Well-Ahead Louisiana recently collaborated with CDC’s Work@Health® Program to offer a comprehensive worksite wellness training to employers. The program consisted of three web-based trainings and one in-person workshop to deliver an evidence-based wellness curriculum.  Through this process, Well-Ahead's Rebecca Guidroz and Nick Rees became certified Work@Health instructors. Healthier employees are happier and more productive.  They also experience lower healthcare costs.  Work@Health participants realize that investing in the health of employees makes good business sense for the bottom line.  

Congratulations to our Work@Health graduates!

• Jefferson Chamber of Commerce  
• Acadiana Family Tree Information, Education and Counseling Center 
• Primary Care Providers for a Healthy Feliciana, Inc. 
• River Parishes Community College 
• West Feliciana Parish Hospital 
• Jennings American Legion Hospital 
• The Rapides Foundation 
• Regina Coeli Child Development Center
• SBWellness 
• Frank’s International
• Central Louisiana AHEC
• MTS Physical Therapy
• Cobbs, Allen & Hall of Louisiana, Inc. 
• Natchitoches Regional Medical Center

Thanks for helping us move Louisiana's health forward! 

Did You Know?

• Work@Health® has been evaluated and shown to improve employer knowledge, readiness, and ability to implement evidence-based interventions.
• According to CDC, the U.S. spends more than $2.9 trillion a year on medical costs; 86 percent of those costs are related to chronic conditions, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, arthritis, diabetes, or obesity. 
• Productivity losses related to personal and family health problems cost U.S. employers more than $225 billion every year.

Moving Louisiana's Health Forward

The American Diabetes Association estimates that 37.5% of the adult population in Louisiana has prediabetes.  Prediabetes is a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Prediabetes increases the risk of developing heart disease and type 2 diabetes.  However, being diagnosed with prediabetes does not guarantee an individual will develop type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes can often be reversed.  

When individuals join a National Diabetes Prevention Program, commonly referred to as DPP, the onset of type 2 diabetes is often prevented or delayed.  The program can also lower the risk of having a heart attack or stroke, improve health overall, and increase energy levels.  Most importantly, DPPs teach healthy lifestyle habits.  National Diabetes Prevention Programs are evidence-based, developed and maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ruled that, beginning in 2018, Medicare will reimburse beneficiaries for participation in Diabetes Prevention Programming.  This is a great opportunity for preventative care for residents over 65 in our state!  For more information on the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (MDPP) Expanded Model, click here.  

Well-Ahead Louisiana is developing resources that will support healthcare providers in making Medicare claims.  These resources will be available soon!  For additional information, be sure to check out the links below. 

• To learn more about prediabetes, click here.
• To learn more about the National Diabetes Prevention Programming, click here.  

• Louisiana currently has nine Diabetes Prevention Programs. Click here to find a DPP near you!

Does your organization work to improve the health and well-being of residents in your community? Becoming a CDC-recognized Diabetes Prevention Program site is a great way to expand your reach in the community.  Help us move Louisiana’s health forward.  Email www.wellahead@la.gov to learn how to become a DPP site today!

Well-Ahead Louisiana and Ochsner Eat Fit are joining efforts to help Louisiana residents keep their healthy 2018 resolutions all year long.  Louisiana has some of the best restaurants in the world, combined with a culture that loves to dine out with family and friends. Restaurants can, and should, play a role in moving the health of our state forward.

 Eat Fit is a team of registered dietitians that collaborate with restaurant owners and chefs to identify and develop dishes that meet healthy nutrition standards. Offering healthy choices in restaurants can improve nutrition literacy and help manage and prevent chronic disease. When a restaurant WellSpot is Eat Fit designated, it offers healthy menu items that are low in calories, sodium, added sugar and animal-based saturated fat.  Restaurant WellSpots also meet additional wellness benchmarks like providing prediabetes and heart health self-assessment tools to their employees or implementing a smoke-free policy.

Currently, there are 204 restaurants in Louisiana that have been designated as WellSpots and of those, 111 are Eat Fit designated. These restaurants serve a range of delicious cuisine – Italian, American, Mexican, and seafood and more! Some of the best known WellSpot and Eat Fit designated restaurants are Reginelli’s, Zea and PJ’s Coffee!  

Did You Know?

Today, the average American household spends nearly half of their food budget on dining out. Foods prepared at restaurants contain more calories per meal, more total fat and saturated fat per calorie, and less fiber compared to food prepared at home. ¹

Louisiana’s obesity rate is 35.5%.  Our state is ranked 50^th in overall health ²

MOVING LOUISIANA'S HEALTH FORWARD

Click here to find a restaurant WellSpot near you!  Restaurants can, and should, play a role in moving the health of our state forward. Encourage your favorite restaurants to become Eat Fit and WellSpot designated.  Together, we can ensure that our residents have the opportunity to make healthy choices when they dine out.  Questions? Email wellahead@la.gov to learn more.   

<sup>1. Business Insider Report 
2. America’s Health Rankings, 2017 Annual Report</sup>