An active and energetic group of fiscal staff members is inspiring health and wellness through their work. The Administration and Planning Fiscal Buckeye Wellness Innovators (BWI), otherwise known as the Fiscal Health and Wellness Team, serve as ambassadors to promote health and wellness initiatives to their team of 20 fiscal staff members. Lindsey McCann, Camille Mack, Ted Tobler and Mary Wehner became BWI’s in summer 2022 and have embraced their roles, implementing creative and inclusive ways to engage in wellness.
Working remotely during the pandemic proved to be a struggle for many, but these innovators took the challenge head on. Wehner said being able to make connections with others through the team has been vital to mental wellness during remote work. Mack added, “We all experienced life changes during the pandemic The connections I developed during that time really helped my family get through longer work hours and the feelings of seclusion during the height of quarantine. For many, it was the support of leadership and Ohio State programs that carried us through the difficult time in our world’s history.”
The team works remotely but gets together on a regular basis for meetings and activities. Since they formed, they’ve had no shortage of engaging events like using the Buckeye blender bike to make fruit smoothies, participating as a team in fun runs and presenting breathing and stretching techniques, which ended up being a team favorite memory. “Ted on our team was in charge of explaining the benefits of squats. Ted not only brought his typical energy, but he also made the presentation fun and engaging by bringing a little humor,” said McCann.
Tobler says it’s groups like these that will help Ohio State reach its goal of becoming the healthiest university in the world, “Groups like this help break down silos that are built when we forget that we are part of a greater whole. It is important that we do not lose sight of where we belong and how we connect with the university. Groups like this keep this alive.” Mack agrees, “Maintaining good health and well-being helps most people navigate through stressful times. From my personal experience, programs like these are often the unsung heroes to employee retention, happiness and overall job satisfaction.”
To keep everyone involved and motivated, the team started a regular wellness newsletter, containing helpful resources, photos from past events and opportunities for others to jump into the fun.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2023, the team hopes to continue its goal of inspiring health and wellness and getting others involved. “Sometimes the idea of knowing (you have a resource), doing (kicking off the activity) and including everyone is just as important as the participation itself. Eventually people will join and it’s done on their own time. Health and wellness are personal journeys where it takes months sometimes years to cultivate good practices and form great habits. ‘Trying’ doesn’t seem to get enough credit. Simply ‘trying’ can change your outlook on life and stimulate new ideas,” said Mack.
Learn more about A&P health and wellness efforts and visit the YP4H calendar to see more faculty and staff wellness events.