Purpose/Goals: 

The Maine Worker Compensation Division funds the ME FIRST Program – a healthy lifestyle program for state employees.  The Program is run by the Maine Wellness Program of MaineGeneral.  The Maine Center for Public Health was recently contracted to evaluate the ME FIRST Program.  Preliminary results from the first year of the program show remarkable success (average weight loss: 26 pounds). A more rigorous design is in place to evaluate the third cohort of ME FIRST participants, who will begin September 2010, while continued evaluation of the first and second cohort will continue.