Road Trip! Destination: Peak Performance
. . . a Journey to a Healthier You

The Dallas Fort Worth Business Group on Health (DFWBGH), together with its community partners, initiated the Partnership for Peak Healthcare Performance (PPHP) in 2007 to improve the quality and outcomes of ambulatory care for chronic illness, with an initial focus on diabetes care.

A 2008 survey of area employees uncovered a need for increased awareness and accountability for personal health. With a grant from the Aetna Foundation, the Partnership for Peak Healthcare Performance set out to address this need and developed a worksite program called Road Trip! Destination: Peak Performance . . . a journey to a healthier you.

Program objectives

• Engage and educate employees about their power and responsibilities as family health care consumers
• Enhance awareness of steps a 'health care driver' can take to reduce risks and explore treatment options for chronic disease
• Empower individuals to identify and use information they can trust to get high quality health care

Pilot program - a resounding success!

DFWBGH members American Airlines, City of Mesquite, DART, and Energy Future Holdings were named the test sites for the pilot program.

Using a road trip analogy, the interactive program of four one-hour sessions encourages participants to act responsibly as personal health managers for themselves and their families, just as they would plan, prepare for, and execute an expedition by car, including preventive and restorative car maintenance. The program's approach can be summarized this way: "If you had just one vehicle to last you a lifetime, wouldn't you be attentive to its risk factors, early signs of potential problems, regular maintenance, etc?"

Testing of the pilot program finished in August 2009 and was a great success. Pre- and post-program questionnaires indicated that employees who completed the program increased their knowledge of risk factors, symptoms and treatment options for chronic disease, including diabetes. Participants reported improved health management skills, and an enhanced commitment to choosing quality health care providers and partnering with their health care team to maximize the likelihood of achieving good health. Participants reported not only enjoying the program, but wanting more.

What's Next?

DFWBGH is devising a strategy to make the program available to all DFWBGH members. As a stand-alone program or as a supplement to an organization's comprehensive wellness initiatives, Road Trip! Destination: Peak Performance educates workforces about chronic diseases, including diabetes, that threaten the health of the community. And just as important, it encourages them to be active, savvy health care consumers who use trustworthy resources to access evidence-based care.

Watch for more information about the roll out of Road Trip! Destination: Peak Performance . . . a journey to a healthier you.