Key Elements for a Successful Wellness Program

  1. County administrators make a commitment to worksite and county wellness
  2. Create a wellness task force
  3. Identify interests and needs of employees specific to your county
  4. Utilize the resources of Local Government Risk Management Services (LGRMS)
  5. Partner with local agencies and organizations, including UGA Extension
  6. Create a supportive workplace
  7. Evaluate your efforts every 3-6 months

Easy, Low-Cost Ideas to implement as part of Wellness Programs:

Wellness Program Support

  • Apply for the LGRMS Health Promotion Grant.
  • Develop a brainstorming team for ideas and to help with wellness activities.
  • Conduct a survey to assess what topics/activities employees want to pursue.
  • Provide incentives: T-shirts, caps, paid time off for goals achieved.
  • Announce and publicize a monthly health theme. Hold contests: “Wellness Project of the Month” or “Set Your Goal” competition, employee-management and interdepartmental challenges with prizes to the winners and other fun worksite competitions.
  • Create positive peer pressure. Display health posters in employee lunch and meeting rooms.
  • Provide bulletin boards for health information exchange and for people to write milestones they have achieved in health, ex. New Year’s resolutions, miles walked, pounds lost.
  • Conduct recognition activities for employees making efforts at healthier lifestyles. Send employees personally signed letters from municipal administrators congratulating their healthy behaviors. Promote success stories or “Employee of the Month.” Recognize the coordinator of wellness activities.
  • Kick off “Lunch and Learn” programs. Use videos and guest speakers on various health topics at lunchtime.
  • Urge employees to bring a healthy, brown bag lunch.
  • Include children of employees in a drawing contest with health as the theme.
  • Work with the health department or a nurse to set a time (weekly or monthly) to check blood pressures, body fat and weights.
  • Provide flu shots at the worksite or make schedules of community clinics available.
  • Utilize the Living Well Georgia newsletter as well as health newsletters from your county Extension office and health department. Highlight healthy lifestyle success stories in your own newsletter.
  • Conduct employee health fairs and wellness giveaways, ex. gift certificates to farmers markets.
  • Provide health information, i.e. fact sheets, for employees to take home. Distribute safety information before long holiday weekends (utilize your county Extension office and health department for information!).

Physical Activity

  • Create a Walk Georgia campaign and encourage employees to track their physical activity. Employees could walk to specific locations and log both individual and group physical activity. Walk Georgia data and reports could be used for incentive prizes. Contact your county Extension office for help setting up a campaign.
  • Develop indoor and outdoor wellness trails accessible to employees of all abilities. Convert stairwells to walking areas by increasing the lighting and adding colorful posters.
  • Develop walking maps. Measure the distance in halls and around the building for setting walking goals.
  • Offer incentives for distance parking and for employees who walk or bike to work.
  • Promote a stair-climbing competition.
  • Conduct an “Avoid the Elevator” campaign.
  • Encourage physical activity breaks during long meetings and conferences.
  • Identify places within the worksite or around the building for physical activities.
  • Have a “Goal of the Week” or “Goal of the Month,” ex. “I will exercise every work day this week.” Keep a chart of weekly or monthly exercise goals in the office.

Nutrition

  • Use vending machine profits to help fund wellness programs.
  • Place incentive stickers on low-fat or low-sugar items in vending machines and on healthy choice selections.
  • Develop a cookbook of employees’ healthy recipes, exchange recipes and feature healthy employee recipes in an employee newsletter. (Make sure the recipes are healthy! Get the county Extension office to help.)
  • Hold healthy recipe contests or potlucks.
  • Celebrate “Free Fruit Day” – Give apples, oranges or any in-season fruit away.
  • Have a home-grown fruit and vegetable exchange.
  • If serving snacks at meetings or breaks, ensure they are healthy snacks, like fruit and granola bars.
  • Sponsor weight management programs.

Stress Management (Note that exercise and good nutrition are great stress-busters.)

  • Encourage employees to use their breaks to truly relax.
  • Encourage laughter and communication to reduce stress at the workplace.
  • Encourage employees to get involved with community volunteer activities, mentor a child or promote a “Call-a-Friend” campaign to provide social support for aging adults in the community.
  • Encourage staff to take their meal breaks away from their work station.

Adapted from DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2010-140 and the New York State Department of Health’s 101 Low Cost Ideas for Worksite Wellness by the University of Georgia Obesity Initiative’s Community Health Team for use by the Georgia Municipal Association.