C. EVERETT KOOP NATIONAL HEALTH AWARDS

Quaker Oats Company
Comprehensive Worksite Health Promotion

Program Description

Comprehensive worksite health promotion at Quaker protects our human and financial resources and adds to our competitive advantage. By firming wellness, prevention, and safe behavior as preferred lifestyle choices for over 10,500 employees and their dependents, we avoid unnecessary health care cost, enhance productivity, and reduce absenteeism and turnover. We also enable employees to experience Quaker's commitment to the wellness of its workforce. This integrated program is funded through the Benefits Department and comprises three key components:

Live Well-Be Well offers worksite wellness interventions that reduce lifestyle-related risk and build individual responsibility for health care costs Health Risk Appraisal (HRA), Stress Management, Nutrition and Weight Management, Back Care, of employees and their families. It includes Smoking Cessation, Blood Pressure Control, Cholesterol Control, Employee Assistance Program, Fitness Centers, and Health Resource Centers. These program elements and services are coordinated by the Corporate Health Services staff in collaboration with local-facility management.

Quaker Flex provides financial incentives, up to $500 per family annually, within our flexible benefit plan, to employees and spouses who meet any of eight healthy-lifestyle criteria. Employees and spouses may earn up to $140 each for making the following lifestyle pledges:

At least 20 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three times a week,
Use of seat belts, care seats, and helmets when driving,
Not to drink to excess, use illegal drugs, or misuse prescription drugs, and;
No use of tobacco products in the last six months and no use of them in the future.

Employees and spouses may also earn up to $110 each for completing a health risk appraisal, including screening for blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight. Participants' risk factors must be within guidelines, or document current intervention for out-of-guideline health risk indicators, in order to receive full financial credit for the HRA screening. The plan also features a Health Budget Account whereby employees' pre-tax contributions are matched 25 percent to the allowable limit. A similar matching feature is provided in a Dependent Care Budget Account.

Informed Choices represents an educational program that teaches employees to ask questions about their own health and related medical care. The program helps create a "shared choice" consumer model rather than the traditional passive-patient relationships with providers. The program includes consumer-oriented publications, group meetings, and hospital pricing data where available.