Kendra Bylsma ’02 helps businesses invest in the health of their employees. “Wellness should be at the core of how business is done,” she says. “Over the years it saves money, and it helps to build the relationship between employer and employee.”

As a wellness account representative for Priority Health, Kendra advises businesses about the key components of a wellness program: assessing employee health, tracking program participation and measuring outcomes.

Kendra first embraced the drive to help others in her classes at Calvin. “The biggest impact on me was from one of my exercise science professors. I remember sitting in her class—and admiring her energy and zeal for helping other people. I thought, ‘I want that; I want to be like that.’”

She says her work is now more critical than ever. According to the Centers for Disease Control, for every 100 employees in America, 66 are overweight, 21 smoke and 29 have hypertension. These figures, combined with rising health care costs, have put employee wellness at the top of the agenda for many businesses.

But it is the strong emphasis on research and tangible outcomes that sets Kendra’s wellness programs apart. “To be successful, a wellness program needs to be based on research about the company’s employees and their specific needs.” To help employers gather this research, Priority Health can provide specific claims information, outlining, for instance, how much more is spent on average health care costs for smoking employees versus nonsmoking employees.

Once an employer grasps the benefits of a healthy workforce, establishing an employee wellness program is often an easy choice. The results? “It’s working,” says Kendra. “We are seeing definite improvements in overall employee health, retention and lower health care costs. And now many of our employer groups have been doing this for years, so we actually have years worth of data against which to measure our success. Already I’ve seen some cool things happen in companies. Some companies have really changed their culture, and people are living healthier lives.”

Helping people remains one of the most rewarding aspects of Kendra’s work, and she continues her wellness efforts as a personal trainer after her regular workday is done. “Sometimes it’s hard to see the big picture, because wellness programs have to happen at the individual level to be successful. It’s one person at a time.”

For Kendra, wellness is not just a choice, it’s a responsibility. That’s what she learned at Calvin. “We’re taught to be good stewards of God’s creation, and that starts with us. God has asked us to take care of our bodies; that’s where the Holy Spirit is housed. If we can’t take care of ourselves, how can we take care of others?”

Kendra Bylsma
Wellness Account Representative, Priority Health
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Calvin College, B.A. ’02