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PART 1: CREATING A CULTURE OF HEALTH IN AN INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION — CONNECTING THE DOTS BY VIC TRINGALI MS, CSCS Executive Director University Wellness, Drexel University In 2010, the culture of Drexel University’s vibrant Philadelphia living, learning, and working environment was changing at high velocity. The main campus began a remarkable transformation, with newly constructed state-of-the art facilities for classroom space, research, housing, and recreation. Simultaneously, our new president laid out a bold vision for Drexel’s future with many strategic and administrative changes. STARTING THE NEW INITIATIVE The university was facing many big challenges at the same time. But visionary executive leaders like higher education veteran and Drexel Sr. Vice President Jim Tucker had solutions. He introduced a long-term plan to manage and suppress the rising healthcare costs — a common dilemma for many large US employers — by: • Self-funding health care, making Drexel directly responsible for employee health because their health coverage would be funded by university money. • Implementing an accompanying initiative that would apply pressure to medical-related expenditures and contributing chronic diseases. This new strategy included creating the Office of University Wellness to help contain disease risks and related medical expenses. Coming to Drexel as a new hire in 2010, I was charged with building a comprehensive program for faculty, staff, 12 WELL-BEING PRACTITIONER
The idea behind self-insurance is that retaining and calculating health risks, as well as paying claims or losses, allows the overall process to be more costeffective than buying commercial insurance. and their families. Having healthier employees and offerings that would capture the entire university’s interest would also support the student population. Drexel comprises 3 campuses with 23,000 students and 5000 employees. Although such a wellness program was a huge undertaking, the challenge excited me. At the outset, I was a 1-man band with no support staff and a small budget. I remember spending the first month or so trying to understand Drexel’s landscape, departments, divisions, campuses, colleges, and facilities — while finding a way to connect the dots and define our strategy. What I recognized rather quickly was that Drexel, and higher education institutions in general, have myriad resources to promote health and wellness. For example, the university encompasses colleges and departments with expertise in public health, nutrition, and medicine. Other obvious partners are the Office of Human Resources and Athletic Department — which operates a state-of-the-art rec center plus numerous fields and buildings dedicated to recreation/ physical activity. Knowing that work in a silo wouldn’t get me very far, I immediately formed partnerships with department heads and deans, in addition to researchers and faculty members who might provide insight on how to improve the health of our population. Coordinating with these leaders was critical to developing a cohesive and multifaceted program, and they would form the core of what would become the Drexel Wellness Committee. WHAT WE KNEW When considering program structure, the employee benefits package is a great place to start. After an evaluation we were able to identify core components that could be harnessed under a wellness program umbrella: • Our healthcare provider offers a basic wellness suite with numerous tools and resources, opportunities for counseling, and smoking cessation initiatives. • The benefits also include components like an EAP and retirement plans, which fall under the emotional and financial health labels. But while programs baked into benefits are attractive on the surface, these weren’t likely to have the highest impact on our population’s health. THE HEAVY HITTERS Based on research, we know that most chronic diseases — such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and obesity, could be prevented if individuals exercise more, stop smoking, and eat healthier. Research also teaches that modifying policies and environments to change behaviors tends to be more effective than counseling or education because they reach wider segments of a population and are less laborintensive. Therefore, our approach needed to include: • Changes to the environment that support physical activity and recreation • Policies that promote healthier food/beverage choices and deter the use of tobacco. With this in mind, it was time to work on a strategic plan to foster a culture of health at Drexel. Stay tuned for part 2, where I’ll describe how Drexel would meet the challenge to nudge behaviors of a large population on a small budget. HOW YOU CAN CONNECT THE DOTS Whether you’re in an academic setting, corporation, or broader community environment, consider these steps to connect the dots and lay a foundation for success: • Seek out key stakeholders, colleagues, and community partners who can provide value and insight for your organization’s wellness initiative • Assess your organization’s employee benefit package to find core wellness resources • Meet with health plan representatives to explore wellness services included in your coverage • Identify policies and environmental issues that may influence health-related behaviors of your population. NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 13
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