LACERS BOARD UPDATE
By Michael R. Wilkinson
LACERS/Legal Representative
The LACERS Board has approved an expanded LACERS Well program with a greatly increased budget to further improve our members’ health and enjoyment of life with a theme of Living a Full Life.
Current and previous LACERS Well campaigns have focused on members being aware of their health, staying active through regular exercise, developing healthy eating habits and keeping up with their doctor appointments. Most recently we focused on one particular disease, diabetes, to help members who either have diabetes, or were diagnosed as pre-diabetic.
For 2019, our program will look at a subject that touches all our members — living a productive and enjoyable life. The transition from a structured and busy work life to retirement can be difficult for some people. In retirement no one sets a schedule, and each retiree is on his or her own to decide not just what to do on the weekend, but how to fill seven days.
Many Retirees jump quickly and easily into the joy of volunteering, running, biking, working out at the gym, or spending time with their grandkids. But this connection does not go easily for everyone, and some become isolated and depressed.
The 2019 campaign will work on connecting with as many members as possible, expanding the use of Wellness Champion-led events for things like recurring hikes and bike rides as well as one-time events such as a museum or garden tour.
In addition to the encouragement of living fulfilling lives, LACERS Well will continue to work with members to encourage them to keep up with their contact with doctors and using other medical resources both online and in person.
LACERS Well will continue to use the innovative data-dashboard computer program to track members’ claim data to respond to health trends with LACERS members. Member privacy is protected since the dashboard tracks members only as a group and does not display individual member records. With this information, LACERS can suggest changes in how members interact with their doctors, practice healthy eating and increase exercise habits that will provide improvements to their health and enjoyment of life.
