{"id":1713,"date":"2009-01-08T20:27:47","date_gmt":"2009-01-09T01:27:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthnews.nchealthplans.com\/?p=1713"},"modified":"2010-06-23T20:57:57","modified_gmt":"2010-06-24T01:57:57","slug":"walking-a-plan-of-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/2009\/01\/walking-a-plan-of-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking: A Plan of Action"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Walking: A plan of action<\/h3>\n

Bringing the benefits of moderate walking exercise to your workforce is a realistic, effective goal. But like many other things that are good for you, it takes the right approach to make sure you trigger a long-term change instead of a temporary fad. The key to success is planning.<\/p>\n

Step 1: Map it out<\/strong><\/p>\n

Begin by making sure your company\u2019s management <\/strong>supports what you\u2019re doing. You don\u2019t need a detailed plan or a budget yet\u2014just make sure you\u2019re not taking anyone in the leadership by surprise. You might look to the HR office, the education and training director, the occupational health officer, or someone in a similar position for initial support. Of course, you may have a CEO or other executive who\u2019s willing to champion the cause. Remember that the best leadership is by example!<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve got a leader, you need followers. Survey<\/strong> your workforce to find out their overall level of interest, and dig down for details about how they\u2019d like a walking program to work. Do they want it to be casual or competitive? In teams, or as individuals? Would they be willing to join clubs, pay for pedometers, or travel to a remote site if necessary? Make sure to assess how work schedules and shifts will influence people\u2019s availability for exercise.<\/p>\n

A simple employee interest survey<\/strong> can help you tailor your workplace program to the needs of the people who will use it. Ask: Who\u2019s already walking? Who\u2019s not active but contemplating it? People at different stages will need different approaches, and your program will probably have to address the whole spectrum. Find ways to address the barriers that arise, like \u201cno time\u201d or \u201cbad weather.\u201d And remember that not all the information you\u2019ll need comes from a factual survey; you\u2019ll also need to take into account the unique culture that keeps your workplace working.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t try to create this plan on your own. Even if employee wellness is your full-time job, you\u2019ll want the support of a team<\/strong>to make sure your walking program really catches on. In fact, you may need to assemble two types of teams depending upon the size and scope of your company. (If you\u2019re a small to medium-sized organization, one comprehensive team made up of a mix of many representative \u201csubgroups\u201d within your company will do.) In some companies, it pays to have two teams: a \u201cTeam 1\u201d made up of core company officials who can help you implement meaningful change, and a \u201cTeam 2\u201d or \u201caction team\u201d of volunteers who represent a cross-section of the employee population and help with the many tasks that go into planning, developing and implementing your initiative.<\/p>\n

Make use of the resources<\/strong> at your disposal. Find the park, school, gym or company facility that represents the safest, most convenient place to walk. If weather is an issue, don\u2019t forget about the local shopping mall. Other resources right under your nose might be local health experts who can conduct educational meetings, personal trainers who can help people with their technique, nurses who can help with assessments, or even athletic shoe retailers who can help people find the right footwear.<\/p>\n

Step 2: Set goals<\/strong><\/p>\n

What\u2019s true for a walk is true for a walking program: Before you start, determine where you want to finish. For your company, goals might include a certain degree of participation, a number of aggregate miles walked, or certain benchmarks in employee health indicators or healthcare costs. Remember that progress takes time\u2014map out not only where your goals lie, but the pace you think is reasonable and the milestones along the way.<\/p>\n

What information do you need to be gathering? Participation rates are a start. Correlating who\u2019s walking with other data about your workforce \u2013 age, gender, departments, and so forth \u2013 can give you a richer picture of what\u2019s going on. You\u2019ll probably rely on self-reporting to gather this information. But don\u2019t rely entirely on numbers: First-person testimonials will tell you how people feel about the program.<\/p>\n

Step 3: Develop a Year One timeline<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once things are moving, you\u2019ll need some structure to keep up the pace. Moving people from where they are to where you want them to be is easier if you point out the stepping stones. Here\u2019s a sample checklist:
\n\u2022 What is your timeline for the program kickoff, important events, end of the first cycle, and recognition and incentives?
\n\u2022 How will you promote the program?
\n\u2022 How will employees sign up? Will it cost them anything?
\n\u2022 Will you use pedometers?
\n\u2022 Will you offer incentives for participation? For health improvement? For mile totals?
\n\u2022 How you collect data?
\n\u2022 Who is going to do what?
\n\u2022 How will you maintain popular support for the initiative?<\/p>\n

Step 4: Get out there<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can use awareness activities<\/strong>, skill development activities <\/strong>and social support<\/strong> to enrich your walking program, enhance its changes of success and make it a more visible part of your workplace culture.<\/p>\n

Awareness activities <\/strong>can include a scavenger hunt, a shoe-kicking competition (for distance) as a program kickoff, or informal \u201ctime trials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skill development opportunities <\/strong>give participants a chance to ease into new behaviors by \u201ctrying them on\u201d first-hand, which helps develop self-confidence. You can use a \u201chealthy competition\u201d model or a noncompetitive one that adds up everyone\u2019s miles toward a common goal.<\/p>\n

Social support<\/strong> fosters a healthy, supportive environment and makes walking a \u201cculture norm\u201d within your workplace. Being active and walking on a regular basis become accepted behavior and models for others to emulate.<\/p>\n

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina<\/a>, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com<\/a> or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our qualified agents.\u00a0 Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina\u00a0(BCBSNC).\u00a0 <\/a>You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health.\u00a0 Call us for details.<\/p>\n

2007 Blue Cross and Blue Shield\u00ae<\/span>Internal Association Data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Walking: A plan of action Bringing the benefits of moderate walking exercise to your workforce is a realistic, effective goal. But like many other things that are good for you, it takes the right approach to make sure you trigger a long-term change instead of a temporary fad. The key to success is planning. Step […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[23,136,202,201,78],"class_list":["post-1713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fitness","tag-bcbsnc","tag-blue-cross-blue-shield-of-north-carolina","tag-physical-fitness","tag-walking","tag-workplace-wellness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1713"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2988,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1713\/revisions\/2988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}