Calling all workplaces: Active SWV has funds available to kickstart your wellness initiative!
Active SWV in partnership with WV Health Promotion and Chronic Disease will award 40 grants across West Virginia. You may apply for up to $1,000 to jump-start your workplace wellness program. Check out some of the creative ways you can build a culture of wellness.
Deadline to apply is December 21, 2020 by 11:59pm.
Application Priorities
Applications must demonstrate the following:
- Policy, systems, and environmental change strategies
- A focus on Health Equity
- Enrolling with WV Health Connection
- Sustainability
- A commitment to a healthier workplace through the Good Example Contract included in your application
Grants cannot fund:
- Activities taking place at a school during the school day
- One-time events
- Clinical care
- Furniture (but office workout equipment is allowed!)
- Political purposes
- Publicity or propaganda
Eligibility Requirements
Your workplace must meet the following requirements to apply:
- Employee 20+ people
- Provide health insurance
- Have headquarters in the U.S.
- Employ at least one person who is certified in CDC Work@Health, or who is actively taking the course.
Active SWV along with several of our partners offer a variety of workplace-ready wellness programs eligible for this grant.
These programs are evidence-based, and already come with easy to implement measurables and evaluation strategies. The tables below offer 4 examples of programs you may choose to implement at your workplace that can be covered by this grant. Most of these can be implemented virtually. Some are free or low cost, allowing you to allocate more of your grant towards incentives or other initiatives. The tables below are outlined in order to make it easy for you to plug these programs into the Action Plan section of the grant application. You are welcome to use other projects for your application, too.
For questions regarding these programs or the grant, contact:
Veronica Crosier
Workplace Wellness Director, Active SWV
[email protected] or 304-640-1564
| Program Name | Walk With Ease |
|---|---|
| Policy/System/Environment Change Type | System Change: Implement educational programming (i.e. lunch and learns, Walk with Ease, National DPP, TOPS, etc.) to improve key chronic disease indicators and educate employees on healthy lifestyles |
| Activity | Host a 6-week Walk With Ease Course open to all employees, but specific for individuals with arthritis or who are looking to gradually introduce moderate exercise into their daily routine. |
| Measurement | There are at least 4 possible points of measurement for this activity: 1. Individuals will report minutes/week spent walking. 2. Attendance recorded at all virtual and/or in person events. 3. Record both course registration and completion numbers. 4. Participants will take a pre and post survey. |
| Evaluation of Progress | 1. Analyze if participants are walking the recommmended amount per week (or more/less). 2. Analyze if and how attendance changes over the course and ask these questions: Is the time/location convenient for participants? Are they gaining/retaining/losing interest? What other factors could be positively or negatively affecting attendance? Follow up with all of these with "why?" 3. What percentage of original registrants completed the course? 4. How did participants' feedback change over the course? For example, do they feel more comfortable exercising? Did they notice a change in their arthritis? |
| Target Completion Date | It's recommended that you allow a 10 week timeline to include factors such program planning and promation,data evaluation, a celebration/recognition event on top of the 6 week course. |
| Individual / Organization Responsible | This will be your organization, unless you will use a WWE Certified Coach to lead the course. In that case, include their name/organization as well. |
| Budget | Each participant manual costs $15. Training an individual to be a WWE Coach is $92 (optional; see notes) |
| Additional Benefits to Consider | A complimentary environmental change might include designating and marking a walking route around your workplace. A complimentary policy change my include a policy stating all employees may take a 10 minute physical activity break twice a day. Would you like to certify an employee in your workplace to become a Walk With Ease leader? You may include this in your grant action plan and budget, so long as this individual also holds a 6 week course during the grant period. Contact Active SWV at [email protected] to learn more and include ""mini grant"" in your subject line. |
| Program Name | Prevent T2 Lifestyle Change Course, National Diabetes Prevention Program |
|---|---|
| Policy/System/Environment Change Type | System Change: Implement educational programming (i.e. lunch and learns, Walk with Ease, National DPP, TOPS, etc.) to improve key chronic disease indicators and educate employees on healthy lifestyles |
| Activity | Host a 1 year Prevent T2 Lifestyle Change Course open to all employees, but specific for those at risk for developing Type 2 Diabeties. This course will help participants develop healthy habits, and make simple but significant lifestyle changes with a goal to lose a modest amount of weight. |
| Measurement | 1. Participant attendance 2. Participants will report their weight weekly (right time frame?) 3. Record both registration and completion numbers |
