This month state officials will unveil a master plan to develop a worksite wellness program.
A few weeks ago, Gov. Donald L. Carcieri and his wife, Sue, led a group of business leaders in a walk around the State House to send the message that being more active, particularly in the workplace, is beneficial for everyone.
“We are thrilled that we have the interest and commitment of Gov. Carcieri and the first lady, this is a great initiative,” said Todd Cipriani, president of the Worksite Wellness Council of Rhode Island, an affiliate of the National Wellness Council of America.
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According to Cipriani, the governor, who with the first lady, serves as honorary co-chair of the WWCRI, is taking steps to lead the effort of a worksite wellness initiative, more so because he’s interested in making the state the first ‘well state’ in the nation.
“The governor is going further because he’s committing to have all state employees involved in this effort and that’s great because the state employs the largest number of workers in Rhode Island,” Cipriani said.
Worksite wellness efforts, he added, first took hold in Rhode Island in the mid-1990s when officials at the state Department of Health began taking steps to give employees a chance to participate in activities that would encourage wellness and health promotion in the workplace.
Inspired by those efforts, other private companies in the state including AAA Southern New England, Chem-Art of Lincoln, Toray Plastics of North Kingstown and The Washington Trust Company, among others, began to promote similar programs at their worksites encouraging their employees to lead healthier lifestyles.
At AAA New England, employees enjoy a variety of resources to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Mark Converse, safety manager at AAA, said the company focuses on identifying the interests and needs of its employees to model useful programs.
Their programs have been so successful that in 2002 AAA received the Bronze Award from WWCRI in recognition of its efforts.
“We’ve had a great response from our employees in part because being healthy offers benefits all the way around, on a personal level and as far as health care costs is concerned,” Converse added.
As for state employees, there’s already a group from the state Department of Health that is actively involved in health-conscious activities in the workplace, but as Edna S. Poulin, chief of worksite health for the Department of Health, sees it there’s room for more people to get involved. Right now there are close to 15,000 employees working for the state.
According to Poulin, the state Wellness Oversight Committee is still working out the final details of the comprehensive wellness program for state workers and should have a definite plan by the end of June.
“Right now the governor is asking all state departments to select a ‘Champion for Wellness’ to lead each department and serve as representatives,” Poulin said.
One of the first steps being taken by the state to achieve worksite wellness, Poulin said, will be to complete a health risk assessment test to determine the needs of every individual. Employees would be able to take part in this by taking an online test that would be offered through the UnitedHealthcare Web site.
“This will be a three-tier process that will focus on awareness, educational programs and intervention,” said Cheryl Martone, special assistant in the governor’s office working with the first lady.
Martone added that most of the programs for state employees would take place during lunchtime periods, and would probably include walking, theme workshops and health clinics. She added that the programs would be cost-effective for all state employees.
Long-term plans are just what the WWCRI has in mind. According to Cipriani, the center has been doing a lot of groundwork with the ultimate goal of turning Rhode Island into the first ‘well state’ in the nation. He added that, in order to achieve that goal, 20 percent of all employees in the state must work for companies that are certified as ‘well workplaces’ by WELCOA.
“Right now we are at 26 percent of that goal, but I’m looking at figures for June and they show that that number will jump to 46 percent by the end of the month,” Cipriani said. He added he anticipates that by December 2005 the figure will be closer to 60 percent, achieving the 100 percent mark by 2006.
