ADA, Okla. – The Chickasaw Nation was recently recognized as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company by the American Heart Association's Start! initiative for promoting overall health and wellness among tribal employees.
"We are extremely honored by this recognition. The Chickasaw Nation employees work together to further the tribe's mission of enhancing the overall quality of life of Chickasaw people," said Chickasaw Nation Gov. Bill Anoatubby. "As their work impacts their coworkers, Chickasaw citizens and the wider community, tribal employees are encouraged to strive to achieve their full potential in several areas including health and wellness."
According to AHA, Platinum-level employers:
The tribe provides support, encouragement and several opportunities for the employees to adopt lifestyle choices that will result in a healthier future.
A significant way in which tribal employees are encouraged to exercise and eat healthy is through the annual Chickasaw Nation Employee Incentive Program. Initiated in 2004, the EIP emphasizes and rewards employees' achievements in wellness, community service, volunteerism and individual educational development, which in turn supports the growth of the Chickasaw Nation.
The wellness aspect of the program is designed to encourage employees to set goals for personal health, wellness and nutrition improvements and provide monetary rewards for reaching those goals. Some of the wellness goals include personal nutrition planning with a registered dietitian, weight loss, increased physical activity, tobacco cessation, diabetes prevention, breastfeeding and many more. In addition, the Chickasaw Nation offers several informative and interactive nutrition and wellness classes to tribal employees throughout the year.
Tribal employees are further motivated to stay active and exercise regularly at the Chickasaw Nation Wellness Centers in Ada, Ardmore and Tishomingo, Okla. These centers are free to all tribal employees and feature a walking track, weight room, training kitchen, as well as aerobic and martial arts exercise areas. The centers provide education, mentoring, monitoring, incentives and access to activities to promote exercise, nutrition and overall improved health.
"We are so excited to have the Chickasaw Nation as a Fit-Friendly Company because this achievement shows their commitment to heart health," said Debbie Hite, executive director of American Heart Association in Oklahoma City. "Unfortunately, many employees sit in their cubicles all day, and this contributes to a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, heart disease and a generally unhappy workforce. The Chickasaw Nation will definitely see results in their employees' productivity and health because of this initiative."
About Start! Fit-Friendly
The Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program is a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce by helping companies make their employees' health and wellness a priority. Participating companies also get free access to program resources such as the free Start! Walking Program, materials to help promote company wellness programs to employees, internal newsletter templates and consultation on CPR/AED (automated external defibrillator) programs. Start! also offers MyStart! Online, a free Web-based fitness and nutrition tracker for companies and individuals. A "dashboard" feature lets human resources or wellness managers view employee participation in Start! For more, please call (405) 942-2444 or visit www.startwalkingnow.org.
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – America's number one and number three killers. The organization teams with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies, and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation's oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or join, call 1-800-AHA-USA1 or visit www.heart.org.
