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March 15, 2007 06:50 pm
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Photos
Matt Lane/McAlester (Okla.) News-Capital
Provided by Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs
Photo provided by Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs
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Editor's notes: Weekend release
State employees seek healthy living
“There’s no easy button or magic bullet. It’s about changing your lifestyle.”
By Jaclyn Houghton
CNHI News Service
OKLAHOMA CITY — Tammy Brown lacked energy and struggled with her weight prior to getting with the program.
“I felt like I was out of shape and needed to make some changes,” said the 39-year-old from Enid.
Her son was in the Boy Scouts and when she would go on hikes with the scouts she struggled to make it up the hills. This was the impetus to joining a health mentoring pilot program offered by the Oklahoma Employees Benefits Council.
The pilot program began in 2003 and was offered to Department of Human Services employees. It is now the OKHealth Wellness Mentoring Program and was implemented for all state employees in January 2006 as a Web-based program.
Participants can, for example, track what they eat, can focus on smoking cessation, create physical fitness programs, and prevent and control cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. They will receive a risk analysis and one-on-one mentoring to keep them on track.
March is National Nutrition Month and state employees are working to get healthy through the mentoring program and also a program at the state Capitol.
“These employees are missing less work and they’re happier,” said Nancy Haller, manager of the State Wellness Program through the Employees Benefits Council. “You’ve got a mentor or a coach that mentors you along the way that helps you make those lifestyle changes.”
Change of Habit
Haller hopes the OKHealth program will save in health care costs. She said it might take three to five years to see a return on the money invested in the program.
“We pay out so much in our benefit dollars and our rates are so high for health care that we want to try and reduce utilization among our population,” Haller said.
Utilization of the health care system is already low for Blair Gaddis, 25, of Norman, but she joined the program for a different reason.
She said she is young and healthy but learned how to change her diet. Gaddis, who is an administrative assistant in the legal division in Gov. Brad Henry’s office, has always exercised but the program allowed her to discover yoga and to begin training for marathons.
“I got my exercise regimen out of it,” said Gaddis, who finished her year in the program in February.
The program receives $800,000 per year from the council's budget, which is not appropriated through the Legislature. The money pays for the 10 mentors and other expenses incurred.
There are about 2,000 state employees enrolled in the program and about 1,000 who have completed it. The average age of participants is 47 and about 83 percent are women. Haller wants all 37,000 state employees to seek a mentor and get healthy.
She is working on getting more men into the program.
“If you look at females, they are traditionally maternal, they take care of their family and they take care of their health because they need to be healthy to take care of their family,” Haller said.
Men tend to only go to doctors if they are sick, she said.
In the program, mentors call participants for 15 minutes several times throughout the 12-month program. Those most at risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes may hear from the mentor once a week, while those that are healthy, like Gaddis, may only hear from the mentor three times during the year, aside from the initial visit, the 12-week check-up and the ending review.
Mentors analyze, among other things, the nutritional habits, stress management, the attitudes of participants and how many days of work a person misses.
The prerequisite to enrolling in the program is a doctor visit with lab work to look at the overall health of the patient.
Haller said 30 percent of state employees in Oklahoma had known diagnoses of cardiovascular disease or diabetes, and another 30 percent are at risk.
The program is not easy to complete, she said.
Resist the doughnut
Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, organized a group at the state Capitol to change bad habits. He is on the board of the YMCA, which suggested the idea to the lawmaker.
Two years ago he began the Healthiest House group that meets Tuesday mornings to discuss health-related issues. Becky Switzer, former gymnastics coach at the University of Oklahoma, now leads the weekly meetings with legislators and support staff, Dorman said.
During the legislative session, there are always doughnuts and unhealthy snacks around that tempt the building’s occupants.
“We’re pretty good about reminding each other to do things,” said Dorman, regarding each member’s diet.
Sometimes the House or Senate members stay at the Capitol into the evening hours and it is easy just to order a pizza or go grab fast food, Dorman said. He keeps fruit in his office for members who need a healthy snack.
Several of them also get together at 6 a.m. three times a week to play a little basketball and to hop on the treadmill or lift some weights. Dorman said he notices the difference when sitting in his desk at the back of the House chamber.
“It helps me make better decisions on the floor if my mind’s clearer,” he said.
Exercise allows more oxygen to the brain and Dorman said it allows him to focus on the mundane task of listening to hours of legislation presentations.
While at home on the weekends and between sessions, however, working out is easier to put off until tomorrow.
For Brown, putting off exercise is no longer an option.
“Now I exercise like a fiend,” she said.
Brown participated in her first 5K marathon on Saturday. She lost 67 pounds during her three years in the OKHealth program.
“I’m just much more confident,” Brown said. “My entire life has changed.”
Jaclyn Houghton is CNHI News Service Oklahoma reporter.
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