ELYRIA, Ohio — Setting a new standard for health and wellness initiatives, Bendix is beginning an innovative, yearlong pilot program entitled Target Your Health, is designed to help employees achieve personal wellness.

This program is a test initiative to assist employees with reaching a wellness goal of their choice, including losing weight, reducing stress, improving their diet, quitting tobacco, or simply being more active even becoming a better driver can be a goal.

The program will be implemented at three Bendix locations. Employees at the Bendix headquarters in Elyria, Ohio, as well as at manufacturing and distribution plants in Huntington, Ind., and Acua, Mexico, applied to be part of the pilot program, which, if successful, will be offered to an even greater employee population after the pilot period.

As part of our overall wellness strategy, we strive to provide a variety of programs and tools to educate our employees and their families on the importance and benefits of maintaining long-term health, and assist them in achieving their personal wellness level, said Diane Shields, Bendix human resources director.

More than 25 employees at the Elyria headquarters began their program with a kick-off workshop and health assessment held on June 25. Similar events were held this month for the 20 participants at the Huntington operations and for the nine participants from Acua who volunteered for the company-wide pilot program.

Target Your Health is just one of the many programs we offer to help employees reach their personal wellness objectives. We believe this is a great opportunity to tailor an action plan that fits each employees needs, coupled with expert coaching and support from our on-site health professionals to guide participants to success, said Shields.

Bendix develops all of its health and wellness program offerings with an objective to help all employees and family members to better manage personal healthcare costs through becoming more well-educated healthcare consumers.

Each participant will begin the program by completing a health risk assessment that includes a benchmark for tracking vital statistics such as height, weight, body fat, cholesterol, and blood pressure measurements, among others. Throughout the 12-month program, participants will follow a health and wellness plan self-designed with the support of a wellness coach. In addition, each pilot program member will meet with an on-site medical-wellness professional regularly for updates and support.

Those enrolled in the program also will participate in a variety of group events throughout the year to build camaraderie and motivation, while also having the opportunity to do a midpoint assessment at the companys October health fair.

A final health risk assessment will be taken at the end of the program next June to measure progress against the individuals goals.

Bendix has partnered on this pilot program with TRALE, a provider of health and wellness information services. The TRALE Backpack, an on-site health risk assessment tool, will be used to record the progress of all participants. If the pilot program is successful, it is possible the Backpack could be used to help improve the health of many other Bendix employees.