Re: UA Health in Action Monthly Program Report for February 2009

March 30, 2009

Dear Mike Humphrey,

Please find attached the UA Health in Action February report. The report covers program activities for this month and includes:  Participation numbers  Summaries of services (with statistical information)  Program development and miscellaneous  Program feedback

Total participation in February for the UA wellness program was 7,631.

If you have any comments or questions, please let us know. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.

Very truly,

Shannon Brady Garman Summer Neuroth

Wellness Initiatives Network for Alaska, Inc. P.O. Box 91393, Anchorage, AK 99509 Toll Free: 1-866-248-0797 • Phone: 907-248-0797 • Fax: 907-248-0751 • E-mail: [email protected] www.winforalaska.com UA Health in Action Monthly Program Report February 2009

Participation Numbers

The total participation numbers for all UA Health in Action services in February reached 7,631. Figure 1 shows total participation numbers for each month in 2009.

Program Participation Numbers Year-to-Date Program Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total Incoming Email* 580 664

Telephone Calls* 157 207

Wellness Breaks 155 237 Physical Fitness Events: 46 70 UAA Pilates Physical Fitness Events: N/A 22 UAA Nordic Skiing Individualized Health Planning Sessions— 457 505 Phase 2 Presentations N/A N/A

Midday Health Forums 17 12 Get the Point Tracking System Registration N/A 652 (total to month end) Get the Point Incentive Campaign N/A N/A (total to month end) UA Health in Action 2412 2995 website visits Audiocasts (times an 39 154 audiocast was played) Fitness Buddy directory 28 34 UA Health Link 2033 1995 eNewsletter opens Health Tip of the Month 106 84 email opens Total 6030 7631

Figure 1. Program participation numbers in 2009. *This includes only incoming emails and calls from UA employees.

Summaries of Services

These summaries, list WIN’s new and ongoing actions for each service we provided in February.

Customer Service New Actions  Replied to calls and emails regarding:  Get the Point (GTP)—general campaign questions, account activations, resetting passwords, and GTP system questions  Pilates—waitlist requests and class information questions  Nordic skiing—questions about skiing and waxing  Individualized Health Planning (IHP)—appointment scheduling/rescheduling/cancellations/confirmations, directions to appointment, and program information  Wellness Breaks—more information, how to register, and requests for more blood screening and massage appointments.  Full Circle Farms Delivery—questions about a drop site in Juneau  Miscellaneous—wellness questions, appreciations, and requests to find a percussis vaccination clinic that was occurring on campus

Wellness Breaks New Actions  Held four Wellness Breaks as noted in figure 2. The total abnormal biometric screening results from these Wellness Breaks are shown in figures 3 and 4. Two Wellness Breaks were for rural locations that involved travel.  Coordinated with massage therapists in four locations for Wellness Breaks held this month.  Sent confirmation email to requesters for Wellness Breaks at the following locations:  Ketchikan Campus  UAF Career Services Department  Financial Aide Department  Accounting Services Department  Kenai Peninsula College  UAF-OIT Department  UAF Admissions Department

Ongoing Actions  Organizing Wellness Breaks for Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks for the coming months.  Working on travel arrangements with the rural coordinators.  Receiving emails, telephone calls, and faxes from Anchorage, Juneau and Fairbanks as well as the rural communities requesting Wellness Breaks.  Preparing for meetings and meeting with Wellness Break coordinators. Working on their requested Wellness Break topics, faculty and staff questions, room preparation, etc.  Following the Wellness Break promotion schedule: “Save the date” flyer sent one month in advance of the Wellness Break, invitation sent two weeks in advance, reminder emails sent two days before, and appointment confirmation/reminder emails the day before.

Wellness Breaks Participation Numbers in February (These totals include the number of participants at each presentation, activity, and biometric test. Individuals could have attended multiple presentations, activities, and tests. )

University Department/ Campus/ Activity Participants Totals School/ College UAF Admissions Department Presentations 27 Snacks/smoothies 12 Blood Screening 5 Blood Pressure 11 Massages 11 66 Mat Su College Presentations 7 Snacks/smoothies 13 Blood Screening 15 Blood Pressure 10 Body Composition 10 Massages 18 73 UAF Wood Center Staff Presentations 23 Snacks/smoothies 8 Blood Screening 10 Blood Pressure 10 Massages 11 62 Seward Marine Center Presentations 2 Snacks/smoothies 2 Blood Screening 9 Blood Pressure 7 Body Composition 7 Massages 9 36

Wellness Breaks Total 237

Figure 2. Detailed Wellness Break participation numbers for February. This shows how many times someone benefited from a Wellness Break activity.

