 with 150 employees), believes companies should take a more holistic approach to wellness. Elements Financial’s partnership with the Wellness Council of Indiana (WCI) has allowed it to reach a new audience as an expert in the field of financial wellness.

“We found that sometimes employers have been hesitant in supporting their employees’ financial wellness,” Shickel explains. “We have been able to demonstrate to them the effect it has on their (employees’) performance at work. The stressors connected to that can impact physical health, which affects productivity and performance.”

Elements Financial is a credit union which works with businesses to help employees plan and manage their personal finances. The company is a premiere sponsor of the WCI and Shickel is a member of its board of advisors.

Shickel worked with Chuck Gillespie, executive director of the WCI, to learn about the five components of well-being: physical, financial, community, social and personal wellness. These components guided a company wellness program at Elements Financial that has improved the workplace. Elements Financial has been named as one of Indiana’s Best Places to Work for six years running.

“If you look at the five components of well-being, our company definitely has something in place for each of those and we can talk to other employers about it,” Shickel says. “We are practicing what we preach, and it gives us credibility.”

Shickel’s workplace also incentivizes wellness for its employees by giving “wellness points” that may add up to a gift or a reimbursement to employees’ health savings accounts. He says employees have really incorporated wellness into the office culture.

“Wellness doesn’t have to be this huge mountain that is impossible to climb,” Shickel assures. “If you reach out to the Wellness Council, you are going to find there are a lot of resources out there and ways to keep the costs down.”

Maple Leaf Farms: Maximizing Chamber Investment Through Wellness

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Symone C. Skrzycki

Christy_Bob When Maple Leaf Farms’ facility took over the space occupied by an old elementary school in the small town of Leesburg, the building was nearly entirely gutted and changed, but one room remained the same: the gymnasium.

With the on-site gym and fitness center already in place and remodeled, Bob Christy, benefits manager, began to set forth a competitive wellness plan with a little help from the Indiana Chamber.

Chuck Gillespie, executive director of the Wellness Council of Indiana, provided a wellness consultation to Maple Lead Farms to help the company determine how to move forward with its wellness program and answered questions from employees.

“I would highly recommend the consultation,” Christy asserts. “I think it should be a requirement. You need to do it once a year and have somebody (from the Council) talk to your whole group.”

For the past year and a half, Christy says Maple Leaf Farms has done “everything from poker walks to health challenges to biometric screenings.” The business’ efforts have earned it a Three-Star AchieveWELL certification from the Wellness Council of Indiana.

“When I started, (it took about the first year) to get most of the health programs set up,” Christy says. “Before that, the wellness program was kind of nonexistent. I spoke at the first annual meeting on portions … and that’s when I really got started.”

A wellness program that once was “nonexistent” now even has its own jackets – emblazoned with the words “Wellness Protection Program” and a picture of a duck, a very important symbol for the company.

Maple Leaf Farms is a family-owned business that raises and processes ducks; today it boasts 17 locations. The wellness plan now extends to all employees, regardless of their whereabouts, and each year, Christy spends two weeks on the road encouraging employees to complete biometric screenings and the Anthem health assessment.

Because Maple Leaf Farms leads the nation in the duck market, it often works with a lot of celebrity chefs and cooking initiatives. With its large kitchen and focus on healthy eating, Christy saw an opportunity to promote healthy eating through lunch-and-learns or quick dinners, meal prep demonstrations, vending machines with nutritious options and the upcoming fresh fruits on Fridays.

“We’re trying to do ‘Fruitful Friday,’” Christy explains. “We eat so much food here because there are always things going on in the kitchen.”

The wellness program continues to grow, with presentations from nutritionists and dieticians, new partnerships with the Warsaw YMCA and the potential of on-site chair massages. Maple Leaf Farm’s partnership with the Chamber and its attendance at Chamber conferences has improved its offerings for employees.

“The biggest thing with this (Chamber) membership is the resources that they have,” Christy says. “It’s some of the best you can get. It’s in Indiana, and it’s about Indiana. These people all work here just like us, and we deal with the same laws, the same tax codes, the same everything. It is about Indiana.

Wellness Council of Indiana Recognizes 35 AchieveWELL Companies

Posted on October 13, 2015 by Indiana Chamber of Commerce

The Wellness Council of Indiana recently announced that 35 Hoosier organizations across the state have qualified for new AchieveWELL certification.

