The Southcoast Worksite Health & Wellness Collaborative, an employer-based collaborative working to improve the health and productivity of those who work in the Southcoast region, will hold its second annual conference, entitled "Worksite Wellness: The Future is Now!" on May 6, 2011, from 8:00 a.m. to noon at the Advanced Technology and Manufacturing Center in Fall River. The $35 registration fee includes continental breakfast.

Rajiv Kumar, Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Providence-based Shape Up The Nation, will speak on "Using Social Networks to Engage Employees in Health" Founded in 2006, Shape Up The Nation has pioneered an innovative approach to behavior change that uses social networking to reduce health care costs by improving the health of large populations through peer motivation, support, and accountability. Shape Up The Nation’s evidence-based online wellness platform is used by more than 120 leading self-insured employers and health plans, including Pfizer, Hewlett-Packard, Aetna , National Grid, the Cleveland Clinic and United Healthcare.

The event will also include a panel of wellness managers from Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA, Tufts Health Plan, United Health Care of New England and Fallon Community Health Plan on ways employers can partner with their health plan to motivate employees to adopt healthier lifestyles. Optional mini-workshops will cover worksite fitness and nutrition during the break.

The majority of adults spend most of their waking hours at work, and the workplace can make it easier for employees to change their behaviors by creating a culture of health. Active living, healthy eating, managing stress, and avoiding tobacco are some of the essential elements in lowering the risk for and costs of chronic disease.

The Southcoast Worksite Health & Wellness Collaborative was begun in 2008 to bring together business and community health leaders in Southeastern Massachusetts who want to realize the benefits that worksite wellness programs can bring, including increased productivity and lower health care benefit costs. Last year's conference featured Mass. Department of Public Health Commissioner John Auerbach and Kathryn Brooks of Green Mountain Roasters Inc

"We know that most employers want to have a healthier workforce but are limited in what they can afford in both time and money," commented Collaborative chairperson Julie Jennings of the Sylvia Group. "This conference will provide information on a number of options that employers can use to begin to make their worksite more conducive to employee health, many of them at little or no cost," she added. 

Click here for a pdf conference flyer

Click here to register for the conference on-line