“The program wants to keep people at work and functioning well so they can complete the mission,” said Katie Doyle, Civilian Wellness Program manager and administrator for CHPS. “One of the big core components of that is making sure they have good physical health.”
The program offers a variety of in-person and virtual services, such as wellness screenings, health education classes, health and wellness consultations, wellness challenges, and health awareness campaigns. All services are free and available to the civilian workforce, with most also available to active-duty personnel.
CHPS also offers a free wellness web portal, USAFwellness.com, designed to help employees facilitate lifestyle behavior change, with resources and tracking tools available for both civilian employees and active-duty personnel.
This state-of-the-art website has easy-to-use features that can be accessed from any electronic device with a web browser, and it can incorporate data from other tracking tools such as Fitbit and MyFitnessPal.
“The CHPS program exists to help folks with their physical health and in doing so it is promoting that culture of health within the worksite, with something they can extrapolate into their homes. It really helps them to do their jobs more effectively when they feel better,” said Doyle. “When they can focus on staying active, eating healthy, managing their stress and getting good quality sleep, all of that translates into being able to do a better job and contribute to the overall mission.”
In collaboration with the AFMC Community Action Team, CHPS supports the physical pillar of Comprehensive Airman Fitness and overall efforts to address holistic health and wellness needs. CHPS team leads work within the organization to highlight topics such as avoiding burnout or combatting loneliness. They also refer employees and help them connect to other helping agencies like the Employee Assistance Program and Military One Source.
Due to the success of the CHPS program at AFMC, Air Force leaders approved a two-year pilot at Air Mobility Command in 2017.
“The AMC pilot was a success, even from the start,” said Doyle. “AMC leadership and the civilian employees were very receptive to the program and the bases really embraced their CHPS teams…and the program has remained successful since.”
The CHPS program is continuing its mission, with the next expansion for the continental United States launching in February.
“We’re in the process of laying the groundwork for that now and reaching out to the other MAJCOMS and bases that have a larger civilian workforce,” said Doyle. “We have a formula that if there are 1,000 or more civilians on an installation, we put an on-site team permanently to provide in-person and virtual services…bases that have a smaller civilian workforce can take advantage of our many virtual service offerings to help them reach their health and wellness goals.”
For more information and access to the resources from the program, Airmen can contact CHPS at CHPSsupport@us.af.mil and visit USAFwellness.com
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