The University of North Florida established Healthy Osprey as a university-wide initiative with the purpose of transforming the health and well-being of the campus community. It’s a collaboration of students, faculty and staff working to foster an environment that embraces the development of a healthy body, mind and spirit.
The mission of Healthy Osprey closely aligns with the American College Health Association’s (ACHA) definition of health promotion which states, “Health promotion services in colleges and universities support the academic mission by engaging students, faculty and staff in leading healthier lives and building supportive and sustainable environments, so health can advance the capacity to learn and work.”
As a result, UNF is striving to make sure our environment is conducive to healthy living, especially for employees. To create a healthy, supportive environment, we focus on individual behaviors but emphasize the importance of wellness at a campus community level.
There is a tremendous need for faculty and staff to live holistically healthy lives. Studies have shown that creating a healthful work environment where employees are educated on topics specifically catered to their needs improves productivity, decreases absenteeism, increases presentism and reduces healthcare cost.
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To get a better understanding of the health dynamics of its employees, the university launched a survey to all faculty and staff. The survey revealed a range of information such as faculty/staff awareness of healthy resources on-campus as well as key health concerns facing employees. The information gathered from the survey was used to develop several programs tailored specifically to employee health.
One program developed was the Healthy Osprey Wellness Workshops as part of professional development. The survey’s results served as the foundation for the development of the workshops conducted based on the current needs and wants of the university employees at that time.
The series of workshops were led by on and off campus wellness experts and held during times convenient for our employees. Below are examples of the workshops during a traditional semester:
1. Discover the Health Benefits of Produce
Let’s begin the school year off right on a healthy note. In this workshop you will be challenged to introduce more fruits and veggies into your diet by:
- Learning which fruits and veggies are in season.
- Which produce is part of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ and the ‘Clean 15.’
- Incorporating them on a salad, with hummus, in a smoothie or in a veggie wrap.
- Lastly, we’ll break down what organic versus conventional really means.
2. Office Ergonomics — It Really is About You!
Understanding the Fundamental Ergonomic Principles in the office setting.
3. Breakroom Nightmares
Are you being haunted by what’s in your desk drawer? Are you afraid of what might be served in the breakroom for birthday No. 4 this month? Fear no more! This workshop will guide you toward:
- Packing nutrient dense snacks and meals.
- Helping you set boundaries within the breakroom.
- Creating healthier alternatives to those sugary Halloween sweets.
- Staying on track with your health and nutrition goals.
4. Steps to Prevent Holiday Weight Gain
Did you know that research studies have proven that most adults gain about one to two pounds every year over the holidays? Everyone attends parties and office gatherings during the holiday season and naturally there’s lots of food and alcohol, but don’t despair because this workshop will help you:
- Toward incorporating intuitive/mindful eating as a lifestyle.
- Create healthier — and yummy — casserole dishes.
- Plan ahead to avoid overeating at parties.
- Create recipe modifications for your favorite holiday dishes.
5. Healthy Osprey’s Don’t Sleep on Sleep
When it comes to sleep, it’s not just quantity that matters — it’s quality.
Conclusion
The workshop series created opportunities for employees to be educated on topics that would improve overall health and enable individual staff to reach their full potential. The participants evaluated the workshop highly in terms of content and practice. Results from the surveys also revealed the series was successful in educating and shifting behavior change to a healthier lifestyle. Each workshop posed its own challenges and opportunities. Valuable lessons identified during the series:
- Content was often tweaked to focus more on specific wellness needs.
- Increased time for each workshop, so participants have more time to interact with the facilitator and ask questions based on the info presented.
- Incorporated several learning methodologies including but not limited to hands-on learning, activity-based and audio/visual techniques which were seen as successful.
The valuable lessons learned and other feedback were used to adjust when designing and implementing future workshops. Below are just a few examples of changes identified to ensure the next round of workshops was a success.
Future Implications:
- Provide more series-based workshops that focus on a specific wellness topic.
- Maintain the workshop materials on the Healthy Osprey website for future reference.
- Follow-up questionnaires will be sent to workshop participants three months after participation to identify long-term results and impact.
- Increase the amount of working workshops to expand the hands-on experience.
- Develop a pre-training survey and send workshop materials out at least a few days prior to better understand the needs of the participants.
As UNF continues to grow, our aim is to ensure we cultivate a healthy environment for all.
