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Wellness staff members Curtis Bell, Shelby Firouzi, Natalie Sargent, Raven Berman, and Kelly Gibbons stand with new awards from Utah Worksite Wellness Conference.
In May, the ARUP Wellness Center won the Platinum Healthy Worksite Award and the Innovation Award for Physical Wellbeing at the Utah Worksite Wellness Conference.
Using requirements set by the CDC, the Platinum award recognizes ARUP’s efforts to link health promotion and business outcomes through the center’s preventative services, says the center’s supervisor, Natalie Sargent. Services include coaching, intuitive eating resources, 5K training plans, a demo kitchen, and a weekly line-up of exercise classes. And with its location adjoining the ARUP Family Health Clinic, employees can choose to work with the center to manage chronic illness such as diabetes. “The more we focus on the preventative side,” says Sargent, “people’s lives literally change; they’re less likely to need to rush to the hospital, or take a drug.”
Executive involvement in wellness helps people feel ‘I can take my 15 minute break to do squats.’ Their activity encourages others to be healthy.
Natalie Sargent, Wellness supervisor
Exercise with the Executives—a July 2018 program with 1,500 participants—won the Innovation award. Each executive, from a water-skiing CFO to a hiking CEO, led a team in a month-long exercise competition. Citing research showing greater executive participation leads to higher employee buy-in and health, Sargent says, “Executive involvement in wellness helps people feel, ‘I can take my 15 minute break to do squats.’ Their activity encourages others to be healthy.”
Knowing five other wellness aspects are award possibilities is encouraging, too. Sargent notes that maybe ARUP will try next for emotional wellbeing.
Winning the two awards motivates her staff, says Sargent. “Being recognized for what Health and Wellness brings in its unique way to the company is really flattering. We’re continuing ARUP’s innovative spirit. We’re outside of the labs, bringing that spirit to both the labs and other departments.”
Catherine Arnold, Science Communications Writer
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