2024 Incentive Grant Recipient: Elena Patestos PharmD
Project Proposal: Impact and clinical outcomes of a pharmacist and dietitian co-led employee wellness program
Elena Patestos is a PGY1 Community-Based Pharmacy Resident with Wilkes University and Weis Markets Pharmacy in Schnecksville, PA. She graduated from Wilkes University Nesbitt School of Pharmacy.
"Healthy People 2030 emphasized the importance of employers prioritizing well-being in the workplace. In 2021, Weis Markets, a regional grocery store chain based out of Pennsylvania implemented an employee wellness program for both diabetes and hypertension. The programs consist of pharmacist and dietitian created hybrid modules with video education, virtual check-ins and goal setting that covers risks and reducing risk, weight, physical activity, medications, adherence, and monitoring. One year after its implementation, over 100 employees have gone through the program. This project aims to evaluate the participant (employee) impact via survey as well as analyze clinical outcomes (changes in weight loss, a1c and blood pressure)."
"The motivation behind this project is to identify the impact of a pharmacist and dietitian co-led employee wellness program on participant quality of life and clinical markers. To the authors knowledge, there is not a pharmacist and dietitian co-developed and co-led employee program to this capacity. Thus, learning the outcomes of this program can lead to innovative, collaborative frameworks when implementing an employee wellness program."
"I am beyond thankful that this project was selected to receive an Incentive Grant! The grant funding will allow for incentivization of the survey, increasing response rate. Having a breadth of responses will allow for a more robust data collection to truly visualize impact of the program."