News

CHPS offering in-person screenings by appointment, take measures to keep all safe

  • Published
  • By Holly Logan-Arrington
  • Robins Public Affairs

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues and the 2020 influenza season is underway, it’s important to keep your personal health in mind.

The Civilian Health Promotion Services at Robins is here to help people keep tabs on their health numbers.

CHPS is a mobile worksite wellness program that provides free resources and screenings to help the civilian workforce maintain and improve their health and well-being.

Michele Decker, CHPS coordinator, said the program has recently resumed its in-person health screenings and events for units on the base by appointment only, after providing some services virtually as the pandemic began.

“Available services are cholesterol and glucose screenings, blood pressure measurements, and InBody assessments,” she said. “CHPS is able to go out to units by request.” 

With the adoption of several safety precautions, CHPS is now equipped to serve their customers in person. 

“Participants can schedule one-on-one appointments in the CHPS office at this time,” Decker said. “We are following all COVID-19 guidelines.  Pre-screening questions are being asked and confirmed prior to each appointment.”

Decker said CHPS staff members are performing temperature checks for all participants. 

“The CHPS staff uses safety measures by wearing masks, face shields and gloves during each screening,” she said. “All participants must wear masks.”   

CHPS serves the health screening and education needs of Defense Department civilians at Air Force Materiel Command and Air Mobility Command installations.

Active-duty military members are able to participate in most services offered by CHPS like blood pressure, body composition screenings, health education classes, skin analysis screening, wellness challenges and the wellness website portal through CHPS.

Contractors, as well as DoD civilian and military dependents, are not eligible for CHPS services.  However, all that can access Robins are able to participate in CHPS education classes virtually on Microsoft Teams and/or in-person classes.

CHPS can help people understand their numbers and discuss ways of improving overall health through screenings, one-on-one consultations and health education classes, Decker said.

“A cardiac risk profile is a great first step to reducing your risk for heart disease, because it gives you a snapshot of your current heart health status, especially during this time,” she said.  “It’s a step toward knowing your numbers and understanding what factors may be putting you at risk for heart disease or any other health conditions.”

Decker said individuals may need to make simple lifestyle changes like increasing their physical activity or changing their diet.

In addition to in-person screenings, CHPS offers other services as well.

They have a comprehensive virtual wellness website portal at USAFwellness.com where participants can instantly access a wide variety of online health information and tool kits. This site serves as a communication platform for base helping agencies. It also provides health risk assessments and offers instant results to the participant upon completion, as well as helps identify health issues, current health risks and specific way to improve health. Additionally, the website’s online personal improvement tools allow participants to securely log activities, workouts, weight and other personal metrics, and track progress toward their heath goals.

CHPS also offers health education classes, including more than 70 classes on topics such as nutrition, physical activity, sleep, chronic diseases and more.

They are also perform health awareness campaigns such as outreach and prevention to highlight specific topics and bring awareness to support services on base like the Employee Assistance Program and Military OneSource.

CHPS plans out wellness challenges for people to take part in to help guide them toward specific health goals. They also offer physical activity and weight management programs twice a year that provide participants an opportunity to practice skills to improve lifestyle behaviors.

All upcoming events can be found on the CHPS website at www.USAFwellness.com.

Call CHPS at 478-327-8030 to schedule your personal health screening or unit’s health screening event.