Some Spokane-area employers recently have started taking advantage of federal grant money made available to help them set up wellness programs for their workers.

Spokane’s share of the grant will amount to $1 million over the course of four years, from 2014 to 2018. As part of the grant, HealthLinks focuses on helping workers become more physically active, improve their diet, get recommended cancer screenings, and stop tobacco use, says Brittany Marshall, senior project coordinator for Inland Northwest Health Services, based in Spokane.

INHS and Better Health Together are community partners and frequently work together and with other agencies exploring ways to improve health for the community.

By doing those things, people are more likely to reduce the chances of developing diabetes or heart disease, having a stroke, or becoming obese, Marshall says.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention awarded grant money to dozens of cities across the country starting in September of 2014, she says.

Washington will receive $3.5 million from the four-year grant program for state and city health departments to address approaches and interventions that promote good health. 

The CDC released the award to the Washington state Department of Health. Spokane based Better Health Together, an organization designed to assist individuals and employers connect with health resources, disperses the grant money, Marshall says.

With assistance from Marshall, Aging & Long Term Care of Eastern Washington recently expanded a wellness program it offers. Marshall says she’s also working with etailz, Frontier Behavioral Health, and Spokane County to help them either establish or improve upon existing wellness programs.

In the U.S., seven in 10 deaths are due to chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, and diabetes. Together, they account for 75 percent of U.S. medical care costs, says the CDC.

More than half of all deaths in the U.S. are thought to result from “modifiable risk factors” that lead to chronic disease, the CDC says.

Nineteen percent of U.S. deaths are linked to tobacco use, 16 percent to high blood pressure, and 8 percent each to physical inactivity and obesity, the CDC says.

The role of the workplace is important for health protection, health promotion, and disease prevention programs because on average, Americans working full time spend more than a third of their time at work, the CDC says.

Maintaining a healthier workforce can lower direct costs, such as insurance premiums and worker’s compensation claims. It also positively affects many indirect costs such as absenteeism and worker productivity, the CDC says.

Productivity losses related to personal and family health problems cost U.S. employers $1,685 per worker per year, which is just under $226 billion per year. “These indirect costs affect all employers, even those who avoid direct medical costs by not funding health insurance,” the CDC says.

Between 2000 and 2004, cigarette smoking in the U.S. was estimated to cost $193 billion in annual health-related economic losses; $96 billion in direct medical costs, and almost $97 billion in lost productivity, the CDC says.

Studies show there is a strong link between employee health and employee productivity in the workplace. It’s estimated that medical costs fall by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs and absenteeism costs fall by $2.73 for every dollar spent, the CDC says.

INHS has partnered with Better Health Together, and the Spokane offices of the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association, along with the University of Washington, in the implementation of the HealthLinks grant, Marshall says.

Businesses that enroll in HealthLinks receive free support from a wellness consultant—Marshall is one of two here—for six months.

“It’s educating employees and their workers on the importance of good nutrition and engaging in healthier options at work,” Marshall says.

As a consultant, Marshall evaluates an employer’s current wellness practices if one is in place. 

Aging & Long Term Care of Eastern Washington, located at 1222 N. Post, was the one of the first Spokane employers to express interest in expanding its wellness program, she says.

Lynn Kimball, the organization’s executive director, says the early success and popularity of its wellness program has been a direct result of the efforts of an eight-member wellness committee.

“At Brittany’s recommendation, we set up a committee to review what we were currently doing and then began to explore more on how we could improve,” Kimball says. “The wellness committee has helped drive the activity.”

Kimball says the committee keeps employees informed of healthy activities and events taking place and also solicits feedback through surveys submitted to workers.

Also as part of Aging & Long Term Care’s wellness program, the organization contacted the nearby downtown YMCA to bring its certified Pilates instructor, Jodi Kelnhofer, to lead two 30-minute to 45-minute class sessions for employees during the week.

“The benefit to the employee is that Pilates helps reduce injuries and sickness, and the company benefits by having a more productive employee,” says Kelnhofer.

She holds a Pilates class every Monday at Aging & Long Term Care from 12:15 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. She says she also leads a cardio and strength training class for approximately 45 minutes at the close of business there at 5 p.m. every Wednesday.

“By being on site, it gets rid of a lot of excuses that people have about why they didn’t go and work out after getting off from work,” Kelnhofer says.

Khristina Scheideler, a member of Aging & Long Term Care’s wellness committee, says she enjoys the more intimate setting of exercising at work compared with a fitness club.

“This has been so much fun for me,” Scheideler says. “Even when I used to belong to a gym, I still found that sometimes the gym’s schedule wasn’t favorable with mine.”

Kristi Eppinger, who also is a member of the wellness committee, says several employees have told her they prefer the support received from peers in the workplace during fitness classes.

“A lot of people quite frankly find the fitness clubs intimidating,” Eppinger says.

As for Scheideler, she says she can sense the difference in her body since Kelnhoffer started running fitness classes at Aging & Long Term Care.

“I can tell that my balance is better, I’m learning more about my body and overall just feeling better,” she says.