Rice to launch new comprehensive wellness program

Rice is launching a new comprehensive wellness program this month with a series of “Week of Wellness” activities Oct. 19-23.

Featuring topics ranging from mental health to financial health, the Week of Wellness will showcase the many resources available to employees and introduce Rice’s new wellness partner, HealthFitness.

HealthFitness is an award-winning provider of health management, corporate fitness and solutions for managing health conditions. The wellness program created in partnership with HealthFitness for Rice is built upon the vision that the university models a visibly healthy culture that promotes and facilitates well-being as an integral part of the institution’s identity and values.

“We are ready to go to the next level in our wellness program and build out a robust strategy based on a behavior-change approach,” said Janel Edson, Rice benefits manager. “HealthFitness offered the strategic leadership and program support we sought. We are excited to have them as a partner.”

The Week of Wellness events include:

• Oct 19: Essentials of Managing Your Stress seminar and flu shots at Farnsworth Pavilion.
• Oct. 20: Aetna presents Disease Management and Julia Amborski leads Yoga on the Lawn.
• Oct. 21: The fourth annual Rice Financial Fair.
• Oct. 22: Walk the Inner Loop with President David Leebron.
• Oct. 23: Mind Your Health — Healthy Lunches Information Session by Rosie Gonzalez.

Gonzalez is the university’s new onsite wellness program manager. An employee of HealthFitness, she is a nutrition and health science specialist who has been working in the corporate wellness field for seven years. She brings more than 20 years of experience as a registered and licensed dietitian in the health industry, working in research with a focus on nutrition and cancer prevention and counseling individuals in the area of weight management.

Gonzalez will oversee the university’s suite of health-management services, which will include a HealthFitness Web portal with wearable device integration, health assessments, “Mind Your Health” educational seminars, flu shots and more.

Katherine Meacham, vice president, account management, at HealthFitness, said she looks forward to helping Rice employees achieve their wellness goals. “The partnership is a great opportunity for us to work  with Rice University and jointly create a sustainable health management program that leverages our people, tools and processes,” she said. “We work with several other large educational institutions and look forward to leveraging best practices to make ongoing healthy actions possible for more of Rice’s employee population.”

For a full schedule of the Week of Wellness events, visit http://bit.ly/1VFk3hi.