Groups working toward creating a corporate culture that encourages and supports employee health through worksite wellness programs are eligible for the designation. AchieveWELL provides an independent assessment of wellness processes and is divided into three levels: Three Star, Four Star and Five Star. The standards are progressive through the Five-Star Award.

New Three-Star recipients:
• Bona Vista Programs, Inc. – Kokomo
• CICOA Aging & In-Home Solutions – Indianapolis
• Gregory & Appel Insurance – Indianapolis
• Hamilton County – Noblesville
• The Indiana Rail Road Company – Indianapolis
• Indiana University – Bloomington
• Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation
• Katz, Sapper & Miller CPAs – Indianapolis
• Lenex Steel Corporation – Indianapolis
• LHD Benefit Advisors – Indianapolis
• Monarch Beverage – Indianapolis
• Muncie Delaware Co. Chamber of Commerce and Horizon Convention Center
• Muncie Indiana Transit System
• MutualBank – Muncie
• Open Door Health Services – Muncie
• Riverview Health – Noblesville
• Shindigz – South Whitley
• Simon Property Group – Indianapolis
• State of Indiana – Indianapolis
• Taghleef Industries, Inc. – Terre Haute
• Walgreens Pharmacies – Carmel

New Four-Star recipients:
• Apex Benefits Group, Inc. – Indianapolis
• City of South Bend – South Bend
• Covance Central Laboratory Services, Inc. – Indianapolis
• Hancock Regional Hospital – Greenfield
• IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital – Muncie
• Margaret Mary Health – Batesville
• Mulzer Crushed Stone, Inc. – Tell City
• The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis – Indianapolis
• Walker Information, Inc. – Indianapolis

New Five-Star recipients:
• Ball State University – Muncie
• Citizens Energy Group – Indianapolis
• Ontario Systems – Muncie
• Vectren Corporation – Evansville
• Youth Opportunity Center – Muncie

Without dictating how worksite wellness programs are conducted, the AchieveWELL process offers a clear understanding of the necessary components of successful worksite wellness and recognizes excellence in the field of health promotion. Helpful tools, templates and personal coaching are offered to those aspiring to become AchieveWELL organizations.

The AchieveWELL program is free to members of the Wellness Council of Indiana. For information on joining the Wellness Council, visit www.wellnessindiana.org or call (317) 264-2168.

The Wellness Council of Indiana is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce.

Stephanie Arne: A Global Perspective on Wellness

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Katie Coffin

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Stephanie Arne is the first-ever female host of the iconic show “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.” She will be the opening presenter at the 2015 Indiana Health and Wellness Summit (October 7-8) discussing the connection between human health and planetary health.

Indiana Chamber: The definition of “wellness” can be pretty broad. What is your fresh perspective on what wellness truly is, and what does that mean for the average person?

Stephanie Arne: “Wellness” means achieving “a state of healthy balance.” When you eat nourishing food, get appropriate levels of exercise, avoid stress triggers and take proper personal time for emotional well-being – each of these actions moves the body into greater states of balance.

The part I think has been missing from the “wellness” concept up to this point has been how much these things are truly connected to each other, and furthermore, how much these things are connected to that which is external to us – specifically, our environment.

We have, so far, missed the bigger picture – to see our global interconnectedness, and how this translates to personal health. For all of us, this means opening up to the tremendous opportunities afforded by taking a global perspective to ones’ health, which I look forward to discussing further at the Health and Wellness Summit in October.

IC: What do you hope attendees take away from your presentation specifically and the summit as a whole?

SA: I hope attendees will walk away feeling uplifted and empowered to effect change, whatever that may mean for them personally. One person may feel empowered to reduce the amount of processed foods they consume, which ultimately benefits their own health, but also has a global impact by reducing the demand for chemically-made, environmentally-polluting products. Another person may feel empowered to start a community garden where they can share fresh, organic produce with their neighbors, creating a space for simultaneous recreation and community connection, as well as a place to obtain healthy food. Either way, both people will be making immediate changes that will result in long-term benefits.

IC: Why should every company/organization take an active role in promoting healthy lifestyles and engaging employees in wellness strategies?

SA: Companies have a lot of power – both within AND outside of the corporation.

Within the corporation, they decide what the corporate culture will be. Outside, they decide what ideals to support through their channel partners and resource suppliers.

At this point, we have seen the statistics proving that a healthy employee is a happy employee, and that healthy/happy employees are more productive. Companies know unequivocally that to invest in the health of their employees by supporting corporate wellness initiatives is the surest way to guarantee the highest levels of productivity, and therefore profitability, of the employee investment.

