Annuity Board launches new wellness Web site

Annuity Board medical plan participants have a new wellness tool — BaptistWellness.org. The site is a comprehensive wellness Web site to help users achieve healthier lifestyles.
   
The Web site is available to all participants enrolled in a medical plan offered through the Annuity Board. Covered dependents  of participants also can take advantage of the site.
   
“Having our participants involved in their personal well-being and health care decisions is critical to helping control future health care costs,” said Doug Day, the board’s executive officer of benefit services.
  
“It is our goal to provide participants with the tools and information they need to make better decisions about their health and their health care dollars.”
   
BaptistWellness.org will provide such information and assistance to participants as:
   
–A personal wellness assessment that pinpoints personal health risks and makes recommendations for change.
   
–HabiTracker by which individuals can record daily activity, foods and beverages consumed, body data and more.
   
–Pharmaceutical information including how to use a medication, drug interactions, warnings and possible side effects.
   
–Healthful recipes from a comprehensive food database.
   
–A virtual trainer to suggest and demonstrate exercises to work and develop different muscle groups throughout the body.
   
–Newsletters providing educational information on diseases, wellness and other health care issues.
The Web site will will be updated regularly to provide participants with the latest information on health news.
More than a dozen new articles will be added every day, along with a new interactive Quick Tip.
In addition, through a daily Cooper TV video clip, Ken Cooper or one of six other staff experts from the Cooper Clinic in Dallas will deliver health and wellness tips on a variety of topics.
   
By using the online Medical Reference Guide, participants can take advantage of reliable self-care information to help them properly care for themselves and their family members, which can help reduce unnecessary trips to the doctor.
   
Information on more than 4,000 prescription and over-the-counter drugs also is available.
   
Participants can use the Virtual Trainer to plan workouts, and they can learn more about the foods they eat by exploring the Food Finder with its list of 65,000-plus food items.
   
“Each participant can develop a personal wellness program that includes healthful eating and regular exercise,” Day said.
   
“Once participants have the information they need to change, they can take advantage of interactive coaching and receive feedback and encouragement as they begin to make important health changes,” he said. (BP)