Worksite Wellness for Tompkins County

Worksite environments that support good nutrition and regular physical activity
in Tompkins County, NY

1. Before you can have a successful incentive program you need an active wellness committee. If an incentive program is its own incentive for your committee to form or become active, you have accomplished a good thing.
2. The act of planning an incentive program can be a real boost to a wellness committee. Members work together on something concrete that has a beginning and an end. And the fuel for success is making the event fun, and promoting it in a fun way. All of which can be fun for the wellness committee members.
3. Employees think about things you want them to think about... nutrition and physical activity for example.
4. Employees try things you want them to try... nutrition and physical activity for example. And then they talk about what gets in the way and what's not fun, and how to make it easier and more enjoyable to act on these things.
5. Employees get a lot of practice doing things they may not be used to doing, like eating more nutritiously and getting more physical activity. They work out the kinks, and find out what works best for them.
6. Employees set goals and support each other to reach those goals.
7. Employees get stuff; some has real value, and some is just things that might be useful and might keep your message visible for a while. Stuff that participants pass along on to their kids literally takes the message home.
8. Your wellness committee feels accomplished.
9. You feel like your wellness program is on solid ground.
10. A lot of people -- many more than the event participants -- have learned how they can help themselves and their families reduce their risk of heart disease, diabetes, sick days, absenteeism, and unproductive work time.