OEA Choice

Get Vertical: And Don’t Take Back Pain Lying Down!

mike — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 20:53:32 +0000

The Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality initiative are launching a campaign called “Get Vertical: And Don’t Take Back Pain Lying Down!” It’s estimated that 4 out of 5 people in the U.S. will have low back pain during their lives and most pain is caused by a strain on muscles and ligaments. Partner for Quality Care has developed a consumer booklet and interactive, online quiz to help Oregonians better understand safe and effective care for low back pain. All the information can be found at www.PartnerforQualityCare.org/lowbackpain .

Get Vertical is sponsored by Partner for Quality Care, a program of the Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality initiative.

Fitness/Stress Relief Rooms

mike — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:32:40 +0000

South Coast ESD’s “Walk Away Stress Free” wellness program used grant dollars to create a “Stress Relief Room” which is equipped with 2 treadmills, elliptical machine, yoga mats, flat screen T.V., DVD’s, and chair and leg massage machines. Employees have access to the workout room throughout the workday and the wellness coordinators are analyzing usage by having each person sign in before using the equipment.

South Coast ESD’s Workout Area

South Coast ESD’s Leg Massager South Coast ESD’s Chair Massager

Port Orford School District’s wellness grant “Catch the 2CJ Wellness Wave” also used grant dollars to create a workout room that would compare against most gyms. It includes” elliptical machines, treadmill, exercise bike, yoga mats, stability balls, free weights, bench press machine, and a flat screen T.V. Port Orford is a small community on the southern Oregon coast with limited resources to fitness equipment, but by creating a fitness room on-site employees have unlimited access with no gym membership fee. South Coast ESD and Port Orford School District are creating a healthy environment at the worksite and using fitness equipment as a way to sustain the program.

Port Orford Exercise Equipment Room

Resource Guide on Health Care Consumerism – 3rd Edition

mike — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:42:32 +0000

A Resource Guide on Health Care Consumerism has been updated on our website. This is the third edition of the consumerism guide with many new articles and information from financial planning to the advantages of breast feeding. The guide is intended to raise your awareness on issues that may affect you and your lifestyle. The Resources page contains the link to the Resource Guide on Health Care Consumerism . Also, on the Resources page there is a link to the 2011-12 Health Observant Dates which are special days, weeks, or months used to raise awareness on certain health topics.

Tooth Taxi

mike — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 04:05:05 +0000

Blog: September 2011

A new tab has been created on our website and the new tab is “Tooth Taxi”. Created through a unique partnership and the generous support of OEA Choice Trust, The Dental Foundation of Oregon and ODS, the Tooth Taxi is a mobile state of the art dental clinic, which is a 38 foot mobile unit that includes two operatory units. Annually the Tooth Taxi visits approximately 50 sites, serves 3,000 children and provides more than $700,000 in donated dental services. Please click on our new tab www.oeachoice.com/news-events/tooth-taxi and learn more about the Tooth Taxi and the Dental Foundation of Oregon. The following is a quote from a Tooth Taxi host: “The Tooth Taxi staff provide a great service to the kids of our community. They’re great with kids and it’s a safe, welcoming environment. I’m proud to host the Tooth Taxi at my school.” (Principal Mathew Ihle, Chenowith Elementary, North Wasco County SD)

Portion Sizes

mike — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:17:17 +0000

The website http://kgwlivewell.com/ has a colorful short video on portion size changes over the years. Research shows the people unintentionally overeat and consume more calories when given larger portion sizes. When you look at the chart below see if you’re surprised at how small one serving is, especially the butter and cheese! Click on the link below to take a short portion distortion quiz and test your portion knowledge.

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/downloads/portion-quiz.pdf

WELCOA’s “Everybody. Everyday” Program

mike — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 04:38:19 +0000

WELCOA’s (Wellness Council of America) website has free resources from surveys and samples, case studies, presentations, health information and incentive campaigns. One of the FREE incentive campaigns is “Everybody. Everyday.” and the campaign is about planning and scheduling physical activity into your day. The exciting thing about this resource, besides being free, is that all the materials are already created for you, which is a huge time saver. The download includes: registration form, coordinator resources, FAQ’s, introductory letter, motivational emails, newsletters, participant packets, and flyers. To learn more about WELCOA go to www.welcoa.org and to go directly to the Incentive Campaigns go to www.welcoa.org/freeresources/index.php?category=22. If you use any of the free resources please provide feedback about how the resources worked at journey@oeachoice.com.

Second Annual Journey to Wellness Meeting

mike — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 06:43:30 +0000

In the News & Events section of our website under Additional Information is the recap of the Second Annual Journey to Wellness Meeting (JTW2) that was held on February 3^rd, 2011 at Lane Community College. The meeting was a time for current grantee recipients and potential grant recipients to share stories, tools and challenges and expose them to school employee wellness resources and each other. Thank You for all your hard work and dedication to school employee wellness.

The WISE Spring Newsletter

mike — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 01:09:40 +0000

The WISE (Wellness in School Environments) Spring Newsletter is published featuring articles about Griffin Creek’s wellness program, The Blueprint for Wellness and Fitness Friday. The WISE group is made up of several organizations around Oregon that are passionate about wellness in schools. This brief, colorful newsletter provides current information about nutrition and physical activity opportunities around Oregon and focuses on helping schools, parents and community members implement their School Wellness Policies. Please share this newsletter with principals, teachers, parents and anyone who might be interested. Click on the link below to access the newsletter.

Click here to see the WISE Spring Newsletter

New Stories

mike — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:49:46 +0000

Go to the Stories section of our website and find out what type of wellness activities school districts have been implementing. Central School District 13J had a friendly bowling competition, Griffin Creek is doing “Lunch and Learn” and Central Point School District 6 is providing various educational opportunities to learn more about health and wellness.

Blueprint for Wellness

oeachoice — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:16:22 +0000

New Resource: Blueprint for Wellness

This resource is intended to be a guide to help implement and sustain your school employee wellness program. The blueprint is based off WELCOA’s Seven Benchmarks of result-oriented workplace wellness programs, and modified to fit school settings. Each step helps you understand what you need to do before, during, and after your grant cycle to build a sustainable wellness program.

The Steps:

1. Obtain Administration and Board Support

2. Establish a Wellness Coordinator and Create a Wellness Team

3. Collecting and Analyzing Data

4. Develop an Operating Plan

5. Choosing and Scheduling Appropriate Wellness Events

6. Creating a Supportive Environment and Using Incentives

7. Evaluate Outcomes

Check out the full Blueprint for Wellness in our resource section of our website.