Blood Cholesterol Abnormal Numbers (out of 39 participants) High Density Low Density Triglycerides Glucose Ratio Total Lipoprotein Lipoprotein Cholesterol (Over 150) (Over 100) (Over 4.5) (Under 40) (Over 130) (Over 200) 8 (21%) 6 (15%) 11 (28%) 7 (18%) 5 (13%) 9 (23%)

Figure 3. Blood cholesterol abnormal numbers. This shows how many blood test results out of 39 tests revealed unhealthy cholesterol/glucose numbers.

Blood Pressure Abnormal Numbers Body Composition Analysis Abnormal Numbers (out of 38 participants) (out of 17 participants) (over 140/90) (Example: over 21% body fat in men, ages 20-59; and over 34% body fat in women, ages 20-59) 13 (34%) 13 (76%) Figure 4. Blood pressure and body composition analysis abnormal numbers. This shows how many blood pressure results and body composition analyses out of 38 and 17, respectively, were unhealthy.

Physical Fitness Event: UAA Pilates Ongoing Actions  Offering Pilates classes at 1:45pm and 4:30pm every Wednesday in Anchorage. People attended Pilates 70 times in February.  Maintaining and updating the class list.  Sending out a reminder email each week to registrants.

Physical Fitness Event: UAF Pilates New Actions  Promoted new UAF Pilates class in the UA Health Link.  Set up registration system for the class.

Physical Fitness Event: UAA Cross Country Skiing New Actions  Offered a ski waxing clinic for the Tuesday cross country ski group on February 20. Three people attended.

Ongoing Actions  Offering cross country ski classes at 12pm every Tuesday in Anchorage. People attended 19 times in February.  Maintaining and updating the class list.  Sending out a reminder email each week to registrants.

Biometric Screening Event New Actions  Created and sent out flyer to announce biometrics.  Planned a registration system.  Discussed content for announcement and reminder emails and UA Health Link articles.  Scheduled rooms for April PWP Biometric Screening Events at UAS, UAF, and UAA.

Full Circle Farms (FCF) Organic Produce Delivery Networking New Actions  Worked with a UAS staff member who was willing to be the host of a main campus drop-off site and who had the support of her department, but when the proposal was sent to the Vice Chancellor, the idea was denied for several reasons. A thank you gift of organic veggies will be given to this staff member.

Ongoing Actions

 Promoting drop sites in the Health Link.

Individualized Health Planning (IHP) Sessions—Phase 2 New Actions  Facilitated 505 session appointments during the month.  Added additional appointments as a final chance to register for IHP sessions.

Ongoing Actions  Tracking weekly the IHP session totals in Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks.  Wellness consultants meeting weekly to discuss the IHP program, rooms, getting more participants, and best practices.  Promoting IHP sessions through the UA Health in Action website, UA Health Link, and Wellness Breaks.  Garnering support for IHP sessions from university departments.

Personal Wellness Profile (PWP) New Actions  Worked with liaison on the various spreadsheets of employee names for the PWP.  Worked with liaison on the PWP questions and modifications.  Adjusted our PWP rollout schedule as needed for mail outs.  Worked on the following for the PWP rollout: canvassing card, invitation and announcement emails, reminder emails, and submitted PWP articles to UA publications.  Held meetings with the PWP vendor.

Presentations New Actions  Prepared a presentation on February 17 for the UAF Student Recreation Center—Exercising at Work Station Using Resistance Bands. WIN was invited by the Student Recreation Center to present at their Life Lecture Series, but it was not well advertised and we had no participation.

Midday Health Forums New Actions  Held five health forums on How to Navigate Get the Point: two at UAA, two at UAF, and one at UAS. These 30-minute presentations introduce a health topic and allow time for questions. Participants are encouraged to bring their lunch during the forum to maximize their time. 12 people attended this month’s forums. Ongoing Actions

 Sending out Midday Health Forum reminder to those who are on the reminder email list.  Promoting the forums in the UA Health Link each month.

