Sustaining Wellness Programs

Wellness-related programming. Our care managers (with the assistance of the advisory group) have implemented the following wellness programs: healthy eating and cooking classes, yoga, Zumba, Latin and ballroom dance, “Walk with a Doc,” therapeutic laughter and writing groups, chronic disease self-management program, gardening club (for growing herbs with which to cook), diabetes management and cognitive/sensory processing workshops.

Barriers to accomplishments. One barrier to implementing the wellness programs is that they are non-billable and therefore harder to make sustainable.

Actions to overcome difficulties. In order to make the wellness programs sustainable, it is the goal of our integrated services program to have these programmatic offerings be budget neutral. However, fundraisers for the wellness programs are also planned as a way to generate revenue needed to fund these non-billable programs. Fundraisers included a dine-out for a cause event at a local restaurant and a 5K race/walk. All funds generated from these events are tracked separately and earmarked for underwriting wellness programs. Another source of wellness programming revenue is regularly provided by a private donor.

A final method of ensuring sustainability is through the provision of billable groups by care managers who are licensed. For instance, this past quarter one LICSW began offering a billable therapeutic writing group.