July 12, 2007
King County's employee wellness program earns top national honors
King County's employee wellness program has earned the top national award from the American Heart Association's Start! Fit Friendly Companies Program for making the health and wellness of employees a priority. King County is the only county government in the U.S. and the only Puget Sound employer to receive the honor.
The county's wellness program was designed to reduce rising health care costs. Within its first year of providing tools, classes, outreach, and education to employees, 75 percent of employees at moderate or high risk for developing a chronic disease eliminated at least one risk factor.
Improving unhealthy work environments is the goal of the Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program. American adults spend a majority of their waking hours at work, where many are sedentary. Their lack of physical activity raises their risk for a host of medial problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Obesity alone costs American businesses $12.7 billion per year in medical expenses. Research from several institutions, including the University of Michigan's Health Management Research Center, shows that health promotion in the workplace leads to improved vitality, higher productivity and lower health care costs.
"We are honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association's Start! Fit Friendly Program at the platinum level," said King County Executive Ron Sims. "We are committed to providing a workplace environment that supports the health of our employees. Health is a shared responsibility. By supporting our employees in maintaining and improving their health, we expect to see a happier, more productive work force with lower health care costs. These improvements will ultimately benefit the public through the quality of our service and the strength of our programs."
For Laine Moore, who works in the county's Business Relations and Economic Development Office, the county's program was the impetus for reducing her cholesterol 89 points and bringing her blood pressure down to 120/70. She worked with a health coach provided through county's Healthy IncentivesSM benefit program. "I knew my coach was going to hold me accountable for my goals," said Moore. "My coach really helped keep me off the downward cycle."
Moore improved her health by modifying what she eats and making exercise a regular part of her day. "I climb the City Hall steps with a co-worker and go for walks at lunch," she said. "When I discovered how much my cholesterol numbers had gone down this year, I was really proud."
Providing health coaching to employees is one of the ways the county has changed the work environment to support employees' health. King County is one of only a handful of public agencies in the country to bring Weight Watchers at Work to its employees under a formal contract. The county also put healthy options in vending machines, worked with area gyms to offer discounts to its employees, conducts an extensive outreach and education effort called Eat Smart, King County, Move More, and last year launched the first annual countywide health challenge for employees. More than 1,200 county employees on 172 teams participated in the challenge with 75 percent of participants saying that they improved nutrition and physical activity behaviors as a result.
"While it's still too soon to tell what the reduction in our health care spending will be, all of the pieces are falling into place," said Caroline Whalen, an official overseeing the program. "The rate of participation in the program, the number of people improving their health and the actual reduction in risk factors all points to future savings. The public benefit is in increased productivity which will only improve our efficiency and service to the public."
In addition to the American Heart Association award, the county's program has been honored with an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties, and a Marcom Media Award for the pandemic flu issue of its monthly newsletter to employees.