By Jason Nemcosky ’07
A new Wellness Committee has been formed at Virginia Wesleyan College with a goal to improve the health and lives of faculty, staff and students by encouraging a healthy way of life for everybody.
This committee is replacing Wellfest, an annual health fair held on campus with various health-related information and screenings. The replacement was done so wellness could be focused on for the entire year, rather than just once a year.
“Just doing one event for a few hours wasn’t enough,” Director of Health Services Mary Cureton said.
“We feel ongoing wellness is more important and more effective,” Director of Human Resources Barbara Fried said.
The committee has been in the works since last spring, and received its starting point from a book that outlined the proper way to pull off a wellness program from Anthem BlueCross and BlueShield. With some guidance, the committee is starting to incorporate wellness activities into the daily life at Wesleyan.
“We’ve started off slow,” Cureton said. “We didn’t want to bite off more than we could chew.”
Already, the committee has made progress and currently has 15 members. One thing they have done is a drawing each month for those who go through a health screening. One participant will be given a $25 gift card to Target.
The committee has received a boost from two big health programs are on campus. One of those programs is Weight Watchers for faculty and staff members – thanks to the work of committee member Kathy Bartkus. Cureton says Weight Watchers is “one of the best weight-loss programs. It stresses healthy eating,” instead of quick dieting techniques. As a bonus, $50 will be given to anybody who can complete the whole program.
The other big arrival is the MobileFit program, which allows for computerized personal workouts and is available to the entire Wesleyan Community. Virginia Wesleyan is the first college in the nation to have such a program.
The committee is distributing surveys to the campus community and will let the results determine the direction of the Wellness program. The committee plans to develop events to help in the area of smoking, obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes, which are four of the biggest health problems. They also are also focusing on prevention and education of how to prevent certain illnesses before they spiral into something worse.
“It’s going to take time,” Fried said. “We’re going to make it a solid, ongoing program. We’ll make it work and do what’s right for everybody.”
Fried suggests that people take advantage of the committee’s events so people can learn more about healthy lifestyles.
“I think it’s critical we all learn how to live healthier,” Fried said.
To suggest an idea to the Wellness Committee, e-mail wellness@vwc.edu.