Focus

The VOICES of the Staff Benefits, Health and Well-Being team is dedicated to exploring ideas concerning Benefit, Health and Well-Being programs that are important to staff and how to maximize the value of these programs.

Objectives

• Support the promotion of health and well-being efforts by partnering with the Benefits Office and Michigan Healthy Community
• Serve as a sounding board for new benefits, health and well-being initiatives and strategies
• Provide input and feedback on best practices and programs in the arena of benefits, health and well-being
• Provide advice and input about how best to engage employees and their families in Michigan Healthy Community programs

Wins

• A smooth integration of two different VOICES teams into one cohesive team to address benefits, health and well-being topics.
• The team is utilized as a health and benefits resource and sounding board, and to provide advice, input and feedback.
• The team has provided a valuable staff perspective on various health and wellness programs such as MFit, Ergonomics Awareness, Active U, and Understanding U.
• At the suggestion of the team, the Benefits Office designed a user-friendly on-line medical navigator tool to help staff better understand their medical plans in preparation for open-enrollment.
• The team’s input to the Benefits Office about dental coverage and choices was used to develop a request for proposal. At the invitation of the Benefits Office, two team members will attend dental vendor meetings to discuss their proposals.
• The focus on learning and building awareness of benefit and health and well-being plans and programs has resulted in a more educated team and broader knowledge base.

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Topics Explored at Team Meetings

• Michigan Healthy Community – An Orientation
  • Outcome: Overview of the mission and goals of Michigan Healthy Community.
• Presentation: Physical Activity for Life Taskforce
  Alisa Morningstar, Associate Director – MFit promotion
  • Fall fitness assessments
  • Fitness center discount updates
    • Outcome: Input provided to MFit regarding promotion and marketing of programs. Several suggestions were made such as using a seven point checklist, and a magnetic calendar to track goals and progress.
• 2008 Benefits Plan Update
  • Outcome: A suggestion was made that HR include a comparison of last year’s MCare plan with the other plans offered for 2008 in its online Medical Plan Navigator.
• 2008 Benefits Plans – Plan Comparisons – An Overview
  • Outcome: The team reviewed the medical navigation tool developed by the Benefits’ Office. The tool shows a comparison of medical plans at a glance and is available on-line for plan comparison during open enrollment.
• MHC Ergonomics Awareness program update
  • Outcome: Input about grant and awards program (providing money for departments to help provide ergonomics materials).
• MHC 5 Year Strategic Plan: Prioritization Matrix
  • Outcome: The team discussed and provided input to the Michigan Healthy Community Strategic plan.
• Active U- Year 3
  • Outcome: Input on incentives and promotions. The team suggested several ideas for incentive options.
• Dental Coverage RFP Process:
  • Suggestions and concerns about current Dental coverage
    • Outcome: Provided input and made suggestions about current dental coverage. The Benefits Office proposed that two VOICES members attend vendor presentations in February 2008.
• Preview of “Understanding U: Managing the Ups and Downs of Life” website
  • Outcome: Provided input and feedback about new website.
• Healthy Eating Awareness Campaign
  • The team generated multiple ideas for the health eating campaign such as developing a healthy eating weekly menu, and supporting shopping list. VOICES' input resulted in alternate incentive item being selected.
• Consumer Driven Health Plans
  • To increase awareness of what is happening in the market place, the team listened to a presentation about innovative benefits designs currently offered by a number of employers, such as Consumer Driven Health Plans (CDHPs) and BCN’s Healthy Blue Living.

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Work in Progress

• Two team members will attend the dental vendor Request for Proposal presentations in February 2008
• As a result of a discussion about the different needs of various employee groups, a team member is engaged with the Health and Well-Being programs to develop a nursing staff-specific health and wellness program.

Findings

Suggested Websites

• Michigan Healthy Community (MHealthy) — www.MHealthy.umich.edu
• Benefits Office Website — http://www.umich.edu/~benefits/
  
  
  

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Network Team Members

Contact the Benefits, Health and Well-Being Team
voices.health@umich.edu

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