WellMASS Weight Loss Challenge Toolkit

Wellness Champion Guidelines

Purpose: The purpose of this Challenge toolkit is to provide your agency’s employees with the tools needed to successfully lose weight by encouraging them to incorporate regular physical activity and healthy eating habits, as well as simple "mini-moves" and nutrition swaps, into their day. The goal is to safely lose 1-2 pounds each week, or 6-12 pounds by the end of the Challenge. This is a self-paced Challenge, and this toolkit can serve as a set of guidelines for you to implement it within your agency; feel free to modify or adapt the Challenge to fit the needs of your agency’s employees. While it’s up to you how you track and report your agency’s participation, there will be a state-wide weight loss competition alongside this Challenge. In order for your agency to participate in the competition, you must begin the Challenge by February 18 so that we can receive your results by the deadline of April 1, after which we will announce the winning agency (the agency whose participants achieve the greatest average percent body weight lost). Participants from the winning agency will receive a healthy lunch, provided by WellMASS.

Duration: 6 weeks

Communications: Communication pieces are embedded further down in this document. They can be opened and personalized with your agency and contact information. Any text highlighted in red needs to be customized.

Task List/ Timeline:

Planning for the Challenge

  • Choose one person (it could be the Wellness Champion, or someone else within the agency) to serve as the primary contact/facilitator for this challenge. While there should be one primary point of contact, it may help to establish a team and divide up the workload related to the Challenge.
  • Set Weight Loss Challenge start date. This is designed to be a 6-week challenge; you can start at any time, but in order to participate in the state-wide weight loss competition, your agency must begin the challenge by February 18.
  • Determine if your agency will be participating in the state-wide weight loss competition. If so, email Ashley Rasmussen by February 18 with your agency name, location (city/town), your challenge start date, and the number of employees who will be participating. In order to participate in the competition, your agency will need a minimum of 4 participants.
  • Every employee who signs up for the challenge will be issued a free WellMASS pedometer. Regardless of whether or not your agency is participating in the state-wide weight loss competition, email Ashley Rasmussen by February 18 with your agency/worksite name, mailing address, and the number of employees who have signed up to participate. You will be sent enough pedometers to distribute to each participant, plus a few extras in case a participant breaks or loses theirs. If your agency is located in Boston, or you have an upcoming Lunch ‘n Learn session, you may also work with Ashley to arrange a time to pick the pedometers up. It is up to you to distribute and replace all pedometers. We will only send a shipment of pedometers to each participating agency once, at the start of the Challenge.
  • Determine if your worksite will be holding any events/activities related to the Challenge (weekly weigh-ins, healthy potlucks, etc.). The "Event Ideas" handout has good information on planning activities.
  • Determine how you employees will notify you that they are going to participate (email, sign-up sheet, participants print out forms and hand them into you, etc.).
  • Decide how you will distribute Challenge materials and collect the Tracking forms at the end of the Challenge.


Registration

  • Start tocommunicate the Challenge using the "Email Template," "Challenge Flyer," and "Competition Flyer," and any other appropriate modes of communication for your facility. Only post the Competition flyer if your agency is participating in the state-wide weight loss competition.
    • Attach "Participant Registration" to promotional challenge communication email ("Email Template") or make paper copies available if necessary.
    • Ask employees to return their Registration Form to you one week prior to the Challenge start date.
    • Make it clear that this Challenge is open to all state employees, regardless of whether or not they receive their health insurance through the GIC.
  • Add individuals to the Agency Weight Loss Tracker spreadsheet as they register.

    You will also use this spreadsheet to track their participation and weight loss (if your agency is participating in the state-wide weight loss competition). Employees are also asked to identify on the registration form whether or not they receive their health insurance through the GIC. If they answer "yes," and are an employee of the executive or legislative branches or constitutional offices, then they are eligible to take their Health Assessment. Make note of this on the Tracker.
    • If an employee receives their GIC health benefits through their spouse, they are also eligible to take their HA. However, they must notify the GIC in order to be enrolled. Have them send an email with their name, agency and home address to wellmass@state.ma.us . Tell them to allow up to four weeks for enrollment to take effect.
  • Establish an email distribution list of registered employees to communicate future information/distribute Challenge materials. You can also use the Agency Tracker to do this.
  • One week before the Challenge is scheduled to start, send an email reminding anyone who registered when it will begin. Attach "Guidelines and Tracker," "Weight Loss Resources," "Calorie Need Calculator," and "Mini-Moves" and "Nutrition Swaps" handouts to this email.
  • Encourage eligible employees (employees of the Executive and Legislative branches and Constitutional Offices who get their health insurance through the GIC) to take their online Health Assessment – they may receive extra help in their weight loss journey by qualifying for free health coaching. If your agency/worksite is participating in the state-wide weight loss competition, if 100% of eligible participants take their HA, your agency will receive an extra 2 percentage points toward its weight loss total.

During 1st week of challenge: 

  • Send "Weight Loss Myths and Facts" handout to participants.

During 3rd week of challenge:

  • Send "Healthy Work Day" handout to participants.

During 5th week of challenge:

  • Send "Eat Smart When You Eat Out" handout to participants.

After completion of the Challenge:

  • Collect Tracking Forms from all participants that complete the Challenge.
  • If your agency is participating in the state-wide weight loss competition, collect the Health Assessment confirmation pages from all eligible employees. If an employee took the HA but was unable to print out their confirmation page, they can take a screen shot of their WellMASS homepage, which will show that they completed their Assessment.
  • In the Agency Tracker, enter whether participants submitted their tracker, and, if your agency is participating in the state-wide weight loss competition, whether or not they took their HA, and their Week 1 weight and Week 6 weight. The Tracker will automatically calculate their total pounds and percent body weight lost.
  • Send the completed Agency Tracker to Ashley Rasmussen; if your agency is participating in the state-wide weight loss competition, you will need to submit the tracker by April 1in order for your agency to be eligible to win the healthy lunch. You do not need to submit each individual participant’s tracker or HA confirmation page.

If you are unable to actively keep track of participants and send them materials throughout the Challenge:

  • Make the "Guidelines and Tracker," "Weight Loss Resources," "Calorie need calculator," "Mini-Moves" and "Nutrition Swaps," "Weight Loss Myths and Facts," "Healthy Work Day," and "Eat Smart When you Eat Out" handouts available to employees. Either email them or print them out.
  • Employees will have all of the tools they need to follow the Challenge on their own; you will not need to keep track of their participation or send out email reminders.

Questions? Contact Ashley Rasmussen.

Weight Loss Challenge Wellness Champion Guidelines doc format of Weight Loss Challenge Wellness Champion Guidelines file size 7MB

This information provided by the Group Insurance Commission.