Get the Point (GTP) 2009 Incentive Program New Actions  Added new activities to GTP.  Ordered GTP prize samples for the JHCC based on liaison’s request.  Met with liaisons and the JHCC on the 50/50 specifics and what our rollout plan for it would look like. We also discussed how the money would be used for it and provided them with a clear budget.

Ongoing Actions  Promoting GTP through walk throughs, UA Health Link, IHP sessions, Wellness Breaks, and the Health in Action website.

UA Health in Action Website New Actions  Updated content on the website. Ongoing Actions  Promoting the UA Health In Action website through the UA Health Link, at Wellness Breaks, and at IHP sessions. Visits and Page Views  In February there were 2,995 visits by 1,165 people (unique visitors), resulting in 5,408 page views. There were 583 more visits in February than in January. (See figure 7.) Of the 2,995 visits, nearly 24% were by new visitors (never accessed www.uahealthinaction.com before) and 76% were from returning visitors.

Figure 5. Website visits and page views comparison. This graph compares website interest over the last three months.

Top Pages/Links  122 pages/links within the UA Health In Action site were viewed a total of 5,408 times in February (as compared to January with 126 pages/links viewed a total of 4,327 times). Figure 6 shows the most popular pages. Only pages with five or more visits are shown in the figure.

Popular UA Health in Action Website Pages/Links for February Page Name Hits

Home Page 2,322 Incentives 250 Programs 233 Audiocasts 154 Toolbox 112 Community Events 98 Resources 93 IHP 87 Buddy List 79 Wellness Breaks 76 eNewsletters 72 UA Resources 61 Links that go to pages on other websites BMI 15 Calorie Counter 9 Online Wellness Center 8 Fitness Quiz 7 Figure 6. Popular website pages in February. This shows how many times people viewed particular web pages associated with the UA Health in Action website in February.

Audiocasts New Actions  Added the following audiocasts to the UA Health In Action website in February:  If You Find a Healthier Cereal, Eat It  How to Find Whole Grain Foods  MP3 Headphones and Implanted Cardiac Devices  How Balanced Are You?

Ongoing Actions  Continuing to promote audiocasts via the UA Health Link. Downloads/Opens  Audiocasts were accessed 154 times in February.

Fitness Buddy Directory  At the end of February, 34 people were listed in the Fitness Buddy directory representing Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Palmer, and North Pole.

Online Wellness Center Ongoing Actions  Promoting the Online Wellness Center (OWC) through UA Health Link eNewsletters and links on the UA Health In Action website. Articles  In February, the OWC articles included:  Heart Health  Family Health  Senior Health

UA Health Link eNewsletter New Actions  Sent out the main and mid-month issues for February.  In the February issue, we:  promoted Get the Point Incentive Campaign start;  promoted the addition of initial IHP sessions to the program;  promoted upcoming Personal Wellness Profile;  warned readers about the peanut butter recall;  asked readers to take a balance test;  highlighted winter Pilates and cross country skiing groups;  announced February’s Wellness Goal—Get Out and Get Active;  spotlighted the Online Wellness Center’s featured articles on heart health;  included the UAF’s spring fitness class schedule; and  promoted Wellness Breaks.

Opens  The eNewsletter email was opened 1,802 times in February (as compared to January with 1,754 opens). (See figure 7.) The number of opens reflects the actual number of times the email itself was opened. In addition to the 1,802 email opens of the February Health Link, 193 more opens occurred via web browsers or the website, totaling 1,995 opens.

Figure 7. Health Link opens in December, January and February.

Top Articles  Even though the Health Link is distributed as an email, it is web-based and the body of the email links to web pages for full articles. Figure 8 shows the most popular February Health Link articles that were opened in February. Also, other issues and articles were opened during February, and the most popular ones are noted in figure 8. Only pages with five or more visits are shown in the figure.

