This item has been filed in | Freeze Frame
Print This Post Print This Post

A Week of Well-Being


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...
    Chef MIchelle Bernstein serves up a tasty risotto recipe and a few cooking tips for UM employees last week at the BankUnited Center Fieldhouse.

    Chef MIchelle Bernstein serves up a tasty risotto recipe and a few cooking tips for UM employees last week at the BankUnited Center Fieldhouse.

    It started with a cooking demonstration from a famous chef, quickly gained momentum with a Wellness Fair and outdoor yoga session, and culminated with a lecture on the benefits of a plant-based diet.

    The University of Miami’s inaugural Week of Well-Being, five days of health-related events designed to transform the way employees and students think about their health, came to a close on April 5.

    “Our hope is that members of the UM family focused on wellness in a new way and took something away that they will implement to help live a healthier lifestyle,” said Nerissa Morris, vice president for human resources and chair of the University Wellness Advisory Council. “The week may have ended, but we want the UM community to keep thinking about how they can improve their overall well-being and keep this wonderful momentum going.”

    A yoga session on the green drew dozens of employees.

    A yoga session on the green drew dozens of employees.

    As such, UM will launch a new wellness incentive campaign on April 29 that will allow faculty and staff enrolled in a UM/Aetna health plan to earn incentive credits for everything from completing a health assessment and preventive care screenings to tracking their exercise and eating habits and engaging in disease management and healthy lifestyle coaching programs. A new easy-to-use wellness portal will help employees participate in the campaign. Details will be announced later this month, along with webcasts to help employees learn as they go.

    “From those just beginning their journey to health and well-being to those already well on their way, there’s something for everyone,” said Morris.


    The Wellness Advisory Council wants your feedback on the Week of Well-Being as well as your input on the wellness activities you’d like to see at UM throughout the year. To complete the brief Week of Well-Being survey, please click here.

    Here’s a recap of the University-wide Week of Well-Being, which took place April 1-5:

    At UM’s BankUnited Center Fieldhouse on April 1, gourmet chef Michelle Bernstein prepared a risotto recipe—chopping, dicing, and mixing ingredients while giving out cooking tips to some of the more than 150 people who attended her demonstration.

    At Storer Auditorium, T. Colin Campbell lectures about the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet.

    At Storer Auditorium, T. Colin Campbell lectures about the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet.

    Bernstein, who began cooking at award-winning restaurants in Miami Beach and owns Michy’s restaurant in Miami, said there should be a balance between “something you want to eat and will love but also has healthy things in it.”

    Arlene Johnson, a development director in Alumni Relations, had a front-row seat for the event, raising her hand to ask Bernstein what types of herbs she should be growing in her herb garden. “I’m glad I went,” said Johnson. “I’ve cooked risotto before but not very well. Now I know the secret: to cook it with a broth and not to overcook or undercook it.”

    Later that day Bernstein took her cooking show on the road, preparing recipes for creamy wheatberry risotto and crispy pan-sautéed yellowtail for dozens of Miller School of Medicine employees who gathered under a tent on the Schoninger Research Quadrangle.

    On April 3 faculty, staff, and students attended a Wellness Fair on the Foote University Green. But it was a noontime yoga session held there that was the highlight of the day. Wearing shorts, sweats, tights, or just the clothes of the day, about 60 people performed various stretches—from the warrior pose to the cobra. Media relations coordinator Megan Ondrizek said she isn’t a yoga buff but wanted to participate “to work out some stiffness and connect with co-workers.” Even UM’s mascot, Sebastian the Ibis, joined in on the fun.

    Satellite employees at the UHealth Connect in Medley take an energy break.

    Satellite employees at the UHealth Connect in Medley take an energy break.

    Wellness Mini Fairs were held at two off-campus locations on April 3. At UHealth Kendall and UHealth Connect in Medley, UM President Donna E. Shalala, Morris, and Director of Wellness and Recreation Norm Parsons talked to employees about the University’s new multidimensional approach to wellness. Satellite employees at the two locations participated in energy breaks led by Nikki Reifschneider of the Herbert Wellness Center, and received giveaways and information about the resources UM provides.

    On April 4 a group of employees met at Gables One Tower and walked to a nearby park to improve their physical well-being as part of a “Walk the Park” event.

    Earlier that day, about 200 employees packed the Storer Auditorium to listen to T. Colin Campbell, the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University, talk about the benefits of a plant-based diet.

    Employees at UHealth Kendall get energized during a Wellness Mini Fair.

    Employees at UHealth Kendall get energized during a Wellness Mini Fair.

    Author of the bestselling book The China Study, Campbell warned listeners about the dangers of animal-based protein, presenting a case study that showed excessive amounts triggered liver cancer in rats. Protein from plant foods, he said, can provide all the required protein humans need.

    UM’s Week of Well-Being also included financial education workshops; a tour of the Medical Campus Wellness Center; a Cards for Kids event in which greeting cards were created for young patients in the UM Department of Pediatrics and Holtz Children’s Hospital; a presentation on the benefits of getting a good night’s sleep; a multiplayer online game that introduced employees to a virtual world that promotes wellness, and more.

     

     

     

    Comments are closed.

    • Related Stories
    • Tags
    • Popular
    • Subscribe
    • Subscribe to the Veritas RSS Feed
      Get updates to all of the latest Veritas posts by clicking the logo at the right.

      You can also subscribe to specific categories by browsing to a particular section on our site and clicking the RSS icon below each section's header.

    UM Facebook

    UM Twitter