Wellness Committee

The Town of Rock Hall, as part of its on-going commitment to a Healthy Eating/Active Living (HEAL) campaign,  has formed a Wellness Committee.  The goal of this committee is to establish an action plan to help our community continue to implement HEAL strategies and goals, promoting healthy eating/active living, through greater community involvement, support, participation and awareness.

Mission Statement:

The mission of the Town of Rock Hall's Wellness Committee is to identify and promote programs and initiatives - both established and new - that:

contribute to overall wellness;

increase awareness of and access to healthy lifestyle choices;

increase awareness of programs and resources available to promote wellness;

empower community members to take responsibility for their own health;

create a sense of belonging and community involvement regarding wellness goals     

and to implement all programs by making them accessible and achievable.

Committee members will meet regularly (several times a month) for at least one year (starting in January, 2016), at which time recommendations and an action plan will be presented, and the committee's status re-evaluated. 

Appointed committee members by the Mayor and Council:

Liaison - Meg Parry,

Members - Tamy Buckel, Debra J. Woodruff-Capper and Phil Anderson

To otbtain a copy of the Town of Rock Hall HEAL Resolution - HEAL Resolution NO.  2015-05 (HEAL) Click Here

Meeting Minutes and Progress Reports:

TOWN OF ROCK HALL

WELLNESS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES -

MARCH 9, 2016, 7:30 PM

Present:  Committee members Phil Anderson, Tamy Buckel, Debra Woodruff-Capper,

Meg Parry.  Also present was Mayor Brian Jones.

Meeting began at 7:30 PM.   There was some discussion regarding the purpose of the HEAL campaign, the purpose of the eating habits survey that had been distributed, and what the Committee hoped to accomplish.  Ms. Parry stated, by way of background, that the Town Council had adopted a HEAL (Healthy Eating/Active Living) resolution in June to establish a wellness campaign for our community.  The first phase of the campaign, supported by a $500 grant from the Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI), was the distribution of an eating habits survey to community members.  IPHI encouraged the Town, as a next step, to establish a Wellness Committee to begin to establish and implement wellness activities, programs and goals and to seek funds of $5,000 - $9,000, with a 50% match required by the Town, for the implementation phase.  

The Committee members then introduced themselves, detailing their backgrounds and experiences, and their reasons for wanting to participate on the Wellness Committee.

After some discussion, it was decided that, prior to the next meeting, Committee members would research and identify community resources in-place to support the Town's wellness activities, and identify the largest employers in Rock Hall, in order to establish our target audience, in regard to workplace programs, moving forward.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:00 pm, with the next meeting scheduled for Wednesday, April 23, at 7:00 PM.

TOWN OF ROCK HALL

WELLNESS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - APRIL 23, 2016, 7:00 PM

Present were Committee members Phil Anderson, Tamy Buckel, Meg Parry.  Also present was Mayor Brian Jones.

The meeting started at 7:05 PM. 

The meeting began with Committee members sharing information they had obtained about various wellness programs in the community.  Dr. Buckel shared some resources she had downloaded from the HEAL campaign website regarding proposed goals and activities, and Mr. Anderson shared a compilation of local businesses, including categorizing them and listing the number of employees for each.  He also shared materials from the Kent County Board of Education and "Kent on the Move" from the Kent County Health Department.  Dr. Buckel said she thought it would be most beneficial to include some physical improvements to complement the wellness programs, such as walkway or bikeway extensions or signage.  Ms. Parry mentioned that Millington had recently installed a walking track in a town park.  Mayor Jones called the Mayor of  Millington and learned that the track had cost their town $80,000, which was out-or-range for this project.  Mr. Anderson said he thought getting employers "on board" with wellness programs for their employees would help to reach our target "audience".  He offered ideas - such as putting information in paychecks - about how to get the word out about wellness programs.  It was agreed by all that marketing and outreach would be key elements of a successful HEAL campaign whatever programs were being offered.  It was also agreed by all that helping people participate - whether it be by offering transportation of otherwise facilitating them - would be essential.

Ms. Parry reported on a meeting she'd had with Nicole Morris of the Kent Co. Health Dept. identifying a wide variety of programs they implement in the community to address:  diabetes, pre-diabetes, tobacco control.  Regarding pre-diabetes, she reported, there is a training course, pre-qualified by the Centers for Disease Control, that the Health Department offers to certify lifestyle coaches to teach a pre-diabetes program.  She added that anyone seeking this certification would need to be affiliated with a business or organization to ensure all the necessary paperwork would be filed.  Mr. Anderson said he might be interested in taking the lifestyle coach training, and that his being on the Wellness Committee, a committee appointed by the Town Council, would qualify him to participate under the auspices of the Town.      

It was decided that, for the next meeting, Ms. Parry and Mr. Anderson would work on some wording for a mission statement for the Committee going forward.  The meeting ended at 8:15 PM, with the next meeting scheduled for April 6 at 7:00 PM.

TOWN OF ROCK HALL

WELLNESS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES - APRIL 6, 2016 - 7:00 PM

Present:  Committee members Phil Anderson, Tamy Buckel, Debra Woodruff-Capper, Meg Parry.  Also present was Mayor Brian Jones

The meeting began at 7:05 PM.  Ms. Parry started off by saying that she had been talking to the Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI) representative, with whom she has periodic check-ins, regarding our Committee's progress, and had learned that the Kaiser Permanente implementation monies of $5,000 - $9,000 are no longer being offered.  She added that this would mean the Committee focusing on program implementation until and unless other monies can be identified to fund infrastructure improvements.  The Committee members expressed disappointment that on-the-ground, visible projects would not be a part of our initial efforts.

Regarding the mission statement that was presented, it was adopted by the group, with a few small changes, to read as follows:

"The mission of the Town of Rock Hall's Wellness Committee is to identify and promote programs and initiatives - both established and new - that:

contribute to overall wellness;

increase awareness of and access to healthy lifestyle choices;

increase awareness of programs and resources available to promote wellness;

empower community members to take responsibility for their own health;

create a sense of belonging and community involvement regarding wellness goals     

and to implement all programs by making them accessible and achievable."

The Committee discussed possible HEAL activities moving forward, with some of the ideas being to have a 12-week health-related lecture series, have a "biggest loser" or fitness challenge competition among local businesses, and the possibility of establishing a Facebook page for the Committee. 

The idea which the Committee decided to focus on was a Health Fair to be held in mid-October, hopefully at the Fire Hall.  There is a firefighter group in Worcester/Wicomico County that collectively adopted, and successfully achieved, a weight loss goal and made a video of their success story, and it was agreed that the video would be great to include at the Health Fair, along with many other wellness activities including skin cancer screenings.  The Committee agreed to develop a schedule of activities, and Mayor Jones said he'd ask the Fire Hall if they would host it, after which we can determine a date for the event and work out a marketing and outreach campaign. 

The meeting came to a close at 8:30 PM, and the next meeting was scheduled for April 20th at 7:00 PM.