UB to have key role in statewide health program
MARY LOU RATH New York State Senator
The excellent work done by the UB School of Public Health and Health Professions in administering the Western New York Wellness Works program has placed it in a key role in expanding the program across the state.

The WNYWW initiative is a pilot program I developed to allow employers and employees to share in the economic and health and wellness dividend. The goal of the initiative is to document the premise that making healthy choices can improve the lives of workers, decrease their need to use health-care services and increase productivity.

Two years ago, I worked in coordination with the State Department of Health to allocate funding to the new UB School of Public Health and Health Professions because of its expertise in the area of work site wellness.

Thirteen companies and organizations in Erie, Niagara and Chautauqua counties were selected after blind review, from 26 applicants who responded to a request for proposals in 2005.

A variety of programs were proposed, targeting a comprehensive list of lifestyle factors and health behaviors, including physical inactivity, obesity, cigarette smoking and stress. In addition, each work site had to commit to completing three evaluation tools at the beginning and end of its programs.

The first includes an individual Health Risk Appraisal, the second, "Heart Check Plus," a measure of work place environmental health, and the last involves costs due to health care.

The database currently being developed by UB is critical information intended to create policy solutions that will decrease the incidence of disease and reduce the skyrocketing price of health care.

A number of collaborations and partnerships have resulted from this project. One of the larger participating organizations remarked that the WNYWW grant award was the impetus to motivate its affiliated groups - a total of 8,000 employees - to collaborate and work on a common wellness-oriented program. This initiative has brought together senior management from across WNY to discuss, plan and implement quality wellness programs.

Local providers of fitness and wellness services have been working in conjunction with WNYWW grantee groups, providing health and nutrition education, exercise, and smoking cessation programs to the various organizations.

By bringing together New York State, UB and the private sector, Western New York Wellness Works has become one of the first partnerships of its type in the country. Using this model as a guide, I worked with the governor and my colleagues in the Legislature to expand the program on a statewide level. The state budget contains language that creates the New York Wellness Works program, open to organizations from throughout the state.

UB's School of Public Health and Health Professions will be part of the advisory panel of the program and have direct impact on its future development and direction. We are fortunate to have a world-class facility like UB in our own back yard. The work currently being done by these experts could potentially change the way we view the health care system.