PartnerSHIP 4 Health works with healthcare partners to advance worksite wellness

Photo by Dani Koenen
One program that PartnerSHIP 4 Health has helped to organize is the bike fleet that is owned by several local schools like the Henning and New York Mills School Districts. The bikes are stored in a trailer and help students learn how to ride a bike and bike safety.

By Tom Hintgten

Otter Tail County Correspondent

PartnerSHIP 4 Health is a collaboration of community and public health partners in Otter Tail, Becker, Clay and Wilkin counties working together to prevent chronic disease through sustainable changes that increase physical activity and healthy eating.

  “Our collaborative is at work with communities, schools, worksites, health care, child care and human service organizations,” said Otter Tail County Public Health Director Jody Lien.

PartnerSHIP 4 Health is currently funded by the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP), and West Central Initiative Foundation Resiliency Grant.

“One component,” points out Lien, “is public health partnering with healthcare settings to address prediabetes and hypertension. We put scientific-based guidelines into practice.”

  Health care partners are empowered to integrate the steps of “Ask, Advise, Assess Readiness, Assist and Arrange Follow-up” related to prediabetes and hypertension into clinic and practice flow.

PartnerSHIP 4 Health works with healthcare partners to advance worksite wellness in their respective settings by encouraging participation in the Health Worksite Wellness Collaborative.

“Walking is one of the easiest ways to add physical activity to a person’s day,” Lien says. “With funding from the CDC’s Community Wellness Grant, PartnerSHIP 4 Health facilitated a pilot program designed to help businesses increase walking among their employees and customers.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adults should get at least 2 hours and 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity each week. Dividing that time into small chunks, such as brisk 10-minute walks, provides the desired health benefits.