b'Cheshire County WORK Healthy Eating Active Living HEALTHY (CC HEAL)On the Right Track for a Healthy Work EnvironmentWhat does it take to create healthy workplaces in the region? Cheshire Encouraging healthy habits in the workplace is worth theCountys Healthy Eating Active Living (CC HEAL) initiative wanted to investment. According to the Wellness Council of America,find out.businesses get back $3 for every $1 invested in a wellness program. The investment translates into less absenteeism,CC HEAL program coordinator Maryanne Keating spent the past year lower health insurance costs, and happier and moreEmployees have embraced the Vision 2020 goal of living in the healthiestworking with six area workplaces to find out how businesses can best community in the nation and have become much more involved withhelp their employees become healthierand happier. The CC HEAL Advisory Committee is dedicated to supporting strategies productive employees. improving their overall health and well-being.In addition to our otherthat make the healthy choice the easy choice in worksites, after/before school programs and restaurantsin our community.Champion, Vision 2020 Organizational Champion worksites arewellness activities, our employees recently received training on identifyingWe piloted these sites to help create policy and environmentalKaren Balnis, CC HEAL Advisory Committeeand reducing stress.Champion, Bill Prokop, Assistant City Manger,changes in the workplaceand create behavior changes among invited to work with the Cheshire County Healthy EatingHuman Resources Director, City of Keene employees, says Keating. Then we measured the results. In photo: From left to right (front row): Yvonne Goldsberry, Andy Active Living (CC HEAL) initiative to complete the CenterBohannon, Karen Balnis; (back row): Peg Hauschildt , Jennifer Begley, for Disease Controls Wellness Scorecard. The scorecardIn photo: City of Keene Employee Wellness and Recognition CommitteeRudy Fedrizzi, Maryanne Keatingmembers from left to right (front row): Ginger Hill, Bill Dow, SheilaFive worksites in Keene: Hamshaw Lumber, True North Network, The measures how worksites are doing in twelve areas ofWilliams, Mayor Kendall Lane; (second row): Birney Robbins, PatInsurance Source, Keene Beauty Academy, Cheshire Medical Center/wellness (nutrition, physical activity, stress management,Holmes, Maria Castellano, Gary Lamoureux, Barry Hilton, John etc). After completing the tool, opportunities forMacLean; (back row): Andy Bohannon, Mike Hagan, Tom Moran Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene; and Polyonics, Inc., in Westmoreland environmental and policy change are identified andparticipated in the pilot. organizations receive technical support to choose andEach worksite decided, based on surveys with employees, what kinds make changes during the year. This service is offered to allof health issues it wanted to tackle within the organization. Some Champion worksites at no charge. companies handed out pedometers, others encouraged walking meetings to get people out of the office, others, such as Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene, created a mural on itsOur employees are very dedicated to their clients and sometimes that Champions Who Have Completedstairwell to encourage employees and visitors to take the stairs insteadmeans not leaving their desk all day.We want to create a worksite climate the CDC Wellness Scorecard: of the elevator, says Keating. that supports employees to focus on their own health and well-being so they can continue to be there for clients and the community.Champion, The Cheshire Horse Keenes Hamshaw Lumber, for example, was most interested inPhil Wyzik, CEO of Monadnock Family ServicesCheshire Medical Center Dartmouth Hitchcock Keene becoming a tobacco free environment. The company created anIn photo: MFS Employee Wellness Committee members from left to right: The City of Keene Completing the CDC Wellness Scorecard was a way for our organization tointerior tobacco-free policy and then went campus-wide with it, saysPhil Wyzik, Amy Bright, Bob Cote, Jocelyn Frain, Anna Sommer Cutts, Elm City Bagels and Deli measure the progress of our wellness program and identify new opportunities forKeating. As a result of the policy, and encouraging employees to quitDavid TenneyThe Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce change that will support our community to become the healthiest in the nation.smoking, the percentage of smokers decreased from 19 percent of Hamshaw LumberChampion, Jennifer Begley, Worksite Wellness Program Manager,employees to 10 percent.Home Healthcare, Hospice and Community Services Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth Hitchcock KeeneThe Insurance Source In photo: CMC/DHK Wellness Committee members from left to right: KelseyEmployees also volunteered to take a health risk assessment, and talk The Keene Family YMCA Plifka, Kelly Brown, Jennifer Begley, Dana Carley, Carol Huntley-Smith. Notto a nurse about how to improve high cholesterol, blood pressure and Keene State College Presidents Commission on Wellness pictured: Colleen Barry, Anne Nolan, Kristin Miller, Wendi Faulkner, Anneweight issues.Monadnock Family Services MurrockPolyonics, Inc The company had an amazing transformation in just one year, notes True North Networks Keating.The number of Hamshaw Lumber employees with high cholesterol decreased by 25 percent; those with elevated blood pressure The CDC Wellness Scorecard helped us identifywent down by 22 percent, and high body mass index (BMI) an obesity opportunities to expand upon our wellnessindicator, went down 19 percent.program.We adopted a breastfeeding policy andThe Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce (GKCC) works to advance and created a wellness committee to meet the needs andThese initial results show that CC HEAL is on the right track, saysadvocate for a vibrant business community. One way we do that is through interests of our employees now and into the future.Keating. Not only will employees become healthier as a result ofactive participation in the Vision 2020 Champions program.GKCC was oneChampion, Peg Hauschildt, RN, COHN-S,these company initiatives, but she says that research is clear on otherof the first worksite Champions to use the new CDC Wellness Scorecard and Wellness Program Manager, Home Healthcare,now we have physical activity breaks during our work day. We encourage benefits:Employees feel respected and cared for morale alone goesall GKCC members to become Vision 2020 Champions.Champion, Hospice and Community Services (HCS) through the roof when people have the opportunity to be physicallyLaura Keith King, President of the Greater Keene Chamber of In photo: HCS Wellness Committee members from left to right: Barbara Hamilton, Gayle Murphy, Kim May, Sara Ennis, Lara Larson, Mary Walker, Chaille Cohen, Marty Porter,active during the workday, she says. And when we have happyCommercePeg Hauschildt, Krista Clement, Laura Kolodziej employees, we have a happy business. In photo: From left to right: Julia Kowalski, Nancy Bishop, Susan Newcomer, Laura Keith King, Christine Hadlow, Deb Hathaway6 7'