How the Alameda Health System Promotes Wellness with Healthy Monday

Alameda Health System is based in Oakland, California, and operates five hospitals and four primary care medical clinics throughout the county. At the heart of the AHS mission is a commitment to caring, teaching, healing, and serving all, with the ultimate goal of eliminating health care disparities in underserved communities.

Alameda Health System has been using Healthy Monday materials since 2020 as a way to bring simple and action-oriented health messaging to their 5,000 employees and large, diverse patient population. “I really like the graphics and messages: they’re attractive, easy to understand, and diverse,” says Sofia Sojourner Newton, MPH, Wellness Program Manager at AHS. “I also enjoy picking and choosing the topics from the website and email newsletter. I typically think about what’s going on in the world/community/hospital and then choose what I think folks would find helpful.”

AHS selects a variety of Healthy Monday content to promote different behaviors, like physical activity, stress-relief, and healthy food choices. These materials are then promoted to employees every Monday through the company intranet and the message is reinforced by the CEO and leadership team during their Wednesday all-staff forum.

Employee feedback has been predominantly positive. Newton says employees have given great feedback about the Healthy Monday practices in general, but they especially love the mindfulness exercises and Meatless Monday recipes, which are highlighted in Newton’s weekly newsletter. We are fortunate to work with partners like AHS and to have an ongoing dialogue with Sofia and the rest of their team, so that we can continue to produce content and messaging that can support the evolving needs of healthcare workers and the broader communities they serve.