Integrating health, wellness and protection programs using wellness champions at Rockwell Collins in Coralville

Katherine Jones, Principal Investigator, MPH Student, Department of Community and Behavior Health in the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa
Dr. Faryle Nothwehr, Faculty Sponsor, Associate Professor, Department of Community and Behavior Health in the College of Public Health at the University of Iowa

Abstract provided by PI: Recent evidence has shown that systematically integrating health protection and health promotion interventions makes their aims more achievable. Improving the dietary intake of workers has potential to prevent or manage a host of chronic conditions. The goal of the proposed pilot project is to integrate health promotion and workplace health protection efforts at the Coralville facility of Rockwell Collins. This will be achieved by the following specific aim: 1) Increase awareness, ,knowledge and behaviors related to healthy eating by providing healthy food options and nutrition education at 10 required safety trainings. This project will be evaluated through a survey that will collect qualitative and quantitative data. This project offers a simple, practical environmental change. It will help lay the foundation for future integration of health protection and health promotion activities and will contribute to potential future policy-level change.

  Results & Dissemination
Results provided by PI: The survey yielded largely positive responses and collected valuable data on what health topics the employees were interested in. This data could be
used to influence larger policy and environmental-level changes, especially to food choices the company offers. This project came about as a result of a partnership between the University of Iowa, Iowa Cancer Consortium, and the worksite. The relationship built between the principal investigator (PI) and the occupational nurse Ms. Mishler was essential for this project to occur. By working collaboratively with Ms. Mishler and the Wellness Champions, the PI got buy-in from employees and was able to illustrate an easy way to integrate evaluation into health promotion efforts (Poster).