Get Ready for Bike to Work Day 2013!

 

Register here for Bike to Work Day on June 26th. Don't forget to sign up for Team CDPHE!

Are you interested in biking, but feel like you need to brush up on your skills first? Try a bike safety class!

  
Bike Buddies from Transportation Solutions 

• Dates/ Times: Safety trainings on Saturday, May 4th and Tuesday, May 21st. Click here to see all events, including group rides 
• Location: Cherry Creek Trail. Contact Alex Mehn for details. 
• Fee: FREE 
• About: Safety training, group rides, and lots of giveaways!
• Register here: Bike Buddies Sign-Up

Confident Commuter Classes from BikeDenver and the Denver Zoo 

• Dates/ Times: May 7, June 4, and July 2  (all Tuesdays) from 6 p.m.– 8 p.m. each night. 
• Location: Basecamp Conference Room at the Denver Zoo.
• Fee: $15 Includes Dinner
• About: This two-hour class will consist of a classroom discussion on bicycles, local bike-related laws, avoidance of common bike-related incidents, and how to co-exist with cars on the road. The second half of the class will put you on the seat of your bicycle (or a B-cycle) practicing your newly learned skills with our instructors.
• Register here: Denver Zoo Special Event Tickets

Traffic Skills 101 from the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) 

• Dates/Times: Friday, May 31 from 6pm-9pm AND Saturday June 1 from 9am-5pm
• Location:  Basecamp Conference Room at the Denver Zoo.
• Fee:  $30 Includes Lunch & Dinner
• About: Class size is limited to 15. This fast-paced, nine-hour course presents the tools you need via a half-classroom, and half on-bike experience to give you a full understanding and confidence in cycling. The class covers bicycle safety checks, fixing a flat, on-bike skills and crash avoidance techniques and includes a student manual.
• Register Here: Traffic Skills 101
  
• You can also check out other courses that LAB has to offer, or learn how to become a League Cycling Instructor (LCI).

Wednesday Walkabout

After you have spent your Wednesday morning learning about your wellness benefits and open enrollment, what better way to celebrate than a walk outside in the fresh air!  While the weather has not been particularly cooperative on Wednesdays this spring, the Wednesday Walkabout from 3-3:30 on the main campus will resume. If you would like to add a walk for your department at another time or day, please send an email and we'll add it to the Wellness Calendar.  

New Website Resources

Take a look at the new Chronic Disease Tab above


Here you will find many resources related to prevention, early detection, and management of chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.


Wellness Room Updates

Michael Bonamer continues to offer some of the best Hatha yoga instruction right here at CDPHE. He is offering a free introductory session.

Boot Camp: Our loyal Boot Camp instructor, Mariska Osborne, will no longer be able to lead Boot Camp sessions. We all owe her a debt of gratitude for offering these classes to her colleagues free of charge! We are actively seeking someone to replace her. If you have suggestions or are interested please contact Dan McKenna.

May 7: Free hepatitis C tests

Hep C Connection will offer free rapid hepatitis C antibody screening to interested department employees from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 7 on the first floor of building A. Drop in or set up an appointment by calling 720-917-3960 by 5 p.m. May 6. Should you be tested? Read the flyer to find out. For more information, contact Urva Hannegan at 720-917-3960 or Andrés Guerrero at extension 2720.

Instant Recess

"Instant Recess is a call to all of us to get up
and move. I’m betting that she [Dr. Toni Yancey]
can convince anyone that moving more is not only good for health, but easy and lots of fun to do."  

                                   - Marion Nestle, PhD, Food Politics

Can you take 10 minutes to move?  Let Toni's spirit carry you.  A champion for the health of all Americans and stalwart public health advocate,Toni Yancey, MD, MPH past away this past week after a battle with cancer.  

Wellness Events and News

Upcoming Wellness Brown Bag: 
Finding Balance through Mindfulness

When: Thursday, April 18th, 12:30-1:30, Cleere Room

Join Leisel Hunter, Psy.D, from the Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine to get helpful tips on managing stress at work and at home.

Other News:

The Cherry Creek Athletic Club is waiving their joining fee for the rest of the month for all CDPHE employees. Click here if interested in learning more.

Check out the new Community Events section of the website. In the future, we will feature healthy opportunities to get involved in the community in that section of the website. If you have an event you want to let people know about, email Cathy Bledsoe.

Wellness Focus for April, May, & June- Stress Management

Everyone experiences stress.  Your challenge is to learn to recover frequently, quickly, and efficiently!  How?

1. Respect your need for restorative sleep
2. Practice relaxation/meditation
3. Exercise regularly  
4. Practice positive thinking, here, here, and here
5. Volunteer your time and your passion 

 

Check out the new quarterly challenge. Track just 3 weeks over the entire quarter to be entered into the yearly award drawing.  Buddy Up! Join up with one or more of your colleagues and enter as a team. 

Commute with friends!  vRide has van pool openings.

•  Aurora (leaving at 6am) to Glendale (leaving at 2:30pm) 
• Arvada (leaving at 7am) to Glendale (leaving at 3:30pm)
  

National LGBT Health Awareness Week

Come Out for Health!

March 25th - March 29th.

Gain awareness and insight into the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, & learn how important & easy it is to support LGBT initiatives & your LGBT colleagues!

