Getting a yearly physical in the middle of the deadliest pandemic in a century may seem low on the priority list, but keeping up with personal health in small ways throughout the year may save some trouble down the road.
This year, the FBP wellness program not only wants their employees to stay active and healthy, it now wants employees’ spouses to join in on the journey to a healthier life.
The FBP wellness program was first introduced in 2018. The program is open to all FBP employees and their spouses who are on Medical Mutual of Ohio health plans. The program is designed to form healthy holistic habits that last.
“The benefit is improving and checking in on their overall health,” HR Benefits Manager for Fluor-BWXT Portsmouth HR Benefits Manager Sarah Allen. “We have a lot of employees that tell us that they don’t have a primary care doctor so by doing this they’ve actually been able to go out and find a doctor and maybe they’ve found conditions like high cholesterol or diabetes that they never would have known before. Or maybe they’re completely healthy and that’s great…we want them to stay healthy.”
For those who have participated in the program in the past, the list of activities will look very similar, with the annual physical being the baseline requirement to receive any benefit and a variety of wellness challenges that educate and promote physical, mental, financial and community health. The main change to the program is that it now requires any spouse on the MMO health plan to participate in order to reap the full benefits.
Each activity on the wellness list is tracked through the WellRight website or app. Once an employee and their spouse earn enough points, they can cash them in for a $200 gift card to popular retailers like Amazon or Target, and the employee can look forward to a reduced premium in 2022.
A few of the activities have been altered to fit with current health and travel guidelines. Instead of traveling somewhere on a bucket list, FBP encourages participants to go on a staycation and enjoy a local attraction. Instead of participating in a 5k with a huge group of people, employees and their spouses can now do a virtual 5k to earn points.
In addition to the activities that can be completed year round, the FBP wellness program has activities focusing on certain aspects of health to be completed in certain months.
The first quarter of the year is focused on emotional and community health, encouraging participants to lead initiatives in their community and learn more about workplace wellness.
The second quarter is centered on financial health by reading up on finance and seeing a financial planner.
The third quarter is focused on fitness and getting participants to go outside and walk.
The fourth quarter is about nutritional health and works on forming new habits around snacking, and making it out to local farmers markets.
As employees complete their tasks their progress is tracked through the WellRight app or website. The system is designed to remind participants to log their progress daily. For newcomers into the journey of taking care of their health in a more holistic way, there are small activities to get participants started like completing a webinar or getting weighed.
“We want employees who are healthy and able to come to work,” Allen says. “It’s a perk for them that they can also earn some incentives while staying healthy.”
FBP will release the activities and requirements for the 2021 wellness program in November and the program runs from Jan. 1, 2021 to Oct. 31, 2021.
