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Feature Article

UMHS Laundry Services Health Improvement Pilot Successful

Jessica Ameling, Marketing Intern and HealthBeat Assistant Editor, UMHS MWorks Occupational Health

Strong managerial support and the resulting high participation in a health promotion and injury prevention intervention can go a long way in reducing a company's health care costs. That's what the creators of the University of Michigan's Laundry Services pilot health improvement program found. The intervention ran from September 2005-April 2007 and was designed to lower the health risks of services employees by reducing injuries and accidents while improving overall health. The Laundry Services Department was targeted for this pilot because of its high rates of lost work days and injuries.

The pilot was a collaboration between several U-M Health System departments, including: Operations & Support Services, Program for Multicultural Health, MFit Health Promotion and MWorks Disability Management. Lisa Schneider, employee wellness manager from MFit, was one of the collaborators on the pilot. Schneider said the group effort was both the main reason for the program's success and their biggest challenge.

"It always takes longer to roll out a program when you have other departments involved," she said. "We all have "our way'' of doing things, and getting consensus from team members before moving forward is time-consuming, but worth it."

The pilot began with Health Risk Assessments (HRA) and Biometric Screenings. After evaluating the assessments and screenings, the multi-faceted program began.

Program components included:

• 11 "Lunch and Learn" sessions on relevant topics, such as managing cholesterol and preventing stress
• Several weekly visits by Lynn Krzys, an MWorks occupational health disability nurse, to counsel staff on health issues
• Education on how to access health information available at the MFit Health Education Resource Center
• Creation of educational handouts, including posters that depict stretches to relieve pain from specific work performed at Laundry Services

In 18 months, five of the 34 participants moved from moderate or high risk to low risk, based on HRA results. The predicted cost avoidance due to laundry service employees shifting to lower risk categories totaled $16,320. This estimate is based on research by U-M's Dr. Dee Edington which found that an individual defined as low risk costs the company an average of $3,321 less in medical costs per year than a high risk individual.

The percentage of employees missing three or more days of work improved from 29.3% to 24.3% which saved the department an estimated $21,216. Improvements were also seen in several health risks. Cholesterol was most improved, changing from 20.6% of participants at high risk to just 5.9%. Stress levels and perceived health also saw significant improvements.

After analyzing the results, the program leaders determined the possible next steps include:

• One on one health coaching - telephonic or face-to-face
• Additional health materials onsite - posters, fact-sheets, etc.
• Lunch and learn seminars on: body weight, physical activity, stress management, quitting tobacco, overcoming back pain, and others

For more information on setting up an employee health improvement program similar to the Laundry Services' program, plan to attend the MWorks/MFit spring business briefing on May 22, 2008 or contact MFit Corporate Wellness at 734-975-3049 or visit www.med.umich.edu/mfit/corporate.

Information from an article in the Sept/Oct 2007 edition of the Inside View was included in this story.