Florida Department of Children and Families Celebrates One Year of Healthy Monday Messaging
April marked the one-year anniversary of the Florida Department of Children and Families Healthy Monday Morning Newsletter program. The program emerged last spring after many of the agency’s 12,000 employees were forced to work from home as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. To continue delivering health and wellness messaging to employees, the department’s Director of Wellness, Christine White, enlisted the help of The Monday Campaigns to create a custom Healthy Monday Newsletter.
Every Monday, the Health Monday Newsletter was distributed to staff in each of the state’s 67 counties, marking the first time that department leadership has approved a communication for the whole workforce.
To develop the newsletter, Ms. White selected a weekly theme addressing an immediate wellness needs of the agency’s staff. The newsletter also included important resources and news from the Office of Wellness, as well as access to weekly wellness-related webinars to enhance the Healthy Monday Morning program. The topics ranged in focus from self-care (DeStress Monday) to establishing walking routines (Move It Monday) to healthy eating (Meatless Monday).
Employee response has been overwhelmingly positive.
I really enjoy all your Monday emails from the Office of Well-Being. I really feel like they’ve made me more mindful of my well-being and have allowed me to integrate wellness into my time at work. I try to be intentional about my holistic health and I really appreciate the reminder in the workplace, especially because as a CPI we have to make sure we are taking extra good care of ourselves to be able to do this very demanding job.
After reading this week’s Healthy Monday Morning email, I made the spring leek and asparagus soup (I added fresh garlic, onion, parsley, spinach, and kale). It was deliciously satisfying and healthful!
Just wanted to say I enjoy your newsletters. I used to be a motivational speaker and mindset coach, so I always enjoy stuff like this!
I enjoy reading your emails. They are always very informative with lots of great resources.
I just want to commend you on your emails promoting well-being, especially in the stressful and even crazier world we live in since March (2020)! I am sure that people throughout the Department appreciate your efforts.
Wow, this [Monday Newsletter] is wonderful! I do a walk from home program on YouTube during my lunch break and I love it. I have lost about 13 lbs. and counting along with a changed diet. It is true what they say about walking. Exercise since COVID-19 has changed my life.
Through the newsletter’s call-to-action, the Florida Department of Children and Families recruited a team of 200 (and counting) employee health ambassadors, who will help identify and pursue opportunities for wellness programming throughout the state. Overall, the newsletter has resulted in a weekly Monday boost of approximately 25% engagement compared to non-Monday emails. And, over the year-long campaign, the number of recipients grew by 20%. As the agency begins to reintroduce in-person wellness programming, the Healthy Monday newsletter will continue to serve as an engagement tool and resource for employees state-wide.
Interested in adding a Monday reminder to your program’s weekly health messaging? Explore our portfolio of free resources.