Modeling & Sharing Good Habits to Improve Health & Wellness
The following story was featured in the Spring 2019 issue of the OneSpirit Magazine.
We all want to live longer and healthier and have more energy to spend quality time with our family and friends. CHI St. Vincent’s Well-being Ambassadors are here to encourage you along on your wellness journey by promoting programs and activities that encourage good health and improve your quality of life.
Well-being Ambassadors serve as liaisons between the Well-being Champions Team and CHI St. Vincent coworkers. They engage their peers and share how easy it is to earn wellness dollars and participate in activities that make a positive impact on your health. Teresa Hardesty and Mike Long share their experience with the program and how focusing on simple, healthy activities have made a difference in their own lives.
Teresa Hardesty
“I was already a wellness champion before I ever heard of the Well-being Ambassadors program,” laughs Teresa Hardesty, quality measures coordinator at the Infirmary. “When I realized you could participate in challenges and earn rewards, I was hooked. I’m very competitive – deadlines fit me well, and I like using that competitiveness to spur me to do more.”
Teresa quickly dove into the online wellness opportunities, completing every challenge. She loved that she could pick her own rewards for taking webinars and learning about making better choices in what she ate and how often she exercised.
Last year, Teresa and her husband earned the maximum benefit – $450 each – to spend on anything they chose. Teresa decided on a mountain bike, a purchase she might not have otherwise made but that she felt would encourage her on her path to fitness. Her husband used his rewards to buy the materials for a deer stand. Now Teresa has her eye on a Blackstone outdoor grill that she can use to make healthy meals while they’re camping.
“I tell all of my coworkers about the financial and health benefits of this program – it couldn’t be any easier,” says Teresa. “And it’s fun!”
Teresa shares that she has learned so much since participating in the online challenges, including healthful food choices, the value of stress management techniques like yoga and meditation and the importance of regular exercise.
“If you’re not particularly athletic or don’t know much about living a healthy lifestyle, it’s easy to brush it off and say, ‘that’s not for me.’ But when you start with small, deliberate changes, you’ll begin to see and feel a difference,” says Teresa. “I’ve worked here for 36 years, and I’ve always felt that our leadership is looking for ways to help employees better their own lives. This program is helping me do that every day.”
Mike Long
Ever since he was a kid, Mike Long, nurse manager of the cath lab, interventional radiology, cardiac rehab and outpatient diabetes education in Hot Springs, was interested in staying healthy. And that meant he was into running and pushups. “I’ve always been health conscious, but with a 7-year-old, some of your priorities change and carving out time is more difficult than it used to be,” shares Mike. “I’m not as scripted in my exercise as I once was, but I’m rededicating myself to it in 2019 and putting in more effort to get the gym regularly.”
Mike has always played the role of encouraging coworkers to get more active. Each November, he helps organize a running group to participate in the Spa Running Festival, a local 5K, 10K and half marathon race in its 37th year. As a Well-being Ambassador, he’s excited to share about the online screening questionnaires, reimbursement for preventative screenings and ways individuals can get healthier alongside their friends and colleagues, like taking part in walking challenges and tracking your daily exercise.
“There is no downside to taking advantage of these wellness opportunities. They aren’t costing you anything,” says Mike. “When we make good choices and feel our best, we will enjoy our work more and do a better job caring for our patients. I’m excited about everyone being healthier together!”