SURPRISE, ARIZ., June 17, 2016 – Whether it’s promoting lunch-time or after-work exercise, encouraging good nutrition or providing incentives to get and stay in shape, Sun Health is walking the talk about “employee-wellness,” a movement employers across the nation have embraced to help employees improve their health.
Recent proof of Sun Health’s success in this area is a gold award presented to the organization by the Healthy Arizona Worksites Program (HAWP), a statewide public health initiative created by the Arizona Department of Health Services and the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
“We are honored to have earned the gold level from HAWP,” said Rhonda Zonoozi, exercise physiologist and coordinator of Sun Health’s employee wellness program. “All credit goes to our employees for working hard to improve their health and wellness.”
There are three levels of the award: copper, silver and gold. Each level requires employers to attend HAWP training, to complete the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Worksite Health Scorecard, develop a worksite health-improvement plan and obtain a letter of leadership support for worksite wellness. The gold level requires additional wellness initiatives, which must be measured for effectiveness.
For nearly 50 years, Sun Health has been a champion of healthy living for patients and community members in the West Valley. That mission extends to Sun Health’s employees who are encouraged to participate in the employee wellness program. Employees are offered baseline biometric screenings annually, which include checking blood pressure, weight, waist circumference, body mass index and body fat percentage. This information helps employers know their numbers and learn where they need to improve.
Each month, employees are challenged to meet a health goal, ranging from walking a certain number of steps, to increasing fiber intake, to strength-training exercises. Each challenge comes with an incentive point to encourage participation. Earning incentive points can lead to awards such as portion control bowls and activity trackers.
Sun Health also offers employees an online wellness platform Wellsource®, which includes a comprehensive health assessment – the Personal Wellness Profile™ (PWP). Responses are tabulated, resulting in an individual risk-assessment report. Employees who complete their PWP can schedule an appointment with a health coach to review results and develop an action plan. Sun Health also offers massage therapy and acupuncture at a discounted rate to employees as a way to reduce stress.
Staff from Sun Health’s Center for Health & Wellbeing also work with wellness champions from Sun Health’s three senior living communities and Sun Health’s corporate office to educate and motivate co-workers to adopt healthier lifestyles.
These wellness efforts have helped Sun Health win other awards. The organization has been designated as an American Heart Association Fit-Friendly Worksite for three consecutive years. And, the Phoenix Business Journal named Sun Health one of the Valley’s Healthiest Employers in 2013 and 2014.
About Sun Health
A long-standing champion of healthy living and superior health care, Sun Health is a community-based nonprofit providing pathways to population health through philanthropy, community wellness programs and services, and senior living programs and communities. Sun Health Community Wellness includes the Centers for Health & Wellbeing, Care Transitions, Medication Management, Memory Care Navigator, Vial of Life/File of Life, and Community Education programs. Learn more at www.sunhealth.org and www.sunhealthwellbeing.org