Documentary approach inspires BJC HealthCare employees to get fit

 

Every organization struggles to encourage its employees to participate in its wellness activities, but BJC HealthCare took the concept of promoting wellness to a new level by awarding “scholarships” to three employees. 

The funds paid for gym memberships, personal training, and nutritional counseling for six months—all of which would be documented on video and shared with other employees, documentary-style, to motivate them to participate as well. 
The videos transcended the usual productions that focus on weight loss, emphasizing cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure so other employees watching the videos would get the message that weight loss is just one part of a healthy lifestyle. A dozen videos followed the three staffers from their initial conversations with wellness professionals to the outcomes of their six months in the program. 

Those outcomes were inspiring and won the Best Internal Fitness or Health Campaign in Ragan’s 2014 Health Care PR and Marketing Awards.

Each of the three scholarship recipients saw significant improvements in body mass index, cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure. Supported by supplemental communication collateral, the videos were viewed more than 5,000 times by employees, with an additional 3,000 views recorded after the videos were uploaded to multiple public channels, leading to increases in enrollment in the program. 

This innovative approach, tapping into the surging interest in video content, was implemented by Patrick Donovan and Jeremy Koerber. Congratulations.

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