SHIP stories
The Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) supports
employers seeking to add or enhance work place wellness
efforts. Comprehensive work place wellness programs have
been shown to be very effective in improving health and
reducing health care costs, and offer a return on investment
for employers of between 3:1 and 6:1.
•
InthefirstthreeyearsofSHIP,940worksiteshave
engaged in the worksite wellness strategy with the
potentialtoengage154,500employees
Cutting the Cake in the Upper
Sioux Community
Creating healthy policies in worksites is one strategy
that the Statewide Health Improvement program
(SHIP) successfully aims to do and in the Upper Sioux
Community, healthy has never taken on so much
meaning. Hundreds of employees in this community
can now benefit from new policies that allow access to
exercise during the workday, healthier food choices at
meetings and in vending machines, smoke-free areas
and other healthy choices.
Minnesotans deserve to work in environments that
allow them to breathe easy, eat well and exercise to
keep them feeling happy and healthy. The new policies
change help reduce obesity and overweight risk and
commercial tobacco use/exposure-related diseases in
the Upper Sioux Community.
The Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) works to
improve health through better nutrition, increased physical activity
and decreased commercial tobacco use and exposure. Find out
more at www.health.state.mn.us/ship
“I have been really impressed by the changes made
through SHIP, especially in food choices at staff
meetings and employee get-togethers. I was very
discouraged by the junk foods being consumed on
a regular basis when staff would meet. We have a
‘birthday meal’, instead of birthday cake and ice
cream. I feel better about the choices we are making,
and the change is easy when it is done as a group,”
exclaimed one employee.
Partners include, but are not limited to, Prairie’s Edge
Casino and Resort, Upper Sioux Community Board of
Trustees, and various departments within the Upper
Sioux Community.
***
3/2013