Health pilot celebrates many successes

Study

A student-devised pilot programme has attracted national attention for its innovative approach, after it markedly improved the health of workers at Otago Corrections Facility and the Otago Community Probation Service.

After participating in the Workplace Health and Activity Management (WHAM) programme, a team of eight people lost a total of 32 kilograms, and three members stopped smoking.

Kirsty Currie and Hamish McDonnell are the creators of the initiative; both are Bachelor of Applied Science students from the Otago Institute of Sport and Adventure. WHAM’s success has led Kirsty to be employed by the Department of Corrections one day a week to continue working with staff. And both students were selected for Live the Dream, a national social enterprise accelerator scheme. The pair spent ten weeks working with some of New Zealand’s leading entrepreneurs and business mentors to develop WHAM further.

“We’d like to turn this project into a viable business,” says Ms Currie. “This experience has reinforced how passionate we are about health and wellbeing, and we know this is exactly what we’re meant to be doing.” 

Student

Health pilot celebrates many successes

Study