DOINews: OPM, DOI, and GSA Launch Integrated WELLNESSWORKS Program for Washington, D.C., Employees

In the coming year, WellnessWorks will offer the Washington, D.C.-based employees of OPM, DOI and GSA access to programs that will support healthier, more balanced lifestyles.

WASHINGTON – The Washington, D.C., campuses of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Department of the Interior and General Services Administration have announced the launch of WellnessWorks, an integrated well-being pilot program which aims to support federal employees in their pursuit of a healthier, more balanced lifestyle while controlling health-care costs and saving taxpayer dollars.

“OPM is pleased to continue our partnership with the DOI and GSA to support the launch of WellnessWorksat our shared Washington, D.C., campus,” said OPM Director John Berry. “We know that promoting healthier lifestyles and supporting healthy choices will help us meet our goal of creating a culture of wellness across the federal government. This pilot program is one of the first steps in that transformation. Through these types of agency collaborations, we will achieve synergies that help us support our employees as they make healthy choices where they live and work.”

At the kickoff event, Berry, GSA Administrator Martha Johnson, DOI Deputy Assistant Secretary Andrew Jackson, and the Office of Management and Budget Senior Advisor on Health Policy Ezekiel Emanuel, spoke about the benefits that WellnessWorkscan have for employees and the positive difference that a healthy lifestyle can make. Employees were encouraged to learn about WellnessWorks by filling out their individual “passports to health” and starting to participate in a scavenger hunt so they can sign up for a biometrics screening and programs to encourage healthy behavior.

In the coming year, WellnessWorkswill offer the Washington, D.C.-based employees of OPM, DOI and GSA access to the following:

• A Healthways Well-Being Assessment ^SM that goes beyond standard health risk assessments to include productivity and scientifically defined areas of well-being, in addition to physical health, mental health, and health behaviors;

• Biometric testing, consisting of height and weight measurement and blood testing for cholesterol levels;

• Individualized coaching, based on the risk profile developed from the results of the Healthways Well-Being Assessment and biometric testing

• Programs to encourage healthy behaviors, such as weight management classes, exercise, tobacco cessation, and chronic-disease management;

• Face-to-face and web-based health-education resources.

WellnessWorksoriginated through a White House initiative based on a summit President Obama hosted last year. Obama met with private- and public-sector leaders to learn how they were successfully controlling healthcare costs in their organizations through employee wellness initiatives. These best practices are now being implemented through the WellnessWorks pilot.

“This is a win-win-win situation,” Emanuel said. “Good for the health of individual employees and good for the American people as a healthier and more productive government workforce can do more for less."

Located within blocks of one another in Northwest Washington, D.C., OPM, DOI, and GSA joined forces last year to create a healthier and more pleasant work environment for more than 5,000 collective employees based in downtown Washington through a shared “work-life” campus. A central component of that initiative is the launch of WellnessWorks.

“The Department of the Interior has invested substantial employee resources to develop an unparalleled program to evaluate, measure, and provide the tools for our employees to achieve overall wellness,” Jackson said. “We look forward to continued cooperation among OPM, GSA and DOI to make the federal government ‘the employer of choice' in providing for the health and welfare of our employees and the increased productivity that accompanies wellness.”

Sept. 29, 2010