Popular February Health Link Articles Accessed in February Article Hits Skiing and Pilates Information/Registration 506 Are You Balanced? Test 216 Wellness Goal 139 Wellness Breaks 92 Health Forum Information/Registration 82 Get the Point 42 Popular Other Health Link Articles and Issues Accessed in February Jan 09 Mid-month Issue 21 Jan 09 Get the Point 11 Sep 08 Wellness Champ 10 Jan 09 IHP 8 Jun 08 Wellness Champion 8 Oct 08 Wellness Champion 8 Aug 08 Wellness Champion 7 Jul 08 Wellness Champion 6 Jan 08 Main Issue 5 Jan 09 Main Issue 5 Oct 08 Achievements Article 5 Sep 07 Main Issue 5 Figure 8. Popular Health Link articles accessed in February. This shows how many times people viewed various Health Link web pages in February.

Health Tip of the Month New Actions  February’s health tip was titled There’s More to Sodium than the Salt Shaker. It was sent to 155 email addresses, opened 76 times via email, and was accessed 8 times via the website, totaling 84 viewings.

Ongoing Actions  Continuing to promote the Health Tip of the Month through the UA Health Link and inviting staff/faculty to sign up.

Program Development and Miscellaneous WIN for Alaska is continually developing UA’s Health in Action wellness program. Our efforts include working closely with the staff and faculty to help facilitate and improve the programs. New Actions  Worked with Liaison to prepare WIN information for the February JHCC meeting.  Provided invoices to liaisons.  Held meetings with the liaison about JHCC meetings.  Helped update the UA Benefits web page with current wellness information.  Started planning our part in the UAF Staff Appreciation Day—contacted liaisons about what they would like to have us do.  Worked toward a new report structure. We are making it more detailed with each element of the contract as well as the amount of time it takes to complete each element.  Added the following internal contacts to our internal resources document:  Valerie Rickards, Admissions Department—Wellness Break coordination  Jeri Maxwell, Wood Center—Wellness Break coordination  Kay Barboza, Acting Director of Mather Library—Library Conference Room scheduling  Catherine Grieve—Scheduling space for PWP screenings  Added the following community contacts to our community resources document:  Pamela Steven, massage therapist—Wasilla and Palmer Wellness Breaks

Ongoing Actions  Meeting monthly with Mike and Erica to discuss all aspects of UA’s wellness program, including the January report.  Working with the various campuses on room schedules for our events and presentations.  Working with various people throughout the state to find locations that will allow more staff and faculty to participate in workshops and events.  Learning about campus-run programs and developing ways to help support them.  Developing targeted email communication based on the feedback from faculty/staff evaluations, interest surveys, emails, and telephone conversations.  Working towards the Well Workplace Award.

Program Feedback from Participants & Wellness Consultants The following are quotes taken from emails, evaluations and phone calls that we received this month.

Wellness Breaks—Staff and Faculty Comments  Thank you so much for this wonderful event; the information was well organized and presented, and I will definitely be implementing the things I learned into my new healthy lifestyle!  Thank you so much!  Thank you! This was fantastic!  Great job. Thanks Cindy.

Wellness Breaks—Staff and Faculty Suggestions  Everything was great.  It was pretty awesome as is. Cindy was great! Learned new healthy snack secrets and exercises we can do in our office.  Keep it going!

Wellness Breaks—Wellness Consultants’ Comments  UAF Admissions Department: Everyone in the department is enrolled in the IHP program. Most of the staff appears to be under 40 years of age. Their workload demand increases with student inquiries which is not controllable.  UAF Wood Center Staff: An IHP client who works with Heidi had a 40 point improvement in the LDL’s! Another person’s triglycerides dropped from the 400’s to 150 (desired level). This group is very interested in good health.

All Services—Staff and Faculty Comments  It is awesome that Pilates has been added to the Health in Action program. Pilates has improved my back and overall health. Wellness Consultant Heidi Beer is wonderful and Brook Predeger does a good job too! WIN for Alaska is the best thing that UA has ever offered [employees]. I am excited about GTP. It gives me ideas for other activities, along with the ones I am currently doing. Also, the IHP sessions helped me significantly lower my cholesterol, blood pressure and fat levels last year.

Midday Health Forum: How to Navigate Get the Point—Wellness Consultants’ Comments  The attendee was using GTP, but did not know how to use other features, besides "My Tracking," to gain points. As a result, modifications were made to the GTP website and to the Health Link to help staff and faculty utilize GTP better.  One attendee is going to check his schedule to sign up for an IHP session and do GTP.