Special thank you to our pioneering hosts Donna MacKay, Atia Thurman, Linda Schreier, Lora Clark, Rhonda Kiely, Melissa Ruwitch, & Justin Linsenmeyer. Thanks to their efforts, their colleagues were able to get screened, learn vital health information, and walk away with a $50 gift card. Because these Champions did such a great job communicating their onsite screening event and met the participation requirements, each of them has earned a complimentary De-Stress Zone for their areas, complete with infused water, mini wellness road show, and chair massage!
What motivated you to host a dedicated screening event for your colleagues?
Linda Schreier: We have a large enough space and staff in our office were interested in getting their test results, along with a bonus of a De-Stress Zone.
Donna MacKay: As a department, we are spread out on many different floors and buildings, both in research labs and clinics; we are always looking for different ways to come together as a community. The idea of a screening event seemed to fit into this. It allowed us to organize something for the good of the department as well as getting the Wellness Connection message out.
Atia Thurman: The Brown School is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of faculty, staff, and students. Our Connecting at Brown committee is motivated to organize programming that cultivates workplace wellness for our staff.
Lora Clark: I asked my daughter-in-law, who works here on the South 40, whether she was going to attend the Onsite Screening event on June 4th. She works the evening shift in housekeeping and usually they aren’t able to participate in things like this due to the work load. However, when planning this event we were strategic in planning the times for people to participate: we purposefully created overlap between the day shift and the afternoon shift. Even employees celebrating Ramadan came in to work to get their wellness numbers and receive their $50 gift card. Low and behold, my daughter-in-law told me after the event was over that she had purchased a vacuum sealer with her $50 gift card. This purchase was for her to vacuum seal fruits and veggies from her garden so that her family would have fresh fruits and veggies to eat. What a healthy move and a great way to spend her wellness money. I said that I thought she wasn’t going to go to the event, and she said her supervisor told them all to go and he took them to the event as a team. I am thrilled that this happened because I believe all employees have a serious need to know their numbers. I wish I would have known mine years ago.
Rhonda Kiely: Our office works with young employees who are typical transplants to the area. Many of them do not have primary care physicians and use “Urgent Care” as their physicians or don’t see the need for connecting to services.
Justin Linsenmeyer: I wanted to encourage my team to get screened by helping provide a convenient location.
Melissa Ruwitch: It’s tough for all Habif staff to get to programs or events on main campus, so an opportunity to work with ResLife and Housekeeping to do an event for everyone on South 40 sounded like a great opportunity.
Working with Champions to dedicate screening events was a new process for us. What did you learn from being one of the pioneer volunteers to host such an event?
Linda Schreier: I would suggest that some directional signs be placed in the folder for sites to use for their event to direct people which way to go. The Screener staff are very nice and professional.
Donna MacKay: I think the main surprise was how quickly the slots filled up – even before I had managed to get the email out to the department advertising it. For future events, I need to be prepared for how popular it is.
Atia Thurman: There is rising interest among constituents to improve their health through workplace platforms – and the incentives help foster that interest. We learned that the appointments fill fast and next time we’ll see about hosting a longer screening to accommodate even more appointments. We just provided the space and shared the information with our community, Wellness Connection made it an easy, seamless process.
Lora Clark: It feels good to help others learn their numbers.
Rhonda Kiely: In reality there was not much for me to do; I found out that your team had everything under control. It was really no trouble to talk it up in staff meetings and send emails. The worst thing I heard was from staff who could not find our date posted so they could sign up, and your team resolved the issue that afternoon. I received the following comment from one of my colleagues: “Thank you for being a part of the team that brought those health screenings to campus a few weeks ago. It brought to my attention a few things I should get addressed and it got me to stop dragging my feet on getting seen by a doctor.” If that isn’t the best reason to expand the health screenings, I don’t know what is. Thank you for all your team does and for making it easy for us to bring it to others.
Justin Linsenmeyer: Anything is possible when you work together as a team.
Melissa Ruwitch: A lot of people were unfamiliar with the building and room we used. More clear information in the email communications and signage the day of the event would have helped.
If you’d like to learn more about becoming a Wellness Connection Champion to influence a culture of health and well-being in your department, check out our website!