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Hennepin County, Minnesota

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Public Health Promotion

Active living, healthy eating and a tobacco-free lifestyle improve quality of life and prevent chronic disease.

We focus on places where people live, learn, work and play to help residents make healthy lifestyle choices.

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Worksites

Upcoming trainings for worksite wellness coordinators

Addiction in the Workplace: Prevention, Hope and Healing

Hear William C. Moyers of the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation share his personal story of addiction and recovery, and learn ways to bust the stigma and help your employees address mental health issues.

  • Thursday, April 19, 2018
  • 9 to 11:30 a.m.
  • Hennepin County Library – Brookdale (Brooklyn Center)
  • $15 registration fee
  • Register online

Advancing worksite wellness

Health@Work 

Health@Work offers free and affordable trainings, events and resources to help employers in Hennepin County promote healthy worksites and lifestyles for their employees.

Newsletter 

Our Health@Work newsletter helps you promote better health in your workplace. Sign up to receive our newsletter.

Contact us

For more information about any of the following campaigns, trainings or events, email linda.brandt@hennepin.us or call 612-596-1511.

Join Health@Work's LinkedIn group

Networking breakfasts

Join local worksite wellness coordinators at this annual event for a morning of learning and conversation on current topics in worksite health promotion. A light breakfast is served.

Campaigns and trainings

Frosty Challenge
Help your employees maintain and not gain weight over the winter. This eight-week campaign includes newsletters, tracking logs, marketing materials and a coordinator manual. The training is annual.

Grow with Gardens
Learn what you need to start a workplace garden or grow produce at your workplace at this biannual training.

Lean + Green
Inspire your employees to take daily actions that lead to better health for themselves and our planet. This is a six-week nutrition, physical activity and environmental health campaign. The training is biannual.

Mother Friendly Worksites
Learn about lactation support and workplace best practices, including related laws, benefits and resources. This workshop is biannual.

Paths to Positivity
Promote mental well-being in your workplace. This five-week campaign is designed to help your employees live happier, healthier lives through connection, mindfulness or purpose. The training is annual.

Step To It Challenge
Motivate your employees to get more active during this four-week physical activity challenge during the month of May. Compete with other organizations in Hennepin County to earn recognition and awards.
Visit the Step To It Challenge website

Take Charge@Work
Learn ways to enhance your employees’ career well-being and engagement at this biannual training.

Tools for Success
Learn how to design an effective worksite wellness program. Get tools and resources to make it happen at this annual training.

Wellness by Design award

This award recognizes employers with successful health promotion efforts. Worksites who also minimize their impact on the environment may receive a +Green designation.

The next application period will open in early 2019. Any worksite headquartered in Hennepin County may apply. For questions, contact Linda Brandt at linda.brandt@hennepin.us or 612-596-1511.

2014-2015 Wellness by Design winners

More than 80 organizations and businesses received the Wellness by Design award.

Read about the winners (DOC)

Watch award winners' videos

Testimony from past winners

"We really appreciated the award, which is displayed at our front desk. The more attention to this topic the better!"

"Wellness by Design has been a great way to get my company leaders excited about wellness."

"We have used this award to educate our management and employees about how we met the criteria of the gold award. It has helped the "legitimacy" of our wellness program..."

See all past winners 2006 - 2015 (PDF)

Hennepin County Worksite Advisory Council

This group of 10-12 wellness coordinators from companies in Hennepin County provides input to ensure that our worksite wellness trainings, programs and resources are valuable and effective. If you would like to learn more or become a member of the council, e-mail Kelly Harjes at kelly.harjes@hennepin.us.

Schools

Creating safe, positive environments for learning

Hennepin County's partnerships within the schools and the community are helping create healthy school environments that reduce chronic disease, increase student attendance and achievement, and increase student and staff wellness.

Read more

The importance of public health initiatives in schools (PDF)

Consultations

Health@School staff are available to provide no-cost consultations on the following topics:

  • Active recess and other physical activity initiatives
  • Healthy cafeteria assessments and other healthy eating initiatives
  • Safe Routes to School
  • School climate initiatives
  • Tobacco-free K-12 schools
  • Tobacco-free post-secondary schools

For information, email Catherine Stahl at catherine.stahl@hennepin.us or call 612-596-7467.

    Mental health organizations

    We work with organizations to help create healthy environments for people with mental illness and for those who may also have substance use concerns.

    Use these tools to support healthy behaviors in your organization and help staff address risk factors with the people they serve. Feel free to adapt  them to your needs.

    Assessment and evaluation tools

    Organizational action plan

    Sample organizational policies

    Tools to identify and address risk factors in individuals 

    Nutrition training for Minnesota Statute 245D

    This series focuses on healthy eating. It is intended for staff who support individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Completion of this series satisfies the staff training requirements in MN Statute 245D.  

    • View the introduction to the nutrition series video
    • Work through all of the videos, handouts, quizzes and cooking demonstrations
    • Download and complete the quiz after viewing each video
    • Give all completed quizzes to your manager
    • Practice what you've learned
    • Print a certificate of completion with the e-learning activity provided

    1.  Hennepin Today: nutrient-rich foods and portion sizes

    2. Fat, sugar and salt, oh my!

    3. One family's plan: budgeting, shopping and meal planning

    4. Choosing fruits and vegetables

    5. Preparing fruits and vegetables

    6. Preserving fruits and vegetables

    7. Cooking videos: learn new cooking skills and watch recipe demonstrations

    Additional recipes

    Additional resources

    Cooking skills-building and easy recipes

    Online training

    Practice what you’ve learned in the nutrition module online.

    People who work with adults with disabilities

    Shortcuts to sections

    Assess your organization

    This assessment tool helps organizations identify staff training needs as well as best practices to assure individuals have access to healthy physical activity and nutrition choices. To see how your organization is doing complete the self-assessment.

    Nutrition training video series

    This series provides basic nutrition knowledge, cooking skills, as well as information to put common special diets into practice.

    1. Hennepin Today: nutrient-rich foods and portion sizes

    2. Fat, sugar and salt, oh my!

    3. One family's plan: budgeting, shopping and meal planning

    4. Choosing fruits and vegetables

    5. Preparing fruits and vegetables

    6. Preserving fruits and vegetables

    7. Cooking videos: learn new cooking skills and watch recipe demonstrations

    Helpful nutrition resources

    Recipes

    Handouts

    Cooking skills-building and easy recipes

    Special diets

    Some people are given special diets by their health care provider to help manage a chronic illness. Here are three common special diets ordered and tips to prepare them. Practice what you’ve learned by taking the quizzes and completing the e-learning at the end.

    Heart-healthy grocery shopping

    Diabetes – managing and preparing a diabetes diet

    Dysphagia and thickened liquids

    Practice what you've learned by completing the e-learning activity. 

    Physical activity training

    Developed in partnership with the Courage Center, this series helps people caring for adults with IDD build more physical activity opportunities into their daily routines. Practice what you’ve learned by taking the quizzes and completing the e-learning at the end.

    Improving balance, range of motion and function

    Add physical activity into everyday life

    Creative and inexpensive physical activity options

    Practice what you’ve learned in the physical activity e-learning.

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