The Obama Administration’s newly released National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy is a comprehensive plan intended to help increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life.
The strategy emphasizes the role employers can play in implementing policies and programs that foster workforce health, wellness, and safety. It also focuses on contributions healthcare professionals can make as partners in prevention and health promotion efforts, noting that “individuals and organizations that deliver healthcare services can implement policies and systems to support the delivery of high impact clinical preventive services and enhance linkages between clinical and community prevention efforts.”
The document notes: “Improving the health of our nation’s workforce is good for both employees and employers – it improves employee productivity, reduces health care expenditures and encourages economic growth. Employers can implement policies and programs to improve the health of their workers, for example, by protecting their workers from illness and injury, ensuring access to healthy foods, and providing health coverage for clinical preventive services.”
Physicians’ Viewpoint
In a prepared statement, T. Warner Hudson, M.D., president of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), said the college is pleased the federal government has recognized the workplace as a key channel to improve health and wellness.
“ACOEM has long been a proponent of placing a greater priority on policies aimed at improving the health of our workforce,” said Dr. Hudson, medical director of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center Occupational Health Facility. “Acknowledging the importance of the workplace by naming employers as one of the plan’s ‘Partners in Prevention’ and suggesting dozens of ways in which employers can contribute to a new culture of health in the United States was a wise first step. Now it’s up to all the stakeholders in workplace health – from employers to insurers to occupational and environmental physicians – to work together to move these ideas forward.”
Dr. Hudson and his colleagues believe stronger federal incentives are needed to encourage employers to adopt health promotion activities and evidence-based programs.
“Federal policy should be increasingly geared toward helping employers recognize the intrinsic connection between good health and productivity, and encouraging them to do all they can to invest in the good health of their workers,” he said.
About the Strategy
The National Prevention and Health Promotion Strategy was developed by the National Prevention Council, which is comprised of 17 federal agencies, with guidance from the public, outside experts, and stakeholders. It is supported by the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health as called for under the Affordable Care Act.
The plan outlines four strategic directions that are considered fundamental to improving the nation’s health:
- Building healthy and safe community environments.
- Expanding quality preventive services in clinical and community settings.
- Empowering people to make healthy choices.
- Eliminating health disparities.
To help achieve these goals, the strategy identifies evidence-based recommendations that are most likely to reduce the burden of leading causes of preventable death and major illness. Its seven priority areas are:
- Tobacco-free living
- Preventing drug/alcohol use
- Healthy eating
- Active living
- Injury and violence-free living
- Reproductive and sexual health
- Mental and emotional wellbeing
The Obama Administration reports that efforts are already underway to help achieve the goals outlined in the strategy. Examples include the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative, the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative, and Executive Order 13548 to make the federal government a model employer of persons with disabilities.
Refer to www.healthcare.gov/center/councils/nphpphc/strategy for a comprehensive overview.
