Business Engagement In Building Healthy Communities

Business Engagement in Building Healthy Communities is the summary of a workshop convened by the Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Population Health Improvement in July 2014 to consider the role of business in improving population health beyond the usual worksite wellness and health promotion activities. The workshop followed previous roundtable discussions on the importance of applying a health lens to decision making in non-health sectors and the need for cross-sector collaborations to advance population health. Invited speakers included representatives from several businesses that have taken action to improve the health of their communities and representatives of business coalitions on health. The workshop was designed to discuss why engaging in population health improvement is good for business; explore how businesses can be effective key leaders in improving the health of communities; and discuss ways in which businesses can engage in population health improvement. This report is a record of the presentations and discussion of the event

"Business Engagement in Building Healthy Communities is the summary of a workshop convened by the Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Population Health Improvement in July 2014 to consider the role of business in improving population health beyond the usual worksite wellness and health promotion activities. The workshop followed previous roundtable discussions on the importance of applying a health lens to decision making in non-health sectors and the need for cross-sector collaborations to advance population health. Invited speakers included representatives from several businesses that have taken action to improve the health of their communities and representatives of business coalitions on health. The workshop was designed to discuss why engaging in population health improvement is good for business; explore how businesses can be effective key leaders in improving the health of communities; and discuss ways in which businesses can engage in population health improvement. This report is a record of the presentations and discussion of the event" -- Publisher's description.

Distilling lessons learned from three health-focused Urban Land Institute advisory services panels in Colorado, as well as other findings on public health gleaned from a workshop with leading experts, this publication includes up-to-the-minute thinking on how to design and build healthy communities. It serves as a tool for public officials, development professionals, and others to help lay out the key elements that make a community more conducive to activity and that encourage better eating and healthier living.

Designing Healthy Communities, the companion book to the acclaimed public television documentary, highlights how we design the built environment and its potential for addressing and preventing many of the nation's devastating childhood and adult health concerns. Dr. Richard Jackson looks at the root causes of our malaise and highlights healthy community designs achieved by planners, designers, and community leaders working together. Ultimately, Dr. Jackson encourages all of us to make the kinds of positive changes highlighted in this book. 2012 Nautilus Silver Award Winning Title in category of “Social Change” "In this book Dr. Jackson inhabits the frontier between public health and urban planning, offering us hopeful examples of innovative transformation, and ends with a prescription for individual action. This book is a must read for anyone who cares about how we shape the communities and the world that shapes us." —Will Rogers, president and CEO, The Trust for Public Land "While debates continue over how to design cities to promote public health, this book highlights the profound health challenges that face urban residents and the ways in which certain aspects of the built environment are implicated in their etiology. Jackson then offers up a set of compelling cases showing how local activists are working to fight obesity, limit pollution exposure, reduce auto-dependence, rebuild economies, and promote community and sustainability. Every city planner and urban designer should read these cases and use them to inform their everyday practice." —Jennifer Wolch, dean, College of Environmental Design, William W. Wurster Professor, City and Regional Planning, UC Berkeley "Dr. Jackson has written a thoughtful text that illustrates how and why building healthy communities is the right prescription for America." —Georges C. Benjamin, MD, executive director, American Public Health Association Publisher Companion Web site: www.josseybass.com/go/jackson Additional media and content: http://dhc.mediapolicycenter.org/

This ambitious volume sets out to understand how every company impacts public health and introduces a robust model, rooted in organizational and scientific knowledge, for companies committed to making positive contributions to health and wellness. Focusing on four interconnected areas of corporate impact, it not only discusses the business imperative of promoting a healthier society and improved living conditions worldwide, but also provides guidelines for measuring a company’s population health footprint. Examples, statistics and visuals showcase emerging corporate involvement in public health and underscore the business opportunities available to companies that invest in health. The authors offer a detailed roadmap for optimizing health-promoting actions in a rapidly evolving business and social climate across these core areas: Planning and building a culture of health Consumer health: How organizations affect the safety, integrity, and healthfulness of the products and services they offer to their customers and end consumers Employee health: How organizations affect the health of their employees (e.g., provision of employer-sponsored health insurance, workplace practices and wellness programs) Community health: How organizations affect the health of the communities in which they operate and do business Environmental Health: How organizations' environmental policies (or lack thereof) affect individual and population health Implementing and sustaining a culture of health Building a Culture of Health clarifies both a mission and a vision for use by MPH and MBA students in health management, professors in schools of public health and business schools, and business leaders and chief medical officers in health care and non-health care businesses.

In 2013 the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Population Health Improvement organized a workshop to discuss opportunities to foster a health in all policies approach in non-health sectors such as housing, transportation, defense, education, and others. Much of the discussion focused on public-sector organizations, and roundtable members saw the need for further discussion of the role of the private sector, both as stakeholder and partner. On June 4, 2015, the roundtable convened a follow-up workshop focused on applying a health lens to the role and potential of businesses in improving economic well-being and community health outcomes. Participants explored what businesses can offer the movement to improve population health and areas of potential, as well as models for how businesses can impact the determinants of health, and developed a platform for discussing how to promote and support health in all business practices, policies, and investments. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop.