We are happy to report that this year’s Colorado Culture of Health Conference was our biggest event yet, drawing 550 attendees representing more than 200 Colorado employers. The conference is the state’s largest wellness event for business and draws a wide range of attendees, from corporate wellness directors to human resource managers to health department representatives and wellness champions.
For our 8th Annual Conference, we took a “whole health” approach, focusing on other components of health, such as emotional well-being and stress, which impact employee wellness. To that end, we offered sessions on financial wellness, sleep deprivation, mindfulness and creating a culture of happiness led by experts who are helping employers address those issues in the workplace.
We were pleased to see that those issues resonated with attendees and the sessions on happiness and mindfulness were among some of the most popular at the conference. Other standing-room only programs included one that explored the reasons why employees don’t participate in wellness programs and the keynote from Dr. Rosie Ward, Director of Health Coaching Education for Fairview Physician Associates in Minneapolis, who discussed how to create a thriving workplace culture.
In all, the conference featured more than 20 break-out sessions and keynote addresses from
Ward, as well as Tom Sondergeld, Director of Health & Well-Being and Human Resources for Walgreens, which recently implemented a private healthcare exchange for its employees; and Dr. Roger Merrill, former Chief Medical Officer for Perdue Farms Inc.
We were also excited to play host for the presentation of the first Governor’s Award for Worksite Wellness by the Governor’s Council for Active and Healthy Lifestyles. Grand Junction-based Hilltop Resources won the award and was selected for recognition by Health Links Colorado, an evidence-based program founded at the Colorado School of Public Health that advises, certifies and connects businesses to health and wellness resources. We hope the award encourages other companies to pursue a culture of wellness.
After nearly a decade of presenting the conference, it’s clear that employers are still searching for ways to improve their wellness programs and methods of measuring the return on investment of their efforts. The key takeaway might be that a changing a workplace culture takes time. The fact is, wellness doesn’t happen overnight.
We remain committed to providing an accessible, affordable, high value conference that appeals to a wide variety of participants throughout Colorado.
If you’d like more information on any of this year’s sessions, please contact Liz Olson ([email protected]) or Lisa Slavinski ([email protected]) who will be happy to provide access to presentation materials. We hope to see you at next year’s conference.