Leadership magazine Jan/Feb 2018 V47 No. 3 | Page 27

IUSD employee well-being program responds to site needs

Irvine Unified School District cares about its employees and is continually making improvements to ensure IUSD is a great place to work . The district recognizes its most valuable resource is its employees , and that their health and wellbeing has a direct impact on the continued success of IUSD .
Through collaboration between Blue Shield of California , the district ’ s medical plan provider , Gallagher Benefit Services , the district ’ s employee benefit consultant , and the IUSD Benefits Management Board , the IUSD Employee Well- Being Committee was established in 2014 . To date , funding for the program has been provided through a grant from Blue Shield of California .
The purpose of the IUSD Employee Well-Being Program is “ to create a sustainable , confidential , comprehensive wellbeing program that encompasses aspects of well-being ( career , social / emotional , community , financial , physical / nutritional ), improving the health of all IUSD employees and their families .” IUSD focuses on these essentials of wellbeing and integrates them into its culture .
In addition to two program coordinators , each school site and department has a designated site-based well-being champion . These volunteers , who have an interest in promoting health and well-being at their sites , provide additional support to the program by disseminating monthly newsletters and program information to staff . Monthly newsletters and posters , which include health-related content and nutritious recipes , are created by Gallagher Benefit Services . In addition , the well-being champions maintain a Well-Being Program bulletin board , where program information is posted at their site . The well-being program also maintains a website .
The IUSD Employee Well-Being Program was launched starting with an employee interest survey distributed in December 2014 . A total of 1,518 responses were collected , providing sufficient data to guide the IUSD Well-Being Committee to provide programs and initiatives of interest to staff members .
Based on the survey data , 52 percent of employees reported they did not know their health numbers , including cholesterol , blood pressure and glucose levels . To provide this information to staff and to establish a program baseline for the level of employee health , on-site health screenings were offered to all interested employees . As a result of the biometric data collected from the 828 health screening participants , the IUSD Well-Being Committee chose to target blood pressure reduction , managing cholesterol levels , diabetes education / prevention and weight loss / decrease body fat .
Well-being initiatives and programs offered to district employees now include discounted gym memberships , selfdefense workshops , fitness classes , cooking demonstrations , retirement planning workshops , hospice information workshops , identity theft prevention seminars , résumé writing workshops , interviewing skills workshops and weight loss and nutrition programs .
The IUSD Employee Well-Being Program has been embraced by individual school sites and district departments . Through a grant application process , sites and departments were able to apply for funds to implement specific well-being programs based on their site ’ s needs .
Portola High School was awarded a wellness grant to address physical / nutritional well-being with an emphasis in community and social areas by way of group fitness classes and healthy cooking demonstrations . The benefits of the sitebased programs included healthier food options at meetings , exercise opportunities , including yoga and Pilates classes , and nutritional education via lunch-time education sessions .
Participants reported they thought the cooking demonstrations were awesome and delicious . It also brought employees together for some great laughs . Based on a survey developed by the site ’ s well-being champion , 91.7 percent of employees would be interested in more site wellness initiatives in the future .
The Employee Well-Being Program aligns well with IUSD ’ s focus on building a Multi-Tiered System of Supports ( MTSS ). Just as students should have access to best first instruction and preventative measures at the Tier 1 level , the well-being program provides services to all employees focused on enhancing their well-being .
Like Tiers 2 and 3 of MTSS , the IUSD Employee Well-Being Program provides opportunities for employees to receive more targeted support , whether on improving physical health , weight loss , mental health , financial support or selfdefense workshops .
IUSD has worked hard to ensure all employees have access to a variety of means to support their well-being . Over the past three years , the Employee Well-Being Program has grown and implemented many well-received initiatives . With the support of site well-being champions , IUSD looks forward to expanding and enhancing the program .
Connie Jacobs , MS , PPS , lead counselor , and Jennifer Payton , BA , confidential assistant , co-coordinators of the Employee Well-Being Program ; Sunghie Park Okino , Ed . D ., coordinator of Prevention and Intervention , Irvine USD .
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