The Madison County Rural Health Council recently convened employers with a workforce of 50-plus employees at the first Madison County Worksite Wellness Coalition meeting at SUNY Morrisville. Employers from organizations representing businesses, colleges, schools, non-profit organizations, hospitals and insurance companies were in attendance. Hilary Hext from Marquardt Switches welcomed the group and introduced the speakers.
Eric Faisst, Director of Madison County Department of Health, informed employers about the Madison County Coordinated Community Health Assessment update and the NYS Prevention Agenda Priorities of a) Improving the rate of Colorectal Cancer screening in adults 50-75 years old and b) improving the rate of healthy weight adults in Madison County.
Gail Marchese, Tops Friendly Market Manager of Benefits and Wellness, spoke about the initiatives the Tops WELL program has started for employees and what they have done to be named the Healthiest Employer in New York. She offered many ideas for organizations to start with as they begin to promote wellness in their worksites.
Wendy Hunt, from Cancer Services, gave participants an in-depth presentation about the importance of Colorectal Cancer screening for adults including the many available for screening options. She provided each participant numerous resources to take back to their worksites to promote Colorectal Cancer screening during the designated awareness month of March.
In June, the Worksite Wellness Coalition will convene again to focus on the second priority of improving the rate of healthy weights in adults in Madison County. According to the NY State Department of Health, overweight and obesity are the second leading cause of preventable death in the United States. In a 2014 survey, NY State also determined that the rate of obesity in adults was 31.5% in Madison County compared to the NY State rate of 24.9%. The goal of the Madison County Worksite Wellness Coalition is to improve the rate of healthy weight adults in Madison County through working with employers on wellness programs.
Employer wellness initiatives can positively impact the health and productivity of employees as well as benefit the employer. RAND Corporation, a non-profit institution, conducted a study in 2013 that concluded that there are both short and long term impacts of employer wellness programs like disease and lifestyle management. It also concluded that wellness programs may offer a Return on Investment (ROI) by reducing healthcare costs and could also lessen the rate of absenteeism.
For more information on the June Worksite Wellness Coalition meeting and to join our efforts of improving the health of Madison County residents, contact Madison County Rural Health Council at 315-400- 7331 or henry.s@mcruralhealthcouncil.org.