The National Consortium for Building Healthy Academic Communities (BHAC) named the University of Iowa’s liveWELL program first place in the 2019 National Wellness Challenge.

The National Wellness Challenge award recognizes innovative wellness programs that promote physical wellness, mental health, financial wellness, environmental wellness, and social wellness in colleges and universities. Winners attended the fourth National Building Healthy Academic Communities Summit at The Ohio State University and are promoted to BHAC members.

liveWELL received the award for its My Healthy LIFE challenge, a seven-week happy and healthy lifestyle program that included 1,054 participants this year. Participants focus each week on evidence-based practices related to themes, such as being active, de-stressing, improved eating, and building a strong social circle.

Erin Litton, the senior behavior health consultant who led the creation of the contest submission, and Mikylah Chidester, an undergraduate liveWELL intern who is graduating this spring with a degree in health and human physiology, led the project. Chidester created the winning video submission.

“Congratulations and thanks to everyone who supported and participated in the program to make it the national success that it is,” says Megan Hammes, UI wellness manager. “This includes our wonderful wellness ambassador network for recruiting participants, our supportive ITS programmers and developers, and the health and well-being staff! The overwhelming positive feedback from our participants is so gratifying and this award is added testimony to our shared success and hard work.”

The UI’s liveWELL program works to create and sustain healthy campus culture by delivering best-in-class health and wellness programming. liveWELL strives to be a national leader in those practices.

BHAC is a national organization of U.S. academic institutions that promotes best practices and standards in health and wellbeing.