The program spans all eight IU campuses and aims to provide support for IU faculty, staff and their spouses. The staff and facilitators provide services such as classes to promote physical and mental well-being, health screenings and educational information.
“Healthy IU started as a grassroots program to provide employees with what they need for their health journey,” Healthy IU’s communications specialist Julie Anderson said. “We aim to set up specific programming so that they can have the campus that they ideally want.”
The program has grown to become a University-wide initiative. Recent events in Bloomington include a stair-climbing challenge, in which participants were encouraged to take the stairs instead of using elevators and escalators.
Anderson said several small-scale challenges are employed to promote increased physical activity, especially in a working climate where a majority of the time is spent sitting in offices and classrooms.
Healthy IU also provides a comprehensive list of information and advice on their official website, available for public use. Although this program is intended for employees, Anderson said the effects of the program are visible in all on-campus demographics.
Samantha Schaefer, manager at Healthy IU, is responsible for rolling out and supporting the organization’s programming on the IU Bloomington, Southeast and East campuses.
“We offer different levels of content and assistance that fits the different needs of the faculty,” Schaefer said. “We don’t want to force anything — we want to be here for them when they decide to make health-related changes to guide them.”
This semester, Schaefer and her staff have been pushing classes and drop-in sessions for staff to manage and reduce stress, as well as guidance for individuals who want to maintain or lose weight.
Schaefer said interest in their programs has been on the rise and people who have been using these resources said they have felt a positive impact since participating. In addition to the physical and mental health benefits, faculty members have seen increases in productivity.
“You can really see the effects of our program by looking at the improvement in the well-being of our participants,” Schaefer said. “This is something that affects everybody — the staff, their families, students and even our environment.”
Other results of Healthy IU’s objectives include several changes to the campus’s infrastructure.
The walking trails that run through and around the IU grounds are a direct result of the group’s push to make the campus more health-friendly. In addition, the refillable water stations that are strategically placed in most IU buildings are for public use.
Healthy IU has also partnered with the School of Public Health to offer an upper-level course in which students are paired with faculty members to coach and guide them to a healthier lifestyle.
“The policy and changes that we push for affect everyone, whether directly or indirectly, so it’s important for students to know how far what we do can reach,” Schaefer said.
