It’s time for that weekly staff meeting which can range from one to many hours of conversation, reporting, strategizing - and most importantly - a lot of sitting.  Deciding to become a wellness champion, you suggest a “Moving Meeting” to get some physical activity, which may also increase natural vitamin D and spark creativity with coworkers.  In addition to providing more movement throughout the workday, you have also helped to lower your coworkers’ risk of cardiovascular disease and other causes of mortality by reducing their sedentary time.

Moving Meetings, among many other wellness strategies, can become a part of your worksite’s culture.  Employee wellness programs are gaining speed in corporate America, providing benefits to employers (e.g. reduced health insurance costs), and to employees, (e.g. increasing access to necessary health screenings).  The latest data shows an employer’s Return on Investment (ROI) to be $6 for every $1 spent on workplace wellness.  In a recent research report sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and conducted by RAND Health, it was noted that almost half of employers in the U.S. are offering wellness program initiatives.  The report also noted that meaningful improvements were seen in exercise frequency, smoking, and weight control for wellness program participants compared to nonparticipants. 

Within the Affordable Care Act (ACA), employee wellness programs are supported as a means of reducing chronic illness by improving health and controlling health care costs while protecting consumers from unfair practices.  Final rules regarding employee wellness programs, which support and further outline guidelines for two types of wellness programs, were released in May 2013 and become effective in January 2014.  These include participatory wellness programs that are available to all employees without requirement to meet a health-related standard and health-contingent wellness programs where a reward is offered to individuals who meet a health-related standard.  The final rules go further for health-contingent wellness programs outlining five additional requirements to limit health status discrimination.  Click to read the entire final rules regarding employee-based wellness programs.

In regards to providing wellness for all employees the final rules consist of terminology such as “reasonably designed”, “uniform availability”, and “reasonable alternative standards.”  These phrases protect consumers from being discriminated against in relation to health status, and allow employees with medical conditions, which may or may not include employees with disabilities, to equally receive wellness-related rewards.  It is also important to note that the final rules do not override other laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires reasonable accommodations for employees with known disabilities to allow them to participate.  Employees with disabilities are more likely than their coworkers to have secondary health conditions; therefore adding a level of inclusion to worksite wellness programs is both the smart and right choice.    

Here are some tips to get you started:

• Include employees with disabilities in wellness program planning either on the wellness committee or working closely with the wellness coordinator to ensure program activities are accessible and meet the needs of all employees.
• Create inclusive marketing materials by using images of people with and without disabilities, person-first language, and inclusive terminology such as “Moving Meeting” and “Run.Walk.Roll 5k”.
• Ensure accessibility of marketing materials by providing a variety of formats such as audio, picture-based, large print and accessible electronic formats.
• Provide relevant incentives for employees with a variety of abilities.   
• Create accommodations when appropriate.  For example, a walking program encouraging 10,000 steps a day may not be appropriate for all employees.  Instead allow employees to track steps or movement throughout the day and encourage an increase in activity.
• Provide a map of accessible routes to increase physical activity throughout your worksite’s campus instead of only promoting the stairs.
• Consider a smoke-free workplace policy which will impact all employees, but especially employees with disabilities, since they are more likely to smoke cigarettes (25.4% vs. 17.3%). 
• Include healthy options in vending machines and ensure they are accessible to employees who may use a wheelchair.

The culture of a worksite can make or break participation in employee wellness programs.  To reap the benefits both for employers and employees, consider creating a culture of inclusion, welcoming all employees to improve their health. 

Additional Resources:

• Deskercise!  20 Ways to Get Moving While you Work  
• Retaining Employees in your Worksite Wellness Program toolkit

On January 24, 2013, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter clarifying school's obligations under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to provide extracurricular athletic opportunities for students with disabilites. The guidance creates a clear roadmap for how schools can integrate students with disabilities into mainstream athletic programs and create adapted programs for students with disabilities.

"OCR's guidance is a landmark moment for individuals with disabilities, as it sends a loud message to educational institutions that students with disabilities must be provided opportunities for physical activity and sports equal to those afforded to students without disabilities," said Terri Lakowski, policy chair of the Inclusive Fitness Coalition (IFC) and nationally recognized sports policy advocate.

You may have seen this announcement in the media or through your organization, but what does it all mean and how will this impact extracurricular athletics?