• Monday, March 25th, 12-1pm, One Colorado, LGBT Health Disparities & Reform, Sabin.
• Tuesday, March 26th, 12-1pm, Trans*Panel, Trans*stories and Q&A, C1E.
• Wednesday, March 27th, 12-1pm, PFLAG, Being an ally & preventing violence, Carson.
• Thursday, March 28th, 12-1pm, Human Rights Campaign, Marriage Equality/Legal Issues, C1E.
• Friday, March 29th, 12-1pm, Safe Zone & Equality Forum for CDPHE staff, Carson.  

Contact Al Stafford (x4021) or Liz Lemmonds (x3515).

Annual Employee Wellness Awards

The Employee Wellness Committee invites you to celebrate the health and wellness of all department employees with Executive Director Dr. Chris Urbina at 10 a.m. Thursday at the main campus flagpole. Annual Wellness Award recipient Lynda Saignaphone and Wellness Heroes Sara Maki and Rich Marquez will be recognized. We also will recognize the efforts of the Wellness Advisory Board and all of the Wellness Champions. In case of inclement weather, this event will be held in Cleere. Wellness Classes Monday, March 25th, Noon to 1pm, Sleeping Well- Simple techniques to improve your sleep quality, A2B. Wednesday, March 27th, 3 to 3:30pm, Breathe-Smile-Breathe, Introduction to mindfulness meditation, B2D Contact: Dan McKenna for any CDPHE Employee Wellness questions.

Welcome to daylight saving time (DST)!

What are you planning on doing with your extra hour of daylight?
Please share in the comments section how this time of year and DST inspires you. Looking for inspiration? Come to this week's Brown Bag with Jamie Atlas at noon on Wednesday for some great ideas.

While we are on the topic of DST, raise your hand if you, your family members, or your pet had difficulty waking up the past 2 days!  This is a great example of how your schedule influences your internal body clock and why your personal habits around sleep matter so much.  To see what you might learn from our mammalian cousin's reaction to light and activity, see this research article from Verwey, Robinson and Amir.  If you are interested in learning more about easy strategies for improving the quality of your sleep come to any of the Sleeping Well sessions that will be scheduled over the next few months at the main campus and lab.  
Mayo Clinic also has useful sleep tips for you to consider.


Heart Health & Physical Activity Brown Bag
Come join in the fun with motivational fitness instructor & personal trainer Jamie Atlas a partner with the American Heart Association.
Wednesday, March 13th, Carson, 12-1pm

Jamie Atlas, an Australian born fitness instructor has been a personal trainer since 1991. He has a BSc Double Major is Neuroscience and Psychology and a diploma of Education with emphasis in Sports and Recreation. He is a National Certified Personal Training with NSCA with a certificate in Strength and Conditioning. He has also received his GIFT Graduate certificate in functional movement therapy.

Jamie was named 2002 Personal Trainer of the Year by the Athletic Club at Denver Place and is a former professional basketball player for the Australian National League. He is now the owner of Bonza Bodies a small group personal training studio in the heart of Downtown Denver. The small group personal training program won 2011 Top of the Town for Best Boot Camp.

Jamie is a close partner with the American Heart Association, aiding in many of our programs including corporate speaking and our Better U program. www.bonzabodies.com

March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

As we say goodbye to February and anticipate the first signs of spring, here at CDHPE Employee Wellness we continue our quarterly focus Physical Activity & Heart Health.  This month we will present wellness awards for the quarterly wellness challenge, select our Annual Wellness Award winner, and recognize employees that have been nominated by their colleagues as Wellness Heroes! Also, on March 13th at noon, we will also have our next Wellness Brown Bag with the American Heart Association's partner and local celebrity, Jamie Atlas.

As with many preventable diseases and conditions, the prevention strategies that work for Heart Health also help prevent other diseases.

Today, you may see some of your colleagues dressed in  blue to raise awareness about colorectal cancer. 

Dress in Blue: Colon Cancer Alliance

Continue to support colorectal cancer awareness and participate in your own prevention plan by signing up for the Undy 5000 a 5K family friendly run/walk at City Park in Denver on June 22nd.

CDC Colorectal Cancer Awareness

Mayo Clinic Colon Cancer Prevention

Cancer Causes and Control 2000 

Research article: Proportion of Colon Cancer Risk that Might be Preventable

Current Nutrition Reports 2012

Recent Evidence for Colon Cancer Prevention Through Healthy Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity

Annual Revue of Public Health 2012

Preventability of Cancer

In the Know

Mark Bittman, from the New York Times, has an Opinionator post "It's the Sugar, Folks" about Robert Lustig's research on the relationship between sugar consumption and diabetes prevalence.  

Here is a link to original research article by Basu, Yoffe, Hills & Lustig in the journal PLOS One: The Relationship of Sugar to Population-Level Diabetes Prevalence: An Econometric Analysis of Repeated Cross-Sectional Data

How have you started to limit added sugar in your diet?

Please send Dan McKenna your comments about what works for you at home, at work, and when dining out. 

Wellness Classes

Sleeping Well

Tuesday March 5th, 12:00 to 1:00, C1C

Breathe Smile Breathe: Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation

Thursday, March 7th, 3:00-3:30, C1C

Contact: daniel.mckenna@state.co.us