by Joi Wilson

In Alameda Health Consortium (AHC) and Community Health Center Network’s (CHCN) ongoing pursuit to promote health and wellness among staff, the company has kicked off a new session of its Community Walkabout. The Community Walkabout was introduced as a way to get employees out and about in their new neighborhood and started when the organization moved from Alameda to San Leandro in 2008. Now, in its 13th reincarnation, it remains a healthy, team building competition amongst staff.

How It Works
Interested employees sign up and are randomly grouped into teams with one person volunteering to be team captain. Participants are instructed to wear pedometers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to record their steps; the summer competition will run for 9 weeks. The team with the most steps at the end of the competition will win a team lunch at a local restaurant. To add more excitement to the competition Bonus Destinations were created so that staff can earn extra points. During walks team members must find and take pictures of themselves with items like a Park Bench, Fire Hydrant, and Coffee Shop. These pictures are then posted in the kitchen on their team’s poster board.

Not only does this competition promote healthiness but it also gets staff interacting with people in the company that they may be less familiar with; not just the co-workers in their own departments. This summer’s competition is really heating up; our 30 competitors have already recorded over 2.5 million steps and it’s only the second week!