Last spring, the City of Sacramento was awarded with CAPIO’s first Best-in-Show EPIC award in the small population field for its “Bridge to Wellness” Newsletter—an effort to increase staff participation in programs and interest in health and fitness topics shared by their Wellness Committee.

During 2018, attendance to classes, participation in programs and general interest in health and wellness had dropped. That’s when concerns for the “negative mental and physical state in the workplace” became apparent and the team at the City of Sacramento realized they needed to take action. Their research efforts concluded that employees were receiving committee emails, but weren’t reading them, therefore did not know about events and resources being offered.

Judges commented that the methods the team used to “delicately attack both the problem and perception, and the lack of utilization of resources was carefully explained.”

The newsletter committee discussed multiple ways to enhance, display, and deliver their content to employees, and evaluated several methods of outreach, including the cost and time involved. 

Judges noted, “From the research to the evaluation, there were clearly experienced professionals at the table to mitigate the overall challenge that was experienced by the Wellness Committee.”

The committee decided on a quarterly newsletter and developed a template that staff could easily update and administer. The team redesigned their brand and logo to play into the City’s overall identity. 

Their “Bridge to Wellness” newsletter communicated “fun” and “playful,” and included events, recipes, features on employees, and other health and fitness topics. Their solution had no hard costs and was a fun way to engage their staff members.

Judges stated, “the revamped committee was careful to leverage their activities with the City’s overall brand and to lure additional people in with visuals of playful participation.”

According to the City of West Sacramento,  a positive response to the newsletter was immediate, and the attendance rates doubled for their first three events. Based on surveys and feedback, it was found that staff was reading the newsletter, they enjoyed the addition of photos, and they felt encouraged to participate in the program. The committee concluded the newsletter was extremely successful in meeting their goals to increase participation and interest.

One judge exclaimed, “The endeavor was a homerun in my opinion!”

To see the City of Sacramento’s complete award entry, visit CAPIO’s EPIC Winning Entry Samples page.

CAPIO is proud to offer a transparent and competitive awards program that recognizes excellence in the industry. With more than 200 entries, the 2019 EPIC awards showcased work that rises above innovation and craft – CAPIO recognizes work that had made a lasting impact for communities serviced in California and beyond.

To learn more about CAPIO’s awards program and 2020 deadlines, visit www.capio.org.

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