Working on Wellness: Building Capacity through Community Partnerships
Pike, Erica ; Fredricks, Tracey ; Torres, Shioban ; Santarelli, Claire ; Ryan, Mari ; Erck, Lisa ; McGovern, Leslee ; McCabe, Kathleen ; Myers, Kevin ; Punnett, Laura ... show 3 more
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Abstract
Establishing a wellness initiative in the workplace is a popular way for employers to attract and retain top talent, reduce health costs, and increase productivity. However, building a comprehensive wellness initiative can put a strain on an organization's time and resources. Working on Wellness (WoW) is an innovative 'capacity building' program designed to help employers across Massachusetts implement evidence-based worksite initiatives and policies that foster a healthier work environment. To broaden the understanding among employers about what influences health, WoW's Community Partnerships component introduces organizations to the notion that businesses can play a key role in building healthy communities. The curriculum describes how employers can join efforts to improve the places where they live, work and play. Businesses are encouraged to incorporate interventions into their worksite wellness programs and policies that show mutually beneficial outcomes between employers and community partners. This poster will introduce tools and resources created through WoW including our approach to introduce community partnerships through our online training modules and our Community Scan assessment tool, which provides a roadmap to consider traditional and nontraditional partners for organization's wellness interventions. The poster will feature case studies highlighting how participants used the Community Scan to find and establish strong partnerships to reach their goals of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, reducing stress, and increasing physical activity among employees and community residents. This poster is one of a series of posters on this project presented by the project team: UMass Medical, UMass Lowell, Health Resources in Action and AdvancingWellness.