Last year staff at Royal Fidelity were shocked at the death of their colleague -- a person who worked out daily and whom they looked at as the epitome of health. But at the age of 35, that person died of a heart attack. That pushed the group's human resources director Stacia Williams to wonder if the institution was doing enough -- if anything at all -- for its staff as it related to their health and wellness.
Last week, Royal Fidelity initiated the Phillippa Wilson Get in Gear Health and Wellness Program, a three-day health fair held during office hours at the Royal Fidelity Head Office which is mandatory for all of their 189 staff members, including those in Royal Fidelity's Grand Bahama arm to participate.
During the health fair, staff members in groups of 35 were subject to medical screenings, healthy lifestyle coaching, massages, healthy cooking and juicing/blending demonstrations, and were able to take their fill of fresh fruit made available to them at the pop-up market. The health fair took place in the courtyard at Fidelity's head office in half-day sessions per group over the three days.
"We really need everyone to understand how important a healthy lifestyle is... eating the right foods, exercising and de-stressing," said Williams. "Phillippa Wilson [who was our] assistant vice-president of corporate finance in the Royal Fidelity family died September 20, and she was the epitome of health. She would leave her office every day, go running, and everyone would mention how disciplined she was to do this. We saw her as a physically fit person who ate healthy every day, and she died of a heart attack basically at age 35. That was a shocker for us."
After that tragedy, Williams said she knew that the institution had to do more as it relates to health and wellness for their staff and their families. The Phillippa Wilson Get in Gear Health & Wellness Program was born out of that tragedy to create awareness for the staff.
"We just need everybody to have a mindset change, so we made it mandatory for all of our staff to come out. This was not something they could just choose to do because it was that important to us."
Jan Isaacs, president of Jemi Health and Wellness, and her team addressed Fidelity's staff on wellness inclusive of mind, body and spirit. They gave informative talks on the foods staff members should and should not be eating as well as how to shop and read labels on packaging. The Jemi team also covered the foods people with cholesterol and diabetes should be purchasing and what they should not be consuming along with the importance of portion size.
Chef Ancilleno Solomon showed employees how to prepare light, healthy lunches and dinners. He specifically demonstrated recipes using chicken breast, salmon, a medley of vegetables and gluten-free pasta. The Jemi team showed the staff how to blend juices and vegetables to get their intake of fruit and vegetables in a juice form for those that liked the idea of juicing. The Fidelity family also took home recipes so that they would be able to replicate the meals at home.
In the final analysis, the health fair was simply a prelude to the main event -- the Get in Gear Six-Week Challenge. Staff came together in groups of four, named their team and chose a team captain. The team had to participate in weekly assigned activities with personal trainer Toriano Johnson; engage in cooking classes; weigh in weekly and attend Weight Watchers meetings (optional).
Williams stressed that the six-week challenge was not an affair to see who could lose the most weight. While weight loss was a component of the challenge, that they were more focused on their staff member's body mass index (BMI) results.
In an effort to ensure that their staff approached the challenge in a healthy way, they were not allowed to fast and had to post pictures eating three healthy meals per day on the group's social media site. Williams also gave out weekly challenges through their social media group, with challenges increasing in difficulty each week.
"After the six-week challenge, I'm hoping that people will have a new awareness and a new appreciation for a healthy lifestyle, and understanding the importance of their health," said Williams. "People can weigh whatever they want to weigh, be whatever size they want to be; it doesn't mean they're not healthy. If you're healthy in your size and happy with your size, then I'm happy -- but I need you to be healthy. We don't want to lose another of our employees to a silent killer like a heart attack."
Williams said the next six weeks would be rough for Fidelity's staff as the challenge starts in the lead-up to the holiday season and all the goodies that will be tempting them everywhere. She is hoping they will not succumb and survive through to the challenge culmination which will take place just before Fidelity's Christmas party at which time Williams said they would get to eat, drink and be merry.
Teams will be able to win prizes throughout the six-week challenge with the overall winner receiving an iPad, cash and gym membership for the year at the end of the six-week challenge.

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