Good Health for Faculty and Staff is the Goal of Path to Wellness Campaign

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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. –The University of Arkansas is starting a campus-wide Path to Wellness campaign to promote wellness to all U of A faculty and staff. The recently formed employee Wellness Task Force is introducing the campaign with a kickoff event Wednesday, Oct. 8. Highlights of the day include a vendor fair in the Arkansas Union Connections Lounge from noon – 2 p.m. and a one-mile Wellness Walk around campus, beginning and ending at the Arkansas Union Mall.

The Wellness Task Force was established by Chancellor G. David Gearhart, in response to concerns about the health and well-being of campus employees, and that the university’s services were not well known to employees. The Task Force members met through the summer, and developed the Path to Wellness campaign.

“Our people – faculty and staff – are the most important resource we have at the University of Arkansas,” said Gearhart. “Taking care of our people, educating them on how to get and stay healthy, is one of the most important things we can do.”

The chancellor will lead the one-mile Wellness Walk at 2 p.m., starting from the Union Mall and passing through the Historic Core of campus (see map.) This will feature break-out exercise -- and resting – stations, with encouragement and motivation offered along the way.

“The point of the kickoff walk is that you can get out and walk around campus in any attire,” said Mary Alice Serafini, Wellness Task Force co-chair. “a good walk around campus gives you energy, a mental break and connections to our community.  It's all about the many aspects of wellness.”

At the end of the walk, Onlife Health will provide the first 500 participants with a free pedometer.

Free Path to Wellness t-shirts will also be provided while supplies last, courtesy of Fidelity, TIAA/CREF and Delta Dental.

The kickoff event will begin with the vendor fair in the Union Connections Lounge that will include:

• A “Feel Good Food Event” from 1– 2 p.m. with healthy treats, recipes and ideas for how to integrate healthy eating habits into a busy lifestyle, provided by the Student Affairs Professional Development Committee
• Free flu shots from the Pat Walker Health Center
• UMR disease management coaches
• Onlife Health representatives will answer questions about the Wellness program, and help people sign up
• UREC chair massage stations
• Chartwells’ vendors with snacks and healthy eating guidance
• Prizes form University Recreation

Other events on Oct. 8 connected to the Path to Wellness campaign are:

• Onlife Health biometric screenings for benefits-eligible employees, 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Sturgis Hall in the Janelle Y. Hembree Alumni House

• A stress management workshop from Onlife Health and UMR from 10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. in Mullins Library Room 104       
• “Deskercise” from noon to 12:45 p.m. at the UREC Fitness center, located on the second floor of the Arkansas Union. 
• “Inside Pandora's DNA: A Talk with Author Lizzie Stark,” an examination of the history and science of the breast cancer genes through her family tree, 3:30 p.m. in the Human Environmental Sciences Building room 108-109  
• “Call for Hope”, with Kevin Hines and Kevin Briggs, 6:30 p.m. at the Fayetteville Town Center.  The event is a suicide prevention program co-sponsored by the Social Work Department, Phi Alpha, NWA Suicide Prevention Coalition and the student Distinguished Lecture Series. Check Arkansas Newswire for more information.

All day Wednesday, Oct. 8 faculty and staff will have free access to facilities and fitness classes at both the HPER building and the UREC Fitness Center in the Arkansas Union.

University Recreation staff will also provide chair massages and body composition and blood pressure check-ups at the Union. Since this event is running concurrent with Fitober at the HPER, UREC staff will also provide details on how to participate in that event.

In addition, University Recreation is donating 10 one-semester memberships; everyone who participates in the Wellness Walk will be eligible for a drawing for the memberships.

“There are many paths to wellness – physical, spiritual, emotional – and we have a wide variety of services available to members of our campus community who want to follow any or all of those paths,” said Barbara Abercrombie, Wellness Task Force co-chair. “Path to Wellness is really a concept more than a single program, a way to raise awareness about our services, and to encourage our students, faculty and staff to use and benefit from them.”

The Wellness Task Force members are:

Co-chairs: Mary Alice Serafini and Barbara Abercrombie

Members: Susan Rausch, Debbie Morgan, Jeremy Battjes, Ro DiBrezzo, Trish Watkins, Richard Ray, Susanne Hill, Amanda Cothren, Casey Maute,  and Jesse Serio.

The Wellness Task Force also unveiled a new website designed to provide helpful information regarding wellness needs: http://wellness.uark.edu.