Hip-Hop to Wellness

City of Farmers Branch, TX, and Farmers Branch Parks and Recreation

Purpose:

To lower health insurance costs by promoting employee health and wellness

Target Population:

Farmers Branch employees

Program Goals:

• Get employees more active

• Employee completion of a health risk assessment

• Increase use of preventive care and screenings

Years in Operation:

2006 – present

Results:

After the first year, the city’s health insurance renewal rate dropped from 15 percent for 2005–2006 to 8.5 percent for 2006–2007.

Funding:

The program is funded by the city.

Key Partners:

City departments; hospitals; schools; elected officials; medical community

What Works and Why:

Employees were offered the incentive of a free annual membership to the Farmers Branch Recreation Center for completing a specific set of wellness activities each year. The program updated employees regularly about opportunities to participate, highlighted employee accomplishments in communications about opportunities to engage, and offered convenient, organized activities that accommodated various activity levels. The city manager and assistant city managers support the program and are regular participants in the classes offered.

Structure and Operations:

Employees received a free annual membership to the Recreation Center by: completing an online health risk assessment; participating in three free health screenings provided by the city each year; receiving a preventive exam from a health care provider; and participating in four Hip-Hop activities during the year.

The fitness programmer provided employees a monthly calendar of upcoming events that the city included in employees' paychecks. The calendar included an "Employee Spotlight" to celebrate employee accomplishments in relation to health and fitness.

The Parks and Recreation Department offered free lunchtime group exercise classes and organized a monthly walking program to make being active more convenient.

Since its inception, the program has expanded, through partnerships with local health professionals, to include lectures and screenings to the community and city employees.

Barriers to Success:

Sustainability of incentives and ability to expand program to dependents is not clear.

More Information:

http://www.nrpa.org/content/default.aspx?documentId=6984

Download:

Download this program information in PDF format.