At least 300 students, teachers, administrators and nuns are walking Carlow College's hilly campus with pedometers clipped to their waists, trying daily to reach the 10,000 steps that health authorities recommend to achieve physical fitness.

Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette Jim Conniff of Whitehall does some deep breathing exercises as part of a wellness program offered by the small insurance firm, Seubert & Associates. He credits the program for helping lower his high cholesterol levels and providing advice on eating more healthfully. Click photo for larger image. Related article Marconi offers healthiest benefits

The step challenge, which started Nov. 10, is just one part of a workplace wellness program Carlow is providing in partnership with Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield for the entire campus population of about 2,300.

The program started in August with physical assessments that examined such things as employees' weight and glucose levels and has gone on to offer step and water aerobics, self-defense, Pilates, body sculpting, yoga and Irish dancing classes. There also have been classes in weight and stress management. The assessments will be repeated in August to compare results.

"Our goal is to create what we think of as a culture of wellness," said Julie Gaul, Carlow's volleyball coach and director of wellness and fitness services.

It's a goal that is being embraced increasingly by local employers.

"It's getting a lot more attention [here] than it did, as the [health] cost programs have accelerated over the past three years," said David A. Lagnese, a principal dealing with health and welfare issues for Towers Perrin, a human resources corporate consultant.

At first, he said, employers were doing "easy stuff" such as the 10,000 step programs and providing healthful foods in cafeterias.

"I think a lot have recognized those types of things can only get you so far and at the end of the day you have to address the health status of employees, and promoting healthy lifestyles is part of the solution."

Big companies like insurance provider Highmark and telecommunications equipment manufacturer Marconi and little firms like insurance agency Seubert & Associates now provide a wide range of services. They vary from on-premises gymnasiums to nutrition, stress, back care and weight management programs, diabetes counseling to insurance coverage for alternative medical treatments.

The on-site gyms get the most attention, but Lagnese said he's "not sure those have a huge return. A lot of people who participate in those would have anyway.

"But," he added, "I think the companies that do [have gyms] do so as part of a broader commitment that the company has decided to make [to overall wellness programs]."

And the broader programs not only make for healthier employers, they save companies money, too.

It's too soon, though, for most of the local programs to see the financial savings. "Many programs take three to five years to show a return on investment," Lagnese said. "Short-term they cost money. Return comes later."

Workers see life changes

But to individuals, the benefits can start to show up right away. Just ask Jim Conniff and Sue Stuart. Both said they experienced life changes through the opportunities provided by Seubert & Associates, which has offices in New Kensington, Bellevue and Avalon.

Besides a state-of-the-art gym at the Bellevue office, the insurance firm's 53 employees have been offered a 10,000-step challenge, a 12-week nutrition class, a six-week class on mind and body relations, discounted nutrition bars and free fruit in the cafeteria and prizes for success. Highmark did pre-program wellness profiles of the employees in January 2003 and another set in August on the 43 who had participated in most programs.

"We had improved in all areas but one," benefits coordinator Shelly Johnston said. "We improved in our nutrition, our cancer rate, fitness rate, weight management -- we probably lost almost 300 pounds as a group -- coronary risk, cholesterol risk. Our stress was down a little, back care was better. Some employees quit smoking, and blood pressure dropped dramatically."

Conniff, 47, a personal lines manager from Whitehall, had always worked out, but hadn't paid as much attention to his eating habits. He took Seubert's nutrition class because of a family history of high cholesterol, including his own.

"It was 436 when I was 37 years old," he said, referring to the total blood lipid levels that doctors recommend be under 200. "I am still on medication for it, but since this program, I'm under 200 for the first time since it was ever checked."

He lost 10 to 11 pounds and adopted three suggestions by the nutritionist: he began drinking more water, substituting whole wheat for "white stuff" and watching his portions.

"I never really understood the portion part of it before," he said.

Stuart, 48, an insurance broker from Ingram, already had begun attending Weight Watchers when Seubert's gym opened about a year ago. And that, she said, is when she started seeing results.

"I did the 10,000 steps walk," she said. "I used the treadmill and the weights. I was doing five days on the treadmill and three days the weights. ... I lost 60 pounds from Oct. 1 to May 1.

"I believe my cholesterol and everything went down. I had much more energy. My breathing was much better. My sleeping was much better. Just everything was better."

Stuart has since joined a health club near her home, but if Seubert hadn't built one and made exercising so convenient, she said, "I probably wouldn't have done it."

Seubert President Brian Long said the gym and the new cafeteria each cost about $25,000; he also buys lunch for the lunchtime wellness programs and brings in the free fruit. Johnston figures she's spent $1,500 more for such things as pedometers and the lunches.

Money well-spent in Long's opinion.

"We're in the benefits business," he said. "We thought it was important we start at home first. We thought this was a good way to set a good example for our customers. That's how it all got started."

Corporations save big

Studies of big corporations that have been involved in in-depth health promotion and disease prevention programs for several years show big monetary returns on their investments.

A study published in the American Journal of Health Promotion in 1999 showed that the $1.9 million that Citibank spent on a health management program resulted in $7 million savings in reduced medical costs and absenteeism.

Two studies of the first long-term health and wellness program at Johnson & Johnson, covering the years 1990-99, showed $225 overall savings per employee per year since 1995. The articles were printed in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine in January and May of 2002.

Coors Brewing Co., a pioneer in workplace wellness programs, had a return of $6.15 per $1 invested over six years, according to a study by health care specialist Zoezi Inc. That same study showed Steelcase had a return of $5.80 for every $1 spent over five years, Equitable Life Assurance $5.52 over its first year, and Travelers Corp., $3.40, over its first year.

Insurers lend a hand

Three of the four major insurance providers in the area -- Highmark, Aetna and Health America -- make it easy for employers to provide low-cost wellness programs by including a variety of services in their corporate policies.

Highmark, for example, has three levels of programming. The first is primarily educational; the third requires the employer to commit to incentives for employee participation in health screenings and some interventions.

Aetna's Fitness Program provides reduced rates at more than 1,000 fitness clubs nationally and its Healthy Outlook Program reaches out to members at risk for such chronic conditions as heart failure, diabetes, asthma and coronary artery disease.

Health America provides 100 percent reimbursement for attending approved classes in smoking cessation, nutrition, back care, cardiac disease and diabetes prevention.

UPMC Health Plan recently began online wellness education programs for employees, which it plans to eventually open up to insurance customers.

"Now that our health management programs are well-established, we are going to shift our focus toward more wellness programs," said spokesman Bill Modoono. "The first population we're going to focus on is our Medicare population."