| Evaluation of Progress | 1. Analyze if and how attendance changes over the course and ask these questions: Is the time/location convenient for participants? Are they gaining/retaining/losing interest? What other factors could be positively or negatively affecting attendance? Follow up with all of these with "why?" 2. Analyze if participants are meeting their goals, and ask why/why not? 3. Are participants making healthy choices as recommended in the program materials? 4. What percentage of registrants completed the course? |
| Target Completion Date | Please contact Active SWV at [email protected] to learn when our next Prevent T2 class will start and what materials you may need. Because this is a 12 month program, it will surpass the grant timeline. However, you may put the last day of the grant period here and where in the course timeline you'll be, with a note that this class will continue the full 12 months until completion. In addition to determining the start date of the course, you'll need to consider how much time you'll alot to promoting the course, and registration. |
| Individual / Organization Responsible | Please include your organization, the point person who will oversee coordinating this course, as well as the organization providing instruction for the course. |
| Budget | Approximately $20 per participant manual. Approximately $20 per particicpant for items such as body weight scales, food scales, measuring cups or incentives (Note that each participant MUST have access to a body weight scale each week). Approximately $9 per participant for shipping, assuming the class is held virtually. |
| Additional Benefits to Consider | A complimentary Environment Change might include access to physical activity equipment at the workplace. A complimentary Policy Change might be a policy to reduce access to sugar sweetened beverages at the worksite. |
| Program Name | Self Monitoring Blood Pressure Station |
|---|---|
| Policy/System/Environment Change Type | Environmental Change: Lactation room, diabetes rest station, self-monitoring blood pressure stations, etc. |
| Activity | Install a Self Monitoring Blood Pressure Station |
| Measurement | Track use of SMBPS regularly using a sign in form |
| Evaluation of Progress | Determine if recorded use meets your workplace's goal |
| Target Completion Date | If you hold supplementary educational workshops, or share promotinoal materials, you may want your completion date to compliment your timeline for those activities. Otherwise, you may put the last day of grant cycle. |
| Individual / Organization Responsible | Please include your organization and the individual who will oversee implementation and tracking of SMBPS |
| Budget | Contact James Vance at [email protected] to register for a FREE self-monitoring blood pressure station. Active SWV can provide you with educational materials at no cost, including wallet cards, pamphlets and flyers. |
| Additional Benefits to Consider | A complimentary Systems Change might look like holding an educational lunch-n-learn about blood pressure; and/or by distributing flyers, brochures, blogs, etc. that promote the use of the SMBPS and educate employees on blood pressure. |
| Program Name | Move Your Way® Physical Activity Campaign |
|---|---|
| Policy/System/Environment Change Type | Environmental Change: Post signs in elevators, stairwell entrances, and/or exits at workplace to promote healthy eating, stairwell usage, parking further away, lunch walks, walking meetings, walk or bike to work, tobacco cessation and prevention, etc. |
| Activity | Post materials including a large poster, signage and handouts from the Move Your Way® Campaign to educate inviduals on the recommended physical ativity for their age range, and how they might acheive these recommendations. |
| Measurement | 1. Track number of posters/signs posted in workplace as well as their location. 2. Track how many indvidual handouts are distributed 3. Employees complete a pre and post survey about their rate of physical activity and/or awareness of physical activity recommendations for their age group |
| Evaluation of Progress | 1. Determine if amount of signage met your workplace's goal and if after this period you still think these are the best locations for the posters/signs. 2. Determine if amount of individual handouts distributed met your workplace's goal. 3. Analyze if employees showed a change in physical activity and/or a change in their knowledge about physical activity recommendations over before and after the Move Your Way® educational materials were distributed. Ask if the Move Your Way® materials affected this change and what other factors may have come into play. |
| Target Completion Date | Consider if you'll do pre and post surveys. If so, use the date of the post survey results evaluation here. |
| Individual / Organization Responsible | Please list your organization and the individual overseeing the distribution and tracking of materials and surveys. |
| Budget | These materials are free through the partnership between the national Move Your Way® Campaign and Active SWV. Please contact Active SWV to request Move Your Way® materials at [email protected] and include "mini grant" in the subject line. |
| Additional Benefits to Consider | A complimentary Systems Change might include a physical activity challenge wherein participants track their physical activity each week, with the challenge of meeting their weekly minutes per week goal. Ask about the Move Your Way® physical activity tracker as a fun way for participants to see what counts as phsyical activity, and for your wellness committee to track particpation and collect data for evaluation. A complimentary policy change my include a policy stating all employees may take a 10 minute physical activity break twice a day. |