In my opinion, the other major way to retain a competitive edge is by providing services in an increasingly sustainable manner. Consumers are still consuming, but they are looking for ever-increasing ways to do so with less waste and less pollution. If your company is operating from a perspective of total wellness and health, then it will be doing so with a global perspective. This is where the true change, inspiration, progress and reward come into play.

Get more information or register for the 2015 Indiana Health and Wellness Summit online.

WellCert Level 1: A Must for All Employee Wellness Professionals

Posted on September 22, 2015 by Chuck Gillespie

Your wellness career didn’t come with an instruction manual. Let’s face it, creating sustained behavior change is hard.

Professionals like you need specialized skills to create effective wellness programs for the organizations they serve. We are passionate about empowering wellness professionals with the tools they need to succeed. That’s why we’re bringing you WellCert.

WellCert Level 1, Certified Wellness Program Coordinator (CWPC) is a professional certification training course with a unique skill-focus that ensures graduates can immediately put their knowledge to work on the job. Designed by Chapman Institute founder Larry S. Chapman MPH, WellCert synthesizes 40+ years of experience with over 1,000 organizations.

WHAT: WellCert Level 1 Certified Wellness Program Coordinator (CWPC) training course
WHEN: October 29-30, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
WHERE: Indiana Chamber Conference Center
WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
– Worksite wellness professionals
– Presidents, CEOs, CFOs and COOs
– Brokers
– Benefit managers
– Wellness committee members
– Human resource staff
PRICE: $1,350, Wellness Council member price: $1,050 with code WI-Member-15

Drawing from best-practice solutions and proven industry research, WellCert provides the skills needed to plan, implement, manage and measure employee wellness programs that improve health and reduce employee costs. Register for the October course today to ensure you’re well-equipped with cutting-edge expertise to create programs that deliver results.

Pacers Bikeshare Partners with UST Global to Kick Off One Million Calories Campaign

Posted on July 30, 2015 by Indiana Chamber of Commerce

Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Inc. (ICT) announced a partnership this week between the Pacers Bikeshare program and UST Global, a leading provider of end-to-end digital solutions and IT services for Global 1000 companies. The One Million Calories Campaign challenges the Indianapolis community to burn one million calories using Pacers Bikeshare bikes during the month of August. To kick off the campaign, UST Global is providing free access to the bikeshare program this weekend. A release has more:

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard officially launched the campaign on July 29 outside of City Market, recognizing the critical role of technology in healthcare.

“I’m thrilled that UST Global has selected Indianapolis as the place to launch the One Million Calories Campaign,” says Mayor Ballard. “Our Pacers Bikeshare program is a healthy way to travel and experience downtown, and it will be exciting to see just how many calories our community can burn by using the bikeshare next month.”

Individuals wanting to take advantage of free access to Pacers Bikeshare, complements of UST Global on August 1-2, can do so by checking out a bike at any station kiosk. A credit card must still be used when checking out a bike and usage fees for trips over 30 minutes will still apply. More information about how to use Pacers Bikeshare is available at www.pacersbikeshare.org.

“The impact of technology on advancing breakthroughs in healthcare is undeniable, whether observed through mobile applications, medical devices, or online services. We’ve worked tirelessly to remain at the forefront of healthcare’s digitization movement, and the past few years have yielded tremendous success for UST Global’s healthcare practice.” explains Nikki Arora, Chief Marketing Officer at UST Global. “We are thrilled to invest in the Indianapolis community, and our partnership with Indianapolis Cultural Trail and its Pacers Bikeshare Program will help us more clearly understand the needs of customers and bring better innovation to market at a faster pace.”

The digital health sector is exploding, as 2014 saw $6.5 billion dollars invested in the industry – a 125% increase from 2013. From activity trackers to app-focused wellness portals, technology is redefining the way consumers take charge of their health and how healthcare companies meet patients’ needs. UST Global is committed to empowering healthcare communities around the country by helping providers improve accessibility to healthcare services and insurance. Cost-efficient, easy-to-use systems make it possible for everyone to monitor their health, stay active and maximize the use of their healthcare services.

“Our community burned over nine million calories riding Pacers Bikeshare bikes last year,” concludes ICT, Inc. Executive Director Karen Haley. “Our partnership with UST Global underscores that bikeshare plays a vital role in making Indy an active and healthy community.”

Pictured are (left to right) Eric Ellsworth, president and CEO, YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard, Kären Haley, executive director, Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Inc. and John Seitz, healthcare transformation strategist at UST Global.

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