Showcase
Middlesex-London Health Unit
Initiative: In motion Challenge / Halloween Hike / Vitality Alley / Adult Recess / Turkey Trot
Number of employees: 232
Goal(s) of the Initiative:
Promote healthy living within the workplace and engage employees
We held 5 activities during the month of October to promote HWM.
The Turkey Trot is a 20 minute walk with co-workers during lunch hour held the week after Thanksgiving.
The Halloween Hike is a guided tour through downtown London stopping at specific spots recounting historic events with a haunting twist and spooky actors held at the end of October close to or on Halloween.
The Vitality Alley is a 12 station exercise circuit located in the basement hallways of the MLHU main building throughout the month of October. Prizes were awarded for best group costume, best individual costume and best decorated area.
The Adult Recess is a sponsored event where employees are encouraged to take their morning or afternoon break in groups or teams and given a free coffee, tea or hot chocolate at a locally owned coffee shop.
The MLHU in motion Challenge was held to promote the in motion Community Challenge. http://www.inmotion4life.ca/ Teams challenged each other to get the most minutes. Weekly charts were posted on the intranet HUB and teams with the most minutes averaged per person won prizes.
What need was being addressed by this initiative?
Have employees become more active at work and aware of the activity they do each day. Also to get employees to take their breaks and engage with one another.
How was the initiative implemented:
Apples are distributed to all locations to promote HWM.
Vitality Alley: set up 12 exercise stations including instructions and necessary equipment at each station.
in motion Challenge: for the full month of October, gather each teams minutes of activity once per week showing the results in a graph form that is related to the entire organization (eg Intranet HUB) each week. At the end of the challenge, the winning team that has most minutes of activity averaged per person wins a prize.
Turkey Trot: gather employees and go for a 20 minute walk on lunch hour the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
Halloween Hike: organize a 45 minute tour with stops where significant historical facts are read or acted, focus on unsolved crimes or historic fatalities to give it a haunted theme.
Adult Recess: organize with a local coffee shop a date when employees can come for a coffee by using tickets and a tally sheet. The week before, hand out the tickets. The day of teams are promoted to gather co-workers and take a coffee break together at some point during the day using their ticket (one per person). A wellness committee member pays the coffee shop using budget money allotted for this event.
How was the initiative evaluated:
Surveys
Results:
Better participation than last year and lots of interest in next years activities.
What is the approximate cost per participant:
$3.00
