St. John’s Corporate Health & Wellness is offering telephonic health coaching to assist business with their employees’ health to help them lower their risk factors. Telephonic health coaching offers accessible guidance from a trained health care professional (well coach).  By taking steps to improve their health through lifestyle changes, employees will achieve wellness, in turn reducing their employer’s health care costs.

St. John’s well coaching program has established a track record of success in its first year.  A well coach guided Jasper Engines to set measurable and achievable goals each week for 12 weeks. Commitments were made and results were tracked.  Walking, drinking more water, simple changes to their diet, cutting back on cigarettes smoked with a goal of quitting and exercising at a gradual pace were choices the employees made.  Blood pressures, cholesterol levels, body fat and blood sugar levels all came down. 

Employees reported feeling more energetic, breathing easier, less stressed and overall healthier after just a few weeks into the program. 

“Because they were accountable to the well coach and knew I would be calling weekly, they felt a personal sense of responsibility to follow through on the goals they set for themselves”, reported Barbara Zimmerman, RN.  “I help them over obstacles and guide them with their wellness plan, offering them motivation and choices with fitness, nutrition, stress reducers, whatever challenges their progress.”

The benefit of well coaching for the employer is moving employees with multiple cardiovascular risk factors, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stress, pre-diabetes or tobacco use, into lower-risk categories. 

“If I can help them bring down the blood pressure or teach them stress-reducing techniques, they become more productive employees in the workplace,” Zimmerman said.

For media information, contact St. John’s Media Relations at 417-820-2171 or angela.wever@mercy.net