The CommonHealth of Kentucky
A 13-part KET production aimed at improving the health of all Kentuckians by sharing health and wellness projects from across the state that are succeeding in making their communities healthier.
Be Well Kentucky
a project of KET’s Be Well Kentucky initiative
The CommonHealth of Kentucky is a 2005 KET production. Produced in partnership with the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The Lifestyle Enhancement Activity Program (LEAP) in Vanceburg was begun by the Lewis County Primary Care Center to reduce its own health insurance costs. LEAP offers monetary rewards to employees for improving their health habits. Started in-house in 2003, the program is now offered to local businesses and public schools.
LEAP emphasizes the importance of knowing your numbers. The program starts with lab work, which sets the bar from which employees must set goals, such as lowering cholesterol or losing weight. Simple lifestyle changes are suggested to achieve success. More testing is done at three-month intervals.
Sixteen employees of the primary care center reached their weight goals the first year of the program, combining to lose 115 pounds. Two of five smokers quit.
Their employer also saw the benefits of employees’ improved health: The cost of health care for the 16 was lower than in prior benefit periods.
This workplace wellness program has also expanded to the Augusta Independent and Lewis County school systems.