We love hearing this. Especially from an organization who has done a tremendous job offering a robust set of tools and support to their members in the health and wellness department.
When Walker Tracker Customer Success Manager Graham caught up with GatorCare this month, we learned a little more about their wellness strategy and why they’ve had such great success.
Mallory Rubek is the Wellness Manager at UF Health in Gainesville, Florida. She is what we call a wellness champion. She’s on a mission to grow engagement and participation, which translates into a greater positive impact on her community.
“We had a wellness partner meeting this morning,” Rubek said. “I asked them, ‘what was your favorite program of 2021?’ and they all always say walking challenges.”
“I want to triple the number of walking challenges that we usually do,” Rubek said. “Because why wouldn’t we, if that is the most engaged programming? So, that’s the goal this year!”
A grand goal that we are so excited to support.
Tips from a wellness champion.
Three tips from Mallory!
Build a wellness partner system.
Right now, we have 90+ wellness partners across UF Health and University of Florida campuses. These partners spread the word about our wellness programming and get their department engaged in our walking challenges and other initiatives! We wouldn’t have the same program expansion without them.
The more challenges, the merrier.
We’ve recently began offering three times the amount of walking challenges we used to. This has bumped up our participation and allowed our employees to continue building walking habits throughout the year. We alternate between individual and team challenges.
Allow for activity conversions for most of your challenges.
We used to be strict about “steps only” challenges, but we’ve learned that this is not as accessible for everyone. By allowing activity conversions, you give participants credit for swimming, gardening, dancing and even using a wheelchair — all healthy behaviors that deserve to be awarded!
Partnering for success.
GatorCare has been working with Walker Tracker since 2018. They have over 2,600 enrolled participants. In their last challenge, participants trekked the equivalent of eight times around the Earth (in under a month)! They are our heroes!
Not only did members log their steps, they also logged yoga, stretching, HIIT, bicycling, body weight exercises and yard work. Utilizing the Activity Converter, members have logged a total of 207,696,753 steps in addition to their actual steps. Allowing members to move in their own way empowers more people to join and stay engaged!
Comprehensive wellness programming is key.
UF Health was ahead of the curve when they formed GatorCare in 2013. The direct service organization’s goals were to “reduce health care costs and promote access to quality health care and innovative health and wellness solutions for the employees and families of employer groups of UF Health and University of Florida.” With a goal of improving the “quality of life of those we serve through affordable health benefits and impactful wellness solutions,” they are trailblazing the path for other organizations to follow!
Not only has GatorCare invested in a challenge platform to motivate and inspire their members to move more, they also of health, exercise and nutrition resources.
Over the last few years, we’ve learned a lot from our partners at GatorCare — from participation to engagement, step challenges to comprehensive well-being strategy. UF Health continues to pioneer in the health and wellness department.
Walker Tracker for Your Organization
Get in touch with our sales team to learn how Walker Tracker could help your organization achieve their wellness goals.