USAID Staff Care Wellness Programs

The Staff Care Center offers a Wellness Program designed to assist our workforce in making healthy choices and living healthier lifestyles. The Wellness Program offers a variety of challenges and initiatives, and a customizable health lifestyle website. All USAID employees (of all-hiring mechanisms) are encouraged to participate in any or all of the program offerings. All programs can be completed through the Staff Care Wellness website at wellnessstaffcare.usaid.gov.

If you have questions about the Staff Care Wellness Program, please contact Colin Dobbins at cdobbins@usaid.gov or Molly Vlach at mvlach@usaid.gov.

Health Risk Assessment

• Description: The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) is a detailed and fully personalized assessment tool that offers insight into and control of your health. Taking into account your health history and wellness-related behaviors, the HRA can help you understand your current health status; identify and prevent potential health risks; set wellness goals; and make the changes needed to live a healthier lifestyle. This is a tool for employees to better understand their numbers and what they mean, and for coordinators to create and implement proper wellness programming for the entire workforce. Complete yours at https://wellnessstaffcare.usaid.gov.
• Occurs: Ongoing throughout year

Freeze the Gain this Holiday Season

• Description: The Pedometer challenge is a program where employees compete as part of a team to increase their daily steps, and 'out-walk' their competition. Employees will establish teams, or be assigned to a team. When the challenge begins, the participants will be instructed to log their steps into the challenge log on the wellness website. Participants will need to log their daily steps, for the duration of the 4 week challenge. At the end of each week, an announcement will be sent out to the participants of the current standings.
• This motivational challenge is designed to encourage fitness throughout the busy holiday season. Studies have shown that, on average, people gain between two to five pounds from Thanksgiving to New Years. Don't get caught up in the holiday hoopla!
• Occurs: November 17, 2014 - January 9, 2015.

Healthy Cook-Off Challenge

• Description: The Staff Care Healthy Cook-Off Challenge focuses on nutrition and healthy cooking. The challenge determines which USAID employee or team can create the most delicious and nutritious dish! The participants must follow healthy guidelines, and dishes are scored by taste, presentation, and healthiness. Scores in each category range from one (lowest) to 10 (highest) points. All recipes will be entered in our first-ever USAID Staff Care Cookbook.
• Occurs: March 2015

Team Lean Challenge

• Description: The Team Lean Challenge is a chance for employees to compete in teams of six to reach weight loss goals, both individually and as a team. Employees establish their own teams or can be assigned to one. When the challenge begins, the participants will be instructed to weigh in and log their weekly weight into the challenge log on the wellness website. Participants will need to log their weight every week for the duration of the 12-week challenge. At the end of each week, an announcement will be sent out to the participants with the current standings.
• Occurs: April through June 2015

Team Pedometer Challenge

• Description: The Pedometer Challenge lets employees compete as part of a team to increase their daily steps, and out-walk their competition. Employees establish their own teams or can be assigned to one. When the challenge begins, the participants will be instructed to log their steps into the challenge log on the wellness website. Participants will need to log their daily steps for the duration of the six-week challenge. At the end of each week, an announcement will be sent out to the participants with the current standings.
• Occurs: August through September 2015

Weight of the Nation

• Description: Bringing together the nation's leading research institutions, "The Weight of the Nation" is a presentation from HBO and the Institute of Medicine (IOM), in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and in partnership with the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Kaiser Permanente.
  
  The centerpiece of "The Weight of the Nation" campaign is the four-part documentary series, each featuring case studies, interviews with the nation's leading experts, and individuals and their families struggling with obesity. The first film, "Consequences," examines the scope of the obesity epidemic and explores the serious health consequences of being overweight or obese. The second, "Choices," offers viewers the skinny on fat, revealing what science has shown about how to lose weight, maintain weight loss and prevent weight gain. The third, "Children in Crisis," documents the damage obesity is doing to our nation's children. Through individual stories, this film describes how the strong forces at work in our society are causing children to consume too many calories and expend too little energy; tackling subjects from school lunches to the decline of physical education, the demise of school recess and the marketing of unhealthy food to children. The fourth film, "Challenges," examines the major driving forces causing the obesity epidemic, including agriculture, economics, evolutionary biology, food marketing, racial and socioeconomic disparities, physical inactivity, American food culture, and the strong influence of the food and beverage industry.
• Occurs: Spring 2015

Lighten Up!

• Description:
  • Weekly weight loss group where participants receive healthy tips, resources, motivation and the support needed to succeed. You can even bring your lunch.
  • Created by nutrition, health, and fitness professionals; focuses on teaching proper nutrition and lifetime weight management skills.
  • It is not a diet plan. The goal is to help you learn new dietary and exercise skills that will last a lifetime.
  • Does not require restrictive eating or eliminating "bad" foods from your diet, and it does not boast any miracle results
• Occurs: Recurring activity throughout the year

Body Composition Assessments

• Description: What is your body composition and why is it important to your health? Learn how body composition is different from body weight, and how knowing your body composition can help you maintain a healthy weight. The BodyMetrix System combines a hand-held ultrasound wand with innovative software to accurately and consistently assess and monitor body composition. This tool provides baseline measurements and monitors the progress of employees as they participate in wellness programming. Measurements, including body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI), basal metabolic rate, as well as height and weight, are generated into a personalized BodyMetrix report for you.
• Occurs: Recurring activity throughout the year; monitoring every three months

Run/Walk Group

• Description: A group created to help break up the workday with physical activity. For all USAID employees, no matter what skill level - from the avid walker to the seasoned runner. We cover various routes around the National Mall.
• Occurs: Recurring activity throughout the year

Mini Challenges

• Description: These mini-challenges are designed to promote employee engagement in wellness programming. Participation is easy, time-effective, and can be completed anytime. Several examples from FY13 include trivia questions about health and wellness topics, attendance at workshops and seminars, or accessing the Wellness website to use the food/exercise log for a specific number of days.
• Occurs: Bi-monthly throughout the year