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
Downs Food Group no chicken
when it comes to wellness
As Chera Sevcik, Statewide Health Improvement
Program (SHIP) Supervisor exclaims, “employees LOVE
the changes!” Sevcik is referring to the changes that
were made in the Downs Food Group’s (DFG) work
environment.
The poultry processing plant located in Watonwan
County was not a new face to worksite wellness
initiatives. For years, a partnership between Watonwan
County Public Health, Madelia Community Hospital
and Downs Food Group employed Ellen Delatorre, a
health educator/interpreter to provide bilingual health
education at the plants each month. This partnership
has been an essential first step to meeting the needs
of a growing Latino workforce, with Watonwan County
holding the highest Latino population, per capita, in the
state of Minnesota.
Now, with help from SHIP, DFG has made great strides
in improving the health of their employees through a
more comprehensive workplace wellness program. The
program has instituted a variety of health conscious
changes that improve nutrition, reduce smoke exposure,
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
and increase
physical activity.
Vending machines
within the plant now
offer more nutritious
options and,
along with
tobacco free grounds
policies, there is cessation support for employees.
DFG has also partnered with the local Anytime Fitness
Center to offer reduced membership rates and run
employee exercise programs before and after work.
Work place wellness programs are critical in any
working environment, but at DFG is was especially
important. Of the DFG employees, 80 percent are
Latino and 10 percent are Asian. “We know that
minority populations often have higher levels of health
disparities, so working with DFG was very important
for us in Public Health because it allows us to reach
those we might not otherwise be able to reach. ”
explains Sevcik.
***
3/2013