health management

This summer, after launching The Mason Light Olympians, a workplace wellness program for town employees, Barbara Milkovits, quickly discovered that attracting participants was easier with cake than with carrots.

"I've always felt that if you offer food, people will come," said Milkovits, the town's administrative assistant and health and safety coordinator.

In the battle against obesity, exercise, healthy eating, and stress reduction are considered the most effective weapons.  But these evidence-based strategies also drive down the cost of health care plans for schools, municipalities, counties, and other public agencies that belong to public sector risk pools.

That perspective wasn’t lost on SAU 39 Human Resources Director Carrie James when in late spring she kicked off the annual open enrollment, a time when teachers and other school employees are asked to choose a medical coverage plan for themselves and their families.

If you think the best way to lose weight, get fit, and improve your diet is to join a gym or hire a personal trainer, you're not alone. But you're not right, said Mary Collins, author of American Idle: A Journey Through Our Sedentary Culture, the keynote speaker on November 14 at the New Hampshire Local Government Center's 71^st annual conference, held in Manchester.

LGC HealthTrust Announces 2012 Slice of Life Program Changes

Editor's note: Beginning January 1, 2012, the New Hampshire Local Government Center (LGC) HealthTrust's Slice of Life program will feature the following new components.

A healthy workplace is a shared responsibility between the employer and the employee. Not only are the physical, emotional and mental health of individual employees at risk in a stress-filled workplace, but the organization also faces risks when stress levels stay elevated. According to a 2006 study by HR.com, a website devoted to human resources concerns, stress costs United States businesses more than $300 billion annually.

In 2009, annual healthcare spending in the United States reached $2.5 trillion. This unprecedented level of spending accounted for almost 18 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). This same year in New Hampshire the cost of healthcare amounted to $10.0 billion. Similar to national rates, 18 percent of New Hampshire’s GDP was for healthcare expenditures.

When City of Keene Mayor P. Dale Pregent picked up the phone in early January, he was surprised to learn the call was from the White House, with an invitation to serve as the official New England host city for a first anniversary celebration of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign. "It took me all of about a minute to say "Yes!"" recalls Mayor Pregent.

New Hampshire school administrators, nutrition professionals, nurses, teachers and local farmers didn’t need a celebrity chef coming to town to get inspired to change the way our kids eat. With no film crew, no media buzz, creative people have been at work for years in New Hampshire to bring healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables into our schools, and they’re getting results.

By Lynn Sperl