Creating a Healthy Louisiana Workforce from the Inside Out

As the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurance provider, it’s no secret LWCC has a vested interest in the health and safety of Louisiana’s workforce. Our commitment to Louisiana workers is evident every day in our work to provide safety, security, and stability within the workplace. It’s also expressed through our Louisiana Loyal movement to drive positive, transformational, and healthy change throughout the state while encouraging and empowering others to do the same.

Of course, for any significant change to occur, it must start from within. For LWCC, that means leading by example through our own internal initiatives, including the implementation of a health-focused corporate culture and an array of employee resources that reaches all corners of our organization.  

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LiveWell: An LWCC Commitment

The concept of wellness goes far beyond physical fitness. LWCC’s internal corporate wellness program, LiveWell, is guided by four pillars: physical wellness, nutrition, mental wellness, and financial wellness. The goal is to give every employee the resources they need for success in each of these pillars. This includes access to nutritious meals, mental health support, guidance from financial professionals, and onsite, state-of-the-art exercise facilities with training services from Cooper Wellness Strategies.

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Cooper Wellness Strategies: Partnering With the Best

When it came to the physical pillar of LiveWell, LWCC looked to partner with an industry leader with a long track record of success whose values closely aligned with our own. Cooper Wellness Strategies, a Cooper Aerobics company, with its purpose to improve the quality and quantity of people’s lives, quickly became the obvious choice.

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Since 2018, Jeff Barbera has managed LWCC’s onsite fitness center while Landon Chastant provides specialized training. As is required of all Cooper Wellness trainers, Landon holds a national certification. He also has a four-year kinesiology degree. Together, he and Jeff work closely with LWCC to motivate employees toward health and offer ample wellness resources and opportunities, all with the proven guidance of Cooper’s mission and ideals.

As the health and wellness mindset permeates throughout the ranks of LWCC, Jeff and Landon continue to help push the agenda forward. In addition to the fully-equipped gym and trainer-led classes, initiatives that encourage employees to focus on both physical and mental wellness include:

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• Daily Stretch - This 15-minute stretch at 8 a.m. is encouraged at the start of each workday. It’s open to all employees, regardless of gym membership, and is easy enough to be completed in work clothes. A virtual option is even offered for work-from-home Fridays.
• Wellness Wednesday - Every Wednesday, from 2 - 2:15 p.m., employees are encouraged to engage in a brief wellness activity such as stretching at their desks or practicing breathing techniques. These small movement breaks offer a tremendous benefit for a company whose operation relies on a significant amount of desk time.
• Step Challenge - To really get people on their feet, the 21-DayStep Challenge broke participants up into teams with the goal of reaching the highest number of combined steps over that time period. The winning team tallied up an incredible 1,337,358 steps!
• Nutrition Tracker Challenge - Focused on more than just physical activity, the nutrition tracker challenge tapped into Cooper Wellness Strategies’ dedication to education when participants regrouped with Jeff and Landon following their 14-day log of water, food, and movement.
• Cooper® Quest - Of all the health offerings provided, Cooper Quest is by far the most robust to take the activation of an individual’s fitness goals to the next level, based on Dr. Kenneth Cooper’s 8 Steps to Get Cooperized™. This program is focused on all aspects of long-term wellness in five key health areas, helping participants undergo healthy transformation via three key pillars—assessment, education, and behavior change. Monthly and quarterly reviews are held to help set and assess goals while retesting for progress occurs every 12 weeks.

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In the end, the ultimate goal for both LWCC and Cooper Wellness Strategies through these initiatives and so many more is to impart health and wellness knowledge while improving the lives of those within the organization. It’s a partnership that was simply meant to be.

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