FEATURED
Method to his ‘Madness’
uses point-based incentives boost TMIC’s wellness
results | BY KATHLEEN KOSTER ‘
EBN’s Benefits Professional of the Year Ed Coates
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(COVER STORY ON PAGE 22)
ALSO INSIDE
BY KATHLEEN KOSTER
Benefits Corner Office
Moving to mandatory enrollment paid
off for one Benny winner
Employee-Consumer
EBN’s i-COMM winners cut through
communications clutter
Health Care
Benny honoree launches campaign to
put a face on mental health issues
BY THE NUMBERS
13%
of DC plan members traded
in their accounts in 2009
according to a Vanguard
survey.
See page 66
WELLNESS
Feet don’t fail me now: Worksite
walking programs grow
BY LYDELL C. BRIDGEFORD
More employers are encouraging workers to walk as a
form of exercise by setting
up walking programs, an
inexpensive and strategic
way to improve health and
productivity.
Walking programs appeal
to employers because walking is an exercise that pretty
much anyone can do. “It’s a
low-cost activity and a great
way to introduce exercise
to people who are new to
working out or just encourage others to exercise more,”
says Elysa Jacobs, manager
of health improvement programs at Pitney Bowes.
In addition, pedometers appeal to
Americans’ love of gadgets and provide
an easy way to track how physically active
a person is during the day, Jacobs adds.
On one occastion, “we had participants wear a pedometer, but told them
not to do anything different in their daily
routine and just track how many steps
they did per day. Many people were
shocked to find they walk less than a mile
during the day,” says Jacobs.
Pedometers appeal to Americans’ love of gadgets and provide an easy
way to track how physically active a person is during the day, says Elysa
Jacobs (left), manager of health improvement programs at Pitney Bowes.
She is pictured here accepting her company’s healthy lifestyle award from
the National Business Group on Health’s Helen Darling.
The benefits
In this country, walking is sometimes
unappreciated as a health and fitness intervention, says Dr. Barry Franklin, chair
of the American Heart Association’s
council on nutrition, physical activity
and metabolism.
It’s an exercise in which participants
don’t have to worry about getting ortho-
pedic and musculoskeletal injuries. The
positive health benefits of walking can be
achieved by walking at a moderately in-
tense pace two to three-and-a-half miles
per hour, five or more days a week.
