A new Wellness Center initiative kicks off with a presentation over lunch.
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The faculty and staff who participate in Elon’s group health insurance plan have a chance to win prizes for getting healthy.
The Wellness Center staff kicked off its latest initiative, Healthy Outcomes, at a lunchtime presentation in Moseley Center Wednesday. The program, which is sponsored by Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, will take place through Sept. 30 and encourages participates to take charge of their health.
“What we want everybody to do is take just the right steps you need to do to become healthier,” said Terese Honeycutt, the Blue Cross Blue Shield representative that explained the program.
Participants earn wellness credits for every step they take in the program, whether it’s by doing a health assessment, listening to a monthly webinar or adhering to preventative care guidelines.
The online health assessment captures detailed information, such as height, weight, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, as well as data such as seatbelt use and driving speeds. The information is confidential and won’t be shared with Elon University.
“Once you have completed the health assessment, you will get a score,” Honeycutt said. “Then we will let you know whether our tools can help you improve your health.”
Everyone who completes the health assessment will earn 40 wellness credits and if it’s done by March 31, participants will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card to Walmart. The people who earn 90 credits by June have a chance at a $100 gift card, and everyone with 90 credits by the end of the program in September will be entered to win an iPad. Multiple prizes will be given out at each drawing.
There are several ways to earn credits. The healthy living programs that cover topics such as smoking cessation, stress relief, nutrition, fitness, diabetes and heart disease provide weekly to-do lists, email reminders and other resources. Those programs earn participants 20 credits per activity.
Healthy living conversations are quick and interactive sessions about topics, such as stress, back pain or getting active, and only take about 10 minutes to complete but allow participants to earn 10 credits. Online monthly seminars focus on similar topics and are worth five credits each.
People who have regular preventative care, such as breast, cervical or colorectal cancer screenings or physical exams can earn as much as 50 wellness credits.
“The healthier you are and the healthier habits you have, the more chances you have to win the prizes that are available,” Honeycutt said.
Anyone interested in participating in Healthy Outcomes can go to mybcbsnc.com and click on the “Wellness” tab. For more information contact the Wellness Center at Ext. 5569.