Wellness Program Approved for Oregon State Employees

The goal of the new work-based wellness program for state employees is to promote health and wellness at the workplace by giving employers tools and resources to help their employees become healthier by stopping smoking, eating more nutritiously, losing weight and increasing physical activity, according to The Lund Report.  

The PEBB board considered a set of outcomes and goals that had been developed by the Oregon Public Health Division, including having 37,000 state employees work in tobacco-free environments; increasing the number of state offices with a WeightWatchers at Work program by 10, and in the long-term, decreasing tobacco use among PEBB members by 3%.  

The $155,000 will cover the salary and benefits for two-full time coordinators and one half-time research analyst at the Oregon Public Health Division, who will be responsible for surveying state employees and begin implementing the program in state and local government agencies and other sites where PEBB members work.