By : OURTENAY EDELHART
Source : http://www.bakersfield.com
Category : Small Business Grant
Fifteen Kern County businesses will be chosen to receive a free, two-year comprehensive worksite wellness program thanks to a federal grant.
Kern is one of only seven counties in the nation to be included in the National Healthy Worksite Program, funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Administered by Phoenix-based Viridian Health Management, the $8 million program was approved by Congress to develop a best practices model for worksite health at up to 100 companies located in the seven program areas.
"It's not a pilot program. It's more like a seed program," said Joe Manguno, spokesman for the National Healthy Worksite Program. "What we're hoping is that after a couple of years, the employers that are chosen will decide to continue, and that it will spread to other employers through community networks that we're going to encourage and set up."
That way, even companies that aren't chosen will be in a position to benefit from what the selected companies learn, Manguno said.
The wellness initiative is an "incredible opportunity," said Tim Terrio, founder and CEO of Terrio Therapy-Fitness Inc. and chairman of the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce.
But it's sort of a dubious honor. That's because Kern was chosen in part because of the region's notoriously poor health.
"This is what happens when you're a really sick county," Terrio said.
With its racial diversity, high number of uninsured and alarming rates of illness, Kern was a good reflection of the obstacles facing the nation as a whole, federal officials said.
More people die from heart disease in Kern County than any other county in California, and Kern is the second worst county in the state for deaths related to diabetes. Six of every 10 residents here are overweight or obese.
On a brighter note, the criteria for selection also included the community's ability to work together to overcome those challenges.
Officials were impressed by an active and organized business community here. They also took notice of "Kern County Call to Action: Chronic Disease and Obesity Action Plan," a 2010 report laying out the area's health care issues and brainstorming ways to address them.
"We were ripe for this kind of work," said Mariel Mehdipour, director of health promotion and public information for the Kern County Department of Public Health. "It's true that our health problems are challenging, but Kern County is getting a lot of attention and a lot of different resources are coming our way, so this is exciting."
About 81 percent of businesses with 50 or more employees have some form of health promotion program, according to The Wellness Councils of America, a nonprofit organization that promotes workplace wellness. The most popular are exercise, stop-smoking classes, back care programs and stress management.
Employee wellness programs save $3 in medical costs for every $1 invested, according to the Florida consulting firm Workplace Wellness Corp.
With health care costs soaring, both the public and private sectors like that math.
Locally, the goal is to get at least 150 companies to apply for the wellness program, which among other things will cover physical activity, nutrition education and decreased tobacco use.
Selected companies will get a health care program tailored to the needs of their particular workers.
Individual employees will not be identified in an analysis that will be used to design the program, but at the end of that analysis, employers would know, for instance, what percentage of its workforce smoked or was diabetic or otherwise was at risk for serious health problems. Then, the National Healthy Worksite Program will come up with a customized response.
"It's an unbelievable package," Terrio said.
Source : http://www.bakersfield.com/news/business/economy/x1135853092/Kern-businesses-to-receive-free-wellness-program
Source : http://www.bakersfield.com
Category : Small Business Grant
Fifteen Kern County businesses will be chosen to receive a free, two-year comprehensive worksite wellness program thanks to a federal grant.
Kern is one of only seven counties in the nation to be included in the National Healthy Worksite Program, funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Administered by Phoenix-based Viridian Health Management, the $8 million program was approved by Congress to develop a best practices model for worksite health at up to 100 companies located in the seven program areas.
"It's not a pilot program. It's more like a seed program," said Joe Manguno, spokesman for the National Healthy Worksite Program. "What we're hoping is that after a couple of years, the employers that are chosen will decide to continue, and that it will spread to other employers through community networks that we're going to encourage and set up."
That way, even companies that aren't chosen will be in a position to benefit from what the selected companies learn, Manguno said.
The wellness initiative is an "incredible opportunity," said Tim Terrio, founder and CEO of Terrio Therapy-Fitness Inc. and chairman of the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce.
But it's sort of a dubious honor. That's because Kern was chosen in part because of the region's notoriously poor health.
"This is what happens when you're a really sick county," Terrio said.
With its racial diversity, high number of uninsured and alarming rates of illness, Kern was a good reflection of the obstacles facing the nation as a whole, federal officials said.
More people die from heart disease in Kern County than any other county in California, and Kern is the second worst county in the state for deaths related to diabetes. Six of every 10 residents here are overweight or obese.
On a brighter note, the criteria for selection also included the community's ability to work together to overcome those challenges.
Officials were impressed by an active and organized business community here. They also took notice of "Kern County Call to Action: Chronic Disease and Obesity Action Plan," a 2010 report laying out the area's health care issues and brainstorming ways to address them.
"We were ripe for this kind of work," said Mariel Mehdipour, director of health promotion and public information for the Kern County Department of Public Health. "It's true that our health problems are challenging, but Kern County is getting a lot of attention and a lot of different resources are coming our way, so this is exciting."
About 81 percent of businesses with 50 or more employees have some form of health promotion program, according to The Wellness Councils of America, a nonprofit organization that promotes workplace wellness. The most popular are exercise, stop-smoking classes, back care programs and stress management.
Employee wellness programs save $3 in medical costs for every $1 invested, according to the Florida consulting firm Workplace Wellness Corp.
With health care costs soaring, both the public and private sectors like that math.
Locally, the goal is to get at least 150 companies to apply for the wellness program, which among other things will cover physical activity, nutrition education and decreased tobacco use.
Selected companies will get a health care program tailored to the needs of their particular workers.
Individual employees will not be identified in an analysis that will be used to design the program, but at the end of that analysis, employers would know, for instance, what percentage of its workforce smoked or was diabetic or otherwise was at risk for serious health problems. Then, the National Healthy Worksite Program will come up with a customized response.
"It's an unbelievable package," Terrio said.
Source : http://www.bakersfield.com/news/business/economy/x1135853092/Kern-businesses-to-receive-free-wellness-program
