The Fulton County Wellness Program has walked its way to statewide recognition.
The walking program was the focus of an Ohio Department of Health webinar in October on innovative strategies to encourage physical activity. The next month the Ohio Business Council Northwest Region General Meeting had local representatives present in Maumee.
The county’s wellness efforts are funded through money from the health insurance provider, CEBCO. The county gets $24 per employee signed up with CEBCO plus $4,000 for administration costs.
In 2016, the county received $6,095 plus the $4,000.
Employees and their spouses were given an incentive of $150 each if they completed a health risk assessment on the company’s StayWell Health portal. By completing various online programs, challenges and campaigns, they had a year to collect 300 points and the incentive.
More than 100 people completed the assessment and 80 completed all the steps to get the incentive.
Employees also had the chance to sit in on several “Lunch and Learn” sessions. The most popular session was The Sitting Disease which drew the maximum of 35 (with a waiting list). Thirty-four attended Yoga Mythbusters and 30 came to Mindfulness.
The Wellness group scheduled organized walks. Incentive drawings were held at each walk. Virtual walks were added for those who could not attend the organized walks.
In the coming year, the county will receive $5,760 plus $4,000 for administration.
A survey given to employees produced the top five topics for a Lunch and Learn session. In order, Positive Thinking, Healthy Cooking, Self-Defense, Healthy Tips for Eating Out and Physical Activity.
Top On-site screenings/tests/events: Vascular Scan, flu shots, bone density scan and skin analyzer.
Gift cards or cash were the top incentive for workers at 70.83 percent.
The biggest barriers to participation are inconvenient time and/or location.
The upcoming year will include quarterly lunch and learn meetings with a total cost of $2,075. Topics include vascular scan (on-site), osteoporosis with on-site Dexascan. An emphasis will be on how soda robs bones of phosphorous; osteoarthritis; exercising self-control and low-back care. The latter meeting will have a stadium seat cushion as an incentive.
Laura Howell, director of organizational development, asked the Fulton Board of Commissioners if the administration funds could be used to expand some of the programming to non-CEBCO affiliated workers.
The board was agreeable to the proposal, but asked for Howell and her team to bring it back as a resolution.
The commissioners also heard from Marketing and Communications Director Toni Schindler in her quarterly update.
Schindler is involved with promoting county business on several social media platforms and in print and online products. Her work ranged from getting the word out on the need for more polling station workers to linking to sites so people could more information on the election and where they could vote and if they were registered.
The polling stations reported everything went smoother this year and there were fewer phone calls, Schindler said.
She set up a weather alert and got 458 people to sign in very short order.
The sheriff and EMA have large followings, so whenever those two agencies post something, Schindler shares it.
Other items she posts are:
Job leads of the week. She got 30 new likes in a couple of days.
She posts interviews she does with local departments and programs on WMTR and the county’s website. The EMA Winter Preparedness segment garnered 700 views.
The Board of Elections was second with 523 views.
Senior Center menus are posted on social media.
At the regular meeting, the commissioners quickly approved contracts with Swanton and Archbold on behalf of the Senior Center.
James Pruitt may be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