The road towards victory for student athletes with disabilities was relentless. The letter released by the OCR came after ten years of advocacy to level the playing field in school-based athletic programs. The release of the Dear Colleague letter is merely further guidance on what should already be happening for students with disabilities, based on section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The purpose is to clarify school's responsibilities under the law; it does not provide any additional legislation. Similar to Title IX, which paved the way for women to have equal opportunities in sports, the updated guidance will hopefully provide a similar effect for student athletes with disabilities.

Above: Wheelchair athelete Tatyana McFadden, front, races in her first high school track meet alongside able-bodied runners, April 2006 in Rockville, MD. Photo courtesy of (Chris Gardner/AP)

Why are these guidelines important? The benefits of providing ALL students with opportunities for exercise and sports participation goes beyond justice and individual opportunity. There is a major epidemic of obesity among our youth and even more so among youth with disabilities.

"Inclusion in athletics is how children learn from each other, build social skills and optimize their growth and development. The OCR guidance is a clear indication that athletics is an extremely important part of our educational system and that youth and young adults with disabilities must be afforded the same opportunities as their non-disabled peers," said James Rimmer, Ph.D., who co-chairs the IFC and directs the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability. "This should be part of a national strategy to lower obesity rates, which are disproportionately higher among youth with disabilities compared to their non-disabled peers." By providing equal access in extracurricular activities for students with disabilities, maybe we can begin to break down the common barriers to physical activity, and create a new culture of inclusion in our schools and communities.

To ensure equal opportunity does not mean a fundamental alteration to the program, but simply providing a reasonable modification to allow the student athletes with a disability to participate alongside their peers. The Dear Colleague Letter document outlines what constitutes a reasonable modification. One example is to provide a visual cue at the start of high school track races, simultaneously wtih the starter pistol sound, to be inclusive of students with hearing impairments. Another example of a reasonable modification is to allow an individual born with only one hand to be allowed to finish a swim race with a "onehand touch" as opposed to the "two-hand touch" finish rule for certain strokes. As you can see, inclusion can be a reality in all aspects of physical activity. The message is simple: Prevent Obesity, Be Inclusive.

The IFC, led by the Lakeshore Foundation in partnership with the American College of Sports Medicine, comprises over 200 organizations representing a cross-section of disability rights, sports, health/fitness, and civil rights communities. Recognizing the barriers that continue to limit opportunities for physical activity for individuals with disabilities in the school setting, the IFC works to expand opportunities for physical activity, exercise and athletics for individuals with disabilities. For more information, please visit www.incfit.org and www.lakeshore.org.

One of my favorite things to do during the summertime when I was in grade school was going to the pool at my community's recreation center. It was convenient because I lived in town and it was a place where I could socialize with friends.

Looking back almost 20 years later, I realize the importance of the recreation center for me and rest of the community. I grew up in a family where I was encouraged and pushed to be active, regardless of my physical disability. Today, children are less physically active, and instead, playing video games and watching TV. As someone who loves various physical activities, I understand the positive impact physical activity has on an individual's physical and mental well-being. I think this is especially true for children with disabilities. One of the biggest issues is the availability of community physical activity programs for children with disabilities.

With the high obesity rate among Americans - even higher in people with disabilities - communities have the responsibility to provide fitness or physical activity programs for people of all abilities. Today, it's amazing to find so many adaptive sports and recreational opportunities available to people with disabilities, while twenty years ago many of these opportunities were non-existent.

Many of these adaptive sport and physical activity programs are run by non-profit organizations, and now park districts are providing programs. However, it's still not enough. Local communities should be collaborating with school districts to provide programs. Disabilities in general are more "visible" and recognizable in mainstream society now. And, people with disabilities who are living in every community have the right to have fitness/physical activity programs be available to them - just like individuals without disabilities.

Besides the availability of community fitness/physical activity programs, there lies another issue - getting the word out to people. One of the complaints among parents and people with disabilities is that they are unaware these kinds of programs exist. One of the reasons why so many individuals with disabilities do not participate in physical activity is because they don't realize they can, and that it's available. Agency outreach activity needs to be expanded.

In order to get people with disabilities to participate in fitness/physical activity programs they need to be available in communities. This would eliminate people having to search for programs, and accessing them would be easy. One challenge that seems to occur is engaging people with disabilities. I believe that the solution starts in communities, and in collaboration with school districts.

In addition, providing inclusive programs, as well as programs for young children, is a great start. By exposing children to fitness/physical activity programs at an early age, they will continue the behavior as they get older, and receive the health benefits from it. The key is to have programs be available and accessible - the community is a perfect place to start!

What are other ways communities can engage people with disabilities to be physically active?