UAA Employee Wellness program is back—and it's better than ever
by Michelle Saport |
You spoke, and the College of Health listened. UAA Employee Wellness is back and better than ever with a full-time Employee Wellness Practicum Coordinator to give you the full attention you need to improve your health and wellness goals.
What is UAA Employee Wellness? UAA Employee Wellness is a program created by the Health, Physical Education, and Recreation (HPER) department that provides on-site wellness activities for UAA employees. Upper-division students in the degree program use their skills and knowledge to provide services and teach health lifestyle habits as part of their course curriculum.
The Employee Wellness program was designed to reach employees where they work, making it possible for them to participate without having to go too far from their workspace and eliminating many of the barriers that prevent people from taking time for themselves to improve their wellness.
The program is free and open to all UAA employees, including student workers. It sounds too good to be true, but it's not. It's real, and it's here to stay. (Head here for a brief history of the program since fall 2015.)
What is a "Wellness Break"? A Wellness Break is what we call our wellness activities that students facilitate for employees. The human body and mind get tired of working eight hours straight, so taking a "break" from work improves your "wellness" and can help contribute to a happier and more fulfilled life.
A wellness break is formed around the Six Dimensions of Wellness created by the National Wellness Institute while also being customized to the needs of the specific group.
The next time you hear about a wellness break in your area or anywhere around campus, drop by and see what it's all about.
HPER students representing the Employee Wellness program showcase services at the 2016 Health Fair.
Benefits for employees The UAA Employee Wellness program has responded well to the needs of employees, while providing a rich contextual teaching and learning environment for students in the HPER Department. We have learned much about the health and wellness priorities, preferences and interests of employees. Evaluations show positive outcomes for employee participants, including personal lifestyle changes and progression toward health and wellness goals. Ninety-one percent said they had made healthier lifestyle choices since participating in the UAA Employee Wellness program.
Benefits for students Students have gained valuable experience in working with diverse groups of people who have various health and wellness-related goals, fitness levels, and interests. Working with small groups across the campus has allowed students to more effectively design and implement wellness activities customized to their participants and facilitates more effective communication. The students have been welcomed and treated as professionals. The unforeseen relationships that have been created and nurtured between students and employees are priceless.
UAA alumna Kyra McKay first got involved with the UAA Employee Wellness program as a student intern. She now serves as the full-time UAA Employee Wellness Practicum Coordinator.
Meet Kyra McKay, your 'new' UAA Employee Wellness Practicum Coordinator I attended UAA right after high school in 2011 with a goal of receiving a degree in criminal justice. As time went on, I found myself engaging more in physical activity and becoming more interested in learning how to take care of the human body. As my dreams of becoming a police officer faded away, I found myself with a new dream of wanting to help people in living long and healthy lives. To achieve my new ambition, I stumbled upon the Health, Physical Education and Recreation department and switched my major to Physical Education. As I took the Physical Education classes, I was still trying to find my place in the world until I heard about the Employee Wellness Program. I have been a part of the Employee Wellness Program, helping it grow since the pilot semester. I started out leading wellness breaks for my class, then was hired on for a summer semester to lead more breaks, became the intern when it was my time, and was hired as the part-time coordinator after graduating from HPER with a bachelor's degree in physical education with an emphasis in health and fitness leadership. Now I am proud to say I am the new full-time Employee Wellness Practicum Coordinator.
I am here to change our work environment. I want to give back to the employees of UAA, change lives, and crush the negative stereotypes about pursuing a healthy lifestyle. Health and wellness is for everyone, and I am here to make sure everyone has the opportunity to join in on the program to not only better themselves, but to better the community as well.
What's next for the UAA Employee Wellness program? Wellness Breaks are on hold for the Spring 2018 semester as the program plans for future endeavors. The program has a tentative plan of returning to regularly scheduled wellness breaks at the beginning of fall 2018. If you are interested in wellness breaks or want to learn more, contact Kyra at uaa.wellness@alaska.edu.
Please be on the look out for a Needs Assessment, which will be distributed via the Employee Wellness email list* and Seawolf Daily. We would greatly appreciate everyone's feedback to further improve the UAA Employee Wellness Program.
*To join the email list, sign up at the UAA Employee Wellness website.
"UAA Employee Wellness program is back—and it's better than ever" is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.